It’s about
windows. Heck, it’s always about those windows of opportunity. Here on St Simons Island, those inshore fishing windows can often disappear due to some
pretty wild tide fluctuations. When the moon dictates that we are going to move
8 or 9 feet of water in a 6 hour period, we are going to get heavy current, and
as a result, dirty water. On the other hand, when the tides mellow out, the
fishing can be off the chart. In the winter, give me some daytime low tides,
some clean water, and the window opens wide! That is exactly what happened this
last week here on the Island. Trout, red fish, black drum, whiting, and
sheepshead all fired off this past week. I have had calls from all over the
Georgia Coast with some outstanding reports. We fished 6 out of the last 7
days, and even yesterday in the pouring rain,
the bite continued. Speckled trout were caught in water depths averaging 6-14
ft. on soft plastics and live shrimp, red fish were a tad more finicky and
fresh live shrimp worked best. I usually snap the tail off the shrimp and
impale them on a jig head. The trick here is to run the point of the hook into
the shrimp where you have removed the tail and thread it all the way to the jig
head. This will not only emit more scent, it will be head forward for a streamlined
cast and when you give it a small twitch, look exactly like a fleeing shrimp.
The whiting and black drum seem to like their shrimp peeled and headed. Seriously!
I also run the hook through the entire shrimp body for these two fish.
Sheepshead will eat a shrimp, but fiddler crabs seem to be their favorite.
Now I sit here a little melancholy as the
tides get big on the new moon, and my mid-day low tides disappear. But wait a
minute, I think it was a wise Fisherman who said when one door shuts, another
one opens up! If this wise Man will let the wind lay down, there lies some of
the fishiest structures a mere 6 -9 miles off our beach. Excuse me while I rig
for some sea bass, flounder, summer trout, mackerel and bull reds! Stay tuned
as we crawl through the next window, or door, or ocean floor here in the GoldenIsles…
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