St Simons Island Fishing Report 1/25/2015

Fishing Report SE Georgia (Golden Isles) January 25

Fishing some of the biggest tide swings on the Eastern Seaboard can be tricky, especially if you throw in the dose of wind and rain that we’ve had. Despite freshwater run-off dirtying the water, the bite has been pretty good. While many of our summer resident targets such as tarpon, triple tail, cobia, and sharks have headed south we still are harboring a healthy population of redfish, trout, sheepshead and sea bass. It takes a little “tide timing”, but when you can get the conditions in your favor, the fish have been cooperating. The low tide stages have produced best for trout and redfish while the sea bass and sheepshead aren’t nearly as tide driven.

Inshore, trout have settled deep and as the water drains from the marsh during the last 2 hours of the fall, and during the first couple ours of flood, the fish feed aggressively. Anglers have been fishing in depths between 6 and 16 feet with good success. Live shrimp floated with an adjustable cork, to within 3 inches of the bottom has been an effective tactic as well as slow trolling plastics. While trolling is not for everybody, it is an effective way to locate and catch speckled trout. Some of the better catches have come on artificial baits, and usually this time of year I go exclusively with sinking plugs and plastics. On a recent trip we landed 25 trout and 8 red fish alternating 3” D.O.A. ¼ ounce shrimp and Mirrolure 52 M’s. The plastics must be worked slow, making sure to work the bait with the current. When fishing the D.O.A. shrimp, it’s important to let the bait sink to the bottom and stay in contact with the bait as often the bite is very subtle. The trout seemed to prefer plugs with orange or chartreuse, and one of my favorite shrimp patterns for anytime of the year is clear with red flake. When the water becomes clearer we’ll mix the D.O.A. colors up with Near Clear, Watermelon Halo, and Holographic Glitter.

Red fish here in the Golden Isles will stack up in small shell lined creeks during mid-day low tides. As the sun warms up the dark exposed mud, the reds will become active. Much like the trout, the last of the outgoing tide and first of the rise are prime time. But unlike the trout, the redfish will reside in mere inches of water. Generally stealth and long cast are required. Presenting the bait stealthy is equally important, so we generally will throw soft plastic jerk baits. The CAL jerk baits in the 4” size are our “go to” baits as they make a soft entry and have a great gliding action when twitched. Depending on wind and distance needed we’ll throw them on weighted or weightless extra wide gap worm hooks. While I don’t think the reds are as picky on color, I always keep Melon Back, Root Beer Gold Glitter, and Watermelon Seed in the arsenal.

One of the more challenging, but widely available species are the sheepshead, but the rewards have been great, as many fish are in the 5 to 8 lb. class. While these fine eating fish will eat on all tide stages we’ve noticed the saltier incoming tides have produced best. Sheepshead love crustaceans, shellfish meat and shrimp, but it’s hard to beat fiddler crabs. Just about any barnacle covered structure will work. We generally concentrate on bridge and dock pilings but jetty rocks, fallen timber and sea walls have all been holding good fish as well. The trick is to fish them vertically with as little weight as possible and a good stout short shank live bait hook in a 1/0 to 3/0 size. Many shore bound anglers have been scoring well off the bridges and piers. While I have felt pretty good catching the sheepies in the 4-6 lb. size,  one of the St Simon Island Pier regulars gave me a call earlier this week and had weighed 3 sheepshead just over 10 lbs. and a couple right at 8 lbs.

When the winds have laid down, the near shore wrecks have been holding sea bass and bull red fish. Typically on days when the current is not to strong an anchor can be deployed. On days when heavy current is encountered, drifting is best. Both red fish and sea bass are very eager to bite on the wrecks. Just about any live or dead bait will work, as will plastics pegged to 2-3 ounce jig heads or slab spoons in the same weight. Earlier this month we chased working birds over wrecks in 40 ft. and pitched metal jigs with great success. On that day we totaled 15 reds that averaged between 18-25 lbs. The sea bass are very, very thick and catches of over a hundred in a few hours are not uncommon.

We have a string of mid-day low tides coming up and some favorable tide heights coming off the last new moon, so I am expecting a good report next week…

Capt. Tim Cutting

fishthegeorgiacoast.com

St Simons Island, Ga.

912 230 1814

 

 

 

St Simons Island Fishing Report March 2014...So Far

March weather has been fairly predictable...all over the place...as it should be this time of year. Water temperatures have ranged from the mid 50's upwards to 64 degrees. Water clarity has run the gamut as well, from crystal clear and salty, to downright sweet (fresh) and dirty. It's been a pretty solid spring for redfish, both large and small. Bull reds have been roaming the near shore wrecks from 5 miles on out to 20. Inshore, the low tide bite has been nothing short of spectacular, with many double digit days. We've had days of 30 trout and days where could barely muster up a half dozen. Most of the trout we have been catching are of legal size and very healthy. This spring's run of sheepshead has been very strong both inshore and near shore, with a healthy dose of black drum thrown in the mix. As of today's writing, those tasty whiting have finally shown up!


One of the keys to our success has been to lighten up our presentations. We have reduced hook sizes, jig head weights, leaders and the weights under our float rigs. We have lost a few rigs, but gained a few more bites. In some cases our leaders have been as light as 6-8 lb. fluorocarbon, and seldom throw any jigs over 3/16 ounces and have even dropped down to a 1/16 in many cases. We are using "loud" colors on our plastics, including but not limited to glow, purple, silver glitter patterns, bubblegum and even yellow. (For those that know me, it's hard to get me off "natural" hues, but whatever works!) While knots can often lead to lengthy discussions, I am still a big fan of loop knots. I have found that live bait suspended under a cork, with a loop knot, gives the bait a lot more freedom to move.

It won't be long before the water temperatures hit that magic 68 degrees and red fish will move up on the grass flats, triple tail will start floating in our sounds, flounder will cover the bottom, and those speckled trout will go on their spring/spawn feed, hitting everything that moves! And for those wanting to wrestle some aggressive sharks, one of America's best shark grounds is about to come alive!

March Fishing Report for St Simons Island, Georgia

In both fresh and saltwater the word transition gets thrown around quite often. If there ever was a transitional pattern, March is certainly a month with a lot going on. Depending on how soon or late the water starts warming and forage starts to arrive, will determine where to concentrate your efforts. Our local year round population of redfish, sheepshead, speckled trout, whiting and sea bass will all be biting very well…somewhere. Migratory species such as cobia, triple tail and sharks should start to trickle in towards the latter part of the month.

One of Georgia’s most sought after species; the speckled trout will certainly be one of the most transitional fish this month. If the water temperature stays below 58 degrees, continue to concentrate your efforts in 6-18 feet of water. The periods around either side of low tide as the water slows should be prime feeding time. Smaller profile soft plastics like the D.O.A C.A.L curl tail, sinking hard baits, and live shrimp drifted on an adjustable float rig should all produce. If possible, down size your baits and work them very slow, on or very near the bottom. Limit your search to smaller creeks, rivers and tributaries that hold deep water. The sounds, ICW, and open water will just not offer the comfort for trout yet. If we have a substantial warming trend, trout will move out to more open water and begin to feed shallow, especially at the higher tide stages. Trout tend to have a westerly movement on our coast in the cooler months, so don’t be afraid to try drops closer to the I-95 corridor. The further reaches of the St. Mary’s, Satilla, Little Satilla, White Oak, Turtle and Altamaha systems will all hold good numbers of trout this time of year. Many savvy anglers catch redfish, sheepshead and striped bass in these areas too.

March is typically a month when the larger sheepshead show up both inshore and nearshore. There will be a lot of fish exceeding the 8 lb. range brought to the scales this time of year. On the nearshore wrecks, try to avoid days or tide stages during the day when the current is ripping, or moving fast. Many anglers get frustrated on the wrecks trying to fight thru black sea bass and oversized red fish, which is not a bad problem to have on some days. The best strategy to locate the sheepshead is to move around until you find a piece of structure that is holding them. The wrecks are made up of different levels of relief and material, and often sheepshead will isolate in small areas. Once you find a spot holding these striped bandits, mark it and guard it with your life. You should be able to record two or three spots per trip. You may be surprised at what you will find on these smaller pieces of structure as trophy sized summer trout, flounder, cobia and trigger fish will also separate themselves from the hordes of sea bass.

Red fish, as always will seek shallow water. Typically during the cooler months, reds will feed pretty hard during low tide in the back of creeks and mudflats. As the water warms, and bait such as mullet, small crabs, blue crabs, mud minnows, and shrimp become more active, you may find red fish feeding at the top of the tide, over mudflats. I particularly like mudflats that have a lot of shell and sparse grass. Take your time, and work slowly and quietly along these areas and you may even be able to see redfish cruising or even crashing baits. Once you spot activity, you can usually anchor the boat quietly, and fish that area. The schools should not be broken up yet, so if there is one, there should be quite a few more.

For those close enough to fish the jetties at the mouth of the St. Mary’s this month, the fishing should be some of the best of the year. Over slot and slot redfish, sheepshead, whiting, black drum, and sea trout will all show up at this rocky fish magnet. In fact, black drum in the 20-80 lb. are quite common. Favorite baits for black and red drum are blue crabs. Simply pop the top off the crab and remove the legs. The joints where the legs were removed make a great place for hook placement. You can pin either half or a quarter of the crab on the hook, and send it to the bottom, anywhere in the vicinity of the rocks.

Finally, March usually signals the beginning of the whiting run. Usually the deeper holes in front of the King and Prince on St Simons Island will be one of the first places the whiting show up. A good rule of thumb is 14-20 ft. in depth. If the beaches are rough, check the same depth in the rivers and sounds.

By Tim Cutting

A Very Special Day

This was a special day for Andrew who was celebrating his 10^th birthday with his dad James and little sister Alex. James, who works a really heavy work schedule, was looking forward to a great birthday for Andrew and some quality time with both children. Andrew

 

is an avid fisherman who had yet to catch a red. The day started very slow when finally a nice red bit…his little sister’s line. After working several oyster beds we only had some croakers, yt’s, and stinkrays…and a red his sister caught. With the tide still low we checked some more spots until we finally got a another red…on his dad’s line. Now the water was creeping in and we were struggling. We spotted some nervous water in between two gnarly oysters and decided to make a few casts. On Andrew’s third cast he connected with a good slot red. And then the god’s of birthday fish sent us reds for the next 90 minutes. It was kinda crazy with the kids netting each other’s fish and going under and over each other fighting reds. Don’t worry; Dad was yanking on his share too! It couldn’t have turned out better, and we even got to catch a few trout as well. To top it off, Andrew picked up a nice flattie

to complete his birthday slam. I have to apologize for the lack of photos, but the camera went dead, and I struggled with my old flip phone. All in all it was an awesome experience to see Pops and his two wonderful kids laughing and sharing high fives. It’s days like those that you (I) will remember forever! Thanks crew, you guys made it happen!

 

By Tim Cutting

Fish Magnets!

I had another great day earlier this week with “fish magnets” Roy and Amanda. It was a nice fall morning with temps down to about 47 and a pretty good breeze outta the ESE at 10-15 knots. The water was crystal clear, so conditions set up pretty good. On our first stop Amanda boats 4 NICE trout in about 4 casts. We figured it was on! And then things went kinda sideways with a severe case of lockjaw developing. From there it was trolling motor, anchor, plastics, live shrimp and we even considered dynamite. With a trout there, and a red here, we started adding a few up. We weeded thru quite a few dinks as well. Heading back to the ramp we were wondering if we’d have enough fish to stink the grease. It was reminding me of a Kenny Rogers song where “you never count your money (fish) when you’re sitting at the table (boat)”. Sure enough, after the land of a thousand casts, Roy and Amanda (fish magnets) had grinded out a nice mess…again! Thanks guys, it’s always a blast to fish with you!!

 

 

By Tim Cutting

Inshore Bite Heating Up! SSI 4/14/13

Michelle and I got out for couple of hours this morning before the rains. A little cool, breezy and overcast, but the fishing was good! We fished a flooded mud/shell flat that I have run past a thousand times, but never put much time into it. We ended up working it back and forth the entire time. Although we caught fish the entire length, one little 50 yd stretch produced most of the fish. We stayed on the trolling motor with corks and DOA's in about 3-5 ft. of water. Of course Michelle picked off all of the quality fish, but left a few to keep me busy too. Twenty one trout (9 shorts) a red, and flattie all made it to the boat. (Kept the legal trout, red, and flattie...freezer empty) Although the water was clear on the flat, it is still very sweet and red stained from the fresh water...but the fish didn't mind. We fished the last couple hours of the incomming tide today. Yep, spring (and the fish) are here!

 

By Tim Cutting

Georgia Redfish on Fire! (Trout too!)

Had the extreme pleasure of fishing with Mark, Rob, Larry and Carles this weekend. Hailing from West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia, these guys left a half a foot of falling snow to fish the warm and sunny Golden Isles. These guys are used to fishing the tricky,
rock strewn, New River for wary, strong fighting small mouth bass. So a nice warm laid back coastal trip was in order. Well mother nature, being what she is, thru us one of the coldest and windiest weekends I have ever fished (heck, even rained a little). No sweat for these mountain maniac fishing machines. On the menu for Saturday was artificials for trout and Sunday would be reds. With winds gusting up to 30+ mph :hair: these guys went to work with the DOA shrimp yesterday, and headed out this a.m., met with near freezing temps :hair: and 15-20 out of the NW. Both days yielded nearly identical results with 34 trout the first day, half released (unders), and 28 reds today, half released (overs). Had a few heartbreaks on pulled hooks and broke off reds, along with a couple big trout yours truly knocked off with the net as well.:banginghe Throw in a couple flatties which gave us a couple of slams, and it was an awesome weekend in any weather. These guys were hard core and hard on each other! Miss a fish, get a black eye. Bad cast, swift kick to the back side. Break off, knot on the head…just kidding, all good ribbing and competition and a million laughs. Thanks guys, awesome trip in some brutal conditions!

By Tim Cutting

St Simons Island Redfish & Trout 2-8-13

I had a big time on the marsh with Tom and Elanora Williams today. Tom and Elanora have a huge love for the outdoors and hunt and fish when time lets them get away from their nursery business in North Florida. The plan was trout and reds, which have been biting very good. We worked several trout spots pretty hard and never found the motherload, and ended up having to pick them off here and there, both shorts and keepers. Elanora did end up with one right at twenty inches. (Elanora pretty much put the pressure on Tom all day striking first and often) The reds were a little tougher as the negative low and a stiff breeze from the NW made it impossible to get on some of the schools I was on earlier in the week. We finally worked our way into a system that held a little more water and it paid off with both overs and slots. We pretty much had a chinese fire drill as these fish seemed to be super charged and ran under and around the boat, but some how we managed not to lose or break off any, thanks to some fine work by Tom and Elanora. The water was a little dusty but fishable and even though the next few days will have some big tides with some LOW lows, I think that those that get out should do pretty well! Thanks Tom and Elanora for a great time, and although Tom got big fish, Elanora took the aggregate...sorry Tom.

By Tim Cutting

They Bit HARD today...Reds/Trout 2-4-13

I am sure everybody is pretty aware of how solid the St Simons fishing has been this fall and right up until today. The mild winter and clear water probably have a good deal to do with the great fishing. While we have had some great trips this past week and all winter in general, today was exceptional.  I met Orren at the dock this morning, and he had red fish on his mind. Orren had one day left on Army leave and it was now or never. With some nice low water we decided to check an area I hadn’t visited in about two years…and they were there…in spades. Problem was, they were super spooky. We picked off a few, broke off a few and scared a few. We talked about checking spots for some more user friendly spot tails but decided “you don’t leave fish to find fish”. A few minor adjustments and it was instant carnage! They depleted all of our minnows and Gulps for nearly three hours. My best guess is that we had two huge schools of year classes as the fish were either in the 22-23” range or 26-28” range. As the bite slowed and time was nearly out I figured what the heck, we’d try a few trout drops. Most of you know I love to plug for trout, and Orren being a pretty seasoned fisherman both salt and fresh, was all over it. With 30 or 40 cast, jerks and twitches of the fabled Bomber Long A, and no results, I was about to pack it in when Orren connects on a good one. Mission accomplished. As we headed back to the ramp, I just had to check “one more spot”…right? Armed with the trusty DOA’s, Orren and I went to work. I don’t think a cast lasted more than 15 seconds. The trout were absolutely shredding the plastic shrimp. With mere shreads of the DOA’s hanging on the hook and the cooler full, we headed back to the ramp. I guess all things happen for a reason. When Orren called me a couple of days to schedule for today, I had just hung up the phone with one of my regulars who had to go on call, leaving the door open for Orren. Call it karma or whatever, Orren, you are a fishing machine and I had a blast!