Georgia Saltwater Fishing Reports – May 2021

Saltwater: Inshore: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “With the month of May at bay, the fish bite is more dependable and predictable. During this time, live shrimp can be caught holding on mud banks, deeps holes, backs of creeks and of course at the bait shops. In May, the spotted seatrout bite is joined with the flounder bite, meaning two types of fish for one type of bait. Live shrimp under an adjustable float or popping cork works like a charm. However if you are wanting to get your bait closer to the bottom, but not right on it, an adjustable cork will do just that. When presenting bait this way, the spotted seatrout will find your bait and the flounder can see it. If it’s artificial lures you prefer, purchase some Berkley Gulp Alive baits. The whiting bite has been pretty good and should continue well into June. I suggest bottom fishing around mud and sandbars in 10 to 30 feet of water. Whiting can be found in both shallow and deep water. The whiting bite is better with the least amount of current. Two hours before until two hours after the tide turn is going to be the optimum time to get your best bite. This fish loves small pieces of shrimp fished directly on the bottom. This is the only fish I know that peels its shrimp before eating them. Feel free to peel some just to see how that bite goes. If you get a bite and miss it, reeling in and finding a shrimp shell on your hook is a very common thing. Other great baits are small pieces of whiting filets with or without added small pieces of shrimp. When the bite slows, change your bait. Sometimes using just shrimp or just small pieces of fish will turn the bite back on. If that doesn’t work, put both baits on the hook at the same time. Small live mud minnows are great baits that will work very well when targeting whiting in the sound. Flounder like this bait, too. For whiting, I suggest a Caroline style. This rig should be made with an appropriate sized egg sinker that will hold your bait on the bottom and a small, thin-tinned hook. It will be up to you whether or not you want to use a circle or kahle-style hook. I mostly use small circle size No. 2 (or smaller) thin-tinned hooks. I prefer the Eagle Claw circle L197 hooks when targeting whiting. The Carolina rig works great whether you are using live minnows or plain old dead.”

Capt. David Newlin reports, “April has been a good month for fish catching. Trout, whiting, redfish, flounder, black drum and sheepshead have been getting put in my boat. On April 25, the water temperature was around 69 degrees. The trout bite is fixing to get hot. This week a lot of big trout have shown up. During May, we should catch a lot of big roe trout as they are getting ready to spawn. As always, a live shrimp under a slip cork rig is hard to beat. In some places, I prefer to fish a live shrimp on the bottom with a light sinker and a 2-foot leader. Look for the trout all over the sounds, shallow and deep. Any day now the topwater trout action should start. Try throwing a Zara Spook the first hour of daylight, and retrieve it a lot faster than you do bass fishing. The whiting bite is on fire. It will last well into May. I have caught several hundred this week. Lately on most days you can catch 50 or more in an hour when the tide is right. Five to 10 feet has been the preferred depth. The redfish bite has been good. As things warm up, the redfish should scatter out all over the sounds. They have been way up the river in the brackish waters all this month. In May, they usually head to the sounds and leave the rivers. We should catch redfish all over the sound during May. Early and late look for some fish on the surface in the shallow marsh areas. The flounder bite has already started getting off to a good start. Usually late May can be good flounder catching. Float a live shrimp just off the bottom in 3 feet of water over oyster shells and you should find a flounder. Black drum and sheepshead are showing up in good numbers. Fish a shrimp or a fiddler crab on the bottom around some structure, and you should find a few of each. One of my favorite fish is the bonnethead sharks, and they are showing up all over the place. They love to burn the drags out on spinning reels. They are good eating if they are legal size and you gut the fish in the first hour after you catch them. They are fun whether you keep them or not. They love a big live shrimp. May should be good fish catching. As the water warms, everything changes. The summer fishing patterns start working as the waters seem to come alive with fish and all types of baitfish on the surface. If the weather is good, we should catch a lot of fish.”

Nearshore: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “The bottom fishing can be very good at this time of the year at the artificial reefs. Best bottom baits are cut squid and filet of fresh fish. These baits once put on or near the bottom get the fish’s attention. The black sea bass, triggerfish, summer trout, flounder and other bottom biters love the option of a free meal. Any small fish that you catch I suggest lip hooking them on a beefed-up Carolina style rig and sending them right back to the bottom. With a live-bait offering, you could catch anything from a large king mackerel to a big gag grouper to an early arriving cobia. As far as a topwater bite, the Spanish mackerel have arrived. You might not see them, but they are here. Best places to troll are going to be over and around structure. For those fishermen who don’t want to troll lures, I suggest pitching spoons or any sort of glass or cigar minnow imitators over and around the structure. If you happen to see a few Spanish jumping, I suggest working the area while pulling small to medium Clark spoons at different depths. While circling the structure and around any sort of surface live bait or jumping Spanish mackerel, you also could find yourself catching king mackerel, barracuda or little tunny. May is cobia season at the artificial reefs. Best live baits are juvenile black fish, pinfish, cigar minnow, Spanish sardines, peanut menhaden, live shrimp and eels.  If the live stuff doesn’t trigger a bite, I suggest being prepared with some sort of artificial bait. My go-to artificial is a green/white or blue/white 3-oz. jig, which I have threaded on a white eel or some sort of trailing soft artificial bait. If a cobia comes to your boat, swims around and won’t take any of your bait offering, I suggest casting the jig out in front of the fish’s heading, letting it free fall for about 10 feet, then working it in an upward and downward motion while not reeling in any line. Give the jig time to work. You might not see the cobia, but it will be watching your bait!”

Savannah Snapper Banks: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Grouper season for our area is May 1 until Dec. 31. For more up-to-date fishery regulations, go to http://www.safmc.net. This is the month when gags and scamps exercise their right to make a move to feed. I suggest the nervous baits, such as live cigar minnows or Spanish sardines, which are easily caught on just about any type of gold-hook sabiki rigs. The secret is to use sabiki bait rigs made with No. 6 to No. 8 sized hooks laced with fish skin. Once these style hooks are dipped into the water, baits can’t resist the gold flash or the secret smell delivered. Another method for getting a solid grouper bite is by jigging. Best jigs colors are cigar minnows or Spanish sardines imitations. Drop to the depth where the fish are holding and then work your jig by raising and dropping your rod. This basically works your jig about 4 to 5 feet up and down at the same depth. As far as topwater fishing at the Banks, anything goes from king mackerel to mahi mahi. When moving from spot to spot, I pull some sort of a swimming lure. I like dragging a 6/0 j-style, three inline hooks rigged on a Sea Witch (1- to 2 1/2-oz. head) lure rigged with a small to medium ballyhoo. The secret to hooking up is to make sure you have your reel in a medium drag mode, which is not too loose and not too tight. At this drag setting, your fish will get hooked up in a more solid fashion. I like pulling this rig on a standard stand-up bottom fishing rod with a 4/0 reel loaded with 50-lb. test monofilament line.”     

Blue Water: Capt. Judy Helmey, of Miss Judy Charters, reports, “The blue waters of the Gulf Stream can certainly offer lots of action during the month of May. Water temperatures to the west of the stream are still cooler, meaning the edge is still strong. The best way to find fish is to locate any temperature breaks. Go to http://sstcharts.com for free online sea surface temperature charts. The mahi bite is normally the best during this month. You can catch them pulling small- to medium-rigged baits right on the surface. For those who don’t want to rig ballyhoo, I suggest pulling birds with artificial squid in tow. My favorite in tow artificial are No Alibi Dolphin Delight lures. It is a great lure that doesn’t have to be rigged with any sort of bait. I always like pulling them about 3 feet behind my birds. Once you find a school of dolphin, I suggest stopping and pitching to them. You can use small jigs with screw tails, squid on a hook, cut ballyhoo on a hook or small live baits. If they come to the boat with their lights on, they are most likely going to eat just about anything you throw at them. To keep the school’s attention, always leave the last fish hooked up swimming in the water right by your boat until you have hooked up the next one.”