Finally, some fish!

[.Mike]

For the last three or four weekends, my wife and I have been up at sunrise to fish. We haven't had much luck-- just one or two fish per day at the most.

Practically everyone we see, from people standing on docks to people on other boats, asks the same question: Catch any trout? After today, I know why.

With the weather starting to change, the trout have arrived:

I caught those on live shrimp in a tidal creek off the Wilmington River. At some points, it was barely wide enough to turn the boat around. The smallest was 15 inches, and the largest was close to 18. My wife caught a few that were undersized. I'm sure she will catch some in the weeks to come. I was really surprised that we didn't catch any redfish. When we fish creeks from shore, they are usually full of them.

No fishing next weekend. We will be camping and kayaking instead.

 

[SeaFaring]

Those are pretty fish! Upstate NY is beautiful this time of year.


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[.Mike]

Heh... sorry, the Wilmington River we fish is in Savannah, Georgia. It runs 17.3 miles from the Savannah River to Wassaw Sound, passing by a half dozen islands on the way to the Atlantic.

This is the river on the map: https://goo.gl/maps/Yb9dPfAiJYN2

And these are the creeks we were fishing: https://goo.gl/maps/FbSmScqWuRF2

It's a really interesting place to fish. The average tidal range is 7 or 8 feet, and a lot of the areas people fish have no water at low tide. The tide pushes in from both the Savannah River to the north, and up from Wassaw sound to the south. As the tide falls, it starts draining to the north, but then switches back to a southern flow at about mid-tide. That apparently pushes the fish around in a loop. They stop off in the creeks, and feed in the flooded marshes at high tide.

Last weekend, we talked to a couple of guys who troll the area for trout. They were preparing to troll these rocks, less than a half mile from the boat ramp, in their 1236 with a 2hp motor: https://binged.it/2yeacPu They said that last fall, they caught 300 trout just going back and forth using artificials. We might have to try that!

 

[LDUBS]

That is a nice bag full of trout. What kind are they?

 

[.Mike]

Spotted sea trout. https://www.marinefishesofgeorgia.org/popular-sport-fish/spotted-seatrout.html

They have really soft mouths, and don't put up much of a fight. They are really delicious.

They are apparently plentiful here. The limit is 15 fish, 14" minimum.

 

[SeaFaring]

Ahh - that makes sense! Spotted sea trout are actually a member of the drum family. I should have put it together when you mentioned redfish, but my mind went straight to trout of the rainbow/Brown/brook variety, and hence upstate NY.


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[LDUBS]

Thanks for the info. Body markings say trout all day long but the fins are completely different. We don't have these out in my neck of the woods.

 

[handyandy]

Mike nice report I have cousins that live on willmington island have fished around there a time or two when I have visited and drug my boat down. Never have gotten any specks or reds with my cousins it's usually been over the summer when I have been down there we usually get a bunch of croakers and use some live for bait. Which ends up getting us sharks mostly, maybe with something else mixed in once in a while. Once we got a nice king mackeral. We have usually fished closer to the mouth of where the willimington river goes into the Atlantic.

 

[.Mike]

Thanks! We haven't made it all the way to Wassaw Sound, where the Wilmington River meets the Atlantic. Lots of big boats between here and there, and that makes me want to proceed with extreme caution. We're still beginners, and there are plenty of creeks and small rivers where we can fish and learn in relative safety.

We didn't catch any reds or trout over the summer, just a couple of flounder. The water is too hot, so the bigger fish stay out in deeper water. I'm either going to have to start crabbing in the summer, or spend more time recreational kayaking.

I haven't hooked up with a shark yet, though I've caught plenty of rays and some very tenacious crabs. A month or two ago, I accidentally snagged a 5 or 6 foot gator that hunts in the creek where we bank fish. It spooled my line instantly, and hunkered down in the marsh grass on the opposite bank. I waded down the creek a good distance, until I was across from him. I eventually pulled him out of the grasses and dragged him across the creek. I didn't know for sure that it was a gator until it was about 10ft away, when I cut my line.

We're camping and kayaking in fresh water this weekend. I'll toss in a line or two from camp, but I have no freshwater gear.

 

[handyandy]

The gator would have spooked the hell out of me lol. It's not too bad out towards wassaw sound as long as you don't go out into the atlantic. We have ventured out into the atlantic a short ways when it was calmer that's where we have managed some spanish macks and got that one king mack. The sharks are fun they put up a heck of a fight and seem to always seem to be in there in over the summer. What we have usually done is find where croakers are holding fish for them with light gear using squid, shrimp, or fish bites. Keep the bigger ones worth filleting, and throw one out on a big float to drift out a ways from the boat on a heavier rod. 9 times out of ten a shark takes the live small croaker. Biggest shark we have managed was a black tip I think that was around 5ft I'd say. Not real sure we didn't bring it in the boat. Took forever to land it darn neared spooled me a few times on a rod that I had 30lb mono on. There have been a few times when we have had something real big just take off and break off. Apparently I will need to try and visit them for a thanksgiving or christmas to get into reds and specks hopefully. Hope you have some luck on the camping trip. If you go inland you guys have some good smallmouth rivers in georgia.

 

[richg99]

If you are not using your kayak to fish, you are missing out on a ton of fun.

 

[.Mike]

I know, but that's why we bought a boat! We had been kayaking recreationally, and fishing from the banks. My very petite wife was sick of standing in mud to fish, and also dreaded the idea of hooking up with something in her kayak that could drag her around. She made a strong case to buy a boat. I doubt that there is anyone here who would have argued to not get a boat!

We'll be at George L. Smith State Park. They have a 412 acre mill pond, confusingly filled with cypress trees. We were there in February, and one of my wife's friends joined us. That slowed us considerably, and we only covered about 4-5 miles in a day. This trip is about sight seeing. It is a beautiful place: https://www.google.com/search?q=george+l+smith+state+park&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjoiOr536DXAhWEwiYKHQ6FCvMQ_AUICygC&biw=1920&bih=928

 

[handyandy]

All I'm saying is I wouldn't discount the inland waters there and the rivers/streams you have to float and fish. I own both a boat and kayak I use the boat more as I don't always have time to make the float/fish trips with the kayak. I have a tendency to make a 5-6 mile stretch of river last all day if I'm fishing like I want. The boat I can just run and gun so to speak and I don't have to get someone else to drive to shuttle afterwards. I don't blame about fishing the tidal areas not wanting to yak, in your area my cousins and I have gotten some big sharks that surely would have taken me for a ride in my nucanoe that I'm not sure I would have wanted to go on.