Nearshore March Grab-bag

So what if March isn't the easiest time to get offshore? Strong cold fronts pushing through the area bring high winds and muddy the water. A steady northwest gale brings big swells down the coast and makes it hard for even 30+ foot boats to make it to the nearshore reefs. However, if you can catch the high pressure between fronts, warmer and calmer seas await.

March is a transition month, so you really never know what you may find on some of the wrecks and reefs. Sheepshead and black sea bass are the best bet, but there also might be some big red drum hanging around still before making the run back inshore. Amberjack, aka reef donkeys, will start to move in as the water warms into the middle sixties. Cut bait fished on a bottom rig is still the best way to rig up, but towards the end of the month you might try live-lining a pogy or cigar minnow as the prospects that cobia and schoolie king mackerel showing up improve.

A lot of folks on the Georgia coast are starting to try their hand at artificial baits. Many are finding out just how productive (and convenient) this method is. Not having to fool with catching, thawing, and preparing live or cut bait means a lot more time with a line in the water. Working with the newer metal jigs like the Shimano Butterfly Jig or the Offshore Angler Freestyle Jig is proving to be a quick, easy way to catch big black sea bass and other bottom dwellers. High-speed reels spooled with Spectra braided line on lightweight, heavy-action jigging rods are quickly becoming the must-have setup on every bottom fisherman's boat.If you like fishing the more traditional way, try substituting your normal cut bait with an artificial. Without overstatement, the Berkley Gulp! baits have been a revolution in fishing. A few local anglers visiting the CCA reef recently found out that the new Gulp Alive pogy baits are another great way to fish with artificials. With a two-drop bottom rig, they would bait one hook with cut or live bait and the other with a Gulp pogy. They quickly caught a limit of black sea bass, with the artificial baits outfishing cut bait three-to-one.

2008 Season Upon Us

After a short winter's nap, the 2008 fishing season is on the horizon. Inshore fishing in the area seems to be improving as temperatures become mild going into March. While winds can be a problem this time of year, the waters will gradually warm and seatrout will start to move out of the deeper holes. Just yesterday I caught and released 10 trout in a shallow creek off Wassaw Sound. About half were undersized, but the largest was a fat 18 inch female. This means that the big roe trout are starting to move up in search of food before the spawn. All the trout were caught on a 3-inch Offshore Angler swimbait in a bunker color. The bait closely resembles a finger mullet, and that is one of a trout's favorite forage foods before and during spawning time.


Redfishing has been somewhat slow, but you should find them on mud flats at high tide in the afternoon. Reds will sun themselves in the shallow water and root for crabs. However, they will also be on the lookout for mullet and mud-minnows, so any bait that mimics these should fool a red if its not spooked. Big bull reds should also start to move back into the sounds after being offshore to spawn.

Sheepshead are still biting well, and most of the baithouses are well stocked with fiddlers. You'll have a good shot at them inshore around dock pilings and offshore at the artificial reefs. Speaking of artificial reefs, black sea bass are still swarming the wrecks. Bigger ones seem to be moving farther out, though. One angler fishing at the Snapper Banks last week caught a limit, including a 19-inch BSB. Interestingly, all his fish came off of a 3-inch Gulp! Pogy bait, and he claims it outfished his co-angler who was using cut bait.

Area Fishing Report 4/11

Inshore Report

Despite a recent cold snap, area inshore fishing continues to be strong. Redfish continue to congregate on the mud flats on sunny afternoons, and will take soft plastic jerkbaits, DOA shrimp, live shrimp on a jighead, or Berkley Gulp! shrimp (try the Lime Tiger color). If a strong high tide moves them into the grass try throwing a weedless spoon. Seatrout are still found in deeper water, and will take curl-tail grubs, shad-tail jigs, and of course, shrimp. A few reports of the bigger roe trout are around, but with water temps in the mid-60's it should still be a week or two before they will really show up. On the surf/pier front some bigger whiting are starting to show up, as well as an unusually high number of spot (spotted croaker) catches. A few sharks are showing up, and pompano should start to show up as well as the water nears 70 degrees. Striper fishing in the Savannah and Ogeechee rivers is starting to wind down, but there are probably still a few around that will hit mullet or mud minnows.

Offshore Report

There have been some amazing black seabass catches lately on the nearshore wrecks and artificial reefs. Some boats are limiting out just a few minutes after arriving at the fishing grounds. Red snapper and grouper catches have started to improve as the bottom fishing season ramps up. One lucky angler fishing on Steve Amick's Scat II caught a nice red snapper in the 16-20 pound range at the Snapper Banks on March 31st: a nice catch so early in the season. On the trolling front, the water is still a little too chilly for the big kings to show up, but a few early runners might be around. Some outstanding reports of wahoo have been coming in from the Stream, and guys have been catching them on ballyhoo with hair-skirted Islanders or other teasers over the nose.

Near-Shore Wreck Season

'Tis the season to hit the near-shore wrecks in search of black sea bass and sheepshead. The seas have been a bit rough, but on calm days boats are reporting great catches of blacks. One guy told me they used 4-hook bottom rigs and hooked up on all 4 on nearly every drop.

The artificial reefs, especially at the "J" and "L" buoys, seem to be producing nicely, but Gray's Reef seems to be the best bet at the moment. The best rig is a multiple-hook bottom rig with either gold or silver hooks in the 2/0-4/0 range. Good baits for sea bass include squid, large shrimp and cut sardines or mullet. However, black sea bass aren't exactly known to be picky, so just send down a hunk of meat and you should hook up with something.

What is known to be picky, however, is sheepshead. Catch reports for these bait-stealers have been a bit slow, but that is probably due to the warmer-than-usual weather. The reports, have been getting better recently, and should continue to as the typical nasty January/February weather rolls in. Fiddlers will be the best bait, but small peeled shrimp will also work. Use a knocker rig (aka Carolina rig or egg sinker rig) with a long-shank, small-gap Mustad hook.

On the inshore front, seatrout catches are still strong, but starting to slow. Trout and sheepshead are really the only things worth tareting inshore right now.

Bonefish Grill Review

I had a chance to try out the new Bonefish Grill in Twelve Oaks in Savannah, and I am very impressed. The atmosphere and food were all great, and despite the place being packed to the walls, our service was awesome and quick. It is a little expensive, but you definately get what you pay for. Be sure to try the mussels!

Bottom Fishing Report 4/3

After a week of watching the marine forecast and crossing our fingers, we were able to take a trip to the Savannah Snapper Banks yesterday with Captain Johnny Fulcher of Amick's Charters aboard the Scamp. The boat, which handles smaller trips than Steve Amick's big Scat II, just had a new engine installed that tops the boat out at over 30 knots. While choppy 3-5 foot seas kept us from reaching that speed, the maiden voyage of the Scamp was very quick, getting to and from the Snapper Banks in about 2 hours.

Cpt. Johnny put us on the spot and our 5-man group quickly limited out on beeliners. We got 4 good red snappers, including one in the 15-pound range, and a couple of keeper scamps. I caught one gag grouper which was barely undersized, but the law's the law. Other catches included some big black sea bass and triggerfish. One common pattern on the southeast Atlantic coast is that sharks become highly active after a period of blustery conditions. This was the case again yesterday, as we caught about 10 reef sharks, each causing fishing to stop for awhile as the shark circled, tangling lines. At one point a shark tangled the lines of every angler on the boat!

Despite shark troubles, it was a great day and the conditions smoothed out as it went along. The only bad part was the 50 pounds of fish I cleaned when I got home! Pictures of the trip coming soon.