Southeast Georgia Fishing Reports With Capt. Bert Deener – Aug. 30 2024

WRD Fisheries Chief Scott Robinson caught this 4.47-lb. largemouth bass this week on the Ocmulgee River. He was pitching a Texas-rigged junebug plastic worm.

The fish are starting to move out of their summer patterns and move around more. It can be good and bad. It’s good because they feed better than in their mid-summer mode, but it’s sometimes hard to find them in the fall.

Altamaha/Ocmulgee River:– My prediction in last week’s report about the Ocmulgee was correct. The bass bite was good on that river. Don Harrison and Scott Robinson fished with me this past weekend, and we caught and released 22 largemouth bass and three bowfin. Our three biggest bass were between 4.29 and 4.56 pounds. The only fish caught on a moving bait was a 4.29-pounder that ate a blue shad (white blade) Dura-Spin. Everything else was on a Texas-rigged plastic worm, and junebug was the color of the day. I tried to force-feed them green pumpkin in the clearer water (about 2 feet visibility), but they were not having it. By the time Scott landed the first half-dozen bass on junebug, both Don and I switched and started putting them in the boat, also.

Bill Stewart and Ronnie Music fished the lower Altamaha River on Tuesday and said that conditions were not bad, but their bites were few and far between. They landed seven bass up to 14 inches (had several keepers but released them). A blue Texas-rigged worm was the best, and they could not get them to hit a black or chartreuse worm. They said the visibility was about 18 inches.

Two-Way Sportfishing Club is hosting a catfish tournament on 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).

Ogeechee River: Dan Clary and Daniel McNair, of Brooklet, fished the river on Saturday. They fished hard pitching crickets under floats, Rooster Tails and spinners but couldn’t get them to eat. Daniel had the idea to back off and fish the deeper holes on the bottom with a Carolina rig, and it worked. Red wigglers on the bottom are what the fish wanted. They ended up keeping 20 redbreast and bluegill and an eating-sized catfish. They had two giant panfish, and the rest were average sized.

Satilla River: Seth Carter and Luke Steedley fished the upper river for a couple hours one evening this week and got a few bass to eat buzzbaits. They didn’t have anything big, but it was a fun evening!

Okefenokee Swamp: The water is still high and the fish spread out, but it is dropping. A few fish were caught in the boat basins on both sides, but you will have to work for them. The most recent water level (Folkston side) was 121.67 feet.

Hugh M. Gillis Public Fishing Area (near Dublin): Ken Burke had a great day Tuesday at the area. He caught 10 fish for 16 1/2 pounds, with his big fish weighing 3 1/4 pounds. He lost another five fish that were about average size for the day. He caught his fish on crankbaits and shaky-head worms. Most of his bites were in the first few hours of fishing in the early morning. The water temperature was 87 degrees by noon.

Local Ponds: Surprisingly, none of my buddies who frequent ponds in southeast Georgia fished this week. I would expect a decent bass bite early and late around shoreline cover, and you will probably have to fish offshore around cover (if your favorite pond has any) for the bigger panfish. You might be able to get a big bluegill to suck down a Glow Bug at night if you have access to a blackwater cypress pond.

Saltwater (Ga. Coast): Several folks told me the tarpon are starting to show back up in their pre-Debby locations inshore, but not in as big of numbers as before the storm.

A local captain said the trout bite has been very good. They are catching lots of numbers but not a ton of keepers.

A couple of friends fished the Brunswick backwaters on Sunday and caught five redfish on artificials. They had three small fish and two oversized brutes (28 and 30 1/2 inches). They said there was a TON of bait in the creeks.

Another captain had some great trips this week for flounder, trout and redfish. He used artificials all week, except when he was bull redfishing. Monday and Tuesday they targeted flounder and caught 2-dozen good flatties over the two days. Along the way, they fooled a half-dozen keeper trout and keeper reds. Wednesday was bull redfishing with bait on the bottom, and they caught six nice ones as big as your leg. As a bonus, they found a dozen flounder on the way in. On Thursday, they caught mostly short trout and reds, but they had a handful of keeper trout and reds.

Jonathon Fine caught these two big flounder in the Brunswick area on Monday and Tuesday.

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 Sept. 2. 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. 29th were:
Clyo on the Savannah River – 4.4 feet and falling
Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 0.7 feet and falling
Doctortown on the Altamaha – 4.7 feet and falling
Waycross on the Satilla – 7.9 feet and falling
Atkinson on the Satilla – 9.9 feet and falling
Statenville on the Alapaha – 4.1 feet and falling
Macclenny on the St Marys – 7.8 feet and falling
Fargo on the Suwannee – 11.5 feet and falling

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].