Southeast Georgia Fishing Reports With Capt. Bert Deener – Sept. 13, 2024

The Altamaha River bass bite has been great this week. Shane Barber, of Manor, caught this nice 3-pounder on the lower river.

These cooler temperatures have been great for anglers, and most of the bites have fired off, as well. The Altamaha system bass bite has remained great. Saltwater has been consistent, as well.

Altamaha/Ocmulgee River: The bass bite has been great on the Altamaha system. Bill Stewart fished with me on Friday in the lower Altamaha, and we whacked the bass in the afternoon. The morning bite was really slow, but when we went away from Texas-rigged worms and fished unweighted Trick Worms around the same wood cover, we could trigger bites. Pink was our best color, but chartreuse pearl fooled several, as well. We ended up catching 32 bass (35 fish total) up to 3 pounds. Our biggest five bass would have weighed a little over 12 pounds.

Shane and Joshua Barber fished the lower Altamaha on Tuesday and caught 13 bass up to 3 pounds. Texas-rigged plastic worms worked best for them, and black was one of their best colors. Joshua was rigging his on a Capt. Bert’s Swimbait Hook (it has a spring keeper to hold the nose of the worm).

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).

Okefenokee Swamp: The water is still high, but folks caught some bullhead catfish in the east side boat basin on Saturday. They fooled them with chicken livers and red wigglers. The most recent water level (Folkston side) was 121.44 feet.

Dodge County Public Fishing Area (near Eastman): Ken Burke fished the area on Monday and caught some bass. He fished about six hours and caught six bass that weighed a total of just under 10 pounds. He lost two big fish that shook the crankbait during the trip. Of the six he landed, he fooled four of them with a shaky-head worm and two with a crankbait. Another angler fishing that morning had about the same success, and that angler also lost two bigger bass. The water is cooling into the lower 80s, and the fish are getting more active.

Hugh M. Gillis Public Fishing Area (near Dublin): Ken Burke fished Tuesday morning at the area and had some really nice bass. He fished four hours until the wind got up and caught 17 bass weighing a total of 31 pounds. His biggest was a 7-lb., 5-oz. toad. He caught them on a crankbait and shaky-head worm. The fish were fired up early, as he caught 16 of his 17 bass in the first hour.

Local Ponds: A young angler named Conner fished with his family in his Blackshear pond this week and caught a bunch of bass and bluegill. He fooled them with Beetle Spins. Jimmy Zinker has been going some for trophy bass in south Georgia ponds. He’s been throwing Jitterbugs and buzzbaits at night, but the big fish have not been responding this week. His biggest was a 4-pounder that inhaled the Jitterbug. The crappie bite picked up some with the cooler temperatures this week. I talked with a group fishing some ponds in the Savannah area, and they caught a bunch of decent crappie by swimming a plastic on an 1/8-oz. Zombi Eye jig head.

Saltwater (GA Coast): There are LOTS of short redfish being caught, confirming that they got off a really good spawn last fall. That’s great news for having a bent rod inshore this fall! A local captain had a charter on Monday and did well for trout. They had plenty of throwbacks and a nice mess of keeper trout. Float rigs and live shrimp produced their fish. Another captain has been throwing Four-Seven plastics all week on Zombi Eye jig heads and doing well for trout and reds. His trips have been shorter than usual this week, but they have been catching about a dozen total fish of mixed species on the paddletails. The biggest trout was a 22-incher caught Tuesday by Johnny Lijoi. Best colors have been clear with purple hues.

Michelle Cutting, of St. Simons Island, caught this nice trout last week in the Brunswick area.

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.

Full Moon is Sept. 17. 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 Sept. 11 were:
Clyo on the Savannah River –  3.9 feet and rising
Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 0.3 feet and rising
Doctortown on the Altamaha – 4.6 feet and rising
Waycross on the Satilla – 9.7 feet and rising
Atkinson on the Satilla – 6.5 feet and rising
Statenville on the Alapaha – 3.6 feet and rising
Macclenny on the St Marys – 5.7 feet and rising
Fargo on the Suwannee – 8.2 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].