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Welcome to another episode of the Golden Isles Fishing Podcast. In this episode Capt. TJ talks about the fishing around St. Simons Island, warming water temperatures, transitioning Trout, Sheepshead on the reefs, and Wahoo and Tuna at the ledge.
I want to start by thanking everyone that has listened to the first two episodes. I really expected to have a couple of dozen listeners for these first shows but I was pleasantly surprised to have several hundred downloads! I honestly can’t thank you enough. Please continue to share this podcast with your friends, leave comments, and send in your questions and suggestions.
To re-cap the show, I talk about everything from the warm weather that we are seeing this week, to the huge tides that we will have towards the end of next week.
The Trout showed signs of coming out of their winter pattern and are showing up over a wider area than they have been lately. I am still seeing most of them in depth of 8 feet or more and mostly around heavy structure. I am looking forward to the fish getting back in the shallows so we can break out the popping corks and have some fun.
The Redfish are still shallow, happy, and hungry. A good friend of mine made a very good point this week about Redfish. He said that he often notices people in flats boats pushing schools of fish up and down a flat even though they are obviously not going to bite. All this does is make the fish spooky and weary of anything that might be considered un-natural that happens around them. If you remember the days when you would see tailing, happy Redfish on a regular basis and you wonder why you just don’t see it much anymore, this has a lot to do with it.
Please help spread the word that just because you find a school of fish doesn’t mean you should go back day after day. The fish notice and adapt, and then no one gets to enjoy them,
Out on the reefs the Sheepshead bite is picking up although they are not what I would consider “hot”. I am catching a lot more Sheepshead inshore than I am on the reefs. There are plenty of Black Sea Bass to help pass the time while you are locating your reef bandits.
Out on the ledge there is some pretty awesome Wahoo fishing and I have heard of some very nice Black Fin Tuna out there as well. Hopefully you find a nice weather day to get out there and have some fun before it’s all over.
Speaking of weather… this week seems fairly nice although there will be some rain and breeze to contend with. Later in the week the tides will begin to swell until we ultimately hit a 9 foot tide swing by next weekend. You might have to get creative to find the fish during a tide like that. Timing will be important if you don’t want to fish swift current. I tend to prefer to fish the lower tide stages during big tides as the muddy water will often be flushed out during low tide, and you can take advantage of the slower current around the ebb.
Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions for the coming episodes. I want this podcast to be a resource for you, and it will only get better with your input.
Until next time,
Tight lines!
Capt. TJ Cheek
St. Simons Island Fishing Guide