Georgia Saltwater Fishing Report October 2014

Saltwater: Inshore: Capt. David Newlin reports, “Water temps have crashed the last few days. On Sept. 27, water temps were around 75. The drop in temperature should put the fish bite in high gear. The redfish and trout bite has been hot the whole month of September and should get better on into October. The trout have started hitting lures and all the artificial-shrimp imitations. The topwater bite has been real good. Yesterday was cloudy all day, and I had around 50 strikes on a MirrOlure on the top. Try chartreuse, white, silver and red colors. The Gulp Swimming Mullet has been working on trout and redfish. Live shrimp under a popping cork is still the go-to rig. The tides in October look real good, except for a few days around the full moon. The big redfish are on the beaches real thick. Fish a chunk of fresh mullet on the bottom on a 10/0 circle hook. Schools of big reds will be around the sand bars, tide lines and changes in bottom contour. When the water is clear, you can sometimes spot the big redfish in schools on the beach. October is a good month to go meat fishing or to go trophy fishing.” Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Inshore fishermen get to experience the big bull redfish migration, which starts taking place this month. Schooling baits such as mullet and menhaden provide much feeding opportunity for these fish. When you see any surface action, stop, wait, and look for any turbulence, underwater feeding or seabirds in a heavy feeding or holding pattern. Another place to look are areas where currents come together forming some sort of a rip. Not all rips will hold the interest of fish, but I can guarantee you once you figure out what to look for, hook-ups can happen. Always look 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 as well as other small sea birds, then you have a possible big feeding frenzy going on. Fish there! When anchored in areas around live oyster beds, I suggest using small adjustable floats with about 12 inches of 30- to 40-lb. test fluorocarbon leader with either semi circle or a standard 2/0 to 3/0 kahle-style hook. Best baits for this rig are going to be lip-hooked live mullet, peanut menhaden or live shrimp hooked up under the horn. If live bait isn’t an option, there are plenty other baits that will work, such as 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, I suggest using diamond-shape 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.”

Offshore: Capt. Judy reports, “Nearshore artificial reefs and natural live-bottom areas will hold lots of different-sized bottom and topwater fish. For those fishermen who want to get some big bottom-fish action, I suggest filling the livewell before reaching the fishing grounds. The best place to stop to load up on bait is wrecks located at the artificial reefs in 55-plus feet of water. Please know that most of the yellow buoys marking the offshore artificial reefs are gone. These buoys held the interest of all types and sizes of bait fish. So now you need to make sure you have GPS coordinates for all structure on the artificial reefs that you are going to fish. Go to http://coastalgadnr.org/node/2089 to get information about Georgia’s artificial reefs. Gold-hook sabiki bait rigs normally have six to eight small hooks meaning lots of bait each time you drop. Best live baits are cigar minnows, Spanish mackerel, Boston mackerel and any others that are hanging with the school. However, we have been catching lots of threadfin herring (don’t last long in the livewell) and horny bellies (which isn’t the best of live baits to use). However, we have noticed since the lack of availability of the different live baits, the horny belly has worked a time or two. The bait catching this year has not been the best for sure. So I suggest taking some frozen ones. Bait shops normally stock both frozen cigar minnows and Spanish sardines, which both will work just fine. My suggestion is when possible to purchase frozen Spanish sardines over cigar minnows. The sardines are cheaper and will bring on the same bite. When bottom fishing, I suggest fishing in 100 feet (Savannah Snapper Banks) to 200 feet (edge of Gulf Stream) of water over any broken live bottom with ledges. Drop your lipped or dorsal-hooked bait to the bottom, and hang on for a grouper biting affair. And that’s not all you could catch: cubera snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, amberjack, white grunts, porgy, and etc. The bottom line is it’s time to go fish! Please always check current regulations and closures before heading out. Best website for regulations is http://www.safmc.net/. Believe it or not, you are not allowed to keep white bone porgy, knobbed porgy, scup, saucereye porgy or jolthead porgy. Their season is closed until Jan. 1, 2015.”