Coastal River Charters

The marshes look alive following recent rain! The salt marsh is a bright green color with only a few intermittent splotches of brown Puffy cumulus clouds still linger with threats of more typical afternoon showers. The week preceding Memorial Day was a washout with constant wind and rain. Inshore and offshore fishermen were landlocked. Fishing was good before the fowl weather. As front passed despite incredibly large amounts of rain conditions are pretty good! Since the front passed large redfish have been caught in grass by those pitching plastics. Anglers looking for toothy critters haven’t been disappointed. There are still good concentrations of sharks along the rips and outer sand bars. Large schools of small menhaden are popping up in Warsaw sound near high water as well near Causton Bluff and in the Savannah River. Who would have thought it? The seatrout bite has been good but points where seatrout can appear are being dominated by two and three pound ladyfish. Great fun for those looking for some nonstop action! Ladyfish will also readily take fly. So bring the light tackle! Ospreys, pelicans and terns can be seen driving for fish. Bonnet head sharks can be seen pinning shrimp and crab against a bank. An incredible an almost daily sight this time of the year! Commercial shrimpers have begun their season. The sight of shrimp boats on the horizon means shrimp are in the sounds. So far only a few commercial shrimpers are venturing out. Don Adams, a local bait shrimper is catching a mixture of brown and shrimp. The ratio has changed most of the shrimp are small brown shrimp. When the bait is small most fishermen like the idea getting lots of bait for their dollar but as in any situation you can’t please everybody. This is the time of year when shrimp can be short supply. White shrimp are moving to sounds. Brown shrimp are moving into tidal waters. Having a cast net on board is always a good idea. Catching a few dozens small menhaden could mean the difference between some great fishing or a bust! The water in Warsaw Sound is still pretty salty despite recent rain. Fishing should continue improve as rain water pushes out.

There’s already been one small tarpon landed! Small fish first then as the season progresses and bigger bait and bigger fish! As summer approaches the flounder bite should heat up as well! Best flounder fishing will found near sandy bottoms close to the ocean. Whiting are still biting but look for this bite to slow down as the days heat up. Mud minnows are active in the creeks. This is a great bait for seatrout and redfish. The down side to fishing a mud minnow is small fish such as whiting or croaker don’t prefer this bait. You’re also not likely to catch black drum on a mud minnow. A perfectly cooked shrimp is hard for a person pass up. Its equally hard for most fish to pass on the not cooked version of this delicious morsel! Black drum love shrimp! A small piece of a shrimp or a bugged out shrimp will work fine! The short version of this is pinching and crushing the head off. Then twisting the tail off to exposed lots its rear without a shell covering. Black drum love to bite from the tail to the head so run your hook towards the rear of the shrimp. Strange concoctions can and do catch fish. The largest whiting seemed to be caught on globs of two or even three kinds of bait. Is nothing scared? Not when comes to fishing, whatever is working lean into it and have fun!!! Looks like another great year for black drum! Some dandy drum in recent days have been caught off the Tybee pier!

Hope this of help! Remember keep only what plan to eat and release the rest!

Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan

As the week starts we are experiencing inclement weather: windy and unseasonably cold. This an aberration. Yesterday the weather was mild and a few days before that it was hot. Wait just a little bit and the weather will change again. Fishing has been good! Good seatrout action in tidal creeks close to the sounds and around the backwaters. When currents have been slow action has been good in tidal creeks where slightly stronger currents funnel through. Good seatrout action in the sounds fishing along rips and sandbars. Ladyfish have moved in and can provide plenty of excitement on light tackle. Large schools of Atlantic sharp nose sharks can be found around sandy bottom areas. Lots of fresh water to contend with. The best bite last week has been further away from rivers that carry lots of run off to the coast. Female sea trout can be large and full of roe. The largest we caught and released yesterday was a 20 incher. That one fish could possibly produce lots of sea trout. The whiting bite is still strong but as sharks increase the whiting will drop off. A few flounder being caught. Last week sea trout, whiting, lady fish, atlantic sharp nose and bonnet head sharks bit well. The redfish bite was a little off despite tide that looked favorable for this fish. Some fishermen have reported catching lots of small blue fish. This makes sense when you small menhaden pushed to the surface usually blue fish are the culprit.

For the next several weeks the shark bite should be intense! Fronts with lots of rain can move of these fish to saltier water. Conditions have been near prefect. One lady angler week last missed a shark. A few cranks on the reel, let bait settle. The shark hit again and missed! This time faster cranks and let the bait settle. The shark hit again and missed. One more time! The bait is almost to the boat and wham! A hooked up of four footer almost at the boat. The point of this is conditions in local waters are well suited for a variety of fish and they are hot! Fishing one area looking for max end bonnet heads we found big sea trout! When your charter says this feels like a shark you know have a nice trout! When sharks move in sea trout wont hang around for long but until that happens sea trout can be great fun!

The Atlantic sharp nose are sharks all about 3 feet in length. An ideal size for light tackle. Limits have changed concerning sharks. On small sharks composites its one per person or two per boat whichever is less and a size of 30 inches. It appears there are plenty out there so if you keep a couple don’t feel guilty. It might be helpful for the reds and trout to thin out a few sharks. Some reports of large cobia being caught mostly on live bait on the bottom.

Fishing action will likely be slow during the week till inclement clears out. As we head into the Memorial Day weekend if winds subside fishing could be good provided fishermen can clean water and decent drifts. This is time to start bringing out the heavier because you know what’s out there. Pretty sure last week we jump a bull shark in the flats off of Cabbage Island. Big fish are moving in!

Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan

With a few warm days it feels as if summer is already here! The water is still a little muddy from wind and lots of fresh water pushing down river to the coast. That being said still, ” fishing has been good! “A strong if not great whiting bite! The whiting bite will lessen start as conditions continue to warm. Large pods of 6 inch pogies are thick in the sounds. With bait fish comes sharks. While fishing near a large pod we hooked and caught several male atlantic sharp nose sharks. A fun fighting fish about 3 feet in length. Lots of ladyfish have shown as well! The ladyfish action around the beachfront has been strong! This a fun fish particularly with a fly or artificial. The seatrout bite has been good particularly in the sounds fishing rips with live bait. Seatrout are keying on glass minnows but will readily take a shrimp. Most the shrimp are a little large. Don’t anticipate to see smaller shrimp until the brownies , brown shrimp, arrive which is about the 1st of June.

Lots of anticipation on the flounder bite. Generally the flounder bite corresponds to Memorial Day as general time frame when fishermen say flounder are biting! A few are being caught but anticipate the flounder bite to picking up in the coming weeks!

When pogies are flicking on the water there are likely predator around. As conditions warm large predator fish will be more and more numerous. For now most the pogies are being pushed up by blue fish, lady fish or small sharks but that will be changing.

The CCA Skidaway Chapter recently had their annual banquet. The chapter banquets are great opportunity to renew a membership as well as attend a fun event! This is definitely a organization that fishermen and conservationists can rally behind! Check their website for coming events at www.ccaga.org Miss Judy of Miss Judy Charters spoke recently at chapter meeting. These are fun learning occasions where one can pick up some information on fishing!

As water gets cleaner the bite should pick up. Tides are decreasing throughout the week. Likely the better seatrout bite will be locations with better currents. Redfish action has been good. Fishermen who are consistently targeting these fish are able to land six or more in an outing with up about twelve fish. Mud minnows as well shrimp are a great redfish bait! A report or two of large schools or redfish but don’t anticipate to see that. Those fish are on the move and not easily caught. As the flats heat the schools tend to break up but an occasional school can be spotted. Sharks also have a tendency to bust up schools of redfish or seatrout. As water raise look for reds hanging around dock piling in deeper water.

Hope this of interest and help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan

The pattern for last couple of weeks has been when fishermen have found clean water there has been good fishing! Seatrout are large and females are full of roe! One fisherman reports redfish on inside, outside and up the creeks! The redfish bite while not ballistic has been good. Reds have caught on plastics, live and dead bait. Plenty of peanut sized menhaden in the rivers. One fishermen reported catching some quality redfish on small menhaden. Lots of bonnet head sharks rolling into local waters. Typically bonnet heads are feeding on shrimp and crab. At present it would hard to avoid a few bonnet heads. On the other hand at the conclusion of one recent trip we were looking for a max end bonnet head (to catch and release) and came across large seatrout. As water continue to warm seatrout will get pushed out by bonnet heads. In the mean time, large seatrout are on the prowl! Conservation is key. One youth angler during the week to his credit was insistent on releasing all the fish. This young angler was skilled and knowledgeable over his years. At the dock one person viewing our saying goodbyes said, Jack that must be what all the hard work while. Absolutely, yes! Lots of whiting in local waters. More and more flounders are showing up. Last week we caught our first male atlantic sharp nose (shark) a sign summer is right around the corner. Small schools of glass minnows can be seen swimming while at anchor. Lots of wind in recent days probably accounting for lots of muddy water. Again clean water has been the key. On one school of reds in shallow the water (last week)did not hold because the water was so clear. That’s pretty much the exception. A chop can make seeing fish difficult. On a choppy day you could be blowing out nice redfish right by the boat. Good seatrout action in the sounds but nice fish caught on the inside as well. Redfish while not in large schools can be found in small pods of 8 or 10 fish and there some large ones!

Conservation is the key! Most fishermen enjoy taking some fish and there’s nothing wrong with that as long as the fish are eaten. In the current issue of the CCA Tide magazine, May/June 2009 in an article relating to flounders there was a statement you can have a banner year or two and the fishery can still be in serious decline. This is something hard for most of us wrap our heads around. Science is the key. A couple of banner years while awesome only reveals part of the picture. This is why (on our coast) the CCA Coastal Conservation Association of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources are vital players on helping to preserve a healthy fishery. One component fishermen can participate is the Carcass Recovery Program by placing their spent fish carcasses after cleaning into a designated freezer (which are at most marinas). The age of fish is determined by counting the rings on the ear the bone much like a tree as well as how the fish are doing. This is relatively small innocuous step that can help those doing the research get a fair and balance picture. Please participate! Good science, good regulations equals a healthy fishery.

Fishing should continue to heat up as we head toward the Memorial Day Weekend! Memorial day for many marks the beginning of the flounder bite! Bait is pouring into the sounds. Be careful when on the water during a holiday period lots of boats. No wake zones are enforced particularly during holiday periods so boat responsibly!

Hope this of help! Good Fishing! Capt. Jack McGowan