Georgia Saltwater Fishing Report – July 2024

Saltwater: Inshore: Capt. David Newlin reports, “June has been a really good month of fish catching, not just fishing. The last few weeks, we have caught a lot of redfish, flounder, trout and sharks of every size. Water temps are in the low 80s, which is right where it should be for late June. The redfish bite has been unreal good for the last couple of years, and it just seems to keep getting better. Yesterday in a 25-knot wind, we caught 18 from 17 to 30 inches. They are in the open sounds and way up in the creeks. Almost every oyster shellbed has a few around it. They move around a lot and are in different areas on certain tides. The big tide swings we have means it takes a lot of trips to figure out. As always, a live shrimp under a cork is redfish candy. I will fish with pollywogs or small mullet if I can’t get live shrimp. The trout bite has been really good the last couple of weeks, with a good number of 20-inch plus fish. Most of my trout have been out in the sounds in the open water. Trout will be around a lot of points and drop-offs that hold schools of glass minnows and mullet in the summer. Some of the better trout spots may be 100 yards out in open water. Early in the day, watch closely for trout chasing bait on the surface. When you find trout chasing bait, they should be easy to catch. My usual go-to bait is a live shrimp under a slip-cork rig. A D.O.A. Shrimp in green or pink has been working great lately. Next month should be good topwater trout fishing. Throw a MirrOlure or a Zara Spook in red and white the first hour of daylight. You will catch a few really big trout. In July, look for trout on the beaches. Any structure, trees, wrecks or drop-offs can hold trout. When a west wind is blowing, the beach fishing can be really good. July is usually real good flounder fishing. Look for flounder on the mud flats next to oyster shells. I like the areas with a lot of white shells in them in about 3 to 5 feet of water. Float a shrimp just off the bottom under a cork. When you catch one fish, work the area thoroughly because a few more should be close-by. Summertime is also monster time on the coast. The big tarpon and sharks invade the Georgia coastline. The sharks are here—from 2-footers to the big ones. I caught around 25 in a short trip a couple of days back. Blacktips, lemon sharks, tigers, bonnetheads, hammerheads are all here. Put a piece of fresh fish on the bottom and hang on. Read regulations carefully before killing one. Yesterday a friend of mine, Rock Reed, saw a big shark kill a grown dolphin out near Wassaw Island. That took a big one. Tarpon should be here in July in good numbers. I have already seen a fair number. Look for tarpon rolling on top and chasing bait. Fish a live mullet, pogy, croaker or pinfish under a cork, or just freeline it. I usually put 5 feet of 80-lb. mono between the cork and hook. In real muddy water, put a couple of dead pogies on the bottom. July should be a good month for big fish and little fish. The online charter scams are still everywhere. Last week I had people looking for a boat captain I had never heard of, and of course, they never found him. If you can’t talk directly to your boat captain, beware.”

Capt. Judy Helmey, of Miss Judy Charters,  reports, “During the month of July, inshore fishing can be steady, that is if you are ready! For inshore fishermen who just want to catch fish, buy or catch live shrimp. Last month live shrimp was hard to come by. Bait shops could not catch enough. The best news in July is there will more available since there are more shrimp to catch. If the bait shops are out of live shrimp, you just might be able to catch a few by throwing the cast net. If you run out of shrimp, the creeks are full of peanut menhaden. They can stay healthy if you don’t try to keep too many alive in your bait tank at once. In the backs of creeks, there are schools finger mullet, which are the perfect bite size for sure. The mud minnows, especially during leans live shrimp times, has really saved us. This bait can be caught using a minnow trap baited with bacon, cat food or saltines. I have one captain who swears that if you put a small McDonald’s burger in the trap, the muds just can’t turn away. Here’s another baiting-the-mud-minnow-trap tip: one piece of original Kentucky Fried Chicken. Now what hits these improvised live baits? The larger versions of spotted seatrout, flounder and redfish. When it comes to fishing with live shrimp, finger mullet, peanut menhaden or mud minnows, there are several good presentations. There is the traditional adjustable float, which comes in all sizes from super large to mini sizes. The ever-popular popping cork, which when popped makes a sound just like a fleeing live shrimp. The only downside to using this float is your length of leader restricts you to depth of water fished. The leader shouldn’t be longer than 4 feet and can’t be shorter than 12 inches. Use this float when fishing in depths from 2 to 6 feet of water. Then there is always fishing naked by just tying on a short leader to your main line and then tying on a small kahle hook. Then I suggest placing the hook under the shrimp’s horn located on top of the head and letting the shrimp make its own way. When it comes to using peanut menhaden, finger mullet or mud minnows, place the hook in the lip, the dorsal fin area, near the nose area or above the eyes. Your main goal after you hook up is for the bait to be able to swim as naturally as possible. Once again shark fishing, better known as catching, has been great. Lots of sharks are being landed while fishing in the sounds, off the beach fronts, around surface schooling baits and while fishing all points east. The best baits to use when shark fishing is shrimp, cut fish, whole live and whole dead fish. My No. 1 bait used is what I call a fish steak, which is any size whole fish cut up like a loaf of bread. Fishing from the bottom to the surface will work.”

Nearshore: Capt. Judy Helmey, of Miss Judy Charters,  reports, “Our beachfronts and artificial reefs are holding some interesting topwater catching opportunities. Topwater fish, such as Spanish/king mackerel, barracuda, little tunny and jack crevalle have arrived. All fish will hit anything from a small, trolled lure to a spoon being pulled slowly behind your boat. Another way to get one of these fish’s biting attentions is to cast right into the school of fish. The best thing that I can suggest is that you match the hatch. For the Spanish mackerel, little tunny and jack crevalle, their favorite meal are glass minnows and juvenile squid. Small silver spoons sizes 0 and 00 made by Clark are the best to use and do a good job of imitating the real thing. There are lots of different kinds of spoons on the tackle shelves, but the Clark spoon with the red ball is proven by fish many times over. When targeting larger fish, such as king mackerel and barracuda, the best spoon for this job is a 3 1/2-inch Drone. And if you really want to get a barracuda’s attention, try using a dead/live Spanish mackerel. The secret when using a fresh, dead Spanish mackerel is to pick the fish that looks the shiniest. Last, but certainly not least, I always have a Cuda Tube on board. On most occasions, this is the lure that will trigger a strike, even when the fish are not hungry. Cuda Tubes come in all colors from green to red to yellow. My favorite when trolled behind the Miss Judy Too is green.”

Georgia Saltwater Fishing Page

Offshore: Capt. Judy Helmey, of Miss Judy Charters, reports, This is a great time of the year to target the ever-popular cobia. When targeting cobia, use a 6- to 8-inch diving plug or a hair jig tipped with a plastic eel/worm. Hands down the best jig for this catching job is made by Nuts and Bolt. Don’t leave the dock without some of these jigs. Anything from shrimp to small fish will also work on cobia. Give them time to eat. This time of year when fishermen could catch billfish, tuna, mahi and wahoo at the live-bottom area 30 miles offshore. When the waters to the west of the Gulf Stream reach the same temperatures, blue-water fish go into traveling mode. You could find them at the artificial reefs, too. Genuine red snapper is currently closed. However, it has been posted that our genuine red snapper keeping days are officially Friday, July 12, 2024. This is not a typo. There is only a one-day genuine red snapper season. You are allowed to keep one snapper of any size per day. If you are fishing offshore, whether at the artificial reefs or all the way out to the blue waters of the Stream, you should have a copy of these rules and regulations on your boat. Please always check for any new posted rules and regulations. With sadness, I report that gag grouper season is officially closed for 2024. Scamps and red groupers are still open.”

Blue Water: Capt. Judy Helmey, of Miss Judy Charters, reports, “I suggest high-speed trolling starting at about 50 feet of water and pulling lures until you pull the throttles back. Best high-speed lures are Ballyhoo lures. If dragging doesn’t work, try bottom fishing. The fish that feed deep down under are bigger and better than you think during this time. As far as best bottom live baits, I like menhaden, sand perch, ruby red lips, vermilion snapper, pinfish or blue runners. Any hardy live bait will work. If you don’t want to use bait, there is always jigging. I like a 5- to 8-oz. Benthos jig on braided line. I like using 80-lb. test braided line. I suggest adding 4 to 8 feet of 60- to 80-lb. monofilament or fluorocarbon leader to the main line. These jigs are made for high-speed vertical jigging. The best way to work this jig is to drop to the bottom. If you are not hooked up, reel your jig about 10 feet up off the bottom and work it vertically at that depth. If you don’t have any luck, drop back to the bottom and try a new depth to work the jig.” 

Captain Judy’s Books: “I have two books out: The first book was published 30 years ago and is called ‘My Father the Sea & Me!’ A lot has happened, many have passed, many are a whole lot older and smarter. There is one thing time can’t erase, especially in this book, and that is that things have happened in the past. Read about the things that happened before 1992! The cost is $25 (plus tax, postage, and shipping). I have a case left of these books. I am in the process of publishing a second printing with a color cover, black/white photos inside. My second book is called ‘Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956! Inshore Fishing Techniques Presenting Old School Tools!’ This book’s information has been proven over and over again by fish and fishermen. Daddy started honing these techniques in 1948. My father was an excellent fisherman, both inshore and offshore. I was lucky enough to have a father who wanted to teach his daughter how to catch fish. In other words, he skipped fishing and moved me right into to catching status. The cost is $25 (plus tax, postage and shipping). It has a color cover and is complete with color photos. To purchase books, you can call 912.897.4921 or email [email protected]. I have two other books coming late 2024. I better get busy!”