Southeast Georgia Hunting Reports with Capt. Bert Diener – Sept. 8, 2023 – Foreign Georgia News
Matt Ross, of St. George, fished the upper St. Marys River on Monday and caught many beautiful bluegill and red breasted Satella Spines.
There weren’t many reports of hunting because of the storm clean-ups, school starts, and the heat, but the few who did go did well. All rivers (except St. Mary’s) are uphill, so spend your time on St. Mary’s River, Okefenokee Swamp, Ponds or Saltwater this weekend.
Saint Marys River: Matt Ross fished the upper river on Monday and had a fun day. Even in colorless waters, he managed to catch several large red-gilled cock breasts in his Satilla Spins. The fish bite slowed down for him around 10 am. He found a shady spot and put some shrimp on the bottom and caught a few nice catfish and a couple of bowfish about 2lbs each.
Okefenokee Swamp: The shelter was closed two days after the hurricane but reopened on Friday. Ellie (my daughter) fished with me on the east side of Okefenokee Swamp on Saturday morning, and we had a great trip. There was very little extra debris in the channels, which surprised me a lot. We threw 10-minute shots at my favorite fly spots and didn’t catch any, then fished and tossed Dura-Spins. We fished for about three hours and caught 42 fish. We had four Pickerels up to 17′ long (all cast) and 38 Bowfins up to 8lbs 14oz. Our second heaviest was the bowfin at 5 pounds 15 ounces. The others weighed mostly 2 to 3 pounds. The biggest boffin ate a version of Snowflake, but the best overall color was Lemon Lime (Blade Chartreuse). We caught quite a few fish on jackfish, lobster (orange and copper blades), and a fire tiger blade. The most recent water level (Folkestone side) was 120.56 feet.
Ellie Diener, of Athens, weighed in at 8lbs 14oz. Boffin on a flat Dura-Spin snowflake while fishing on the east side of the Okefenokee Swamp on Saturday.
Salt Water (Georgia Coast): The mullet starts to rise and the fish feed on it. Tarpons and red bulls are in their usual places at the sidewalks and sounds. Captain Greg Hildreth (georgiacharterfishing.com) has his clients set on tarpon, whiting and pompano this week. They caught tarpon on live bait in sounds and beaches. On Wednesday, they caught a 120-pounder. The whiting and pompano ate dead shrimp caught at the bottom. Captain Tim Cutting (fishthegeorgiacoast.com) had a good day of flounder and redfish on Tuesday. White Potion Charter Work! A mullet swims at the head of a jig of six flatfish and six redfish (all fish were keepers). They kept four flounder. On Wednesday, they fished live shrimp and caught 25 redfish, roughly half above the minimum 14 inches and half just shy of ranger size. They had good flounder, black drum and sheep’s head in the mix.
The new moon is September 15th. To observe all levels of the Georgia River, visit the USGS website (waterdata.usgs.gov/ga/nwis/rt). For the latest marine forecasts, check this out www.weather.gov/jax/.
River gauges on September 7 were:
Cleo on the Savannah River – 10.3 ft and the fall
Abbeville on Okmulgee – 4.2 feet and fall
Doctortown on Altamaha – 9.1 feet drop
Waycross on Satella – 16.0 ft fall
Atkinson on Satella – 16.3 feet high
Statenville on Alapaha – 12.9 feet and fall
Macclenny on St Marys – 4.3 feet and falls
Fargo on Suwanee River – 4.5 feet and falls
Captain Bert Diner manufactures a wide variety of fresh and saltwater fishing lures. Check out his charm at Bert’s Jigs and Things on Facebook. To get a copy of his latest catalog, call him at 912.288.3022 or email him at (email protected).
