Coastal River Charters

As conditions continue to warm the bite is progressively getting better! Whiting an indicator fish are showing in increasingly larger numbers. The general thought of this relatively small but tasty fish is they indicate the arrival of Spring fishing and what’s to come (sharks, tarpon, jacks, spanish and more)! This year as in most years the bite starts a little further down the Georgia coast and moves up. On one recent outing we landed over 30 keeper size fish and released several smaller ones. The bite for most of that fishing period was soft and slow requiring feel and a delicate touch. A soft slow bite likely could be due to water temperature below 60 degrees or slower than normal currents. Each day is a little different. Adjusting is part of fishing. Its funny whether fishing for sheepshead, whiting or some other fish making adjustment is all part of it.

With warming conditions and water temperature in the mid to upper 60′s. seatrout are starting to bite! Some fishermen are saying the bite is a little late year. On the other hand an official from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources stated there were no fish kills over the winter. Likely fishing will be good in the coming days, weeks and months! Seatrout catches thus far have been scattered and inconsistent anticipate that to change as temperature rise. Miss Judy saying – 65 and everything is alive is good number to gauge fishing success! (For more about Miss Judy, her fishing report, or to book with her go www.missjudycharters.com). Typically seatrout in the Spring in the back waters will be large, hungry and feeding. Mud minnows are great bait to target Springtime seatrout. A favorite simple rig is to hook a mud minnow on 1/4 oz. jig and simply let it sit. Shrimp are the favorite bait in local waters nonetheless sometimes during the Spring a mud minnow can be very effective. If possible take some of both.

Sheepshead action remains strong! Fishermen both inshore and near shore have caught large numbers. Sheepshead can be a great fighting fish. At times tricky to catch but well worth the effort. My only caveat with sheepshead fishing is the larger fish are the ones loaded with roe. My traditional view has been past on to me by my mother that is smaller seafood is the best (to eat)! I think this holds true with sheepshead as well. Often fishermen will have hunters mentality that is larger is better. A 22 inch seatrout while looks nice and tastes only fair. This fish could hold thousands of potential seatrout in it. In short the largest seatrout are usually females loaded with roe. A 22 inch seatrout and above would be a great fish to release! With all that said keeping a few fish to eat is a ok. Part of goodness of fishing is that you can eat some what you catch.

Along with the whiting around the sandbars cold water sharks have shown up as well. As temperatures rise cold water sharks (dog fish) will recede to cooler ocean water and warm water sharks will start filling local waters.

Redfish have supplied most of action the past several weeks. Some fisherman believe the past year provided the best fishing ever in local waters! Nature despite wind and a cold winter has been extremely kind. More black drum last year than many can remembered . So far the black drum catch has been pretty incidental, one here one there. As temperature warm more drum should start showing up as well. Reports of large numbers of redfish being caught slightly north and south of Savannah by fishermen using traditional float rigs. Redfish are in good numbers and be found in schools by patience fishermen.

Tides throughout this week look good. Negative tides start on Wednesday March 25 and will extend through weekend. Although tides are in the negative range they are only slightly negative. The impact for fishermen will likely be minimal. Tides looks good! Whiting fishing good, seatrout fair to good to excellent, redfish fair to good. Bait is plentiful in the baitshop once reports start coming back of good catches anticipate bait can be hard to come by.

Hope this of interest and help! Fish On!

Capt. Jack McGowan

The long awaited St. Patrick’s day has descended upon the city! For many Savannahians and non Savannahians this is the favorite day of the year! In Savannah on St. Patrick’s day everyone is Irish for a day. The main activity is focused around the St. Patrick’s day parade. The celebration in Savannah is only second to New York city. What does St. Patrick day have to do with a fishing report? Around St. Patrick’s day the season begins to change from a dormant winter pattern to a vibrant Spring pattern flourishing with life. Azaleas are in bloom. The vast marsh expands surrounding the islands are still a canvas color but green be seen emerging from the grass. The schools of redfish have broken up as temperature rise. Most of redfish holding in the grass are by themselves or in small groups. Seatrout typically begins to get active and stay active around this time. Evidence of small peanut size menhaden can be observed by the occasional flickering of a bait fish hitting the surface of the water. Likely small blue fish are pushing the menhaden to the surface. Both seatrout and redfish love menhaden! A small menhaden can fished under a float rig or simply threaded on a jig sometimes after popping the head off. Placing a rod in a rod holder rigged with a small menhaden on a jig can produce some gorgeous reds!

For the most part the late winter bite has been a little off due likely to a colder than average winter. On a more positive note despite a cold winter there were no reports of fish kills and shrimp is presently available at local bait shops. Last week most the fish caught were redfish back in the grass. This is specialize fishing requiring keen eye sight, good casting, an intimate knowledge of what these fish like and last but least the proper equipment (rods, reels, lures as well shallow draft boat). The majority of reds caught in the grass will be by sighting the fish first. Blind casting while the norm in most fishing can be counter productive for reds in the grass. These fish will eat but there a lots of things that can go awry. On the other hand a redfish back in the grass are not as able to detect a fisherman. Fishing slowly and quietly is often the key. Capt. Ray Crawely of Miss Judy Charters specializes in reds in the grass. Ray prides himself on homemade concoctions that work! Each fisherman will have their speciality or what they enjoy the most. Capt. Ray enjoys the stealthy fishing of redfish in the grass. This type of fishing is particularly effective on big tides day. On days with big tides most fishermen will struggle is when a fisherman like Capt. Ray can shine. The marsh is flooded. Typically fishermen will find water silted from big tides and full debris. Water back in the grass will be clean. Areas that were unreachable are easily accessed. Boats that have minimal draft are a must for this kind of fishing. Knowing exactly where is critical. Its not uncommon for a fisherman to be so far back in grass that getting assistance would be impossible. Too complicate matters ridges that were unseen a few moments ago can quickly trap a boat. Scouting trip should be just that scouting trip. Once a fisherman knows the capabilities of his boat and his terrain then and only then should a fisherman expand his range. Its not uncommon for one group of fisherman to see a boat catching fish and try to join in. This type of fishing isn’t for all. Experience is the key. Anticipate the fisherman in the bow to have most of chances so rotate the bow and have fun! For fish reds in the grass definitely get a charter! My recommendation is Capt. Ray of Miss Judy Charters. On my boat we will penetrate into grass when conditions are favorable basically incoming water, tides 8.5 feet or higher. Beware of southwest and west winds. Water that high at one can appear to quickly go out. Use your watch not your senses. Your time could be as early as half an hour into the outgoing or as much as hour and half into the outgoing. Remember the longer your stay the more likely you are to get stuck. When you pushed things. When you try to make something happen that when you’re going to break equipment and possibility stick your boat. Let the tides work for you! Hope this of interest and fun! Hope to see you on the water!

Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan

Periods of calm weather between fronts has provided good fishing! Most redfish have been caught on plastics. Numbers of fish are good! During the winter catching a few fish can be tricky. One day fishermen can catch a couple of dozen fish only to be blanked the following day. A typical question is when do fish bite best? What is the barometer doing? This question can provoke lots of conversation and speculation. The short answer (to when do fish bite the best) is when fish are being caught. Just before the front and even when the weather deteriorating the bite will likely be on. Nature is taking care of itself: fish, birds and all wild life will feed prior to poor weather. Typically, the best winter bite is just before a front. A classic example was last week fishermen did well with both seatrout and redfish as the front approached. As the poor weather settled in fish hunkered down.

Striper action has been slow but in recent days the striper bite has picked! A couple of fishermen landed 15 on the fly! Sounds like the good old days! Most stripers have been taken on finger mullet. Reports of plenty of bait: small menhaden and shrimp up the Savannah River as well as lots of seatrout. So far seatrout have not been very active but as conditions warm anticipate the seatrout action to heat up!

The sheepshead bite has been good inshore and offshore! The offshore bite has garnered most of the attention. Nonetheless, the inshore bite has been respectable. Normally flounders are though of as summer time fish in coastal waters. That being said a few have been caught in deep water creeks as well as on the flats. These fish are the exception and not the rule for winter inshore fishing.. A few whiting being caught by persistent die hard whiting fishermen. Again as temperatures warm the whiting bite will heat up!

What’s going on up river? Locals are saying this has been a very unusual winter. Areas that would typically hold fish in the Back and Middle River have been void of fish. One statement that is repeated is the Savannah River is experiencing the highest salinity on record. This has been definitely been a cold winter. Exactly why fish and bait are in one river as opposed to another who knows. It does appear there is a late winter run of stripers which to date have been scant. Some fishermen believe the stripers are in the more salty reaches towards the sounds in waters the DNR is unable to detect them in. Other believe that these are not moving all the way down river to the coast. For now good number of stripers in local waters!

As the weather continues to warm heading into the weekend tides and weather should be nice providing for good fishing! Striper, redfish, seatrout and sheepshead fishing could be good!

Hope this of help! Capt. Jack McGowan

Only keep what you intend to eat and release the rest! Fish On!