Georgia Saltwater Fishing Report June 2011

Saltwater: Inshore: Good. Capt. David Newlin reports, “The redfish bite is pretty hot. We caught five big ones sight fishing in the grass this morning. A new-penny-colored Powerbait shrimp was working great. Plenty of slot-limit fish are being caught on live shrimp. They should keep biting through June. The trout bite has improved. It isn’t red hot, but it seems to be getting better. The big roe trout should be in the sounds and on the beach front next month. Live shrimp should be your best bait. The whiting are still hitting real good; shrimp pieces on the bottom should work. In my area, it seems like low water has had the best catches of whiting for me. The big news is the shark fishing. They are everywhere — big ones, little ones and all sizes. Saturday I caught about 75 in one trip. The big lemon sharks were very thick. The bigger sharks are still 3 to 5 miles offshore but will be closer in the next few days. I have seen several schools of tarpon. They should be here in catchable numbers shortly.” Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Fishermen get to go into the spotted sea trout, redfish, flounder, sheepshead, black drum, shark, Spanish mackerel and cobia watch-and-catch mode! Since we haven’t had any local shrimp due to cold conditions last winner, this would be the month to bring out the cast net and catch your own bait. Peanut menhaden, finger mullet, mud minnows and shrimp are available as well as plentiful. All of these baits will work under traditional adjustable floats or popping corks, Carolina-style rigs or fished just plain naked. For artificial lures, pick up an assortment of different colors of Strike King soft jerkbaits. One favorite is baby bass, which is 3XZT00-55. These baits work rigged weedless on a 3/0 worm hook or threaded on to 1/8-oz. red, black or white jig head. Cast them out, let them fall, and normally these lures never make it to the bottom before strikes happen.”

Nearshore and Offshore: Capt. Judy reports, “June is what most offshore fishermen have been waiting for. Just about all fish that you can catch in the ocean will have arrived. This 2011 catching season so far has not let us down with lots of cobia around buoys, artificial reefs and the Savannah Snapper Banks. Best baits for cobia are eels under beefed-up adjustable floats or Carolina-style rigs. Believe it or not, but live prawn shrimp is another favorite. Grouper, vermilion and black bass catching seasons are open. As far as baits for grouper, I suggest live fish on the bottom such as cigar minnows, Spanish sardines or sand perch. When targeting the larger species of vermilion snapper, I suggest the liveliest cigar minnows, Boston mackerel or Spanish sardines you can catch. To catch bait you will need to bring along more than one set of Sabiki gold-hook rigs, which works great dropped over wrecks located at the artificial reefs. It’s Spanish mackerel time. All you need is a small 0 or 00 Clark spoon to get this catching job done. The king mackerel bite will soon get hot and heavy. Best artificial baits are the ever-popular Drone spoon pulled at around 7 knots or live bait on thin-wire stinger hook rigs. This is also good time for catching blue-water fish at the Savannah Snapper Banks… tuna, dolphin, wahoo and billfish.” David reports, “On the artificial reefs, the cobia have been thick. A lot of big fish have been caught. Black sea bass are real thick and should be easy to limit out on when it opens up on June 1. A few kings have been caught. Most have been caught trolling deep from 60 feet and farther offshore.”