Georgia Saltwater Fishing Reports – April 2021

Saltwater: Inshore: Capt. David Newlin reports, “March has been a crazy month for the weather. We have had cold days and then days in the 70s and 80s. We had terrible northeast winds for four days last week. The last few days the weather has been really nice. We have caught a lot of trout, redfish, stripers and sheepshead over the last few weeks. On March 25, the water temperature was around 64 degrees in Ossabaw Sound. The redfish bite has been good all of March and should get better as we get into April. Lately most of my redfish have been up in creeks and small places. Over the next few weeks, they should be all over the sounds in the usual places. A live shrimp under a cork should catch them. The trout bite has been really good on some days lately. I was fishing alone last week and caught around 50 trout on lures. A green D.O.A. jig with a 1/2-oz. white head has been working really good for me. I caught a few big trout on a sinking red-and-white MirrOlure in 15 to 20 feet of water. As the water gets warmer, the trout will start hitting live-shrimp rigs a lot better than lures. April is usually a good month for catching some big trout. Try fishing a small mullet 3 to 5 inches on a 1/4-oz. sinker with a 24-inch leader on the bottom. Usually the last half of April is some of the best trout catching of the year. By the time you read this, the whiting bite should be really hot. This is some of the most fun fish catching of the year. This is the only good fish with no limits on it that we fish for. Catching 100 or more is not unusual. Usually the bigger concentrations are around the sandbars out in the sounds and off the fronts of the beaches. Ten to 15 feet of water seems to work best for me. A small piece of shrimp or squid on the bottom will work. I like a long shank No. 2 hook with a foot of leader, a small barrel swivel and a 1-oz. egg sinker. This is great fishing for the kids. Bring plenty of hooks. You will catch some sting rays. Bring a sharp pair of scissors and just cut them off is the simple method of handling them. Fried fresh whiting filets are delicious. The whiting bite should be good all through April and May. The sheepshead bite has been good inshore and offshore. All the usual spots are holding a few. As always, a fiddler crab fished near the bottom will catch them. Any structure that has barnacles growing on it can attract sheepshead. They should be around all month. The stripers have been biting steady up the Ogeechee. I have been catching them on a lot of different things, live shrimp, Rapalas and jigs. They have not been picky about what they are eating. The whole area between the Interstate 95 bridge and Fort McAllister has been holding some stripers. When you catch one, fish the area hard. There will be a few more in the area. The catfish in the Ogeechee have been really thick all the way down to the mouth of the river. Usually during the month of April, the catfish seem to move toward the saltwater. All around Rockfish Creek and the 7 Mile Bend area should have a lot of catfish. Dead shrimp on the bottom always works. April should be a good month of fish catching. Beware of the online charter scams. I had a group of people this week that got burned by one. They paid a deposit and nobody showed up. Talk to your boat captain or don’t book the trip.”

Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “April fishing brings fishermen closer to the act of catching. Bait shops should start to catch and carry live shrimp. With live shrimp in the well, traditional adjustable floats from large to small and popping corks are going to be your best bet for not only finding but catching fish. If a redfish, spotted seatrout or flounder gets close to this bait, they will eat it. Another way to present live shrimp is to just fish naked, meaning light leader, small split-shot and small hook. All you need to do is hook your shrimp under the horn and cast into place. When you purchase shrimp and they don’t last too long after transferring to your livewell, it’s possible that you have different water salinity. It’s most likely not the shrimp that you just purchased but the water you are putting them in. If possible, it is best that you leave shrimp in the same water you purchased them in and add an aerator. I suggest purchasing a Top Spot map, No. 232 for inshore and No. 229 for offshore. Go to www.offshoremapping.com/productcart/pc/Top-Spot-Fishing-Maps-c16.htm. These charts list coordinates in GPS, and they are pretty accurate. In the past I have had fishermen report that coordinates received are not close to the actual spots published on the charts. Fishermen must remember that all GPS units can be adjusted meaning the coordinates will not all be the same. The best way to combat this situation is to stop about a 1/4 to 1/8 of a mile from the intended location and motor slowly while watching your fish finder. Believe me, adding this move into all of your fish finding spot equations is only going to enhance your catching abilities and also aid you in finding more fishing spots. During the month of April, the sounds come alive with everything from whiting to sharks to bluefish to stingray to trophy redfish to cobia to other strange creatures. It’s fun just dropping down to the bottom and waiting to see what just might get on your hook. When the fish quit biting, I always suggest changing your bait. While using small pieces of shrimp on light tackle rigs even the smaller fish offer some nice action. We have found that smaller fish also get tired of the same old bait plan. We came up with the ‘Captain Judy’s whiting cocktail.’ It is a change-up bait, as well as an alternative bait. Fishing with small pieces of cut shrimp will work for a while. However, adding a small piece of whiting fillet sweetens the bait and offers enough of a change to turn the bite back on. When the bait slows again, just go back to the small pieces of shrimp or just pieces of whiting filet. Another tip is to peel some of your shrimp and scale some of the small whiting before filleting and cutting it up into small bite-sized pieces. All of these different bait combinations and tips are proven, but the challenge is to keep changing if you want a continued bite. This is the time of year when that small fish can be turned into a big fish biting option. The smaller fish that you just caught can be used either whole live or fresh dead. You can also cut them up in steaks just like you do a loaf of bread. With a little heavier rod/reel combo, as well as heavier terminal tackle, you can use any of these baits and drift them out with a float or fish them right on the bottom. Believe me this will definitely bring on the bigger fish bite. For rigs when fishing the sound no matter the size of fish that you are targeting, I have to suggest the Carolina-style classic.  Fish an egg sinker on the main line and then tie on the swivel and then the leader and then the hook. For the smaller fish, I suggest 10- to 20-lb. test monofilament line or up to 50-lb. test braided main line. As far as the leader, I suggest 15- to 20-lb. test fluorocarbon or just regular monofilament line. Best hook style is going to be kahle No. 4 or No. 6. I like Eagle Claw L141 G kahle hooks. Standard J thin tinned hooks in the same size range are also good. I also like using Eagle Claw L197 G series circle hooks, which come in assorted sizes. Offset circle hooks offer the setting of the hook or not option. Just remember if the hook is too big, it can detour even a small bite. When you are changing from small pieces of shrimp to steaks or whole fish as bait, I suggest using 30- to 50-lb. test monofilament or 50- to 80-lb. test braid as main line. I suggest using a little heavier rod/reel combo setup. When setting up your Carolina rig for the larger bite, I suggest using 40- to 60-lb. test line. For larger fish, I suggest using a circle hook from size 9/0 to 14/0 or a standard J from 6/0 to 8/0. As far as egg sinker, I suggest sizes from 1 to 8 ounces. The currents in the sounds can get strong and sometimes during the tide change no currents prevail.”  

Nearshore: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “This is the month where water temperatures are on the rise and fish are on the move. The more a fish moves the more it eats, which is just about where you the fisherman comes into play. The artificial reefs can hold the attentions of all sorts of fish from bottom to topwater. When bottom fishing, you could catch black sea bass, flounder, bluefish, white bone porgy, summer trout, cobia and other biters. When it comes to topwater fish, normally large Spanish mackerel have arrived. These fish feed on any baits that they can find staging from the surface to right on the bottom. Just because you can’t see the mackerel on the surface certainly doesn’t mean they are not there. So this is a tip to catch a fish that most don’t even know exists in these areas during this time. The best bait is going to be the ever-popular small to medium Clark Spoon. I suggest either trolling the spoons deep or pitching them right over the structure. I will also suggest bringing along a suitable dip net because you most likely are going to need it to land this fish. Another fish that frequents the artificial reefs at this time is the little tunny, and they can come in sizes from 1 to 20 pounds. This fish offers a strong fight on just about any size tackle that you care to use. One surefire way to catch this fish is pull a small cedar plug way, way back. Cedar plugs come in assorted sizes. When targeting fish in these areas at this time, I suggest pulling the smallest plug way back. This boils down to about a distance of 200 feet plus. I know that sounds like letting out a lot of line, but for some reason when the boat approaches, this fish dives and right after the pass the entire school surfaces again. So if you are pulling the bait way back, well, hits are going to happen. Now if you are not going to eat this fish, please return unharmed back to the wild. However, I also suggest checking on the web for some suggested recipes for this fish. You just might be surprised, and I do know that little tunny are good when smoked! To further your opportunity for catching fish, I suggest make yourself a copy of Georgia’s artificial reefs at http://coastalgadnr.org/sites/default/files/crd/Reefs/GeorgiaOffshoreReefWeb.pdf.

Savannah Snapper Banks: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Grouper season runs from May 1, 2021 until Dec. 31, 2021. Offshore fishermen still make their way to the Banks at this time to take advantage of the incredible amount of large bottom fish available, such as vermilion snapper, white grunt, triggerfish, amberjack, black sea bass, red porgy and white bone. As far as top to mid-water-column fish, there is always cobia, amberjack, almaco jack and king mackerel, which can be caught while plain old bottom fishing. When bottom fishing, cut squid, frozen/fresh cigar minnows whole or pieces and cut fish are great working baits. I also suggest putting your livewell into circulation and keeping all small fish caught to use as live bait. Best live baits are going to be ruby red lips, rock bass, sand perch, vermilion snapper and pinfish. By using any or all of these suggested baits, all fish whether they are bottom dwellers or not will bite. At this time we do not know the opening dates for the 2021 genuine red snapper season.  For those fishermen who want to keep up with posted dates as they are made available, I suggest visiting http://www.safmc.net. By taking a cruise on this site you can learn of current regulations and those that are coming our way. It is always good being in the know.”

Blue Water: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “For the fishermen who seeks blue-water status, this would be the time to make that happen. For tuna, dolphin, wahoo, mako shark and bill fish, the 70-mile run is definitely worth it. For bait, I suggest single-hooked, chin-weighted dink ballyhoo and cedar plugs. For a large bite, I suggest Ilander Lures rigged with horse ballyhoo. This brings on great possibilities for a serious yahoo wahoo bite. High-speed trolling should be put high up on your list of things to do to catch big fish. While heading to the Stream, you cover lots of water so you might as well get the best out of it. Dragging a couple of high-speed lures should be next on your list. Here are some websites that have high speed trolling lures: http://cscustomlures.com, https://ballyhood.com/products/wahoo-lures  and www.handmadetackle.com/wahoo-fishing-lures. All of these high-speed lures work. However, my favorite is Ballyhood cowbell style high speed lures because they trigger a much bigger fish bite. While at the blue water of the Stream, there is another option and that’s to give bottom fishing a try. With small pieces of squid, you catch football vermilion, mega triggerfish, sand tile, knobbed porgy and fish not even listed in the identification booklet. All fishermen when targeting the snapper-grouper species have to use circle hooks. It’s the law! The good news about circle hooks is all you have to do is to get your bait to the bottom, a fish will eat it, try to swim off and the fish will be hooked up. I always suggest checking for current fishing regulations before heading offshore. The best website for up-to-date federal fishing regulations is http://www.safmc.net.”