St Simons Winter Wonderland
Capt. Tim Cutting
January 17, 2012
St. Simons Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
Usually winter fishing reports are filled with tips on maintenance, new products and favorite seafood recipes…not this winter! The fishing here on St. Simon's has been nothing short of outstanding! We had a recent trip where anglers limited out on trout AND redfish. The trout bite has been very good in deeper drops in or around 8-20 feet of water. Soft plastics, sinking and suspending plugs, and the trusty live shrimp under an adjustable float have been the methods of choice.
Redfish are ganged up on shallow mudflats throughout the Golden Isles and are eager to eat. Both live and cut bait work well as does just about any soft plastic bait you can imagine. Many of these fish are over the slot limit but are an absolute blast to catch on light tackle. This is where fly fisherman have an outstanding opportunity to battle the hard fighting redfish, as they will eagerly accept a sinking fly this time of year. An eight or nine weight long pole equipped with a Clouser Minnow or Deciever will get the job done.
The sheepshead fishing is firing off as we speak. Just about any barnacle covered dock or bridge piling close to the inlets will hold these fine eating bait thieves. My neighbor "Sheepshead Sam" just showed me a cooler full, with several over 5lbs! His favorite sheepshead baits are clams and mussels, but small pieces of fresh shrimp, fiddler crabs and even squid will catch these fish as they prepare to spawn in the next two months.
St. Simons Island Fishing Forecast:
As long as Old Man Winter forgets his man card like he has done so far, there may not be a better place to catch a fat redfish than St. Simons Island and the Brunswick area. Mid-day low tides will work for redfish as well as trout. Look deep for the trout and shallow for reds. The best pattern so far has been the warming trends immediately following the colder fronts. It looks like the next couple of weeks will continue to be frost free, and the strong bite will continue. Remember, you won't know if you don't go!
Target Species:
Sea Trout, Redfish, Sheepshead
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