Blackfin Tuna Action

Reports of good blackfin tuna catches have been coming in recently, especially from the area of the Georgia Naval towers and NOAA buoys off of Charleston. Tuna were taken either by trolling, livelining, or chunking on the surface. Word is that they are big and very hungry.

River Redbreast
After a very slow start, I've finally been hearing some reports of good redbreast catches in the rivers, especially the Savannah. Most are being taken on BeetleSpins or SpinDandys, and many have been very good size. The Savannah river has been rather high lately and now it has dropped back to normal spring levels, allowing the hungry fish to come off of the beds.

Prerigged Shrimp Comparison
(Click on image for link)

#3: Killer Diller- Is that a DOA shrimp I'm seeing? No, it's Creme's Killer Diller shrimp, which is so close to the DOA shrimp that you have to wonder if it's breaking some kind of patent. The good news is it costs much less than the DOAs, however, it doesn't have the shrimp scent that the DOA comes stuffed with. Nevertheless, its a great alternative to the DOAs.


Weather Forecast
There is a good chance for rain today and Saturday. However, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday all look like good, partly-cloudy fishing days with highs in the 80s. Winds should remain calm despite the rain chances, meaning the large lakes, sounds, and beachfronts will be wide open for small craft. High tides are all in the 7-foot range with the second high tide of the day occurring mid to late afternoon. Seasurface water temps keep wavering just below 70 degrees. All these factors should combine to make the next few days some great ones for fishing!

Inshore Forecast
I've heard some reports of pompano being caught in the surf already, which is fairly early for the season, but by all accounts they are big. One report of a pompano over 6 pounds caught off the Tybee pier is a potential state (and world) record if it holds true. The best bait for pompano is live or fresh-dead sandfleas on a light dropper (bottom) rig, but if sandfleas are scarse in your neck of the woods, clams or fiddlers without claws are a good alternative. Many tackle shops, such as the Bass Pro Shops in Savannah, sell perfect pompano rigs with small gold Kahle hooks with orange beads. I've caught pomps on bare gold hooks with just the beads before! Orange is a color pompano key in on because it reminds them of the orange egg sack that sandfleas carry around.

In the rivers and sounds, big roe seatrout are really starting to bite now, as well as some big redfish. Whiting are still biting strong, but a few reports of blacktip and bonnethead sharks in the area means the whiting will move out to get away from the toothy predators soon. Cobia are still scarse, but tripletail are being reported in good numbers on the Georgia coast below St. Catherine's.

Offshore Forecast
As mentioned above, blackfin tuna are starting to bite well on the edge of the bluewater. That should mean that other pelagics like kingfish and dolphin won't be far behind. Wahoo are apparently abundant in the Gulf Stream right now, as two large ones were reported tagged off of Keowah.

Bottom fishing has been strong lately, too. Good catches of vermillion, black sea bass, and triggerfish have come in along with some scattered reports of some red snapper, amberjack, and grouper. Once the surface water temps reach 70 we should see a lot more reports of those latter three coming in.

Freshwater Forecast
Panfish is the name of the game right now, though largemouth bass action is still hot in certain locations. A recent Savannah River Bass Division tournament out of Clyo was a big success, with a 17 1/2 pound one-day bag, including a 9-pounder, taking the trophy. Look for most bass moving into post-spawn patterns, but some may still be found on beds.

Low Country Personal Guide Service

I am currently offering fishing lessons/personal guide service to anyone in the Savannah/Hilton Head area who is new to the area or new to saltwater fishing. In just a few hours of one-on-one instruction, you'll be fishing like a pro! Learn tips, techniques, and locations for catching saltwater gamefish such as seatrout, redfish, pompano, cobia, Jack Crevalle, and more! I can teach either flycasting or spin and baitcasting tackle. Hiring a personal guide is much cheaper than a charter captain!

Boater's trip- a guided fishing trip from the comfort of your own boat. Learn hotspots and program your GPS points. Student provides boat and gas, but I will provide bait.- $20/hour

Wadefishing trip- learn wade sight-casting on either the south Tybee flats or Pickney Island, SC. Flats boots or water shoes recommended. -$15/hour

Surf/Pier Fishing- learn techniques for catching big sharks, bull redfish, pompano, or other seasonal gamefish found in the surf.-$10/hour

In all cases, student must bring their own rods/reels and basic tackle with them. I will provide specialized tackle as needed, and will make recommendations on what types of rods/reels/tackle to bring. Please book at least 1 week in advance.

For more info, call me at (912)224-5043 or email me at smashed123@gmail.com.

Roe Seatrout Are Here!

I've heard several reports from all up and down the area today that the big roe seatrout are moving in and feeding voraciously! One report from the Sapelo Island, GA area was of a limit of trout all over 17 inches! Bait of choice for big trout is either large live shrimp or a small live pin or pigfish under a cork. If you've ever checked the belly of a big trout you'll notice that most stop eating shrimp once they reach a certain size and begin to feed on pinfish, pigfish, polywogs (mud minnows), mullet, and even small pogies.
I will stress, however, that the fat females you catch in spring are better released because of the thousands of eggs they carry. Keep the smaller ones for the table- I've found trout under 19 inches tend to taste better than the big mamas.

Inshore Forecast
As I said above, the big spring trout will be the main event for the next few weeks. However, early-spring species like sheepshead and big bull reds will still hang around for awhile until the dog days arrive.
The wind has finally died down and the water should start clearing up, the water is warming quickly, and the forecast shows clear 80s and even 90s for at least the next week. All this adds up to hot action in the sounds and beachfronts. When the water temps make it to around 70 degrees (they're hovering between 65-67 degrees right now) it usually means cobia, Jack Crevalle, and pompano will begin to show up. Get out there!

Offshore Forecast
As of last report, vermillion snapper and black sea bass were biting very well on the wrecks all the way out to the Navy towers. The weather's been rough lately, though, and there's been few reports. However, with water temps warming, the big red snapper spawn could begin soon, and we could see some of those 20-30 pound snappers being hauled in soon.
On the trolling side of things, kingfish sould also begin to show up in our nearshore waters out to the ledge. In bluewater, I heard a report of a couple of sails and a couple of swords being caught in the Gulf Stream by a boat out of Hilton Head last week. The Gulf Stream has been unusually warm all through fall, winter, and spring and that should add up to good pelagic action this year.

Freshwater Forecast
Where are all the redbreast? This is usually the time of year when we hear reports of epic football-sized redbreast being pulled from the Ogeechee, Canoochee, Savannah, and Cooper rivers. Yet this year, there have been very few reports at all. The rivers have been very up and down this year, especially the Savannah. The Canoochee and Ogeechee, though, has been at low water for some time now due to lack of rain, and the redbreast have had little chance to make their beds up in the flooded cypress flats.
Crappie are still biting well over the whole area. I may have spoken too soon on the bedding bass, though. A friend visited a pond on Blythe Island and reported that the fish were still bedding in crytal-clear water. They were able to hook several females, including one 6 1/2 pounder. Check your local pond to see if the fish are still bedding down.

Daily Recipe

Beer-Battered Crappie

One cup of flour
One teaspoon salt
One teaspoon paprika
One egg
One/fourth cup cooking oil (vegetable or olive)
One cup beer
Place ingredients in a bowl and stir until smooth. The mixture will be a little thin, you want it to be thin, you want it to stick to the fillets. Dry the fillets before cooking. Spread them on paper towels and pat dry. Then use new paper towels and move the fillets to the new towels drying each one. Lightly salt and place in the batter.Use a quarter of an inch of vegetable or olive oil and cook the fish fillets until golden brown.