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2B
Tribune & Georgian
Friday, September 27,2013
Excellent redfish bite
in deep-water channels
Terry Lacoss
Special to the Tribune & Georgian
As an avid largemouth bass
fisherman, I soon learned that
during the heat of summer as
water temperatures soared,
freshwater bass would exit
typical shallow-water struc
tures and spend most of their
summer living in deep water
depths.
When first exploring salt
water fisheries, I also discov
ered saltwater game fish spent
most of their summers living
and feeding in deep water as
well. However, I also learned
that during certain periods of
the month and tidal phases,
saltwater game fish would
move from their deep-water
habitats into nearby shallow-
water structures to feed.
Such was the case last week
when a full moon arrived on
Thursday, with flooding of
vast amounts of shallow
spartina marshes. This set up
a perfect tidal phase for local
red fisherman Adam Loud
and visiting Warren
Stoughton to enjoy a banner
day of shallow-water red fish
ing.
“The marshes really
flooded nicely,” Loud said.
“We saw lots of tails in the
flooded spartina marshes and
the redfish were on a good
bite too.”
Loud said he and longtime
friend and redfish tournament
partner Stoughton had little
problem catching their two-
redfish limit.
Loud and Stoughton also
red-fished this past Friday,
one day after the full moon.
And like many past full-moon
phases, the redfish had been
feeding pretty heavily just be
fore and right on the full
moon. The following days
after a full moon, redfish
seemingly have satisfied their
appetite for fiddler crabs and
other shellfish that inhabit the
flooded marshes.
“Stoughton and I had a
tough time hooking up to
flood-tide redfish right after
the full moon,” Loud said.
“There were fewer tails flag
ging in the flooded marshes
and the redfish that we did
cast to seemingly were not
willing to take our artificial
lures.”
Also keep in mind the red
fish bite in typical shallow-
water structures adjacent to
Amelia Island spartina
marshes has been slow during
the last few weeks due to
warm water temperatures.
However, there has been an
excellent redfish bite taking
place in deep-water channels
where redfish weighing from
6 to 40 pounds have been tak
ing a variety of dead and live
baits fished on the deep sides
of bars and jetty rocks.
This past Friday, when red
fishing proved to be slow
along the deep sides of oyster
bars and at creek mouths, our
fishing party barbed live fin
ger mullet to half-ounce lead-
head jigs, and began working
deep-water structures in the
Amelia River. The trick here
is to keep moving your red
fish skiff along a shallow flat
where it drops off into deep
water with the aid of an elec
tric trolling motor.
Lead-head jigs rigged with
live finger mullet are cast to
the shallow side of the
dropoff, then slowly retrieved
out into the deeper depths of
the river. When a heavy
weight redfish takes your lure
and live bait combo, hang on.
Deep-channel redfish also
seem to be on the move, and
often are located in one sec
tion of the Amelia River one
day, then located in another
location a day of tide later.
With this in mind, deep-
channel river prospecting for
redfish demands a lot of ex
ploring with both your skiff’s
fish finder and electric
trolling motor.
An old tactic I used many
fishing seasons ago was to run
my boat slowly down the
deep edge of the Amelia
River, while keeping a close
eye on my fish finder. Once a
hard lime rock bottom was
identified and both bait fish
and game fish were marked
on the fish finder, I would fish
the area slowly with a deep
water jig and live bait combo.
Redfish are also on an ex
cellent bite at the Cumber
land Sound and at both the
north and south jetty rocks.
Both recreational and charter
fishing boats have been doing
real well for large red drum
weighing to 40 pounds liter
ally during all tide phases
while fishing deep on the bot
tom with cut baits, large dead
shrimp and a quarter of a blue
crab.
Finally, be sure and have a
venting tool on board to de
flate the redfish’s expanded
air bladder. Current regula
tions for redfish include a
two-fish bag limit per day
per angler. Redfish must
measure at least 18 inches
and not more than 2 7 inches.
Submitted photos
Clockwise from top left: Brad Corbin fights a deep-water redfish with light spin tackle. Rod
ney Tocco is with a deep-channel redfish he caught recently while fishing a deep hole just ad
jacent to a large mud and oyster flat. Deflating the air bladder of a redfish with a special tool
is important to successful catch-and-releases.
Conservation will be topic of Wild Amelia program Oct. 8
Nature forum
in Fernandina
is free, open
to the public
White Oak and the world
of conservation will be the
topic for Wild Amelia’s next
Wild Nite, set for Tuesday,
Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. at the Peck
Center Auditorium, 516 S.
10th St. in Fernandina
Beach, Fla.
The program is free and
open to the public and will
focus on the various breed
ing programs, release proj
ects and research at the
White Oak Conservation
Center in Yulee, Fla. High
lighted will be the programs
featuring native species
such as the Florida panther
and the Mississippi sandhill
crane.
Located on 7,400 acres of
forest and wetlands in
northeast Florida, White
Oak focuses on wildlife
conservation and is a work
shop center for the
arts. Some of the world’s
rarest wild animals are sus
tained there through con
servation, research,
education, breeding and
field programs.
Among the animals at
White Oak are gazelles,
cheetahs, Florida panthers,
cassowaries, bongos, giraffe,
zebras, rhinos, wolves and
sandhill cranes.
Once a rice plantation
owned by Zephaniah
Kingsley until the Civil
War, White Oak was pur
chased in 1938 by the
Gilman family and used for
timber production, training
and breeding horses, and
recreational programs for
the Gilman Paper Co.
In 1982, Howard Gilman
began a program for the
conservation and propaga
tion of endangered species;
in 1993, his foundation and
White Oak provided the
setting for conferences and
artists’ workshops, includ
ing the Mikhail Barysh
nikov Dance Studio. In
March 2013, Mark and
Kimbra Walters, noted con
servationists, became the
new owners of White Oak.
Attendees can learn more
about this fascinating refuge
at the October Wild Nite,
one in a series of nine
monthly nature forums
sponsored by Wild Amelia,
and leading up to the eighth
annual Wild Amelia Nature
Festival, May 16-18, at loca
tions on and around Amelia
Island.
Wild Amelia is an all-vol
unteer nonprofit whose mis
sion is to educate residents
and visitors about the
wildlife and wild places of
Amelia Island.
For more information
about Wild Amelia and its
year-round programs, please
visit www.wildamelia.com
and Wild Amelia on Face-
book.
K
Marine Service Inc.
Specializing in Outboard, Inboard, Diesel, & Turbine
{912} 576-7330
{912} 464-0643
139 Industrial Dr. • St. Marys
Weekly Tide Chart
This Week’s Tide
HIGH TIDE
LOW TIDE
AM
PM
AM
PM
9/25 Wed.
12:44
1:04
6:47
7:22
9/26 Thurs.
1:35
1:56
7:34
8:14
9/27 Fri.
2:27
2:48
8:28
9:10
9/28 Sat.
3:19
3:40
9:26
10:07
9/29 Sun.
4:11
4:32
10:24
11:00
9/30 Mon.
5:03
5:22
11:19
11:48
10/1 Tues.
5:53
6:11
12:09
10/2 Wed.
6:41
6:56
12:33
12:57
TIDES CALCULATED FOR OUTER BAR
Cumberland Wharf, Cumberland River add 40 min.; St. Marys
entrance add 15 min. Crooked River Entrance add 1 hr. 23 min.; St.
Marys, St. Marys River add 1 hr. 21 min.; Crandall, St. Marys River
add 2 hr. 10 min.; Harrietts Bluff add 2 hr. 9 min.; Dover Bluff add 1
hr. 10 min.; Satilla Cove add 1 hr.; Christmas Creek add 25 min.;
Satilla River, Todd Creek Entrance add 43 min.
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ibome St. • St. Marys, Ga
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