St Simons Island Trout and Redfish 12/26/13

Capt. Tim Cutting
December 26, 2013
St. Simons Island - Saltwater Fishing Report

The fishing in St Simons Island, Georgia has been outstanding for this past month. Although tarpon, bull reds, triple tail and flounder have headed to warmer waters, the Sea Trout and Red Fish are schooled up fairly thick during the cool weather months here in the Golden Isles. On a recent trip with Sales and Marketing Director, Steffen Sherren, of Sea Palms Resort, we ended up with 19 solid slot-sized red fish. It took us a few stops and presentations to get the reds dialed in, but once we located the school, and positioned the boat to our advantage, the bite was fast and furious. Red Fish will be plentiful during the winter months around St Simons Island, with mid-day low tides being prime time. Red Fish generally aren't too picky, but a live or artificial shrimp pinned to a jig head and bumped slowly across the bottom usually won't last too long around a school of red fish.
Fishing for Speckled Trout in the cooler months is probably one of my most favorite endeavors. For those "cross-over" fisherman (freshwater bass/saltwater light tackle), this is the time to break out those jigs and fish deep. Deep is a relative term as this usually means water ranging from 6 ft. to over 20 ft. in depth. Although trout fishing can be good at all tide stages, I like low tide for finesse fishing with the jigs. Here in the Golden Isles, we generally have tides that often exceed 7 ft. This can equate to current and water levels changing a foot per hour. As the tide drops and the current slows down, Sea Trout will school up on deeper ledges and drop offs in large numbers waiting for shrimp, small crabs and minnows to filter out of the marsh. This is when we tip our jigs with small plastics and make slow presentations to the awaiting trout. The first 3 weeks of December 2013 proved very successful on jigs and plastics with the "Nite Glow" and "Baby Bass" color patterns working best. In 2 days of fishing the low tides in the second week of December we saw nearly 50 nice sized Sea Trout come over the gunnels!

St. Simons Island Fishing Forecast:

Going forward into the month of January 2014 the same patterns should emerge. The Red Fish will be schooled up even tighter in the creeks and on top of the mudflats. These fish will be very wary of their low water surroundings and will need to be approached very quietly. For the fly anglers, there may not be a better time to break out clouser minnows in purple and black patterns. While many anglers generally don't think of trophy sized trout this time of year here on the Georgia Coast, a well-placed sinking plug, can often be met with the strike of a 5 lb. trout or better. One of my favorite scenarios is to find sea walls or rip rap that have been exposed to the noon sun. This small thermal difference can create a haven for small baitfish, which in turn become prime targets for big trout and red fish as well. I'll usually let my plug sink to about six to eight ft. and impart slow twitches with pauses as much as 5 seconds. In the colder months the bite is often best between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. So, in parting, stop and get a good breakfast, dress warm, and slow your presentations down.

Target Species:

Trout, Redfish

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