I received some good saltwater reports this week. The trout and flounder bite has been picking up. Stay hydrated if you get on the water this weekend. It’s going to be hot.
River gauges as of Thursday, June 25:
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 9.5 feet and rising
• Lumber City on the Ocmulgee – 9.1 feet and falling
• Clyo on the Savannah – 4.3 feet and falling
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 6.8 feet and rising
• Alapaha on the Alapaha – 13.2 feet and steady
• Waycross on the Satilla – 17.1 feet and falling
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 14.4 feet and rising
• Quitman on the Withlacoochee – 8.4 feet and rising
• Macclenny on the St. Marys – 2.0 feet and falling
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 3.5 feet and steady
Rivers — I didn’t receive any reports from any rivers this week due to the high water levels. It will probably be a while before the Altamaha and the Satilla will be low enough to fish them again.
Lakes and Ponds – Jimmy Zinker and I fished a club tournament at Lake Iamonia, finishing third with 14.32 pounds. We won the rollover big fish pot with my 6.13-lb tank. Most of the bass were caught on soft plastic lures.
Jimmy has been catching some bass in local ponds using Mann’s jellyworms (grape, black, and strawberry colors). All of the bass weighed between 1-3 pounds.
An angler reported he caught a 5-lb. channel catfish at a local pond while using an urchin bait.
Southern Bass Busters Trail hosted an open tournament at Banks Lake in Lakeland, Ga., with 29 boats entered and only 13 weighing in. Chris and Joe Smith won first place with 11.12-lbs., Paul and Mark Spampinato were second with 10.39-lbs. (they won the second big fish pot with a 6.19 pounder), and Tommy and Parker finished third with a 9.91-lb. trophy bass.
Jim Jurney fished at Banks Lake and caught 10 nice slabs while using a small jig and crickets under a cork.
Jim O’Conner also fished at Banks Lake and landed five largemouth and two warmouth. All of the fish ate black soft plastics.
Okefenokee Swamp – Capt. Bert Deener went fly fishing on the east side of the Swamp and landed a pair of warmouth early in the morning before switching to the long rod.
He caught a yellow bullhead, a Florida gar, 15 bowfin (biggest weighed 3-lbs. 14-oz.), with a micro fly (tiny zonker/tinsel pattern). He said that the yellow flies are still pretty bad, so he would recommend wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt if you go.
Capt. Deener offers guided fishing trips in the Okefenokee. To book a trip with him, visit his website bertsjigsandthings. com. Latest Swamp level on the east side was 120.34 feet.
Saltwater (Ga. Coast) – Kim Arnsdorf fished with Capt. Tim Cutting in the Saint Simons area landing 22 flounder, two redfish, and two trout. Doug McNeil fished with Capt. Tim and they caught 14 flounder (12 measured over 14 inches long), a redfish and a trout.
Jeffrey, Jaxson, and Conner Ross went on a guided trip with Capt. Tim and they managed to catch 30 trout, three redfish, two flounder, and a Spanish mackerel.
All of the fish on those trips were caught on 4inch Gulp minnows and Fourseven Lures plastics.
Capt. Greg Hildreth reported the inshore trout bite has picked up. The trout have been munching live shrimp under a float in 3-5 feet of water.
He said the the whiting have been biting well on the beach. He also said that the tarpon are showing up in good numbers right now.
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.
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 joshuabfishhunter@gmail .com or send them through Messenger on Southern Waters Fishing Report’s Facebook Page.
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