Southeast Georgia Fishing Reports With Capt. Bert Deener – July 12, 2024

Ethan Hendrix visited Lydia Wester this week and fished in the Okefenokee Swamp. They fooled these pickerel and bowfin with crawfish-orange blade Dura-Spins.

The heat and scattered afternoon storms have kept some folks at home, but the morning bite has been strong.

Altamaha River: Jimmy Hall and Seth Carter had a great morning on the Altamaha Wednesday. They fished a couple of hours and caught 11 keeper-sized fish with some really nice ones mixed in. Bass ate about everything they threw at them (jigs, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and prop baits), but it was hard for them not to feed them topwater!

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).

Satilla River:  The river came up, and the panfish bite slowed this week, but I heard several reports of about a dozen fish per trip. Scott Hamlin fished the upper river late last week and caught 14 big redbreast and bluegill and had two channel catfish. Remember that the Highway 84 (Blackshear Bridge) ramp is closed for bridge construction.   

Okefenokee Swamp: The warmouth bite has remained strong, but they are getting thinned out. The bowfin have been chewing, as evidenced on my trip with a family on Friday. They split up into groups, and the first group of Lydia and Ethan caught 21 fish and caught all of their fish trolling crawfish-orange blade Dura-Spins. They had two doubles (one was a pickerel/bowfin double) and even caught a decent warmouth on the big inline spinner. Their biggest bowfin was 3-lbs., 13-ozs.

The second group of Branley and Ava fooled 34 fish (mostly bowfin). Trolling was the ticket for them, also, and their fish ate Dura-Spins in the crawfish-orange blade, crawfish-brass blade and blue shad—white blade colors. They had four bowfin double hook-ups, and caught two different bowfin that weighed 5-lbs., 1-ozs..

Rachel and Teresa took the last trip and mostly rode around, but Rachel trolled for about five minutes and caught two pickerel (jackfish) up to 15 inches and a bowfin on crawfish-brass blade Dura-Spins.

Ethan fished the boat basin while not on the boat and caught several bowfin and pickerel by casting crawfish-brass bladed Dura-Spins. Several other boats fishing that morning caught warmouth on crickets and artificials.

Later in the week anglers reported catching bowfin, warmouth and a few pickerel in the boat basin.

Joshua Barber caught this big redfin pickerel on a Rooster Tail spinner this week from a small blackwater creek near Waycross.

Joshua Barber walked some small blackwater creeks that feed the swamp on Wednesday and flung Beetle Spins and Rooster Tail spinners and fooled a dozen pickerel (both jackfish and redfin pickerel), two fliers and a pair of warmouth. He also had a couple catfish eat cutbait. The most recent water level (Folkston side) was 120.70 feet.

Local Ponds: Charlie and Wyatt fished with their dad, Jason, on Saturday and put it on the bass with white spinnerbaits. They each had bass up to about 3 pounds. Jason had a big one on, but while he was handing it off to Wyatt, it jumped and spit the hook.

Jimmy Zinker fished a lake this week a couple different nights and flung Squeaker buzzbaits and Jitterbugs and caught about a dozen bass per night up to 3 pounds. The big fish have not been biting this week for he and his fishing partners. I got a couple good bream reports from Waycross area ponds. Both crickets and artificials fooled them.

Saltwater (GA Coast): The tarpon bite has been great. A captain out of Fernandina has gotten back on the pogies and tarpon this week. Several of his charters hooked up and landed tarpon at the St Marys jetties. His deal is to cast net live pogies and deploy them on Capt. Bert’s Tarpon Tamer Hooks (built on 4X Strong Gamakatsu hooks) until the rod doubles over.

Rickey O’Berry has been whacking some nice sheepshead inshore in the Brunswick area. Some of his fish were pushing 4 pounds. Fiddlers fished around hard cover has been the ticket.

I heard reports of some nice flounder being caught in the rocks near Cumberland at the St Marys jetties. Mudminnows on jig heads and plastics reeled slowly along the bottom fooled the flatfish.

Mark and Sabrina Williams fished the Brunswick area on Wednesday and caught a good mess of croaker by fishing shrimp on the bottom.

Remember there is a carcass freezer at the Waycross Fisheries Office at 108 Darling Avenue. The Coastal Resources Division is especially hopeful to get red snapper carcasses, but they also collect most inshore saltwater species, as well. All the supplies and information cards are in the freezer. Filet your fish, then drop off the carcasses in the freezer to help with age and growth analysis of the various species.

DNR Seeks Red Snapper Carcasses For Data Project

Wat-a-melon Bait and Tackle in Brunswick is open Friday through Sunday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. each week. They have plenty of lively shrimp and fiddler crabs 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.

River gages on July 11 were:
Clyo on the Savannah River – 8.2 feet and rising
Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 3.5 feet and rising
Doctortown on the Altamaha – 7.0 feet and rising
Waycross on the Satilla – 6.8 feet and falling
Atkinson on the Satilla – 6.0 feet and falling
Statenville on the Alapaha – 6.3 feet and falling
Macclenny on the St Marys – 4.2 feet and falling
Fargo on the Suwannee – 4.8 feet and rising

First quarter moon is July 13. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website. For the latest marine forecast, check out www.weather.gov/jax/.

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].