All the southeast Georgia rivers are flooded or high from last week’s rains, except the St. Marys, Suwannee and Ocmulgee rivers.
Saltwater has produced some good catches. Very few folks have been fishing the Okefenokee Swamp, but the bite has been really good.
River gages Thursday, November 14 were:
• Clyo on the Savannah River – 10.5 feet and falling
• Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 2.6 feet and falling
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 11.4 feet and falling (record high for the date)
• Waycross on the Satilla – 12.4 feet and rising
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 8.9 feet and rising
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 11.7 feet and falling
• Macclenny on the St Marys – 3.0 feet and falling
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 4.9 feet and falling
Local Ponds – Jimmy Zinker said the bass bite was wide open in south Georgia ponds last week.
Spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, and Shad-Raps (shad colors) produced fish best for him in the Worth County area. His biggest fish this week was a 6-lb., 3-oz. bass.
Altamaha River – A couple of Waycross anglers fished the lower river before it came up and said it was in great shape at that time (and even clear).
They fooled 18 bass up to about three pounds. A couple hit buzzbaits, but the vast majority were caught by pitching plastic creature baits to cover.
Okefenokee Swamp – The main bite right now is bowfin, but you can catch fliers and pickerel if you know how to target them.
Catfishing on the west side is your best bet in the Fargo area. Put a piece of shrimp on the bottom and the yellow bullheads (butter cats) will find it.
The most recent water level (Folkston side) was 121.17 feet.
Dodge PFA (near Eastman) – Ken Burke fished the area and caught some decent bass. He had five fish for 9 1/4 pounds. His big fish was just below 2 3/4 pounds, and he had another at 2 1/4 pounds. All of his fish ate crankbaits.
The bite from the pier has been slow, according to reports.
Lakes Iamonia and Miccosukee (north Florida) – Joshua Barber fished with a friend over and had fun during a day trip. They fished Iamonia first and caught seven bass and then went to Miccosukee and caught two more bass.
Most of their fish were fooled with swimbaits, but they caught a few on soft plastic worms and one on a hard-bodied frog. Eight of their nine fish were keepers.
Saltwater (Ga. Coast) – The trout and redfish bites have been very good, and some nice flounder are still around.
I fished with B.J. Hilton in the Brunswick area, and we caught some giant trout. We landed four trout over 20 inches and lost a couple other big ones that shook off. The key was to slowly work a tail-hooked shrimp along bottom.
We rigged the shrimp on a Capt. Bert’s 1/8-oz Shrimp Hook (built with a Gamakatsu kahle-shaped hook). It’s a neat setup because its shape allows you to work it through shells and cover without hanging up much.
We caught a few on Fighter jerkbaits and Keitech swimbaits, but the vast majority of our 29 fish ate the live shrimp on the Shrimp Hook. We had four redfish, all oversized (24 to 27 1/2 inches), including a tagged redfish, and a pair of 14-inch flounder.
B.J.’s biggest trout (and his personal best) was 4.59 pounds, and our three biggest trout weighed a total of 11.41 pounds on digital scales.
Sean Tarpley and a buddy caught a bunch of trout and redfish. Their biggest keeper redfish was a 4.33-pounder.
Blake Edwards fished the Brunswick area and had a really nice 22-inch trout which ate a gold flash minnow-colored 4inch Keitech pinned on a Zombie Eye Jighead. He had eight trout during the trip. One of his other fish was an 18-incher.
He and Tim Corey fished the Brunswick area in the wind and caught several nice trout and redfish on artificials. Their best setup was an electric chicken Keitech pegged on a 3/16-oz. Zombie Eye Jighead and suspended under an Equalizer Float. They had a few keeper trout up to 16 inches and a couple of redfish.
Charles and Linda Sweat fished the St. Marys area and did well for trout and redfis. They fished the outgoing tide with live bait in the main rivers, and they also caught a few flounder.
Capt. Tim Cutting had some excellent trips. One trip they had a great mixed bag of sheepshead, reds, trout, black drum, and flounder with live shrimp under a Harper Super Striker Float.
The next day they caught all of their fish on artificials (Rapala X-Raps and Fourseven plastics pegged on Zombie Eye Jigheads). They caught well over 40 trout, but many of them were short.
Capt. Scott Owens had great trips before the tides got big. On trip they crushed the big trout and big redfish while fishing in the rain and wind.
B.J. Hilton of Brunswick caught his personal best trout (this 4.59-pounder). He fooled it with a live shrimp tail-hooked on a Capt. Bert’s 1/8oz. Shrimp Hook. SPECIAL PHOTO
