The saltwater bite has been improving. Anglers have been able to get on some trout. The bass bite has also been good this week.
River gauges as of Thursday, May 7:
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 4.4 feet and steady
• Lumber City on the Ocmulgee – 2.3 feet and rising
• Clyo on the Savannah – 3.3 feet and falling
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 1.3 feet and steady
• Alapaha on the Alapaha – 1.8 feet and steady
• Waycross on the Satilla – 4.5 feet and rising
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 2.8 feet and rising
• Quitman on the Withlacoochee – 1.6 feet and steady
• Macclenny on the Saint Marys – 1.7 feet and falling
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 0.8 feet and steady Altamaha River – Kevin Mullis has been catching some big bass on the mighty Altamaha. He has been using a Devil’s Horse and has had success in oxbows. He thinks they are on the verge of moving back out into the main river.
Satilla River – The bass and panfish bite has been good. Some big redbreasts have been caught.
Seth Carter and Kerry Hood wore out the bass and caught some bigguns too.
St. Marys River – Tyler Chesser caught three nice bass up to 3.40-lbs. He was using a black Zoom Trick Worm to fool them.
Withlacoochee River – Jim O’Conner hit the upper river for two evenings and the fish were munching.
He landed eight largemouth bass the first day and a dozen more the next. A soft plastic creature bait and a jig worked well. Many of the bass were in the 2-5 pound range, with the biggest one pulling the scales down to 7.13-lbs.
Lakes and Ponds – Ken Burke fished at Ocmulgee Public Fishing Area (near Hawkinsville) and caught seven bass weighing a combined 21.25-lbs.
The biggest bass weighed 3.75 pounds. Ken caught all of them on crankbaits in water from 4-14 feet deep. The water temperature was 76.5 degrees.
Jimmy Zinker and a friend fished at Lake Miccosukee landing eight bass, including two weighing 7 lbs 8 ozs., and 5 lbs. 15 ozs. They used buzzbaits and the legendary Muskie Jitterbug.
Rocky Barnard reported his friend, Derrick Sheffield, had a good day bass fishing at a golf course pond in Blackshear. He was using FA Lures black soft plastic worms.
Danny Cooley caught a big bass weighing 7 lbs., at Paradise Public Fishing Area (near Tifton).
Okefenokee Swamp – Two anglers fished the east side for two days catching 70 warmouth the first day and 40 warmouth the second day.
The bowfin bite has been great! Captain Bert Deener offers guided fishing trips in the Okefenokee. To book a trip with him, visit his website bertsjigsandthings.com.
The latest swamp level on the east side was 119.38 feet. Be careful driving your boat with the very low water conditions.
Saltwater (Ga. Coast) – Tim Robison and Captain Bert Deener fished at Crooked River State Park and caught 19 trout.
A few of the trout measured 17-18 inches long. They used Zombie Eye Jigheads rigged with Keitech swimbaits (electric chicken and perch were the best colors).
Lee and Steve fished with Captain Tim Cutting and caught 14 fish (eight flounder, six trout). They used soft plastic baits rigged on jigheads.
Chad and his wife, Tonya, fished with Captain Tim a day later and caught five flounder, eight trout, and nine redfish. Most of them were caught on live shrimp.
Robert White and his daughter fished in the Saint Simons Island area and caught some catfish and a pile of stingrays. They also fished at a river and caught five sharks, three croaker, a whiting, a trout and four stingrays. They were using shrimp on bottom.
Saltwater (Keaton Beach, Fla.) – Captain Pat McGriff and Captain Bert Deener fished in the slick conditions with the bite tough to start.
It got better as the day progressed. They wound up catching north of 50 fish (16 were trout). Bottom Bouncing was the most productive method with Assassin Sea Shads. Their biggest trout measured 181/2 inches long.
Before your next fishing trip, stop by Winge’s Bait and Tackle located at 440 Memorial Drive in Waycross. They have all the tackle you need for a successful trip! For their hours, call 912-283-9400.
Last Quarter Moon is on May 9th. 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/.
If you have any fishing reports or fish pictures that you would like to be included in this report, email them to me [email protected] or send them through Messenger on Southern Waters Fishing Report’s Facebook Page.
