Southeast Georgia Fishing Reports With Capt. Bert Deener – Oct. 11, 2024

I’m sure I’m not alone in the sentiment that I sure hope the storms are done for this year! Our area was spared through Milton, but keep the folks in central Florida in your prayers as they dig out and try to figure out normal again. Most river systems in southeast Georgia are too high to fish, but the St Marys River, Okefenokee Swamp and saltwater should produce some good fishing if you plan to go this holiday weekend.

St. Marys River: This river is still very fishable for anything you want to try for. Stripers should even be biting now in the lower tidal river. Catfishing is probably your most productive bite, especially if you want to take some fish home for supper. Put a piece of shrimp on the bottom and you should score.

Okefenokee Swamp: The refuge was closed Wednesday and Thursday due to Hurricane Milton, but it will reopen when staff deem that it is safe to return (reportedly on Friday, Oct. 11). Okefenokee Adventures on the east side will be reopening Friday, Oct. 11. You can check the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Stephen C. Foster State Park webpages or Okefenokee Adventures on Facebook for the latest information.

I checked out Kingfisher Landing with Bill Stewart for a couple of hours recently, and we were shocked that there was only one small bay tree down across the canal. The tree was only three-quarters of the way across, so it was no problem getting around it. We ran around looking for downed trees most of the time but did stop to fish for the last hour (right before the deluge hit). We caught a pair of 3-lb. bowfin trolling Dura-Spins. Bill’s ate a firetiger-chartreuse blade and mine a lemon-lime. We then pitched sallies for fliers. We caught three fliers up to 7 inches, and I turned them into cutbait. I was able to fool four more bowfin bouncing cut fliers on a 1/8-oz. prototype weedless jig head. The biggest was 6-lbs., 3-ozs., while the rest were 3 to 4 pounds. We got completely soaked on the way in, but at least it wasn’t cold rain.

Local Ponds: I didn’t receive many reports from pond anglers this week, but the ones who reported caught some crappie on minnows. With the cooler temperatures this weekend, the crappie bite should significantly improve. Bass should be feeding well with the cooler weather.

Saltwater (GA Coast): Saltwater fishing should be very good over the next few weeks. Scotty Steedley fished with a buddy on Saturday and had a good time. They caught a slew of short trout along with four keepers up to 16 inches. They fooled them with Keitech swimbaits pegged on 1/4-oz. Zombi Eye jig heads. Scotty had a 28-inch red that inhaled a Vudu Shrimp suspended underneath a Harpers Super Striker Float.

A local captain did really well for bull redfish early in the week before the storm. He took the biology club from Georgia Military College out tagging redfish, and they caught, tagged and released 14 redfish over 38 inches. And, the captain could not even get to his preferred spot because of winds.

Another captain also had some great bull redfishing trips this week when he could fish the first three days. Zack, Brittany, and Ava had the best bull reds day, and they doubled up a couple times and had a triple-header, as well. Inshore, he floated live shrimp and caught a bunch of short trout and about a dozen keepers along with some slot reds. The 4- to 8-foot-deep range was best for that. On Wednesday, they threw plastics until the wind got up and they had to bail. They fooled 15 keeper trout and some shorts before it got too rough.

I talked with a couple people who fished off docks in the Brunswick area this week. They caught several slot redfish on shrimp fished on the bottom. I heard of a few nice flounder being caught off the St. Simons Pier. Cast netting for shrimp has picked up over the last couple of weeks, and I’ve gotten some good reports. Check the regulations before you go, but it’s a blast.

Don’t forget about the fish carcass freezer at the Waycross Fisheries Office at 108 Darling Avenue. The Coastal Resources Division collects most inshore saltwater species so that they can determine age and growth for each species. All the supplies and information cards are in the freezer. Filet your fish then drop off the carcasses in the freezer.

Wat-a-melon Bait and Tackle in Brunswick is now open every day. On Monday to Thursday their hours are 6:30 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 5 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. They have plenty of lively shrimp and also have live worms and crickets for freshwater. They’re on Highway 303 just north of Highway 82. For the latest information, contact them at 912.223.1379.

Full Moon is Oct. 17. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website (waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/rt). For the latest marine forecast, check out www.weather.gov/jax/.

River gages on Oct. 10th were:
Clyo on the Savannah River – 13.3 feet and falling
Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 8.2 feet and falling
Doctortown on the Altamaha – 11.4 feet and falling
Waycross on the Satilla – 14.1 feet and falling
Atkinson on the Satilla – 13.9 feet and rising
Statenville on the Alapaha – 27.2 feet and falling (record high for the date)
Macclenny on the St Marys – 4.7 feet and rising
Fargo on the Suwannee – 7.9 feet and falling

Capt. Bert Deener guides fishing trips in the Okefenokee Swamp and other southeast Georgia systems and makes a variety of both fresh and saltwater fishing lures. Check his lures out at Bert’s Jigs and Things on Facebook. For a copy of his latest catalog, you can download it from his website at bertsjigsandthings.com or e-mail him ([email protected]).