Georgia Saltwater Fishing Reports – October 2020

Saltwater: Inshore: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “I consider the month of October as being one of the best fishing months since fish are in full migration mode. With water temperatures on the fall, the redfish, spotted seatrout and flounder bites gets more predictable. Places where you caught them last year most likely will be great places to start.  If you don’t find fish in your old spots, try areas down or upriver. The best fall bait is going to be live shrimp fished any way you care to deliver. Once you get the bite going, switching to artificial shrimp patterns or finger mullet is going to be very strong options. Artificial flukes rigged on red/black/white colored lead heads work great around any sort of structure. If the fish don’t hit it on the fall, let it sit on the bottom a few seconds. Then reel a few times, twitch and repeat. Best flukes colors are baby bass, pearl white and golden bream. Inshore fishermen get to experience the big bull redfish migration, which starts taking place this month. These monsters start their migration pattern from where they have been holding in the creeks, rivers and upper sound areas. Once making their way to the sounds (closer to the ocean), they will find a suitable place to bulk up before making their way to the beachfronts and then to the ocean. Schooling baits such as mullet and menhaden provide much feeding opportunity for these fish. Where you see any surface action, stop, wait and look for any turbulence underwater feeding. Also watch for seabirds in a heavy feeding or holding pattern. Fish areas where currents come together forming some sort of a rip.  Not all rips will hold the interest of fish. I always looks for any surface oils, sometimes referred to as cat paws. If there is any bird feeding action, always check out the size and type of the seabirds. If it’s pelicans only, what you most likely have down under is schools of menhaden. However, if you have pelicans and small sea birds, then you have a possible big feeding frenzy going on down under. The best setup to use for big bulls reds when anchored around live oyster beds is a small adjustable float with about 12 inches of 30- to 40-lb. test fluorocarbon leader with either a semi circle or a standard 2/0 to 3/0 kahle-style hook. The best baits for this rig are going to be lip-hooked live mullet or peanut menhaden or live shrimp hooked under the horn. If live bait isn’t an option, try mullet cut in steaks like a loaf of bread or air dried shrimp with heads on or off threaded onto the hook. When working rips or actual feeding schools of redfish, use diamond-shaped jigs (1 to 3 ounces) with or without red or green or yellow miniature tube lures. Jigs such as the 1- to 3-oz. Shimano Butterfly with double hooks located at the head of the lure are good to go. Most of the big and non-brand names of jigs with hook or hooks attached to the head do work. It all boils down to location and the working of the lure used. When fishing a rip you can also take a beefed-up popping cork or a traditional float rig rigged with some sort of bait, live or dead. Large sharks, rays and any left behind tarpon would most likely find these baits alluring.”

Capt. David Newlin reports, “September, October and November will be the best three months of fishing this year. The redfish bite has been as good as it gets. On several recent trips, we have caught a limit and then released over 50 more in a morning fishing. Last Monday, I carried one man and we released 82 slot-limit-sized redfish and were back at the dock at 10:30. Every time a cork hit the water, in seconds it was under with a fish on. Over the next two months, we should have a lot more days of great fishing. The redfish have been all over the place, out in the sounds and up in the small creeks. Everywhere they should be, they have been there. The big redfish should be off the beaches in good numbers in October. A piece of fresh fish on the bottom with a 10/0 circle works great. Use a big circle hook. All the big redfish are 100% catch and release. If possible, unhook them in the water. The slot-limit fish are hitting shrimp, as usual. A slip cork with a live shrimp will almost always catch redfish. Sometimes when the water is real muddy, I will put a couple of dead shrimp on the hook instead of a live one. I have caught redfish from 6 inches of water to 20 feet of water recently. The trout bite has been good. There’s been a lot of small trout with a good number of legal fish. The bigger numbers of trout have been in the sound, but that will change shortly. As the water starts to cool down, the trout will head up the rivers and creeks all the way to the edge of fresh water. Some years in October, we catch a lot of trout and redfish miles up the Ogeechee River. The amount of rain will make a big difference on the river levels and how far the saltwater goes up the rivers. As usual, a live shrimp works great on trout. As the water cools, trout start hitting artificial baits much more aggressively. My favorites are screw-tail jigs in chartreuse with glitter, electric chicken or a Gulp! Swimming Mullet in green. Retrieve them real slow with a jerking motion just off the bottom. Black drum have been adding some nice fish in the catch, a lot of perfect eating size 3- to 5-lb. fish. If you are trying to target drum, fish a dead shrimp on the bottom. Lately we have caught a lot of 8- to 12-inch croaker, which are very good eating. Fish a piece of shrimp on the bottom, and the action can be real fast in the right places. The rockfish (stripers)have been good in the Ogeechee River. This fishing usually gets going good in October from Fort McAllister up the river. They will readily hit shrimp, jigs and Rapala-type plugs. I like the brighter-colored lures, fire-tiger Rapalas, green, yellow and red and white jigs. Creek mouths on the out-going tide are good places to start. These river fish will fight harder than a lake fish twice their size. Fishing the river is always a good change of pace and a good pull when you do hook a good rockfish. If the weather will cooperate, October should be a great month of fishing and fish catching. Last week I had two more people tell me they had recently been taken by booking a charter online. They get to the designated meeting site and nobody was there. This scam is costing people thousands of dollars. Book your trip with reputable established fishing guide. Stay out of the woods for a day and enjoy some great coastal Georgia fishing and fish catching.”

Offshore: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Nearshore artificial reefs and natural live-bottom areas will start holding lots of different fish. The best place to stop for bait is wrecks located at the artificial reefs in 55-plus feet of water. However, our bait populations in these areas have not been too good so far this year. Spanish sardines and cigar minnows usually school up over any sort of high-relief structure. Most of the yellow buoys marking the offshore artificial reefs have been gone, but these are still holding bait. The anchoring system used on the buoys is still there and so are the types of baits that used to school around the chain. You can catch lots of bait each time you drop a sabiki bait rig with six to eight small hooks laced with fish skin. Best live baits are cigar minnows, Spanish mackerel, Boston mackerel, horse mackerel and any others that are hanging with the school. However, sometimes you will find yourself catching a lot of horny bellies, which isn’t the best of live baits to use. However, we have noticed since the lack of availability of live baits, the horny belly has worked a time or two. I suggest taking some frozen bait. Cigar minnows and Spanish sardines will work just fine. When possible, purchase frozen Spanish sardines over cigar minnows. Sardines are cheaper and will bring on the same bite. Keep them frozen as long as you can, and these baits work whole and cut in half.  When using this type of bait, the smell seems to be the attractant, not so much the shape. When bottom fishing in 100 feet (Savannah Snapper Banks) to 200 feet (edge of Gulf Stream) over any broken live bottom with ledges, I suggest using large live baits. Drop your lipped or dorsal hooked bait to the bottom and hang on for a grouper bite. Best baits are vermilion snapper, tomtates, rock bass, sand perch, pinfish, scup, bluefish, etc. Use a beefed-up Carolina rig. I like using 10 to 20 feet of 80- to 100-lb. monofilament leader between the hook (10/0 to 14/0 circle hook) and the egg (6 to 8 ounce) sinker. You will catch grouper, cubera snapper, amberjack, genuine red snapper, king mackerel, tuna, etc. At this time, genuine red snapper was the only species closed.” 

Bluewater: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Now is the time to keep an eye on the surface temperatures. When the cooling event starts, it will be time to do some serious bluewater fishing. October through December are the best inshore and offshore fishing months in this area.”     

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