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!