Captain's Fishing Reports

As a charter Captain, or any business owner, the lead conversation opener is often “how’s business”? Well, often is the case, “busy”, is the answer. Which is usually followed by “that’s a good thing”! Yes, it’s a good thing, and now would be a good time to thank everyone who we’ve fished with over the years, building friendships, making memories and in general, having a real good time. The only downfall is that I enjoy putting words to paper (or “device” I guess). I never realized how many folks enjoy reading fishing reports, fishing forecast, tips, tackle reviews and basically anything fishing related. Over the last few months, many folks have mentioned that they have missed my 2 cents worth of tidal tid bits. That being said, no promises though, I will make a concerted effort to create more “stuff” to write, and if your like me (busy), maybe you’ll have time to read it. (For those who like books with more pictures than words you can find us @captain_tim_cutting on IG, and Facebook as well. Those are updated frequently)

If you’ve gotten this far past the fluff, here is your Saint Simons Island Fishing Report! Cool weather means targeting as much of the low tide phase as possible. I usually target trout or redfish this time of year, as both school tight, and can be quite plentiful when you find them!

This winter’s redfish bite has been very good, with both slot and over slot fish being caught in good numbers. Our general method is to get away from the main rivers and target smaller tributaries that contain either fallen trees, docks, or an abundance of oyster mounds. There are occasions where you you will see redfish in the shallower water, but most of the time, it’s blind casting the ambush points of the mentioned structures. Floating corks with live boat over and around these structures works well. I typically use plastic or shrimp tipped jigs preferring to have my presentation bumping the bottom slowly. The jig method will result in more snags and break-offs, but the rewards are worth it.

This years trout bite was very good and both live bait and lure anglers put up very generous numbers, with many anglers getting their limits. (15 fish per person) The low tide, cool weather pattern holds true for trout as well, although I usually don’t target them in water less than 6 ft. in the cool months, and often, in depths up to 20 ft. My main presentation is a paddle tail type plastic on a 1/16 or 1/8 ounce jig head. I prefer the lighter heads, but many anglers do well with 3/16 and 1/4 ounce heads. Color doesn’t seem to matter, but I will change colors to find what may be working. Most of the time it’s just a matter of finding the fish, although baits with a chartreuse tail have been popular this year. At the time of this writing, we are receiving a lot of fresh water in the marsh. That and an unseasonably warm winter have spread the trout out. The younger and more aggressive trout will usually show themselves in late winter and early spring, so it may be necessary to move quite a bit to locate larger fish. Trout, like their cousins the redfish, will very often school in similar size and age.

I hope all of you had a happy and healthy fall and winter and look forward to fishing with many of you who are already on the books. And again, thanks to all the folks who have and continue to support us over the years! As always, you won’t know, if you don’t go…