2010 Near-Shore GA Saltwater Re-Cap - Fishing Report
Capt. TJ Cheek
September 28, 2010
St. Simons Island - Saltwater Fishing Report
2010 Near-Shore Fishing Re-Cap – Coastal Georgia Saltwater Report
This has been a fabulous summer here in the beautiful Golden Isles of Georgia. From Savannah to Cumberland Island, the fish bite for most species was as good as ever.
The highlight of our season had to be the early tarpon run and the late cobia run.
We'll start with the Tarpon…. The fish showed up in the first week of June this season. I remember it like it was yesterday.
My charter was on board my Contender 31 Open at the time. We were fishing a 6-hour trip from St. Simons Island with a group of 3-people that morning.
The trip was actually for Spinner Sharks, Bull Redfish or whatever would pull out some line for the group on live bait, so we anchored the boat in St. Andrews Sound off Jekyll Island.
We were anchored down on a sandbar about 3 miles offshore in 11 ft. of water and had just released a large Bull Redfish. The flat line ripped and a small black tip was released.
Then, the sound of the release clip popping with force on the port side of the boat turned my head…. Then, AIR! First Tarpon of the season was hooked up.
20 minutes later we landed the 70-80 pound class Tarpon with grins from ear to ear. This fantastic Tarpon bite lasted for a solid 4-days before slowing back to a normal season. August proved fruitful per usual, and the bite was grand over all… We were all blessed this year with excellent Tarpon fishing.
There are always Tarpon coming in our area in waves in early summer, but a solid 4-day bite with no presence of bait schools in the area was beyond impressive!
Now, get this. Cobia hanging out until August in 60 ft. of water in large numbers? This was also a welcomed sight for any offshore angler! We couldn't believe it….. Not this many fish. It was an impressive sight to see this many Cobia during any season! Read on…
The short story; After a 3-week lull in the Cobia fishing, we targeted king mackerel, AJ's, Barracuda and other bottom fish, we figured the fish had moved on to the north like they normally do.
On August 3rd, we boated 14 Cobia, released 9 and pulled off several more. This was a real treat for a Charter in early August. Not only was it un-expected, it lasted for weeks on end. Charter after Charter we caught Cobia until early September and the fish finally moved out.
I counted over 40 fish boated during August alone, over half released. Some were of great size and a few were borderline and some short. Fact of the matter is, they were still Cobia and we were catching them.
Each trip I told my clients not to count on it, but we had been catching them in numbers. Each trip proved me wrong as we boated Cobia after Cobia.
After a while we figured out the bigger fish wanted the bait fished deeper, but not on the down rigger. A ˝ ounce weight was the ticket for big Cobia. Also, many will argue the point, but, 2-stroke engines are a must! Cobia love it!
As mentioned, we are thankful and blessed to have the Charter season we had. It was simply unbelievable.
On another note, Bait was fairly easy to obtain when the winds were from the S-SW and W. During the many NE winds we had, the normal…. Bait was hard to get on the beaches. We had a few more Easterly and N. Easterly winds than normal, but overall the fishing was worth the lost wages from rough seas for most charter boat guides.
Cheers from the GA Coast…. May the seas be calm and your coolers be full!
Capt. Richie Lott
Richie Lott Outdoors & Charter Fishing
912-617-5577
http://www.charterfish.com
http://www.richielottoutdoors.com
St. Simons Island Fishing Forecast:
We're looking forward to Bull Redfish and Cobia heading back south!
Target Species:
Tarpon, Bull Redfish, Sharks, Cobia
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