Coastal River Charters

Hurricane Irene missed the Georgia coast! We wish the best for those that weren’t so lucky. Here the impact was mostly rip currents and higher tides. Fishing just prior to Irene was good! As the outer bands landed fishing deteriorated. This is a typical pattern associated with storms. Fishing in front of is usually good. Once the storms hits it usually takes nature several day to right itself. Over the weekend we experiencing large tides not associated with the storm. This coupled with the storm meant unusually large tides. What happens is bait shrimp and fish are literally pulled out. This could be a bonanza for shrimpers provided there isn’t lots of debris in the water.

Just before the storm the redfish was good! Plenty of redfish from 21 to 23 inches. There are lots of mullet and shrimp around. If you find an area with plenty of bait it’s likely holding fish! Just after the storm hit we still caught some nice reds but the bite wasn’t like the bite prior to the storm.

During the summer its always idea to have on board a rod that could handle a big shark or tarpon! When you on seatrout drop try casting the big rod out and just let sit in a rod holder. It’s not unusual to hook several large fish in a day. If you want to land that fish you’ll likely need to have your boat set up so you can get off anchor quickly. A polyform fender attached to an anchor is a suitable system. If you’ve caught several pin fish you might hook one on your big rod and see what hits. You might not get any takers but you’ll likely be amazed what’s swimming around!

Tides are still pretty high through this week week but not extreme. Following a hurricane the days seems hotter. Make sure you have your sunscreen! Despite less than ideal tides there will likely be plenty of opportunities to catch fish. If the water you are fishing is dirty, off colored, fish with excellent eye sight will more likely take your bait. Ladyfish are hoot to catch but a mess in the boat. If you looking for a seatrout bite best bet work the lady’s for a few minuets. If you catch a seatrout or two stay put. If you are not catching seatrout keep moving. Keep trying other drops. Remember its nature. If you on a seatrout drop and you’re caching whiting it might a day to fish for whiting.

With large tides best bet seatrout higher in tide; reds lower in the lower tide. Shrimp look plentiful. If you see a school of mullet getting busted by a fish there’s probably a big old red under them. Cast to to the commotion!

Hope this of interest and help!

Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan

Fishing last week was pretty good! Lots of almost legal seatrout and redfish in sounds. It possible to catch some nice fish as well as get lots of bites! There are lots trash fish around so make sure you have plenty of bait. Despite tides on the charts not over 8 feet, the reality was there were tides that were much bigger. This meant water in some rivers was muddy. Despite big tides and muddy conditions the bite was still surprisingly good! Don Adams as well Joey’s bait shop are having little trouble finding shrimp. CT, Tybee Island Bait and Tackle has an excellent supply of fat and healthy mud minnows! There has been some tarpon action along the outer sand bars. Fishermen are finding large ocean menhaden around the sea buoy. For big fish, the larger baits the best!

Ty from Bass Pro in Savannah says fishing is pretty good. Similarly Ty reports lots of small fish. In about a month most of the undersized fish will be legal size. Sounds extremely early but last week we caught stripers in the Savannah River. This isn’t as unusual as it sounds. Some stripers will reside in our local waters year round. Nonetheless, the best bite striper bite is associated with the cold weather months.

There are lots of top end black tips (70 to 100 pound) in the sounds! Although this is a fish you could keep its always good idea to go light on the resource. Keep only what you’ll eat. Soaking a big fish in butter milk is helpful in drawing out the gamey taste. Fishermen, this week, will note lots of small jelly balls (average diameter two or three inches) in the water. If you wondering why you aren’t seeing many shrimp boats moving its because of the jelly balls. Jelly balls aren’t “hot” (meaning they don’t sting) but they are a nuisance in fouling the shrimpers’ nets. If want you could scoop up a bucket full of jelly balls and fish for spade fish when sea allows. With increasing seas from hurricane Irene there wont be opportunity to target spade fish till seas lay. In short, for spades try fishing near shore wrecks with small hooks and small bits of jelly balls.

Last week boaters and fishermen might seen manatees passing through our waters. When boating motoring around these docile creatures slow down and give them a wide berth. Those throwing a cast net are finding little trouble in netting shrimp. However, lots of the shrimp in the creeks and rivers are on the small size. If you want to catch a quality fish, fish a quality bait. There is nothing wrong with a small shrimp but a larger shrimp at times will catch a quality fish that other wise might not bite. In short its all about energy. You want to present a bait that is interesting enough for a quality fish to want to expend its energy to go after it. Adams Bait House has some good bait sized shrimp on hand

Fishing will be problematic latter in the week. Tides are building to 8.3 feet on Saturday August 27th and impact of Irene on the coastland is yet to be known. At a minimum strong rip currents and higher than normal tides will be associate with the storm. Like any low pressure system could be good fishing just before the storm. If fishing, fish protected waters.

Fish On!

Capt. Jack McGowan
Hope this of interest and help! Keep what you want to eat and release the rest! Support your local CCA chapter!

Temperatures have been hot! Consequently, fishing has been up down. There is some seatrout action being reported up and down the coast. The bite is not fast and furious but it is possible to catch some nice fish. There have been some reports of seatrout being caught off the main pier at Tybee. Most of seatrout are carry roe. This is a good sign for more fish in the pipeline! Capt. Wild Bill says seeing lots of seatrout with roe means food is abundant. There could be fewer fish than most years. On the other hand there is more food available for seatrout to generate more seatrout. This is good sign!

Michael from Adams Bait House said they catching plenty of shrimp! Most of the shrimp are white shrimp. Just everything out there will eat a shrimp, people included. If you like fishing shrimp this is good news. Those dropping a crab line or trap have been catching plenty of crabs! Looks like a good year for crabbing! Crabs are food source for redfish as well bonnet head sharks.

Lots of little redfish around. A couple of reports of legal fish or two. Its still a early for the reds. By late September, early October there will be lots of the first year reds that are legal. It possible to catch some nice reds along the flats and fishing structure like dock pilings. The water on the flats can get super heated so plan your fishing either early or late in the day.

Flounder while tricky to target has supplied lots of the action in recent days! A favorite way to target this fish is to use your trolling pitching along points or shells rakes. It’s possible to catch several nice fish in an outing! If flounder aren’t biting you’ll likely be catching some nice reds. The flounder bite can go from aggressive to very subtle. The flounder bite has been good in the sounds as well as in Savannah River. In the Savannah River look for little gullies along bank. A favorite tide when fishing gullies is high outgoing all the way down. Flounder will stage on one side of the gully waiting for the bait to pass by. A float rig will work nicely. CT, Tybee Island Bait and Tackle says that he has a good supply of fat mud minnows on hand. The hardy mud minnow is great bait for flounder regardless of how you fish it: on a carolina rig (bottom rig), on a float rig or on a jig.

Usually by this time of year there is lots of bait fish (menhaden) in the sounds. So far the bait has been sporadic likewise the bite has been sporadic. Those looking for bait fish should have little trouble finding around the shipping channel.

The inshore bite is not great but it has been alright. With lots of shrimp in local waters the fish will be fattening up as well as greater numbers in the coming weeks! Typically August is peak month for tarpon in local waters. Likely September will be the better month as temperatures begin to drop and large menhaden becomes abundant.

Hope this is of interest and help!

Capt. Jack McGowan

When fishing beachfront sloughs take your time when running the breakers. Last Saturday we spent hours involved with a rescue at the “wash out”. Take your time to make sure you know where the channel is. A miss read can flip a boat! The boat flipped was small flat boat. If you can’t discern a channel, stay away for another day.