The bass bite has picked up. Rivers and ponds will probably be a good option before the cold front kicks in again.
River gauges as of Thursday, January 22:
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 5.1 feet and steady
• Lumber City on the Ocmulgee – 2.0 feet and rising
• Clyo on the Savannah – 3.7 feet and steady
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 1.9 feet and steady
• Waycross on the Satilla – 5.4 feet and rising
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 3.8 feet and steady
• Quitman on the Withlacoochee – 1.8 feet and steady
• Macclenny on the St. Marys – 2.1 feet and steady
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 2.1 feet and steady
Altamaha River – Jimmy Hall and Brinson Thornton fished in the frigid weather early last week and caught and released eight nice bass and a jackfish.
Texas-rigs, crankbaits and jigs will probably be the most productive lures to use while fishing for bass.
Satilla River – Craig James fished the Brantley County section of the Satilla in the rainy conditions and it paid off. He caught around 15 bass while using a wacky rigged worm, and 10 were over three pounds. All of them were caught on a push button Zebco reel.
Lakes and Ponds – Lee Pearce and a friend fished a private pond and caught a total of 13 bass with the biggest weighing five pounds. Texas-rigged soft plastics and plastic minnows rigged on a jighead were the ticket.
Lee and his daughter went on a short 45-minute trip at Reed Bingham State Park recently and managed to catch a few bass (biggest weighed 5lbs.) while using chatterbaits.
An angler fished the pier at Lake Paradise (Patricks PFA) recently and caught 22 crappie.
Okefenokee Swamp – Captain Bert Deener went fly fishing and e fooled 17 fish (15 bowfin and two pickerel) on a bladed fly.
The biggest bowfin weighed 7-lbs., 15-oz., his personal best on the fly. Black/chartreuse-gold blade and electric chickensilver bladed flies were the ticket.
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 120.20 feet.
Saltwater (Ga. Coast) – Two St. Marys area anglers had a great trip on Crooked River. They limited out on redfish (and caught some shorts) while using live shrimp.
Captain Tim Cutting had a few good trips recently in the Saint Simons area. He took Brandon Chonko, Cason Chonko and Andrew Spencer on a guided trip. The trio kept six trout, 15 redfish and a black drum. They went back in to a small creek to target the reds and they fired off when they arrived.
Capt. Tim went on a solo trip where caught and released 24 trout (half were keeper sized). He fished with Tom Kirkland another day and they landed around 30 trout and a nice flounder. DOA shrimp and swimbaits worked the best on those trips.
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/.
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
