The “dog days of summer’ are fully entrenched, and water temps in many places are hovering around 90 degrees on sunny afternoons.
Slow down, fish early – or even at night – and generally fish deeper for success. Saltwater, ponds and the Okefenokee Swamp have produced some good bites this week.
River gauges Thursday August 14 were:
• Clyo on the Savannah River – 10.4 feet and rising
• Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 10.7 feet and falling
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 9.3 feet and rising
• Waycross on the Satilla – 10.5 feet and steady
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 11.4 feet and falling
• Statenville on the Alapaha
– 5.1 feet and rising
• Macclenny on the St Marys – 3.2 feet and falling
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 5.2 feet and falling
Okefenokee Swamp – Blake Yarbrough and I fished the east side and caught and released 64 fish of four different species (bowfin, gar, chain pickerel, warmouth).
The big fish were biting with Blake’s biggest five bowfin weighing right at 27 pounds. His biggest was a 6-lb., 14-oz. pig.
We caught probably half of the total by trolling. He had a 21-inch pickerel. The best colors were fire tigerchartreuse blade and lemon-lime, but we caught a few on white-white blade late in the trip.
Curtis Hazel fished the east side by himself and caught 11 bowfin – all on the same fire tiger-chartreuse blade Dura-Spin.
Pat Seagraves came down and fished with me on the east side. The water had risen three inches in four days, but the fish still bit. They started slowly but started chewing when the sun started baking us.
We caught and released 41 fish total (40 bowfin and a chain pickerel). The pickerel ate a popsicle Warmouth Whacker Jig, but everything else hit a Dura-Spin.
The most recent water level on the Folkston side was 121.22 feet.
Dodge County Public Fishing Area (near Eastman) – Michael Carter caught an 8-lb., 2oz. bass in the area.
Ocmulgee Public Fishing Area (near Hawkinsville) – Ken Burke fished the area this week catching and releasing two bass weighing a total of seven pounds. The biggest was 4 1/4 pounds.
He caught one on a crankbait and one on a shaky-head worm.
Local Ponds – Thomas and Huck fished a Waycross area pond with Thomas catching his personal best bass – just over 9 pounds. It ate a fluke rigged on a Capt. Bert’s Worm Hook. He released it after getting a great photo.
Jimmy Zinker got on a few nice bass in a Worth County pond. He fooled a 6-lb., 5-oz. bass and a couple smaller ones with a Jitterbug. He also tricked a 4-pounder into eating a black Trophy Bass Buzzbait (the Squeaker version).
A day later he landed a 5-lb., 4-oz. bass on a Jitterbug and missed a big one on a black Squeaker Trophy Bass Buzzbait.
Saltwater (Ga.
Coast) – Capt. Tim Cutting has been chasing tarpon with artificials and put a couple in the air each day.
A Brunswick angler fished the inshore waters with topwaters and hard jerkbaits and had about 15 keeper trout.
John Ross went flounder gigging with his family and gigged his first flounder. They got 2 flatties that night.
Keaton Beach, Fla. – My dad (Herb) and I fished with Capt. Pat Mc-Griff of One More Cast Guide Service and had a great day in the Gulf.
We fished the last of the outgoing tide and first 2/3 of the incoming. We caught about a dozen (five keepers) first thing. A few trout were scattered in with the sea bass, but most trout were caught with live pinfish under Cajun Thunder and some prototype floats.
In all, we caught about 30 fish, including trout up to 20 inches, black sea bass up to 12 inches, and a 20-inch redfish. The dragscreaming star was a 3foot Atlantic sharpnose shark that put on a show.
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 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).
