Satilla River Fishing Report: May 5, 2025

Kaden Forsythe caught this 8-lb., 12-oz. largemouth from the Satilla River last weekend.

Level: 7.82 at the Waycross gauge. Temp: 74-76 degrees. Clarity: Light stain.

The Satilla River is the place to be, but if you’re gonna go, you better hurry. After staying in the floodplain for months, the river has finally set up right, but not for long. Heavy rains forecasted later in the week will likely send the blackwater racing toward the woodline, but if you can drop the boat in before the river rises, you can expect anything and everything to bite.

Where To Go: It’s not as much about where to fish, as where not to fish. I’ve always favored the upper section of the river above the Highway 158 bridge, but I’ll sum that up for you. No, no and no. Hurricane Helene all but destroyed that section of the Satilla and hundreds, if not thousands, of obstacles make navigating this section of the river all but impossible. Also, keep in mind that the Highway 84 bridge remains closed indefinitely while bridge work is ongoing. For the best chance at hooking up, try launching at the FFA Landing near Blackshear, or the Highway 121 bridge between Blackshear and Hoboken. For those who don’t mind fishing tidal-influenced water, Burnt Fort is also a good bet.

Redbreast: Not to be a Debbie Downer, but the Satilla redbreast fishery is not what it once was. The booming population of flathead catfish has all but destroyed the redbreast population in many sections of the river, but the few that remain are big, and I mean big. There isn’t a river in south Georgia where you’re more likely to run into a 1-lb.-plus rooster, and I wouldn’t be surprised in the next year or so if the world record is broken somewhere along the Satilla.

I talked to anglers who fished the river this past week, and the reports I received were pretty similar. Beetle Spins and crickets produced most of the fish, with one angler reporting catching a couple of really big fish on topwater bugs. Expect the topwater bug bite to get better everyday from now through mid June, and if you’re looking to bump heads with a trophy-sized fish, a topwater bug is hard to beat. As far as the color wheel is concerned, when it comes to both Beetle Spins and topwater bugs, white and yellow are both good choices to have tied on.

Bass: The bass are biting, and the big ones haven’t been hook shy. Jacob Crews caught several fish in the 20-plus-inch range this week on a white buzzbait with a black/chrome blade, and Kaden Forsythe caught the biggest bass that I’ve seen come off of the river so far this year at 8-lbs., 12-ozs. The blackwater beauty bit a firetiger-color buzzbait with a gold blade. Buzzbaits are definitely the go to this month, but be sure to have a wacky-rigged worm on, as well. Areas of slack water adjacent to current are prime, and if you can find a place where a small creek feeds into the river, you can almost guarantee a bite. Top color choices are rotten banana, black/blue glitter and junebug.

Catfish: The Satilla has become a powerhouse when it comes to big flathead fishing, and if you have the time to hang some limblines, your efforts will be rewarded. The anglers I talked to this week reported catching fish up to 30 pounds, and added they had one really big fish (estimated to be 50 pounds plus) rip off right at the boat.

Bluegill: Anybody and everybody wore out the bluegill last week. I talked to a dozen or so different anglers, and no one had a bad trip. The average haul was 20 to 40 fish, with several folks reporting multiple fish going over a pound. To hook up with one of these mean purple-headed monsters, try a topwater bug or Beetle Spin. For anglers wanting to take a more organic approach, grab the old trusty cricket cage and head for the river.