UTERJanuary
Winter red schools on the low-tide flats
Bottom of the tide, sunniest afternoon; fiddlers on the docks for sheepshead.
Tybee to St. Marys
Georgia Coast fishing
What's biting in Georgia Coast in October: pompano, king mackerel and redfish at their peak, with tarpon, Spanish mackerel and jack crevalle around too. Fish Scouter's season calendar follows 43 fish here month by month, from Savannah to St. Marys.
The fall feed: trout, reds and flounder
Endless spartina marsh and tidal creeks behind the barrier islands — Tybee, Wassaw, Ossabaw, St. Catherines, Sapelo, St. Simons, Jekyll and Cumberland — cut by big sounds (Wassaw, St. Catherines, Doboy, St. Simons, St. Andrew), with shell rakes everywhere, artificial reefs nearshore and Gray's Reef and the Gulf Stream offshore.
SavannahTybee IslandRichmond HillDarienBrunswickSt. Simons IslandJekyll IslandSt. Marys
Updated
Now · October
The fall feed: trout, reds and flounder
Shrimp under a popping cork on every creek mouth and oyster bar.
Spotted seatroutRedfishFlounderKing mackerelWhitingBull shark
This month here
From the season calendar, best firstPeakPeakSpawningPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakPeakLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingLeavingAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAroundAround
Pompano
Fall fish in the surf.
King mackerel
Fall kings on the nearshore live bottom.
Redfish
Bulls still at the sounds; the slot reds tail on the spring-tide flood in the spartina.
Spotted seatrout
Best month: shrimp under a popping cork on every creek mouth and oyster bar.
Flounder
Best month: fish pile up at the sound mouths heading offshore.
Gag grouper
Whiting
Fall whiting on the beaches and the sound edges.
Bluefish
Vermilion snapper
Greater amberjack
Wahoo
Blackfin tuna
Little tunny (bonito)
Spot
Spot run in the sounds; bloodworms.
Scamp
Gray triggerfish
Red porgy (pinkie)
White grunt
Tarpon
The last fish leave as the water drops.
Spanish mackerel
Jack crevalle
Sailfish
Blacktip shark
Bull shark
Bonnethead shark
Atlantic sharpnose shark
Atlantic croaker
Atlantic cutlassfish (ribbonfish)
Tiger shark
Atlantic spadefish
Sheepshead
Mangrove snapper
Black drum
Ladyfish
Red snapper
Black sea bass
Yellowfin tuna
The water
The tide here
Semidiurnal, 6–9 ft
The biggest tides on the Southeast coast — seven to nine feet on a spring tide. The marsh floods and empties twice a day: creek mouths on the fall, flooded spartina on the top, the sounds on the change.
Structure that matters
Oyster barGrass flatChannel edgePass / inletFishing pierDock / pilingsBridgeBeach / surfArtificial reefWreckLedge / hard bottom
After a cold front
Trout and reds slide into the deep creek bends and the sound channels; the clear winter water at low tide puts reds in tight schools on the mud flats — the best sight fishing of the year on sunny afternoons.
Month by month
What's happening, and what to throwFebruary
Sheepshead spawn on the nearshore reefs
Fiddler crabs on the nearshore artificial reefs and the jetties.
March
Big black drum and the whiting run
Crab or clam at the St. Simons pier and the sound mouths; shrimp on the bottom for whiting.
April
Cobia and tripletail arrive; trout on the shell
Sight-cast tripletail along the beaches on calm mornings; cobia in the sounds.
May
Peak cobia and beach tripletail
Live eels or menhaden for cobia in St. Simons and Wassaw sounds.
June
Tarpon arrive; Spanish on the tide lines
Troll small spoons at the sound mouths; first tarpon on the pogy schools.
July
Tarpon on the pogies; sharks everywhere
Live menhaden under the pogy pods in the sounds; spadefish on the towers.
August
Prime tarpon month in the Golden Isles
St. Simons and St. Andrew sounds and off Jekyll; flood-tide tailing reds.
September
Bull reds at the sound mouths; tarpon still on
Cut mullet at the sound mouths and off the St. Simons pier; the fall trout bite starts.
October · now
The fall feed: trout, reds and flounder
Shrimp under a popping cork on every creek mouth and oyster bar.
November
Best inshore month
Artificials over shell on the falling tide as the shrimp leave the creeks.
December
Winter sets up: reds school, sea bass on the reefs
Low-tide flats for reds; squid on the nearshore reefs for sea bass.
Fish guides for Georgia Coast
When, where and what to use, fish by fishAtlantic croakerAtlantic cutlassfish (ribbonfish)Atlantic sharpnose sharkAtlantic spadefishBlack drumBlack sea bassBlackfin tunaBlacktip sharkBlue marlinBluefishBonnethead sharkBull sharkCobiaFlounderGag grouperGray triggerfishGreat hammerheadGreater amberjackJack crevalleKing mackerelLadyfishLittle tunny (bonito)Mahi-mahi (dolphin)Mangrove snapperPompanoRed porgy (pinkie)Red snapperRedfishSailfishScampSheepsheadSpanish mackerelSpinner sharkSpotSpotted seatroutTarponTiger sharkTripletailVermilion snapperWahooWhite gruntWhitingYellowfin tuna
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