Georgia Saltwater Fishing Reports – November 2020

Inshore: Capt. David Newlin reports, “On Saturday, Oct. 24, the water temp was still 76 degrees. The last few weeks has had some real interesting fishing. A lot of big redfish have been caught, along with a lot of slot-limit fish. We have caught a lot of 30- to 40-lb. redfish. November should be some real good fishing. Over the next few weeks as the temperature falls, the fish should really turn on. The slot-limit redfish should be easy to find up the rivers and creeks. The Ogeechee should be full of redfish next month. A live shrimp on a cork or on the bottom should catch redfish. The big redfish should be on the beaches and out in the sounds all November. Try a piece of mullet or whiting on the bottom for the big redfish. I caught several last week on live croakers. Trout have been biting good. I have caught trout all over the sounds. They will start moving into the rivers and creeks all November as the water cools down. They will start hitting lures real good when the water gets into the low 70s. Right now a lot of trout are still in shallow water. They will start going deeper in the next few weeks. A slip-cork rig with a 3/4-oz. sinker can easily get a live shrimp down to 15 feet of water. The main thing necessary to catch trout is finding some clear water to fish in. A combination of live shrimp and lures should work next month. Black drum and sheepshead should start hitting in good numbers. November should be a good fish catching month for about everything. Stay out of the woods for a day or two and catch some fish.”

Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “This is the time of the year that fishing at the coast is great both inshore and offshore. Use live shrimp, and once you get the bite going, it’s simple enough to change to any artificial shrimp pattern. Fish popping corks with 3- to 4-foot leaders. It’s best to put a weight about 1 foot above the hook because this helps keep the bait under the cork. Popping corks sound just like a shrimp flapping its tail up against its body and works great for spotted sea trout, flounder and redfish. Traditional adjustable floats work great when trying to find the bite at different depths. When anchoring is the plan, I suggest using the larger versions of the traditional adjustable corks because it enables you to make longer drifts and can be seen for farther distances. This is a very good tip, especially when fishing in a cooler water situation as sound travels farther. It seems the more you move, the longer you have to wait to see if there really is any sort of bite in the area. For artificial fishermen, use lighter tackle for a better feel. I like using 8-lb. test monofilament with no leader. Try DOAs, rigged or not, Berkeley scented Gulps, Strike King soft flukes, paddle and curly tails, etc. My favorite cold-water colors are electric chicken, baby bass and root beer. Lastly, fish live shrimp naked with just a hook.”

Offshore: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “The artificial reefs in 50 to 70 feet of water normally holds a nice build up of black sea bass. Just about all structures on the reefs will hold fish. However, sometimes you have to look before you find the bulk of the bottom fish. Go to coastalgadnr.org/HERU for all offshore artificial reefs coordinates. The best bait is going to be squid and cut fish. Artificial reefs L, CCA and the J buoy normally are holding the end run of the Spanish/king mackerel. We normally pull 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 Drone spoons for the kings and small to medium Clark spoons for the Spanish mackerel. Best trolling speed is 5 to 7 knots. For those fishermen who want to drift these areas with light tackle and live baits, this is a good time to go this route. Trophy redfish could also be caught while trolling, bottom fishing or livelining these areas. Please remember these fish are on the federally protected program list. You can catch them, but you can’t keep them. Bottom fishing at the Savannah Snapper Banks for grouper is still open, as well as quite a few others. Best live baits when targeting grouper are small vermilion, pinfish, sand perch, bluefish and rock bass. If you can’t catch these baits while bottom fishing with squid, give the sabiki rig a try. For those who like the standard old bottom fishing with live bait, such as cigar minnows or Spanish sardines or cut squid, now is the time. Best rigs to use to catch these live baits are going to be sabiki gold hook rigs. Unfortunately, I am still reporting that live baits are not as plentiful as they have been in past years. For those of you who still have the coordinates of where the artificial (old yellow reef buoys) reef buoys used to be anchored, I suggest giving these areas a try. There is some sort of structure at all of the spots where the artificial reef buoys used to be anchored, and where you have undisturbed structure, you got fish. Let’s keep this well-kept secret between GON readers and us! Since the bait is not so much where it usually schools, don’t forget a box of frozen cigar minnows or Spanish sardines. The ocean menhaden has been strong this year, and this is also bait that will work live and when cut up. When traveling to the sound and you happen to see schools of peanut menhaden flipping, try them with the cast net. The small menhaden dead or alive work great and you don’t have to cut them up. If you do catch a lot of them, don’t overfill the livewell. When there are leftovers, put them in a bucket and cover with saltwater. This type of soaking will keep their shine alive. Cut up expired menhaden work great as bottom bait.”

Gulf Stream: Capt. Judy Helmey reports, “Drag ballyhoo from small dinks to large horse size dressed in different colored skirts or rigged just plain naked with or without chin weights. For those fishermen who just want to drag the artificial stuff, I like pulling cedar plugs that have been soaked in menhaden oil. Dolphin Delight made by No Alibi is a plastic squid lure made with feathers, and it works great when pulled about 4 feet behind a bird. Best lures to pull are black/silver and blue/silver Halcos rattlers and black/orange bottom Terminators. If trolling doesn’t work, there is always deep-water jigging for big gags and scamp grouper. As far as main line, I like using 80-lb. braid, because it cuts through the water with less friction delivered. Best jigs for deep water are the big boys Williamson or Shimano 7 to 10.5 ozs. The best old-school jigs are the Bridgeport diamond jig, which comes in 1- to 16-oz. weights. In the case of the Bridgeport, I suggest attaching the main line to the same end as the hook. This makes for less hook-ups on the bottom, and larger fish normally strike the head first. All you have to do is to drop these jigs on the bottom, reel up a few feet and vertically work your lure in this area. Work it as close to the bottom as possible. I suggest jigging with a medium drag.” Miss Judy Charters will be offering their 2021 Captain Judy’s Inshore/Offshore Fishing Clinics Feb. 19-21, 2021 on inshore/offshore boats in the water. The cost is $150 per person for inshore or $150 per person for offshore. Morning classes and departures are 8 a.m. until 12 p.m. Afternoon classes and departures are 1-5 p.m. Snacks and drinks provided by Capt. Judy. Inshore fishing focuses on proven inshore light-tackle techniques revealed for redfish, spotted seatrout and flounder. Offshore fishing focuses on proven offshore techniques that took years to modify at the artificial reefs, Savannah Snapper Banks and the Gulf Stream. Call 912.897.4921 for more details!”