Coastal Pond Pig

Little Man Dan strikes again. Had to jump a fence, run from a bad dog, and had a deer scare us probably more than we scared him. Dan smoked this one with a Zoom Smokin Shad-our biggest LMB out of the "secret pond" so far...probably a tad over 5. Stay tuned-had some pretty good days in the salt marsh as well. Will post later.

SSI Fishing Report 3/24 & 3/25…Let’s Play Two

We’ve been pretty busy lately but I wanted give to you a quick report on some pretty good fishing with some outstanding fisherman around St. Simons Island this past weekend. I was fortunate enough to be part of a corporate outing with an awesome group of guys from Network Cabling Infrastructures, Inc. The “bite” as of late has been a bit of a roller coaster ride, with great catches one day, and a lot of searching the next. I gotta give props to the Capt.’s and crews this past weekend for some very solid catches. Capt. Brooks and crew ran outside to some near shore structure and caught 156 sea bass in just under 3 hours of fishing. Capt. Travis found a great bite of trout Saturday, although many were short, Travis and crew totaled close to 70 trout, with 25 being nice keepers. Capt. David beat the backcountry for trout and reds, and also found some nice trout, and a fat red just under 30 inches. Yours truly brought up the rear with the red(fish), white(ing) and blue(fish) slam, and a few nice trout as well.

The line-up this past weekend was as follows:

“Slammin” Sam Nelson

Wayne “fishtrain” Gibson

Richard “poppin cork” Papineau

Tom “bullred” Bryant

Scott “catchin a mess” Klessner

Sean “ sea bass” Vanburen

Will “ fishkill” Valentine

Donnie “lipripper” Richard

The fella’s wanted to give a shout out to Slammin’ Sam from Corning who made it a weekend to remember!

Successful Marsh Recon 3-20-12

Picked up Nick, Whitt, and Chad earlier this week and hit the hallowed fishing grounds of the Hampton. These guys have fished all over the southeast and have decided to bring their 22 ft fishing machine to the Golden Isles, and call it their home port.  We were out for a little recon of the area, to pretty much get the lay of the land.  We started off with plastics and live shrimp under the corks, and got into some trout pretty quick.  A lot of short trout, but trout are showing up finally!  Then we headed into the skinny, and the redfish were home.  This is where the whole meaning of negative lows comes into play. We decided to get out, before staying in with the reds for the next 4 hours.  Hard to leave them biting, but we had other fish to fry…specifically whiting.  Out to the sloughs in the sound and the bite was on. The sharks have found their way back home as well.  Some fat whiting later (many with roe), some healthy bonnetheads, and one mega ray that got our hopes up, we headed back to the dock.  These guys were a blast to fish with, and were masters at some good natured ribbing (I will be using some of that material btw).  I know I’ve said it before, but I don’t think there is another group of people that loves life more than the fisherman.  Thanks guys for another great day on the marsh!

Redfish! 3-16-12

I had the pleasure of fishing with Andy and his good friend Blanton. We had one main goal, and that was to find reds. After eliminating a lot of water the previous day looking for some new redfish lairs, I was feeling a little apprehensive. I found a few trout and flounder but no reds. I figured yesterday to stick to the skinny creeks. We put the old Scout into 4 wheel drive mode and grinded thru oyster bar after oyster bar. The bite was tuff! Spots that usually hold lots of crawling reds were virtually empty! I gotta hand it to Andy and Blanton though, as they pitched cast after cast into crevice after small crevice. We ended up with a handful of nice reds by days end, but we dang sure had to work for them. I am still scratchin my head cuz the conditions were ideal! Funny how that works sometimes. We did run out and snatch a mess of whiting for Andy's mom though. The whiting bite is definately on in the deeper holes around the sounds for those looking for some tasty and easy catching. Thanks guys for a great, but tuff day on the water! Good luck in your tourney next week Andy! After watching you guys bear down in the marsh, I think you'll be cashing a check!

Early Season Slams 3-2-12

Had a great day on the water with some great folks from the Tarheel state.  Billy, his wife Sheila, and their future Bassmaster son, Jonathon headed out early armed with artificials, mud minnows, and frisky shrimp.  Jonathon was really impressive with his casting skills, as we picked our way thru some docks. Trout were the first species to show up, but the bite tapered off as quickly as it started.  Jonathon then shot a dock for a nice flattie to get 2/3’s of the slam completed.  It was here we ran into a wall, checking several skinny creeks for the reds.  On our last stop we hit pay dirt.  It was a fairly tight spot surrounded by oysters that required some pretty precise placement, and even more tact to yank them out of the shells.  We lost a few, got a few nice ones, and even managed to find flounder here as well.  While the bite was hard to find, and it took a lot of running and gunning, it was pretty rewarding to end up with some nice fish and a couple of slams. A special thanks to Billy and his fine family for grinding out a tough bite on the marsh today.  Jonathan definitely earned his stripes today, piloting the Scout back to port. You guys are gonna have a reel problem keeping a reel out of Jonathon’s hands! The kid’s a natural! 

Golden Isles Fishing Forecast 3/4/2012

There is no doubt that spring has sprung here on St. Simons Island, albeit a tad early. Probably doesn’t mean we won’t see another cold snap or a little snow for the folks in the Atlanta area, but with water temps in the lower 60’s some predictable things are happening. The whiting are THICK in the sounds, trout have been showing up in good numbers on the Camden and Glynn county coast respectively, and that rat-a-tap-tap of those pesky shrimp stealing yellow tails has begun in earnest.

This time of year, the word “transition” gets thrown around a lot, and I suppose it is true. Trout will be bunched up, from shallow to deep, near the sounds as well as further up the rivers. Now is a perfect time to break out a topwater lure for a locater, and you may even get a nice redfish surprise. Whiting will be in many of the usual haunts, but a sure bet is 18 feet of water in the sounds and rivers less than a half mile from the beach. Small pieces of fresh peeled shrimp, a # 1 bait holder hook, and just enough weight to keep the bait planted on the bottom will do the trick. Multi-hook rigs will most certainly yield plenty of "two on one cast" hook ups. Mud minnows are a great addition in the spring as the shrimp will definitely be in the mold and hold mode. Those frisky pollywogs floated under a popping cork around shells at low tide will certainly produce reds on big water as well us up the creeks. Surprisingly enough, we had quite a few flounder show up in the last week of February! And everybody knows what a doormat magnet Mr. Mudminister is. Don't get me wrong, a live shrimp is always a good choice, but a mud minnow added to the mix may up your odds.

The sheepshead fishing is in full swing as well. Jetty rocks, bridge pilings, docks, and laydowns are all holding these hard fighting great eating fish right now. Along with fiddler crabs, chunks of blue crab, squid, shrimp, clam meat, oyster meat, and mussels will all get eaten. A small mussel, used whole, will often entice the larger fish.

March may be one of the best months to take a kid fishing. The weather is not too hot, and if the redfish, trout, and flounder prove to be elusive, the whiting will keep kids busy, not requiring a lot of pin point casting. So while you have to check your honey holes for reds and trout, take the kids whiting fishing at some point. They will get to feel the bite, catch the fish, and have some awesome table fair as well. The keeper ratio is excellent right now for whiting.

As always, you won’t know if you don’t go!

Fishing (and swimming) Report 2-17-12

First, let me say the bite has been very good this winter-for sheepshead, trout and redfish.  I pre-fished a little Thursday, and the fish were still in their usual haunts.  I met Brad, Casey and Jason at the marina early Friday and we headed out.  First spot, the reds didn't eat.  On our second spot, we hit pay dirt with a mix of reds, trout, sheepshead and bluefish.  Concentrating on netting fish, with the tide rolling out, I noticed that we were parked directly over a small hump.  No problem, I'll jump out and push us off.  Wrong.  Most of you know I'm pretty accomodating, so I let the guys come for a swim with me.  It was a good thing, cause we'd probably still be there!  The bite slowed down for us after that, although we did manage a few more fish-including a real nice sheepshead out of the trees.  I had an absolute blast fishing with these guys, and they kept me laughing all day.  Thanks guys, no extra charge for the swimming lessons...