January 3, 2025 – Georgia Wildlife Blog

Happy New Year! You know the only resolution we want to make is to try to fish more this year. How about you? Georgia has plenty of diverse opportunities to meet every anglers needs. If you want to make any other resolutions, how about visit a new place to fish or pursue a new species? 

NEWS TO KNOW

This week, we have fishing reports from North, Central and Southeast Georgia. Southwest Georgia report will be back next week. Resolutions or no resolutions, let’s Go Fish Georgia!

(Fishing report courtesy of Brent Hess, Fisheries Biologist with the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts) 

The 2025 Atlanta Boat Show is January 9-12, 2025, at the Georgia World Congress Center.  Get all the times and event information at atlantaboatshow.com/. 

TROUT FISHING REPORT

Where to Go for Trout Info: To learn about Georgia’s diverse trout fishing opportunities including the latest stocking information, check out the Georgia DNR Trout Fishing page at GeorgiaWildlife.com/Fishing/Trout. 

RESERVOIR REPORT 

LAKE ALLATOONA is down 12.6 feet and the water temperatures are in the 50s. 

Allatoona Bass (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) — Bass fishing is fair. Now fish are still in transition to winter hideouts. Cold fronts become more frequent and the suspended fish patterns are going to be predominant. Fish are suspended in the 10-to-12-foot range. Anglers will see fish deeper, but they will tend to be hybrids. Now the jerk bait bite is the best bet. Use a Spro McStick in 95 and 110 models. The retrieve is pretty quick until water temperatures drop. Bluff walls and points mid lake are best. Once the water drops to 55 and below have a spoon ready and use it on every stop. Many times, when the lures hits the bottom the fish will pop up and grab it. Give the Alabama rig try also. The Big Bite Cane Thumper in the 3 1/2 size is the most productive. Slow roll the Alabama rig and wait for the bass to bite and load the rod before setting the hook.

Allatoona Linesides and Bass (Report courtesy of Heron Outdoor Adventures): Allatoona Christmas Report – The Bite: Lake Allatoona is surely shining on the start of this winter season. The colder weather has brought the reservoir down to great fishing temperatures, especially for the bass and the linesides. With morning surface temperatures ranging from 44° north to 48° Victoria and around 51° closer to the dam, there is no doubt that the fish have been schooling up well and wolfpacks have been seen from the top to the bottom of the reservoir.

As the water levels have been dropping, this has really concentrated a majority of the bait and fish to the channel edges. So, here’s the key – a lot of these fish are hunting and fattening up on threadfin and herring on these channel edges.

Certain days they are found deep in the channel especially later in the morning, but we’ve been seeing a lot of great activity up on the channel edges early morning.

This is a great time to get out and start trolling some umbrella rigs and Mini Macks as well as pulling some deeper diving jerk baits and crankbaits behind the boat. You can run these all day or just use while locating and hope to keep the fish in one spot while you are either casting to them or dripping some live bait down.

We have been on a very solid bite with fresh herring, gizzard shad and trout once these fish are located and down-lining has been a solid technique. Keeping a couple of free lines in the mix has been picking up bonus fish as well, particularly in the morning hours when we are noticing a lot of the bait in the top 15 foot of water. Again, this bait tends to drop down deeper coming into the later morning in many sectors of the reservoir.

No doubt the spotted bass fishing has been on fire. One of our favorite techniques lately has been tossing a small 2.75 Cast Echo on a 3/32-ounce tungsten queen tackle roller head or a similar bait such as the Megabass Hazedong Shad. Similarly, a smaller spoon worked underneath and sometimes even the top of the bait balls have been triggering great bites when fish are actively feeding…. and even when they don’t appear to be active, reflex strikes have been triggered when jiggling that rod just right. There’s been some great bites also just swimming this bait right along the bottom.

Maybe even better news -you can knock the socks off the hybrids and striped bass with the same technique! Similarly, finding the hybrids and stripers and casting the Mini Mack at them has proven effective.

I see the hardcore anglers doing their thing out here, even when it’s 25° in the morning, looking for that bite and never knowing if it’s going to be at the crack of dawn or later into the morning – kudos to you guys and gals! I’m going to continue to be right there with you, and looking to some rainy days coming, we can just keep doing our thing and quack like a duck if need be 🙂 Merry Christmas, tight lines and God bless you all!

LAKE HARTWELL: is down 4 feet and water temperatures are in the 50s.  (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com)  —

Hartwell Bass: Bass fishing is fair. The recent rains have the lake full, and there are several patterns working, but they depend on the weather conditions. Normally this time of year the lake is lower, but for now there are some big fish shallow, and they will bite a crankbait on secondary points and a jig around brush and docks. The deeper fish are starting to bite as the water has stabilized from the turnover, and MMM can catch them on drop shots, Carolina rigs and jigs. There will still be some bass schooling in creeks on humps and points, so always keep a Zoom Super Fluke ready, and watch for baitfish activity or birds diving. As the water cools into the 50s, a jigging spoon and a Blade Runner are the go-to bait for active fish as they bunch up in the ditches.

LAKE LANIER is down 3 feet and water temperatures are in the 50s.

Lanier Bass (This Lake Lanier Bass fishing report is by Phil Johnson Pjohnson15@hotmail.com 770-366-8845) — Bass fishing on Lake Lanier is good. The lake is currently three feet below full pool, and the water temperature is running in the low fifties. Overall, the lake is clear with some slight staining in the backs of the creeks and up the rivers. There were some huge weights in the tournament this weekend, over twenty-four pounds of spots to win and multiple bags over twenty pounds. There are several patterns that are producing fish currently, so you have options on the way you want to fish. First, the deep bite in the ditches is in full swing. Either the Spot Choker, Damiki Rig or a half ounce spoon have been the bait of choice for the ditches. Rig a three eights or half ounce Spot Choker with a Cast 3.5″ Echo in the Ozark color and work the bait very slowly down the middle of the ditches. The more defined the ditch is and having both bait and structure the better the fishing. If you see fish locked into an area the War Eagle half-once spoon in either white or silver is a great choice as it already comes with the barrel swivel attached. Work this bait directly into the bass by working the bait slightly off the bottom with an easy bounce of one to two feet then let the bait free fall. A three eight’s Damiki rig with the same Cast Echo may also be used on the deep fish but you want to drop this bait to the depth of the fish and just let it suspend or use a subtle shake. Often you will see the bass suspended above the structure and you can use both the Spot Choker and Damiki rig on them. By watching your bait on forward facing sonar you can cast beyond the bass and let the bait fall to the same depth as the bass and reel it directly by them. There is a crankbait bite on rocky points and banks using a Spro RkCrawler 55 or a Rapala DT6. Several of the crawfish patterns have been working well. Often these bass are very shallow so don’t be afraid to cast right to the bank and ban through the rocks. The Rk Crawler is particularly good at bouncing of the rock which really helps to trigger the strike. If you want to work for the worm bite target the rocky points and the boat docks in the fifteen the thirty-foot depth with a shakey head rigged with a green pumpkin Senko. Just a heads up, we will be at the Atlanta Boat Show January 9th-12th so be sure to drop by and see us. Now go catch ‘Em! 

Lanier Stripers (report is by Buck Cannon, Buck Tails Guide Service 404-510-1778) — Stripers on Lanier have migrated to the north part of the lake. Using your electronics to locate the bait in depth of 30 to 50 feet deep and watching the birds hovering around are a good indication that stripers are nearby. Flat lines, down lines seem to work better with trout and shiners. Blue backs on a pitching rod near the low water markers have provided some exciting opportunities. Another option is the umbrella rigs pulling 80 to 100 feet behind the boat at 2.5 to 3.5 mph trolling with the big motor. Remember to wear your life jackets.

WEST POINT LAKE is down 8-9 feet and water temperatures are in the 60s (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) —

West Point Bass — On August 8, 2024, the lake was slowly drawn down to 626 feet below pool October 10, 2024 and stayed down for dam maintenance. The lake will be at 635 full pool by January 14, 2025. Bass fishing has been slow. With the lower water conditions fish have pulled out a little and the fish are scattered with the limited cover available. The best cover has been on steeper banks in the mouths of creeks and pockets such as lay downs and brush piles. It takes a little more time to find brush piles, but they are often better producers this time of year. The best cover has been in depths from ten to fifteen feet of water. These underwater hotels have been producing both spotted bass and largemouth. The best pattern has been a 3/8-ounce All Terrain jig in black and blue tipped with a black-blue Z Man chunkz, a 1/8-ounce shaky head with a Z Man floating worm in green pumpkin, and mid depth crankbaits in a shad pattern. Use a Bandit crank bait in a natural shad pattern to cover water while locating cover. On sunny days the clear water jigging spoon bite has been great. Look for fish stacking on humps and roadbeds in Wehadkee creek to catch these fish.

WEISS LAKE is down 3 feet and water temperatures are in the 50’s (Report courtesy of Ken Sturdivant www.southernfishing.com) —

Weiss Bass: Bass fishing is slow. The bite was pretty strong before the change in weather with the fish really feeding up on shad. Now the bass are deep on their winter pattern on the creek and river channel ledges. Look for the bass to move shallow over the next few weeks as the weather warms. More cold weather with high winds in the area. The majority of the baitfish are on the main lake. Carolina rigs and crankbaits are going to be prime choices.

(Fishing report courtesy of Hunter Roop, Fisheries Biologist and Region Supervisor with the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts) 

RESERVOIR REPORT

The reservoir reports below are brought to you by Ken Sturdivant’s Southern Fishing Report, with contributions from Region 3 WRD Fisheries staff, local guides, and anglers.

LAKE RUSSELL IS FULL, 60’S

Bass: Bass fishing is fair. Fish the lower lake in the major creeks and find the schools of bait fish with the Lowrance. Use small or medium spoons and jigs on the points closest to the deep water. Current can help, but the fish are on the sides of the creeks bends just off current flows. Use the spoons to 1/2 ounce and work the humps and old roadbeds all over the lake. Later each day slow roll a Stanley 3/8-ounce spinner bait on the river blow downs and creek bends. Use a #6 single Colorado blade in hammered copper or silver, and an all-white skirt. Always watch for any suspended fish and hit them in the head with a spoon. The fishing is tough. Use spoons or dark larger sizes of the Stanley jig with the pork trailer or the old eel. Keep moving until the active fish are found.

Striped Bass (courtesy of WRD Fishing Forecasts): During the month of January, focus on the lower third of the reservoir and look for schooling striped bass in deeper (20+ ft) water following schools of baitfish. You can deploy downlines or freelines with live bait, or even cast artificials like a fluke or Sebile above these schools to hook into a big winter lineside. As the month progresses, striped bass will continue to press northward as they continually feed in preparation for spring spawning.  

Crappie (courtesy of WRD Fisheries): January can be a tough month for crappie fishing on Russell as these panfish grow sluggish and tend move deep as water temperatures drop below 50 F. Many anglers will put their best foot forward with live minnows fished along the mid-lake creek mouths, but some rewarding bycatch including yellow perch can serve as a suitable consolation when the crappie fishing proves slow.

CLARKS HILL IS DOWN 3.5 FEET, 50’S

Bass: Bass fishing is fair, and this is the warmer of the three large lakes on the border. Stay with the spoons or dark larger sizes of the Stanley jig with the pork trailer or the old eel. Work the jig or a worm on the points and up lake. Also work this same lure on thick bank cover. Afternoons, the weather may warm the shallow and a Zoom Super Fluke or a Baby Fluke can work the sand pockets just inside the main lake coves and creek. The bait fish will roam up on the sand and grass looking for any warm weather and the bass will follow. Work the jig or a worm on the points up lake and fish these same lures on thick bank cover. Watch for any suspended fish and hit them in the head with a spoon or drop shot rig.

Catfish (courtesy of WRD Fisheries): January can be a rewarding month for catfish anglers on Clarks Hill. You’ll need electronics to locate schools of bait, which will likely be balled up in the creek mouths during a typical “cold” Georgia winter, or they could be moving out over the main river channels during truly cold weather when water surface temperatures drop well below 50 F. In either scenario, put out a spread of rods rigged with heavy circle hooks and cut shad or herring. Target points or humps adjacent to creek or river channels where you have used your electronics to find the bait. You still have to pack your patience, but if you haven’t gotten a bite in about 30 minutes, then chances are that you should move to another similar site. If you’re fishing on sunny day after a recent rain, targeting stained water at depths around 20 – 30 feet can help improve your catch rate.

LAKE OCONEE IS FULL, 50’S 

Bass: Bass fishing is fair. But a big old front and high winds will make it tough. The bass will be feeding on the shad that are bunched up in the creeks and large coves during the first of the month. As the cold fronts keep coming, the shad will move out of the coves into the main lake, and the bass will follow. Target the bass in the middle in the backs of the creeks and coves with spinnerbaits and small crankbaits fished along the seawalls and docks, along with other wood cover in the coves and creeks. As the water cools, the fish will move out into the main lake with the bait. It will be time to switch to the deeper humps and off the points on the main lake.

LAKE SINCLAIR IS DOWN 1.5 FEET, 60’S 

Bass: Bass are biting, and most fish are in the coves and creeks and shallow. Some fish are deeper in the clearer water down lake. Slow bait like worms and jigs should work early on the warmer docks on the northwest side of the lake. After mid-day, go to the docks and secondary points and use the smaller crank baits like the Shad Raps, RS Shad Raps, Bandit, and Bomber Model A. Shad patterns and chrome blue have been good colors in more clear water while the same colors along with crawfish have produced in dirty water. Spinner baits are catching a few fish around wood cover and docks, although this may slow down after the cold front. Try a 3/8-ounce bait with chartreuse white with gold Colorado blades. Jigs are catching bass especially on days the fish aren’t hitting crank baits or spinner baits very well. Try a 3/8-ounce Strike King Pro Model in black and blue, browns or solid black. Add a Zoom Salty Chunk or Pro Chunk or #1 Uncle Josh pork chunks as the trailer. Work the bait slowly through any wood cover and against dock posts. Texas rig worms are also producing a few fish around the docks. A few schools of deeper fish remain in the clearer water. Depths are from 10 to 20 feet or more and along the sides of humps and points. Carolina rigs and spoons are the primary choices along with jig head and worm, jigs, and tail spinners.

Linesides (courtesy of Lake Country’s Mark Smith): Mark reported “What a great cold morning on the pond. We put fish in the boat all morning long and every stop produced. Hopefully this bite will continue into January. Thanks to all who came to fish with me it was a good time for sure.” Mark’s secret sauce on this recent cool, sunny December day was a chartreuse spoon. For more information, contact on fishing Sinclair, contact Mark at reeltimeguideservices.com/.

LAKE JACKSON IS FULL, 50’S

Bass: Bass fishing is fair. The water is cold, but the fish are still eating. Drop shot rigs, fish head spins and spoons are the best early baits. After mid-day, go down lake and use the bone brown Rapala DT6 on a spinning reel and hit the shallow pockets around the dam. Early, hit them in the head with a small Hopkins spoon. Try the Zoom u tail worms on a Texas rig and peg the sinker. Use the greens and purple colors on the Texas rig in the warmer waters in the lower lake coves. Fish slowly with the DT6 Rapala crank baits in shad or hot mustard and use the stop and go retrieve. Stay down lake and use the dark larger worms and jigs on the trees and docks. Flip docks with a Texas rigged Culprit red shad worm. The larger worms in red and are fair and add the Jack Juice garlic scent on soft lures and use the Mega Strike scents on any hard baits. Make casts to the same location often and stay in the brush.

PUBLIC FISHING AREA REPORT

McDUFFIE PUBLIC FISHING AREA (courtesy of Fisheries Technician Nick Brewer)

The recent cold weather and high winds have lightened traffic at the PFA and pushed the fish out to their deeper winter haunts, but there is still plenty of quality fish to be caught for those patient anglers that brave the cold and can slow their presentation to a near crawl.

Bass: Fewer bass are being caught on the PFA by anglers.  Consider slowly fishing a crankbait, jig, or a 1/4 oz spoon around deeper structure in larger lakes like Bridge or Willow for the best chance of success.

Striped and Hybrid Bass:  Anglers should use chicken livers in areas with lots of bird activity for the best chance of success.  Many small hybrids and striped bass are being caught in Clubhouse and Bridge Lakes.

Channel Catfish:  Anglers on the PFA are still catching catfish.  Some anglers are reporting catfish in the 4–9-pound range.  Anglers are reporting the most success fishing either chicken livers or stink baits fished on the bottom.  Jones, Clubhouse, Bridge and Beaver Lodge Lakes were all stocked with more than two thousand pounds of catchable-sized catfish recently, which should make catfishing light work on warm, sunny days when they will be most active.

Bream:  Bream on the PFA are not being caught as frequently, anglers targeting bream should use live worms in and around structures in the lakes during peak hours of sunlight.

Reminder: Live fish/minnows are not allowed on our PFA!

FLAT CREEK PUBLIC FISHING AREA (courtesy of Fisheries Technicians Amory Cook and Deven Thompson)

Bass: The bass fishing has been very slow in recent weeks with only a few fish being reported; however, the fish that have been caught were quality fish. Don’t let the cold weather hold you back as the fish will soon be feeding heavily to prepare for spring spawning. Techniques to utilize this week should include power cranking around deeper structure and drop offs, Alabama rigs on suspended fish, and jigs around shallow structures. Other baits that may prove to work good this week are hard and soft-bodied jerk baits fished slowly. 

Bream: Despite the cool weather, the bream have been biting extremely well. Notably larger specimens have been getting caught in the last few weeks. The best technique is to target 5 to 10 feet  of water with small red wigglers fish on the bottom. 

Crappie: The crappie bite has been inconsistently hot or cold, but some very good-sized fish have been caught. The highest catches were reported was just after a storm front pushed through. Using weather as a tool is critical for getting on the crappie bite. The best technique I’ve seen is jigs in natural colors fished in 2-10 feet of water near structures.

Catfish: The catfish bite has slowed a little bit but are still biting! Live bluegill and small chunks of chicken liver fish on the bottom will still give you a good chance at one of these whiskery critters!

Boaters Use Caution! Due to the extremely low lake level, please use caution when unloading/loading your vessels.

ATTENTION ANGLERS: Flat Creek PFA staff are conducting an annual angler (creel) survey on the lake this year. If you are approached by a PFA staff member after your fishing trip, please take a moment to answer their questions and share information about your fishing success (or, lack of success, whichever may be the case). These surveys are a valuable management tool that can improve our understanding of the fishery and ultimately improve fishing quality on the reservoir.

MARBEN PFA FISHING REPORT

• Marben PFA Information
• Water level: Several of the smaller bodies of water are slightly low but the larger lakes are full pool. Margery is under renovation and closed until further notice.
• Water clarity: Clarity varies but most water bodies have up to 24-48” visibility.
• Surface temperature: 50s.
• Marben PFA Fishing Guide 

Bass: Bass have moved into their deep winter habits and fishing has slowed. Slowly fished aoft plastics such as worms or creature baits should work as well as crank baits. Bass will be hitting shad as they school. Due to decreases in temperature look for lethargic shad or gulls diving to take advantage of.

Crappie: The crappie are still in deeper water suspended over woody habitat.  Use jigs tipped with minnows or a “search-style” bait such as a curly tail jig. Alternatively jigs with a float could be used with a slow retrieve.

Bream: The bluegill and some shellcracker bite is slow but a few are being caught on or near the bottom. Red wigglers and wax worms are a good choice for bait.

(Fishing report courtesy of Capt. Bert Deener, Retired Georgia WRD Fisheries Supervisor, with help from Region Staff and Local Experts)

I hope that each of you had a safe New Year! The bites all over southeast Georgia and north Florida have been really good. Crappie, seatrout, bass, and bowfin have been tops from the folks I’ve talked with.

River gages on January 2nd were:

• Clyo on the Savannah River – 5.3 feet and rising
• Abbeville on the Ocmulgee – 6.1 feet and rising
• Doctortown on the Altamaha – 8.4 feet and rising
• Waycross on the Satilla – 9.2 feet and rising
• Atkinson on the Satilla – 6.8 feet and rising
• Statenville on the Alapaha – 5.8 feet and falling
• Macclenny on the St Marys – 2.8 feet and steady
• Fargo on the Suwannee – 3.7 feet and falling

First quarter moon is January 6th. To monitor all the Georgia river levels, visit the USGS website. For the latest marine forecast, check out weather.gov/jax/.

SATILLA RIVER

The river is fishable and the bass and crappie have been biting. I saw photos of some good catches from all areas of the river, and the biggest crappie I heard of was 1.55 pounds. Oxbow lakes have produced the most fish. Blake Edwards and Charlie Carter fished the lower river on Saturday and caught 19 total fish in about 4 hours. They used minnows on jigheads and under floats and caught a dozen crappie, a bass, a chain pickerel (jackfish), and 5 bowfin (mudfish). Michael Deen ushered in the new year in the upper river and caught 7 bass (all keeper sized) up to about 2 pounds by flinging some custom Capt. Bert’s spinnerbaits.

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP

Jason, Jaxon, and Nathan paddled and camped several nights out of the west side last weekend and caught fliers, pickerel, and bowfin. They fooled the fliers with sallies and bowfin and pickerel with Dura-Spins (color didn’t matter – they ate all the colors they threw). They said that the best bite was when they would kill the spinner and let it fall near the bottom. Their best day they caught around 30 bowfin (biggest was about 7 pounds) and several pickerel (biggest 22 inches – way to go Jaxon!). They enjoyed a couple of fresh fish meals during their trip. On Tuesday I had the pleasure of taking Glen and Rose (from Alaska) fishing on the west side. I caught 2 fliers in just a few pitches with pink sallies just in case we needed some fresh cut bait. We did not need them, as they stayed hooked up with bowfin almost the whole 4 hours by trolling Dura-Spins (crawfish-orange blade was the ticket, but we caught a few on lemon-lime) and casting 1/16-oz. Mirage Jigs tipped with dead minnows. They caught 55 bowfin, and their biggest that we landed was 5-lb., 3-oz. If they went a minute without a bite we were musing “Hey what’s happening – we must have gotten out of the fish.” Staff at Okefenokee Adventures on the east side said that folks fishing in the canal and boat basin have been catching a bunch of bowfin and also some nice pickerel by casting lures. The most recent water level (Folkston side) was 120.80 feet (it’s been stable around that reading for almost a month).

ST MARYS RIVER

Dale and Emma Anderson got on the crappie in the St Marys River on Wednesday. It was chilly and windy, but the fish were chewing artificials – mostly plastics on jigheads. They had a total of 21 crappie with 5 over a pound. They also had a few bluegills and redbreasts. Note: The Temple Landing boat ramp is currently closed while the GA Wildlife Resources Division boat ramp crew rebuilds the ramp. It will be a much-improved facility when they finish the project. The projects typically take a few months to complete, but it is always weather and river level dependent.

DODGE COUNTY PUBLIC FISHING AREA (near Eastman)

Paul Moore had 7 crappie on Tuesday morning. On Thursday morning Ken Burke fished the area for almost 5 hours and caught 4 bass that weighed a total of 9 1/2 pounds. His biggest was just over 3 pounds. Crankbaits were the ticket for him. The water temperature is in the mid-50’s. Find out more about this area at GeorgiaWildlife.com/dodge-county-pfa.

SAVANNAH RIVER

Waylon and Tripp fished with their dad Mark on two different trips to the river this week. Trip went first and pitched 1/16-oz. Mirage Jigs and Tennessee Shad Specktacular Jigs for their crappie and fliers. They caught 47 fish and kept a couple dozen. That day they caught them in the 10 to 18 feet range. Waylon and Mark fished Thursday and caught fliers and crappie on popsicle and Tennessee Shad Specktacular Jigs. Waylon caught 4 fish big enough to earn him angler awards from the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division. His biggest was a 14 3/4-inch crappie that ate the Tennessee Shad colored jig. They caught 36 fish and kept 22 of them. They’re going to have a great fish fry this weekend! Way to go, guys!

LOCAL PONDS

Chad Lee finally fished again after repairing hurricane damage and had fun for about a half-hour. He fooled 3 bass, a bluegill and a crappie on his go-to 1/32-oz. Zombie Eye Jighead and chartreuse Assassin Tiny Shad. Joshua Barber fished a Manor-area pond on Thursday evening and caught 20 bass (about 6 or 7 were keeper-sized), 4 crappie, and 3 fliers. He fooled them with 1/16-oz. Mirage Jigs tipped with minnows.

SALTWATER (GEORGIA COAST)

I missed a report last week. Cason and Pat Kinstle whacked the trout in the Brunswick area. Cason threw paddle-tail plastics on Zombie Eye Jigheads for all of his fish. Pat is usually a live shrimp guy, but even he got in on the artificial bite that day. A couple different anglers struggled inshore on Saturday. One group caught 6 keeper trout all day and the other had 5 trout (3 keepers). An angler reported catching 5 short trout on Wednesday. Most of the other reports were really good. Mattie fished with her dad Teddy and caught a bunch of trout in the Brunswick area over the weekend. They ended up catching 30 trout on Keitechs. Mattie actually found them by casting to the middle of the creek while Teddy cast near the good-looking cover. After Mattie caught about 3 in a row on her green pumpkin-chartreuse Keitech, Teddy switched and started catching them, as well. Capt. Duane Harris fished with Whitey Hunt in the Brunswick area for a few hours Saturday morning and caught 5 redfish and 2 trout before the water got too low and they had to get out. His previous 3 trips were from 14 to 40 redfish on the falling tide. Live and dead shrimp have worked great for him this winter. Stan Rhodes and Eddie Wade fished the Cumberland Island area on Friday and caught some nice reds and trout. They fooled 8 keeper redfish and a big sheepshead with live shrimp and fiddler crabs. They also had a dozen short trout and some short black drum and sheepshead. The wind was stiff, but they got on them. Tommy Sweeney caught an upper slot redfish from a dock on Thursday afternoon by casting plastics. Capt. Chris Ruff of Ruff’s Coastal Adventures (rccaga.com) is catching his fish up the creeks. Live shrimp and mudminnows worked best for him this week. The trout have been biting at various depths, while the reds have been chewing in the shallows around low tide and the early incoming. Capt. Tim Cutting (fishthegeorgiacoast.com) fished Monday and Tuesday and had two great days. They had lots of slot reds both days. On Monday they had 10 good trout and 15 good ones on Tuesday. All of their fish Monday were on live shrimp under Harper Super Striker Floats, and all of the fish Tuesday were on Fourseven plastics (Christmas tree) and Gotcha grubs. After your next trip to the Georgia coast, drop off your fish carcasses in the freezer at the WRD Fisheries Management Waycross Fisheries Office at 108 Darling Avenue. The Coastal Resources Division collects most inshore saltwater species so that they can determine age and growth for each species. All the supplies and information cards are in the freezer. Filet your fish then drop off the carcasses in the freezer. Wat-a-melon Bait and Tackle in Brunswick is open Friday through Tuesday each week (closed Wednesday and Thursday) They have plenty of lively shrimp and also have live worms and crickets for freshwater. For the latest information and their hours, contact them at 912-223-1379.

Blog Contributer Capt. Bert Deener guides fishing trips in southeast Georgia 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, call or text him at 912-288-3022 or e-mail him (bertdeener@yahoo.com).

The Southwest Georgia Fishing Report will be back and included next week!

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