Georgia Saltwater Fishing Reports – June 2021

Saltwater: Inshore: Capt. David Newlin reports, “The month of May has been a good month of fishing and fish catching. Water temperatures have been up and down the last few weeks. On May 20, the temperature at Fort McAllister was 76 degrees. It was 78 for a couple days and then fell to 71. By June 1, we will have water temps in the low 80s. All the summer fish patterns are starting to happen. The big roe trout are all over Ossabaw Sound. I have caught them from 2 to 20 feet deep. Trout have been on oyster shells and on sandy drop-offs, just about everywhere they should be in late May. The trout should move out on the beaches over the next few weeks. On calm days, you can sometimes see trout chasing baitfish in a few feet of water off the beaches and catch a lot of them. I have caught a lot of big trout off the beaches with small mullet and pogies fished under a cork. On calm days with a light west wind blowing, head for the beach. The flounder bite should be real good in June. I have been catching a good number of flounder over the last few weeks, and it should get better over the next few weeks. I had a client catch an 8 1/2-lb. flounder last week, which is a monster flounder. Float a shrimp over shallow shell flats until you catch one. Fish the area hard. There should be a few more in the area. The redfish bite has been good and should keep going through June. You can find them in the sounds and way up in the small creeks. Early and late in the day you should be able to find a few big redfish on the shallow grass flats. Whiting and black drum can be caught with a piece of dead shrimp on the bottom all month long. Try the deep curves in small creeks on low tide. All of the shark species have showed up in big numbers over the last few days. Small sharks are everywhere. The bigger sharks are offshore around the shrimp boats really thick. Any fresh fish will catch sharks. Make sure you are up to date on regulations before keeping one. June is a great month to go catch a lot of different species of fish. Get a bucket of shrimp, a cork rig and a bottom rig and see what bites. If the weather will cooperate, we should have a great month of fish catching.”

Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Inshore fishermen can catch spotted seatrout, redfish, flounder, sheepshead, black drum, shark, Spanish mackerel and cobia. This is the month to bring out the cast net and catch your own bait. Peanut menhaden, finger mullet and mud minnows are available and plentiful. As the warm temps warms, the shrimp population gets stronger. Fishermen as of last month had limited options in the purchasing and catching of live shrimp.   Check with the local baits shops to see if they have been carrying live shrimp. If so, then most likely you can catch some with your cast net. In the event you can’t purchase or catch live shrimp, carry some artificials in assorted patterns and colors. Rig them on a jig head, cast into place and retrieve slowly. If that’s not working, try a different retrieval method. It’s also a good idea to have an assortment of different colors of the Strike King soft jerkbaits. One of our favorite colors is baby bass. However, this bait comes in many grand two-tone colors. Let your personal color chart be your guide. These baits work rigged weedless on a 3/0 worm hook or threaded on to 1/8-oz. red, black or white jig heads. Berkley Gulp! Alive! are great soft artificial baits that come in many forms. These baits will work rigged on jig heads or under corks. It works whether it is in its original shape or not. After this bait is destroyed, I have taken the leftover parts, sliced the pieces up, dropped them back in the sauce to marinate and used them while bottom fishing. The live baits will work under traditional adjustable floats or popping corks, Carolina-style rigs or just plain naked. During this month, the inshore shark populations are plentiful. The best bait during this time is bluefish fillets/chunks or whiting steaks. It’s best to use these baits the same day they are caught. When using these baits, I suggest scaling and also cutting the tail off. The removal of the scales helps you get a more solid hook-up, especially when a softer bite is delivered. With the tail removed, fresh scents are delivered at intervals, which keeps a scattered smell around your bait. My father used to say the larger the bait, the bigger the bite. In this case, it’s true. The bigger piece of bait used normally does attract a much larger shark bite. Make sure you have plenty of line and a fisherman or two strong enough to reel them in. We are now offering inshore and offshore shark fishing trips.”

Nearshore: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “June is mackerel catching time. For Spanish mackerel, all you need is a small 0 or 00 Clark spoon to get this catching job done. The spoons work great pulled 10 feet behind 2-oz. trolling sinkers or small planers. If you find yourself surrounded by surface-holding Spanish mackerel, you can stop and pitch your most favorite small size lure. Just about anything will work as long as it is shiny and matches the hatch. The king mackerel bite will get hot and heavy. Best artificial bait is the Drone spoon pulled at 5 to 7 knots behind deep-running planers. I like using at least 30 feet of leader between the Drone spoon and the planer. You can fish live bait on Duster skirt rigs with stinger hooks in tow. Best live baits are going to be the nervous baits like Spanish sardines, cigar minnows or any small shiny bait that can move up or down quickly in the water column.  King mackerel like bling, so give them the shine that they  want.”

Savannah Snapper Banks: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Good offshore bottom and topwater fishing at the Savannah Snapper Banks happens this month.  Just about all fish that you can catch in the ocean will have arrived. This 2021 catching season so far has not let us down, with fishermen catching lots of cobia around buoys, artificial reefs and at 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 old-time favorite. Even a fresh, dead prawn shrimp thread onto a hook is a head-turner for the cobia. Grouper, vermilion snapper and black bass seasons are open. As far as baits for grouper, I suggest using live fish on the bottom, such as cigar minnow, Spanish sardines, vermilion snapper or sand perch. When using small vermilion snapper, sand perch or rock bass, use a Carolina rig. The leader used can be as short as 2 feet and as long as 30 feet. When using this style, I suggest a 12/0 to 14/0 circle hook. When making your leaders for targeting large bottom fish, there is a new rule of thumb to fish by. The shorter leader keeps your bait closer to the bottom, which is where you are going to find the best grouper bite. Grouper feed looking up and genuine red snapper feed side to side, making the bottom of the water column the ultimate strike zone. Our genuine red snapper populations have exploded, meaning they are everywhere. It is very frustrating catching a genuine red snapper every time you drop. As of this fishing report, no dates for keeping genuine red snapper has been posted. I suggest to keep moving from spot to spot while not staying in one area too long. When using a single- or double-hook bottom rig, I suggest using live/fresh dead cigar minnows or Spanish sardines. These baits are known for triggering a bite, meaning fish strike quick and strong. When targeting the larger species of vermilion snapper, I suggest the liveliest cigar minnows, Boston mackerel or Spanish sardines that you can catch with sabiki gold-hook rigs over any sort of structure at the artificial reefs. Please know that when fishing for any fish listed under the snapper grouper complex, you must use circle hooks. Go to http://safmc.net/regulations for all current federal regulations and details.”

Blue Water: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Mahi mahi and wahoo go into the wandering mode, which means you can catch them in green water. The Savannah Snapper Banks is a great place for these blue water fish. Mahi look for anything floating that provides any sort of shade, which makes for a great place for small baitfish to school.  While these fish are feeding near the surface, the sea birds with their keen eyesight are picking up the leftovers. Normally a large wahoo is accompanied by a yellow bill tropical bird or some sort of fast unusual looking seabird. If you happen to see a single bird diving fast and then making erratic air moves, it is most likely mimicking the movement down under of a large feeding wahoo. I have caught some nice 100-lb. wahoo while putting this knowledge to work. All you have to do when you find yourself in this target-rich environment is to let the bird that is watching the fish’s movement lead you. Present the bait ahead of the fish’s intended direction. During this time of the year, I normally keep larger baits such as red porgy and vermilion snapper in the livewell. My favorite rig is a beefed-up king mackerel rig using a single extra heavy-duty hook. It’s best to place the hook near the tail section, but you want to make sure the bait can still swim somewhat normally. We are now once again offering blue water bottom fishing and trolling trips!”