Cold and windy – that pretty much sums up this week. The current forecast shows that we may even get some snow on Sunday. Some anglers were still able to catch fish in the cold conditions. Saltwater, ponds, and the Okefenokee are probably your best bets this weekend.
River gauges as of Thursday, January 15:
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 5.4 feet and rising
• Lumber City on the Ocmulgee – 2.3 feet and rising
• Clyo on the Savannah – 4.5 feet and rising
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 1.9 feet and steady
• Waycross on the Satilla – 5.3 feet and falling
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 3.6 feet and falling
• Quitman on the Withlacoochee – 1.7 feet and steady
• Macclenny on the Saint Marys – 2.0 feet and steady
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 1.9 feet and falling
Altamaha River – Jack Harrison caught a new river record crappie. He caught a 2-lb., 4.3-oz. slab while using a jig.
I also heard of a few good bass reports on the river recently.
Satilla River – Alvin Thrift and a friend had a great trip on the lower river. They caught 22 bass dragging Texas-rigged soft plastics on the bottom.
Saint Johns River (Astor, Fla.) – Jamie Hodge and some friends ventured down to Astor and caught a bunch of big female crappie.
They caught and released two giant slabs weighing 2-lbs. 6-oz. and 2lbs. 7-oz. They also kept a good mess.
Paradise Public Fishing Area (near Tifton) – Jesse Boles, assistant manager at Paradise, reported the bite has slowed down some due to the cold front.
Even so, anglers have been catching good messes of crappie mainly at Lakes Patrick, Russel, Bobben and Horseshoe 4. One angler fished Lake Patrick and managed to catch 22 crappie on jigs.
Ocmulgee Public Fishing Area – Ken Burke fished for 5 1/2 hours and caught 12 bass up to 4.3 lbs., while using shakey heads and crankbaits (shakey heads worked best).
He went back and fished around four hours and caught four bass with the biggest weighing just over 6 pounds. All the bass were caught in the first hour and a half of fishing.
Lakes and Ponds – Mike Binion, director of Tired Creek Lake (near Cairo), reported the lake has been drained three and a half feet in hopes the cold weather will kill some of the vegetation.
Two anglers went bass fishing, but did not catch a single fish. They believe the drawdown has shut the fish down and may be a while before they start biting again.
Jimmy Zinker and I fished a Worth County pond. We had to work for our fish, but managed to catch 16 bass with our top 5 weighing around 20 lbs. Jerkbaits, swimbaits, crankbaits and buzzbaits fooled them.
Jimmy hung a bass around six pounds on a Bang-O-Lure that broke his line. It jumped in the air a few times to try and throw the hook out.
I heard of good bream and crappie reports from some local ponds. Most of them were caught on live minnows.
Okefenokee Swamp – Captain Bert Deener went fly fishing on the east side fooling 33 bowfin (two biggest weighed 5 1/2 lbs.) and four nice pickerel. He released them all.
They were all caught on Capt. Bert’s Bladed Flies (electric chicken worked best but several ate a gold version).
Captain Bert took Jerry Holland on a guided fishing trip on the east side in rainy conditions and they had success. Jerry caught 31 fish total, including 25 bowfin, three pickerel up to 19 inches, two fliers, and a big bluegill.
The panfish were caught by pitching pink Okefenokee Swamp Sallies, while the bowfin and pickerel ate Dura-Spins.
Captain Bert Deener offers guided fishing trips in the Okefenokee. To book a trip with him, visit his website bertsjigsandthings. com. Recent Swamp level was 120.21 feet.
Saltwater (Ga. Coast) – Brandon and Christie Nix fished the saltwater side of the Saint Marys River and caught 13 redfish, five trout, and four small black drum. They fooled them on live shrimp on bottom rigs and popping corks.
Scott Smith and Derrick DeLoach fished the Brunswick area and battled the 30 mph wind. They managed to catch a half dozen redfish, four trout and three flounder on jigs and shrimp.
Three anglers fished the Saint Marys area catching 15 redfish, a black drum and a sheepshead on live shrimp.
Captain Tim Cutting had four great trips recently in the Saint Simons and Brunswick area. He took Randy Dorris on a guided trip and caught his limit of trout, a few reds and a flounder on artificial lures.
Captain Tim went on a solo trip and caught numerous slot-sized redfish and a few big ones on artificials.
Adam Cooperman fished with Captain Tim and they landed many redfish (slots and over slots) on artificial lures and live shrimp.
Lawton Howard caught his limit of trout, a redfish and a flounder during a guided trip. The artificial lures they have been using are Z-Man Trout Trick, Berkley 3.3 inch swimbaits, Fourseven Lures 3.5 inch swimbaits and Thumper Shrimp.
An angler fished around Cumberland Island and landed 15 trout up to 17 inches while using live shrimp.
To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website (waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nw is/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.
