February was an absolute wild ride with ice storms, wind, and even record heat. Water temps plummeted and rose drastically in a matter of days. But the trout bite earlier this month was very strong, much like the previous month. The key for us on most trips was to work the deeper areas in 10-20 ft. Clay bottom seemed to be a common factor, and the forage was glass minnows. We mimicked the minnows on light jigheads paired with 3-4” swimbaits in neutral colors.
I definitely would like to thank all the anglers who fished with us these past few weeks, making it our busiest January ever. Many savvy SE Georgia anglers know that the winter months, although cold at times, offers some of the best fishing of the year for trout and red fish. We got a fairly good dose of cold weather, including snow, in many parts of Georgia. Many folks were concerned with the health of trout and shrimp, as water temps dipped below 45 degrees. Thankfully we were very fortunate as our population of shrimp and trout appeared not to sustain any discernable damage. In fact, we had one of our very best months for both reds and trout, following the freezes. Reports from Darien, Richmond Hill, and Savannah confirmed this as well.
Here in the Golden Isles the poor sheepshead certainly doesn’t share the same notoriety as speckled trout, redfish or tarpon, but it probably should. They are hard fighters, quite abundant in numbers and size, and are excellent table fare. Many local sheepshead aficionados have aptly named this finned adversary “the convict fish”, and for good reason. Not only do the seven black vertical stripes on this spiny finned fish resemble that of an inmates, the sheepshead’s uncanny ability to steal your bait rivals that of any common jailbird.