Georgia Saltwater Fishing Report – June 2008

Saltwater: Inshore: The trout and redfish are biting great, although strong currents have made fishing difficult the past few weeks. Traditionally, popping-cork rigs with live shrimp or artificial imitations work well on trout around shell beds, while redfish will take soft jerkbaits and other artificials on the mud flats and at the mouths of small creeks.

Nearshore: Excellent for sharks. Capt. David Newlin specializes in catching sharks using some fun techniques that bass fishermen would recognize, and he said there are plenty of sharks off the beaches. Capt. Judy Helmey said the Spanish mackerel are in the upper water column. “You might not see them running the surface, but they are there. We caught more than 50 Spanish trolling No. 3 planers with Clark spoons in tow. The best size to use is going to be 00-RBMS and 0-RBMS silver Clark spoons. Use a 20-lb. test monofilament leader that is 15 feet long. Clark spoons are old-time favorites, which do a great job of imitating the mackerel’s favorite table fare of glass minnows,” Capt. Helmey said.

Offshore: Good on the artificial reefs and wrecks in the 50-foot and deeper depths. “Bottom fishing in these areas is good. Red snapper, black sea bass, ocean perch and flounder were caught bottom bumping with plain old squid and cut fish. Quite a few cobia were spotted cruising around the wrecks. Some of these fish took notice of bait offered while others just kept cruising. This was the first weekend that I have seen large numbers of king mackerel on these reefs. The bite was fast and furious this past weekend. We caught snakes, slingers and a few gaffers. The snake kings are less than 8 pounds. The slingers are also called teenagers, which normally weigh in mid to low teens. The gaffers are normally over 18 pounds. When they get to over 20 to 25 pounds, these kings are called semi-smokers. All king mackerel that we put in the boat were caught on 3 1/2-inch Drone spoons pulled 30 feet behind No. 3 planers.” The bite has been great on the Savannah Snapper Banks. “It might be a longer ride, but well worth it,” said Capt. Helmey. “This area has it all, from big bottom fish to unpredictable topwater fare.”