I pray that you each had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Sorry about the short report this week. A family emergency prevented me from gathering as much information as usual.
The bites were excellent before this cold front. You will have to find the fish all over again, though, as they will probably move after the cold.
River gauges Thursday, November 27 were:
• Clyo on the Savannah River – 3.1 feet and falling
• Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 1.6 feet and rising
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 3.6 feet and falling
• Waycross on the Satilla – 4.8 feet and rising
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 3.4 feet and rising
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 1.5 feet and falling
• Macclenny on the St Marys – 1.9 feet and falling
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 1.4 feet and falling
Altamaha/Ocmulgee Rivers – I fished with Richard Young on the lower Altamaha and we caught 24 fish total (23 bass and a 6-pound bowfin).
Richard fished his signature junebug Trick Worm (Texas-rigged) all day and caught about 2/3 of our fish. He had our biggest one at 4.27 pounds. Our total weight of the biggest five fish weighed 11.83 pounds.
I tried a bunch of different stuff and caught our second biggest on a Wobble Head and 4-inch chartreuse back-pearl Keitech Shad Impact. The 3.73-pounder hammered it.
I also caught fish on copperfield Wobble Blades, yellow Trick Worms (unweighted), and black-blue flake Texas-rigged Keitech Mad Wag Worms. I fished swim jigs, pink and white trick worms, and buzzbaits for awhile with no success.
Justin Bythwood and Michael Deen also fished the same area that day and caught about the same number of bass. They fished mostly unweighted stick worms and Texasrigged plastics for their fish. They had about 8 1/2 pounds for their biggest five, but just didn’t find that kicker.
Shane and Joshua Barber fished the lower Ocmulgee River and caught about 15 bass on crankbaits and Texas-rigged plastics. Their biggest bass was right at four pounds. It’s tough to get around, but the bite has made the effort worth it.
Okefenokee Swamp – Not many folks fished last week in the low water, but I got a couple reports of the usual bowfin and pickerel.
The water level on the Folkston side was around 120.00 feet, so be careful running. Several of the trails are getting low, so the trails are closed to cross-swamp paddling.
They’re still allowing paddle in – paddle out trips. Boating is still possible in most places, but be careful. I’ve found a couple stumps that I have not found before.
Local Ponds – My daughter, Ellie, and I fished a Waycross area pond for a couple of hours after picking up my new Tohatsu 9.8hp motor.
We put the first half-hour of the break-in on it and caught some fish to boot. We fooled 26 crappie and a 2-pound brown bullhead by trolling 2-inch Keitech swimbaits on 1/32 and 1/16-oz. Zombie Eye Jigheads and 1/16-oz. Flashy Jigheads.
Our biggest crappie (just over a pound) ate a chartreuse back pearl version on a pearl (silver blade) Flashy Jighead. We released that one and another one right at a pound and kept a mess of the smaller crappie and the catfish.
Saltwater (Ga. Coast) – Chris, Becky, John Ross and Ella Kate fished together in the Brunswick area.
Ella Kate caught her first seatrout. They fished plastics and brought home 11 really nice trout and a slot redfish.
Stan Rhodes and Eddie Wade made a trip to the area behind Cumberland Island and used up two quarts of shrimp on short trout, but only had two keepers. They also caught 11 whiting and two sheepshead, so they still had a good mess of fish.
I got several reports from anglers who did really well for trout in the Brunswick and Crooked River areas.
Expect this cold to move the fish a little towards the small creeks, but they will still be active and catchable.
First quarter moon is November 28th. 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 or his website at bertsjigsandthings.com
