I received very few reports last week, but a few people got on them. The bass fishing in ponds and bowfin fishing in the Okefenokee were best.
River gauges Thursday, August 21 were:
• Clyo on the Savannah River – 11.6 feet and rising
• Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 5.8 feet and falling
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 10.3 feet and falling
• Waycross on the Satilla – 8.7 feet and falling
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 10.6 feet and falling
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 8.8 feet and rising
• Macclenny on the St Marys – 3.6 feet and rising
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 7.0 feet and rising
Satilla River – Chad Lee fished the extreme upper river catching a halfdozen redbreasts on artificials. He said the river was up and stained, but fishable.
St. Marys River – Matt Rouse caught a couple messes of catfish (bullheads) from deep holes in the upper river. Shrimp on the bottom worked best.
Curtis Hazel fished the upper river and caught a couple big bluegills and a redbreast on artificials. Sandbars and blowdowns annoyed him in the upper river.
Okefenokee Swamp – The rising water slowed the bite some, but trolling for bowfin was still effective.
Cale Brown fished with me on the east side and caught a total of 22 fish in a half-day trip. We spent the first hour unsuccessfully trying to catch a warmouthl. He caught a couple bowfin, but the fish were spread out enough that trolling was the best presentation. The total was 20 bowfin and two pickerel.
I fished the east side by myself another day and was unsuccessful for warmouth and catfish, but when I went after bowfin they were biting well. I caught a total of 14 fish during a short trip.
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Curtis Hazel fished the east side a couple of times and caught a few bowfin each time on Dura-Spins. He did a lot of exploring with the higher water.
Matthew (new to fishing the swamp) caught a 22inch bowfin while casting a spoon in the canals on the east side.
The most recent water level on the Folkston side was 121.18 feet.
Hugh M. Gillis Public Fishing Area (near Dublin) – Bass fishing has been very good for Ken Burke, who fished the area twice and caught bass each time.
The first trip he caught 18 bass weighing about 24 pounds. He caught 13 of them off a single point. On his second trip he caught 16 bass weighing 22 pounds. His biggest was just over 1 1/2 pounds.
He got on a couple schools of bass that busted bait on the surface and caught some quickly after a group of anglers shared the location of the schooling fish.
Local Ponds – Joshua Barber fished a Waycross area pond and had a 6-lb., 10-oz. bass inhale his swimbait.
Jimmy Zinker said that the topwater bite has turned on. He caught seven on Musky Jitterbugs and Squeaker Trophy Bass Buzzbaits. Ten bass ate his topwaters, including one that pulled the scales down to 7-lb., 11-oz.
Saltwater (Ga. Coast) – Hurricane Erin was the story last week. Even though it stayed well offshore, her winds and swells churned up the coast.
One angler said he checked his inland dock and the water looked like coffee with lots of cream. I heard of a few trout and some sharks being caught, but the reports I received were unimpressive.
First quarter moon is Sunday, August 31. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website (waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/n wis/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).
