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.
River gages Wednesday, September 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
Altamaha/Ocmulgee River – The bass bite has been great on the Altamaha system.
Bill Stewart fished with me in the lower Altamaha 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 three pounds. Our biggest five bass would have weighed a little over 12 pounds.
Shane and Joshua Barber fished the lower Altamaha and caught 13 bass up to three 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).
Okefenokee Swamp – The water is still high, but folks caught some bullhead catfish in the east side boat basin. 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 and caught some bass. He fished about six hours and caught six bass weighing a total of just under 10 pounds.
He lost two big fish which shook the crankbait during the trip. Of the six he landed, he fooled four with a shaky head worm and two with a crankbait.
Another angler had about the same success. He also lost two bigger bass.
The water is cooling into the lower 80’s and the fish are getting more active.
Hugh M. Gillis Public Fishing Area (near Dublin) – Ken Burke fished the area and had some really nice bass. He fished four hours until the wind got up.
He 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 – Conner fished with his family in his Blackshear pond and caught a bunch of bass and bluegills. He fooled them with beetle-spins.
Jimmy Zinker has been going for trophy bass in south Georgia ponds. He’s been throwing Jitterbugs and buzzbaits at night, but the big fish have not been responding. His biggest was a four-pounder which inhaled the Jitterbug.
The crappie bite has picked up some with the cooler temperatures. 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. Zombie Eye Jighead.
Saltwater (Ga. Coast) – There are lots of short redfish being caught, confirming they got off a really good spawn last fall. That’s great news for having a bent rod inshore this fall.
Capt. Greg Hildreth had a charter which did well for trout. They had plenty of throwbacks and a nice mess of keeper trout. Float rigs and live shrimp produced their fish.
Capt. Tim Cutting has been throwing Four-Seven plastics on Zombie Eye Jigheads and doing well for trout and reds. His trips have been shorter than usual, but they’ve been catching about a dozen total fish of mixed species on the paddle-tails.
The biggest trout was a 22-incher caught by Johnny Lijoi. Capt. Tim’s best colors have been clear with purple hues.
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/.
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, you can download it from his website at bertsjigsandthings.co m or e-mail him (bertdeener@ yahoo.com).
