Southeast Georgia Fishing Reports With Capt. Bert Deener – Aug. 2 2024

Matt Rouse got on the St. Marys River late last week before it started rising and caught some giant bluegill, like this 14-ouncer, on cricket-shaped crankbaits.

It’s evident that the dog days of summer are here and kids are about to start back to school. The number of reports dropped this week, but the catching has still been good for those who went. The rains have blown out most rivers for this week, so concentrate on ponds, the Okefenokee Swamp and saltwater for the best bites.

Altamaha/Ocmulgee River: I went over to the Ocmulgee this week, and it is swollen and very muddy. If you can find a backwater that isn’t flowing, that’s probably going to be the ticket for catching panfish. Two-Way Sportfishing Club is hosting a catfish tournament Sept. 21-22. It will be a rod-and-reel only tournament. For details, contact Tournament Directors Jamie Hodge (912.271.8589) or Tiff Thompson (229.938.4789).

Satilla River: The river has been high this week with the nightly rains. It’s out in the floodplain, so you’ll do better other places. The Highway 84 (Blackshear Bridge) ramp is closed for bridge construction and will be for years. 

St. Marys River: Matt Rouse fished the extreme upper St. Marys on Friday and got on seven really big bluegill and a few redbreast. A gold-colored topwater cricket crankbait was the ticket for him. The catfish didn’t play when he put shrimp on the bottom, and he caught a couple bowfin and a small bass when he trolled crawfish-brass blade Dura-Spins. His biggest bluegill weighed 14 ounces.

Okefenokee Swamp: The warmouth bite trickled off during the week as nightly rains pushed the Swamp level higher and higher.

On Friday, Chuck Coomer and his grandson Elijah fished with me, and we caught a total of 46 fish. We flung pink/white Super Sallies and whitetreuse Warmouth Whacker Jigs on bream-buster poles (the exact same presentation that we fooled 36 panfish just two days before) for about an hour, and they did not catch a single panfish. We switched to trolling Dura-Spins for most of our trip and had a blast catching bowfin every few minutes, including a couple doubles. Most were around 2 to 3 pounds, and our biggest was Elijah’s 4-pounder that earned him a Youth Angler Award from the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division. We had a couple 14- to 16-inch pickerel mixed in, as well. The most unique catch, though, was a GIANT softshell turtle that ate Elijah’s crawfish-orange blade Dura-Spin. He fought it a long time, and we were able to remove the mangled hook boatside. The best colors of Dura-Spins were crawfish-orange blade, black/chartreuse-silver blade and lemon-lime. The most recent water level (Folkston side) was 120.80 feet.

Local Ponds: Joshua Barber fished a pond on Tuesday and caught three warmouth, about 10 fliers and a catfish. Some of his warmouth were big, colored-up fish. I heard from a friend who night-fished a lake Tuesday night, and they fooled a bluegill and one bass on a topwater. I had some business to do north of Waycross, so I towed my boat and fished a couple ponds on Tuesday.

At the first one, I flung black/chartreuse Satilla Spins and caught a couple nice bluegill and two small bass, but they ate a catalpa Super-Sally on a fly rod best. They were not very active. A couple bowfin up to 4 pounds ate a lemon-lime Dura-Spin.

The second pond was a little better for bluegill. I only fooled one big bluegill with a crawfish Satilla Spin, but they were eating a catalpa Super-Sally on a fly rod much better. I ended up with 12 bluegill to 10 inches and a 5-lb. channel catfish that ate the same catalpa Super-Sally on a fly rod. That was a blast!

Lake Rousseau, Florida: Jay Murray fished with Cliff Williamson and Kellen (his grandson) on the central Florida lake this past week using shiners with James Snipes, of Donkey Nation. The trio landed 15 bass between 2 pounds and 11-lbs., 10-ozs. What a bite! Each of them had a bass pushing 10 pounds, and Jay’s was the big girl.

Saltwater (GA Coast): Seth Carter and Quinton McMichael fished the Brunswick area this week and reported that the big redfish are still in the creeks. They fooled the biggest one (30 inches) with a 9-inch mullet, but several others chewed jigs rigged with Gulp! Shrimp and paddletails.

Blake Edwards fished the Brunswick area on Saturday. He was mostly breaking in a motor, but he did fish a little bit. He fooled two redfish and three trout with artificials. Several anglers reported seeing LOTS of tarpon inside. One group couldn’t get any of them to bite, but another group jumped three and landed one (about an 80-pounder). They fooled them with a Keitech swimbait and a big belly-weighted hook.

A local captain said the tarpon bite has been good this week. I didn’t get how many he jumped and landed, but it was quite a few.

Sean Tarpley had a couple good flounder days recently— it’s been a great summer for flounder already. This week he was chasing tarpon. He could not find them beachside, but they were on lots of fish inside. The problem with those fish is it is hard to get them to eat.

Don’t forget about the fish carcass freezer at the Waycross Fisheries Office at 108 Darling Avenue. The Coastal Resources Division collects most inshore saltwater species so that they can determine age and growth for each species. All the supplies and information cards are in the freezer. Filet your fish then drop off the carcasses in the freezer.

Wat-a-melon Bait and Tackle in Brunswick is now open every day. On Monday to Thursday their hours are 6:30 to 10 a.m. and 2 to 5 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. They have plenty of lively shrimp and also have live worms and crickets for freshwater. They’re on Highway 303 just north of Highway 82. For the latest information, contact them at 912.223.1379.

New Moon is Aug. 4. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website (waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/rt). For the latest marine forecast, check out www.weather.gov/jax/.

River gages on Aug. 1 were:
Clyo on the Savannah River – 8.7 feet and rising
Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 6.5 feet and rising
Doctortown on the Altamaha – 8.3 feet and falling
Waycross on the Satilla – 12.6 feet and falling
Atkinson on the Satilla – 12.1 feet and rising
Statenville on the Alapaha – 12.3 feet and rising
Macclenny on the St Marys – 7.7 feet and falling
Fargo on the Suwannee – 9.3 feet and rising

Capt. Bert Deener guides fishing trips in the Okefenokee Swamp and other southeast Georgia systems and makes a variety of both fresh and saltwater fishing lures. Check his lures out at Bert’s Jigs and Things on Facebook. For a copy of his latest catalog, call him at 912.288.3022 or email him at [email protected].