Very few folks got out and fished in the heat this week, but the ones who reported did pretty well. The key is to go early and get out around noon before the heat gets really cranked up. The Okefenokee Swamp bite is on fire. It’s generally one of the best bites in the dog-days of summer, as bowfin love the heat. It’s just humans that don’t care for it. Tarpon fishing has been good, as well – there are lots around right now.
River gauges Thursday, July 31 were:
• Clyo on the Savannah River – 4.2 feet and rising
• Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 2.8 feet and falling
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 5.9 feet and falling
• Waycross on the Satilla – 7.2 feet and rising
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 6.1 feet and rising
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 2.2 feet and falling
• Macclenny on the St Marys – 2.6 feet and falling
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 3.8 feet and falling
Satilla River – Curtis and Jackson Hazel fished the lower river and fooled three bluegills and five bowfin on Satilla Spins.
The upper river is back up where it’s easy to get a boat around. When it starts falling again, the fishing should improve.
Okefenokee Swamp – I had some great trips last week in temperatures pushing 100 degrees during the heat of the day.
Richard came up from Jacksonville to fish with me on the east side. We caught 64 fish total. We had three “doubles” of bowfin and a double of pickerel.
The pickerel were on the small side, but they bit well in the middle of the day and even into the afternoon. Both trolling and casting worked, and the best colors of Dura-Spins were lemon-lime and jackfish. Richard’s biggest bowfin was 6-lb., 5-oz.
My daughter, Ellie, fished with me and we caught 36 fish (35 bowfin and a pickerel) in three hours. We caught about a dozen fish each area we tried and had five doubles during the trip.
I caught seven bowfin on an electric chicken bladed fly while using a fly rod, but the rest were on Dura-Spins (both trolling and casting). The best color in-line spinners were lemon-lime and crawfish-brass.
Curtis, Jenny and Jackson Hazel fished the east side canals for an hour and a half and caught five bowfin on Dura-Spins and a couple warmouth, as well.
The most recent water level on the Folkston side was 120.46 feet.
Local Ponds – Joshua Barber fished a Waycross area pond and caught five bass up to five pounds.
He got all his bites on topwater frogs and plastics rigged on a Capt. Bert’s Swimbait Hook.
Saltwater (Ga. Coast) – Blake Edwards fished the Brunswick area and had a good trip. He was able to fool a half-dozen short trout and a 15-incher.
A Brunswick angler and his friend fished the Brunswick area for tarpon. They saw a bunch roll and cast Keitech swimbaits to them. They were able to get three of them to hit, but they did not hook up.
The tarpon bite should stay good for another month, at least.
A very skilled Brunswick angler had a great bite for seatrout. He caught and released 17 nice keepers up to about three pounds on topwaters. He also had a few redfish (biggest was right at 10 pounds) eat his topwater.
I also had a couple reports of people not doing anything this week in the inshore brine, so saltwater isn’t a sure thing.
This is the time of year I prefer to fish the Cumberland Beach or St. Marys Jetties for trout. If I fish inshore I try to stay near the sounds.
Capt. Greg Hildreth said he has been putting his clients on a few tarpon in the sounds and on the sandbar rips. The shark bite behind the shrimp boats is still wide open. He has heard from other captains the trout bite is still good, but has not targeted them this week.
Shane Barber fished the Brunswick area and caught 15 trout (one keeper) and an undersized redfish. Full Moon is Saturday, August 9. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website (waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/ nwis/rt). For the latest marine forecast, check o u t www.weather.gov/jax/.
Capt. Bert Deener guides fishing trips in the Okefenokee Swamp 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.c om or e-mail him (bertdeener@yahoo. com).
