St. Simons trout bite?

Just was wondering if the trout bite was any good yet. An where might you find them this time of year?

It was picking up a couple weeks ago as the warm weather had the water temps in the ICW and creeks reaching 70 in some places. However, the colder weather now has it going the wrong way, and temps in the ocean, sound and river this past Tuesday were only 60-61 degrees. They need to be in the high 60s to low 70s before the trout will really start heating up again.

The whiting have started moving into the sound. We found them in 8-14 feet of water off sandier banks, though they were not that big.

We did find huge groups of archs on the graph out in 45-50 feet of water, but we don't know what they were. Nice, thick arches filling up the space from about 35' down to the bottom for a couple hundred yards. We wanted to fish them, but it was in the shipping channel, near the mouth of the sound, so we could not anchor and it was too rough to drift.

Scallen2112 said:

It was picking up a couple weeks ago as the warm weather had the water temps in the ICW and creeks reaching 70 in some places. However, the colder weather now has it going the wrong way, and temps in the ocean, sound and river this past Tuesday were only 60-61 degrees. They need to be in the high 60s to low 70s before the trout will really start heating up again.

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I disagree with the warmer water comment. I consistently catch trout in cool water as effectively (sometimes more effectively) as I do in warmer waters. You just gotta learn what they do. Sometimes this means working a little harder, but when you find the school its on. Trout are fish that frequent the same places in certain conditions. Figure that out and trout are almost a year round treat. The hardest time for me in catching trout is summer. The biggest reason for that is I dont wanna be out there in 110* heat chasing a fish that is already stocked in my freezer.

Beach trout will be running soon. Those are usually bigger, funner fish to catch in my opinion. Last year I landed and broke my personal best twice in a single day fishing beach trout (from a boat) on popping corks with live shrimp. While I kinda regret keeping the big girls now, they will both be going on my wall soon in a tandem mount. Funny thing is...I landed them in the middle of July on a day I really didnt want to go fishing to begin with...hehe.

continues to be great.

Trip I agree with you!The only problem is most people just want to catch and are afraid to try something different.They fish the same spots that they had success at in July all year long expecting the same results.When they don’t catch them in the fall and winter there then the water must be to cold!

Hey trip, can you elaborate a little more on these "beach trout. I've never really heard or read about this pattern....thanks.

I just mounted a trolling motor on my boat and I’m hoping it will help improve my weak trout game. You’re right about only knowing how to fish for them during certain times of year in certain conditions but that doesn’t mean I don’t try all different kinds of things to expand my knowledge

trippcasey said:

I disagree with the warmer water comment. I consistently catch trout in cool water as effectively (sometimes more effectively) as I do in warmer waters. You just gotta learn what they do. Sometimes this means working a little harder, but when you find the school its on.

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I will give you that. This winter was not good to me - and not for lack of trying. (save when the water temp got down in the mid-high 40s and the trout started dying - I stayed home then) I did find arches in deep holes up the creeks, worked them all real slow with a variety of jigs and even live shrimp on the bottom, but between Christmas and mid February I managed one flounder in about a dozen trips. It was not until the water temp got back up to near 60 that I started catching them on the jigs, and only when it hit the upper 60s did I start catching them up shallow again or have them really chase anything. But when the water gets to the low 70s out in the sound, then the big schools will be "really heating up" on the flats.

Looking forward too getting to fish those "beach trout" this year. It will be the first year I have had a boat capable of getting out there.

Rhodes said:

Hey trip, can you elaborate a little more on these "beach trout. I've never really heard or read about this pattern....thanks.

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In spring/summer you can find trout off the beaches by boat. In my limited experience doing this I have found that its a lot like fishing cold water...feast or famine. We try to find them by going up and down the beach pitching a popping cork. You try to be where you can pitch from just behind the breakers to several yards behind them. Shell bottoms or where the bottoms change from shell to mud hold bait and you can find trout. Once you land a few on the cork start pitching plastics. The last time I did this we fished for a solid 4-5 hours with nothing but a jack here or there. When we found the school we landed 5 over 20" in an hour, with 2 of them 26 and 27". As soon as we found them they were gone, but we had 9 nice fish and huge grins from the fight these guys put up. I thought I had a shark from the head shaking. A pointer to catching large trout I've learned is loosening your drag some. They have very soft mouths and shake their heads a lot. We lost a couple because of that and because one genius wanted to flip a 2 foot trout into the boat. I dont recommend that practice if you want to claim your prize.

with 2 of them 26 and 27"

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I long for the day to catch one of those! Thanks for the intel Trip, I may have to give it a go this summer.