Georgia Saltwater Fishing Report – April 2006

Inshore: The trout fishing has already started to pick up, and folks are catching them on the traditonal float-cork rig with shrimp. The trout fishing should get better and better with each warm, stable day this month, according to Capt. Greg Hildreth. Also, sight fishing for reds with artificials like soft jerkbaits is going on at low tide, and as usual the fishing in the Georgia marshes for redfish is very good. Greg and his customers have had some great days in recent weeks.

Nearshore: The sheepshead are still being caught in large numbers on the nearshore wrecks, Greg said, and it should last a couple of more weeks. “We had a noteworthy catch on my boat with some GON readers a few weeks ago,” Greg said. “They caught a black drum that we estimated to weigh in the upper 70s. We released the fish, but it would have been pretty close to the state record (which is 86 1/2 pounds).”

Offshore: Capt. David Newlin said it’s time to catch a mess of bottom fish. “We’re aleady seeing tons of bottom fish — lots of sea bass and a fair amount of snapper. Last week we limited out on snapper, and we had 38-lb. snapper on another trip,” David said. “The water temperature is 67 degrees. Things should be as good as it gets in the month of April, everything is lining up for a great month. Right now we’re catching snapper past 70 feet, and plenty of sea bass are being caught in 50 feet. The grouper should start up by the middle of April when the water gets to about 69 to 70 degrees. The kingfish should just start to show up by the end of the month — the water needs to be 70 degrees.”