Another Great Day on the Water 6-30-11

After several days of targeting Redfish with some pretty astounding numbers for this time of year, I got a call from Greg from Atlanta who said he needed to put his two daughters, Madison and Kelsey, on some fish, and just needed to bend a rod.  As much as I truly love to target Redfish, Trout and Flounder all year long, I was looking forward to dropping some shrimp to the bottom to do some Whiting fishing (I'm a closet Whiting fisherman from way back in the day when we used to chase the Whiting and Pompano along the surf in north Florida). 

I was a little leary knowing that the water temps have warmed up, and didn't know what kind of numbers would be in the likely spots.  Thank goodness the fish were there in good numbers.  The girls began counting the Whiting and Croaker, but soon lost count.  Greg's first drop produced two fish off the double dropper rig, and from then on it was all we could do to keep the girls baited up.  Good sized Whiting, Croakers, Ladyfish, sharks and of course rays as well kept us busy all day.  If a Croaker grew to be ten pounds, I believe he would pull you overboard. 

With about 10 minutes left in our trip, we slid over into big shark territory to see if we could hook a bruiser for Dad.  As our time was running out, and it was apparent the big one wouldn't show, the clicker began that slow song and then began to scream.  It was then the Blackt tip broke the water with a leap as spectacular as any Tarpon.  Greg fought this fish expertly on fairly light tackle, including a nifty maneuver under the anchor rope and around the boat.  Finally, just under 5 ft of missile shaped Black tip came boat side and we took some pics and released her.  Thanks for an awesome day on the water gang!  I think I was more giddy than the girls!

St Simons Island Fishing Report 6-29-11

Had Mike, his son Jake and friend Nick on the boat yesterday (6-29-11).  This was probably our best day for Redfish this past week as far as numbers go.  Atlhough we only dug out one keeper, and had many very close, these guys caught Red after Red for about 2 hours.  We had a pretty good breeze blowing, and we had to drop 1/8th jigs into a spot about the size of a pie platter.  Once these guys started pinpointing those light jigs to the spot, it was an immediate hook up. 

As we peppered the banks, we found out there is also an abundance of sharks, croakers, rays and a good amount of legal Whiting around as well. It was really neat to see a couple of young anglers take to finesse fishing the salt marsh that quickly.   Thanks Mike, Jake & Nick--you guys really stepped it up in some tight quarters and tough conditions to turn it into a great day on the water.

St. Simons Island Fishing Report 6-28-11

Fished today with Nick, his son Nicholas and his daughter Erica.  The good news is we caught a dozen Reds, the bad news is 10 of them would fit in my pocket.  The good news is it speaks well of our future Redfish population, the bad news is it doesn't help to get the grease stinkin'.  We sorted through some sharks and Whiting, and all in all had a great time. 

Nicholas ended up with big fish honors, as he snatched out two nice upper slots.  Erica got first fish of the day honors with a perfect cast cork deep into a flooded grass pocket.  Not really sure why the juvy Reds have moved in to our spots this time of year, but it definitely keeps the action interesting.  This time of year you're definitely gonna have to wade through a lot of trash fish and toothy critters as well.  Thanks again gang for making it a fun trip, hopefully next time we can slide the baits past the juveniles and get to the moms and pops.

Fishin' with Bob- St Simons Fishing Report 6-27-11

Had another great trip with my good friend Bob from Brunswick yesterday.  Bob fishes with me regularly, and has fished these areas his whole life.  Bob knows how good the fishing can be, though he really keeps me on my A game.  Sometimes I get a little nervous about catching a good fish on your first cast, but that's exactly what Bob did and yanked out a nice Red off the cork.  The rest of the day, we weeded through small Reds and trash fish, but did manage to pull out four more upper slot Reds.  We had a nice Flounder show up as well.  We even had a fire drill, as we both sent our jigs up to the shells and got a nice double.  We somehow managed to get them away the trolling motor and big motor while trying not to tangle the lines.  It was probably not a pleasant dance to watch, but we laughed pretty hard about it.  Gotta thank Bob for bringing me a nice sack of tomatos from the garden.  Nothing like a mater, mayo & S/P sandwich!  Thanks again Bob, see you soon!

Still Seeing Red-SSI Fishing Report 6-26-11

Had Raymond (Elbow) and TJ from Waycross out today for a little low tide Redfish rendezvous.  We had our work cut out for us in this heat, but these guys are no strangers to the marsh, and were pretty darn savy.  The strike zone, at times, was small as a basketball hoop and these guys put it there.  We hooked the future pretty good with some shorts, as well as a couple nice over slots.  Had a couple good ones pull the hooks, as the bite was light at times.  We ended up with 6 nice upper slots for the dinner table. Raymond had a nice 22 9/10" upper slot that was not very photogenic.  When it came time to get his picture taken he decided to jump back in the water.   :angry:  A little trick that works sometimes when handling frisky Reds is to turm them upside down, and 9 out of 10 times they will go to sleep for you until you're ready to put them in the cooler, release or photograph.  Lip grips are also a good idea, but please support the belly when using grips.  All the reds were caught on shrimp pinned to jig heads, letting the current sweep the bait.  We then went on a mission for Flounder and managed only two small chips with the plastics.  Thanks again TJ and Raymond, a great day on the water!  Sorry for the sloppy camera work, as the photographer (me) had the camera in video mode.  A special thanks to my sweetie (Michelle) for working her technilogical magic in providing some stills for us:

St. Simons Island Fishing Report 6-25-11

Had a great time fishing with Charles and his two sons Troy and Alex.  Although we had to do a lot of running and gunning, along with sorting through some sharks and rays, we ended up with a very good day.  My hats off to these guys, as we got broke off, cut off and had some pulled hooks on some good fish, these guys kept firing away ended up with a dozen reds, including a couple of unders, a couple overs and 8 good ones for the grease.  Although the flounder bite has tapered off, we did manage to stick a pretty good one.  The highlight of the day was when Charles hooked a fish and developed a wind knot in the spool, which actually severed the line!  Charles held the braided line with the fish on one end while we spliced a double uni to get the line back together.  The fish turned out to be a nice upper slot red that somehow decided to stay put.  Thanks guys, I had a blast and look forward to doing it again soon!

St. Simons Island Fishing Report 6-17-11

We fought through some tough, full moon tides this past week and although we had to work pretty hard, we came up with a few Reds, Trout, Flounder, Whiting and a mixed bag of Sharks.  We had John and his daughter Grace from Virginia out on Friday, who are both excellent anglers on the fresh water side- and their skills came in handy as we had to try many spots to find fish.  Although the Trout were short, Grace ended up with a nice little slam, and her father John caught a couple nice Reds as well, and pulled the hook on another.   Special thanks to John and Grace for bearing down in some pretty stained water. 

Old friends, new fish! 6-10-11

I had Everett and his grandson Kalen on the boat today.  The last time Everett and Kalen were down the weather was cold & rainy & we ended up with three limits of reds plus change.

Today's plan was to change it up a little and fish new territory for multiple species using artificials.  This was not Everett & Kalen's first rodeo, as they have fished the salt marshes not only in Georgia, but throughout the Southeast.  The day started out good, with slot and oversized reds right off the bat. 

With the water completely gone, and a negative low tide, we decided to hit all the nooks and crannies with jigs & plastics.  Kalen picked up on the jig fishing and immediately landed a couple of nice trout along with some croakers & whiting that didn't seem to mind eating plastics.  As the tide rolled in, and the day grew short, we decided to flounder fish with the trusty Gulp swimming mullet.  Everett broke the ice with the first flattie.  We pitched jigs, and hopped and slow rolled them over the shells to end up with a 1/2 dozen nice flatties.  It was really awesome to see an angler try new techniques and areas, and master it as well as Kalen & Everett.  Thanks Everett & Kalen for another great trip!

SSI Slammin 6-9-11

Had a trip with Kirk from Macon on Thursday.  Kirk is no stranger to the marsh, and is pretty much a fishin fool-like myself.  Kirk has been goin to school and working the trauma center in Macon-putting in some long, long hours and days--and decided it was time to fish. 

We set out pretty much with an open game plan, which would include trying to mix it up as much as possible.  We wanted to use artificials and live bait, fishing different places at different tide stages for different fish.  We got on a pretty decent redfish bite early with some good over slots as well as one nice upper slot. 

We decided to fish plastics later for flounder, and ended up with half a dozen good ones.  Our last stop would be throwing lip divers, looking for large trout.  Although I failed to connect with my bombers, Kirk immediately hooked up with a nice 19 incher on a yuzuri plug.  We joked about gettin back in there and catching that one's Grand Dad.  Sure enough, Kirk hooked into a true gator.  Initially I thought this fish was a redfish, until I got a look at her and my knees got a little weak.  I've had Georgia trout up to 25" on the boat, and I'm sure this one topped that.  Kirk fought this fish like a pro, for what seemed like an eternity.  As the fish got almost close enough to net, she made another hard run under the boat and pulled the darn hooks.  I am still sick! 

The bite, although steady, was not spectacular, but we still ended up with a pretty nice mess of fish, and Kirk managed a couple slams, with one slightly over 60 inches.  Thanks Kirk, it was an awesome day!

St Simons Island Trout, Redfish & Flounder Report 6-7-11

Had a tall order to fill for some visitors from the Buckeye state.  Both Jeff & Drew are avid fishermen, and have been reading about the fine eating Redfish, Trout & Flounder that we have on our coast.  With a strong incoming tide, we put a plan together and set out.  Redfish was first on the menu, and the fishing gods were smiling as the first cast produced a nice slot.  We worked on the Reds for a little bit and ended up with a mess of good slot fish. 

Next on the menu was Flounder, and of course we pinned on the trusty Gulp swimming mullet and went to work.  It wasn't long before we had six to the boat, and Drew asked if he could run the trolling motor.  This 9 year old boy held that boat in position against wind & current as good as anybody I've ever seen.  He was a natural.  I must not be following my own blog advice very well, because while Drew held me and his Dad in position, we pulled the hooks on three nice flatties. 

With two out of the three slam members knocked out, and the water getting high, we continued our plan fishing tight to structure and grass.  We had to run and gun several points, docks and rocks in search of the elusive Trout.  Insert Drew the natural, as he picked up the cork rig and placed one perfectly against a grassed edge and watched the cork disappear after a short drift.  We had been weeding through some short fish and a few missed strikes until Drew pulled out a nice 20 incher.  Naturally, I gave Drew my hat and keys and told him to drive us home.  Ended up with some break offs, pulled hooks, missed strikes and 4 nice slams including Drew's that equaled over 50 inches.  Thanks Jeff & Drew for an awesome trip!

Absolutely Punished the Redfish today 6-4-11

After fishing some of the rising tides this week with a fair level of success, we decided to sleep in and do an afternoon trip to catch the last of the outgoing.  We mixed it up fishing some new and old spots that have been good to us during the warmer months in the past.  We found out early that besides Flounder, that Croaker, Whiting, Sea Bass and Ladyfish will happily engulf the Gulp swimming mullet as well.  After weeding through these fish, we went looking for Reds. Once we found them the bite was outstanding.  We caught Reds from 16" up to 32" for two hours straight.  We usually don't catch little ones with big ones, but they were all one hungry happy family today.  We caught fish in one foot of water up to 14 feet.  Daniel said his arms hurt, but it was his best fishing day ever.  He actually got the hang of feeling the jig bounce along the bottom, and detecting the bite.  It was a great day, and we could hardly stuff his swollen head back into his favorite Gulp hat!

From Amsterdam to Georgia...



...everybody loves fishing!  Had Ezra & Meike from across the pond today.  We were greeted by a beautiful Georgia sunrise and clear calm waters.  The rising tide on this particular morning seemed to have the fish in a hold and mold attitude.  Fortunately, Ezra & Meike never quit chunkin and windin, making cast after cast to entice the fish.  On this trip we had an extra challenge, as we were using artificial lures only.  We saw some nice Reds, picked off a few short Trout, and caught five good Flounder. 

Ezra also hooked a nice Ladyfish on a DOA shrimp that made several spectacular jumps before throwing the hook.  It was really nice to have two anglers that wouldn't quit, even though the bite was not spectacular.  Thanks Ezra & Meike, your good spirit and determination made it a great day on the water!