advice sought on kayak fishing coastal marshes:

[outdoorman]

Now that I'm in coastal Georgia, I want to get some kayak fishing in the marshes.
I'm not comfortable going into deep waters (fearing shark attack) so want to fish around shallows waters.
My question is now a good time to catch flounder, whiting, sea trout and sheepshead in shallows?

 

[Railroader]

Now that I'm in coastal Georgia, I want to get some kayak fishing in the marshes.
I'm not comfortable going into deep waters (fearing shark attack) so want to fish around shallows waters.
My question is now a good time to catch flounder, whiting, sea trout and sheepshead in shallows?

If you are worried about sharks, get over it or stay out of saltwater... ?

I have regularly seen large Lemons and Bulls in 3 feet of water around Jekyll and St. Simon's.

Big Gators too, they don't mind saltwater a bit, contrary to what you might hear.

If you can put predators out of your mind, fall is the BEST time to be prowling the creeks in a kayak.

 

[RHFisherman]

I am not a kayaker...... but watch the tides here. I've seen more than 1 kayaker getting a boat ride home by a nice fisherman with an outboard.

I 2nd the motion about sharks in saltwater....Between June and Sept I only target the big sharks in the 10'+ range. They are everywhere.

 

[seachaser]

I saw no sharks in 10 days but I did see 4 gators. You really need to learn the tide by far the most important thing you can do. It took me 2 days to know where I wanted to launch was 2 hrs and 15 minutes different then what they said was high tide or low tide for st Simon. I came in early 1 day and I ended up muddy and lucky to get out.

 

[MOTS]

Gators would be my biggest concern. About 2 months ago, we were outside of Darien and a guy was crabbing on that old bridge on 17 with those cheap cotton traps and the gators gave him a fit! I guess he was using chicken parts. He would pull them out of the water a foot or two before they let loose. He got mad and left. Piles of gators in those marshes!

 

[Jgibson]

I’m planning on fishing some marsh and creeks around Brunswick and Jekyll Sunday. I’ll be in a pedal kayak. I know nothing about where to go. I just know every time I pass over on the bridges I wish I had brought my yak. I’m going to look at the tides and try to figure it out. But honestly I’m going to be super careful with depths and where I go simply because I don’t know what I’m doing. If you plan on fishing Sunday morning I’m not against partnering up. It’s probably safer anyway.

 

[Ihunt]

You know how to tell if water has sharks in it?
Take a spoon down to the water, dip it in the water and then taste it. If it’s salty, there are sharks in it.

 

[Railroader]

I’m planning on fishing some marsh and creeks around Brunswick and Jekyll Sunday. I’ll be in a pedal kayak. I know nothing about where to go. I just know every time I pass over on the bridges I wish I had brought my yak. I’m going to look at the tides and try to figure it out. But honestly I’m going to be super careful with depths and where I go simply because I don’t know what I’m doing. If you plan on fishing Sunday morning I’m not against partnering up. It’s probably safer anyway.

A good starting point would be the Jekyll Pier. Put in at the pier and head back inland along the shore. Lots of shell banks, and four nice creeks to explore between the pier and the intracoastal.

That's where I learned.

 

[Jgibson]

A good starting point would be the Jekyll Pier. Put in at the pier and head back inland along the shore. Lots of shell banks, and four nice creeks to explore between the pier and the intracoastal.

That's where I learned.

They’re supposed to be having the GKF camp n paddle in Jekyll Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And they’re camping right there. I kinda didn’t want to crash their party. So that’s why I was thinking further up into the river in Brunswick. I’m leaning towards the South Brunswick River west of I-95.

 

[Railroader]

They’re supposed to be having the GKF camp n paddle in Jekyll Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And they’re camping right there. I kinda didn’t want to crash their party. So that’s why I was thinking further up into the river in Brunswick. I’m leaning towards the South Brunswick River west of I-95.

Those guys will be glad to have you, and you can pick up a lotta good info from some of them. I used to be firmly entrenched in that group.

Look for a big blond headed, fair skinned feller named Deano, and tell him I said take care of you, and howdy.

 

[GeorgiaBob]

Catching fish should take second place behind staying safe. That means first learning the waters you will be in. A bigger issue than alligators is tides/currents where you want to paddle. With a tidal range of over six feet along most of the GA coast, there are places with 4 to 6 knot currents that switch four times a day. You also need to be aware that some great fishing spots in the marshes are 4 or 5 feet deep at times and twice a day are nothing but sucking mud.

The bad news is that most of the good fishing near the marshes are exactly the ones subject to rushing tide waters, churning currents, and drying out. The good news is that careful planning, local knowledge, a good mud anchor, and some practice dealing with the local waters, will mitigate almost all of the problems (no amount of planning will mitigate noseeums or mosquitos).

Find someone close to where you want to kayak/fish who can show you around, point out the no go spots, and advise you on how to gauge the tide. After that, finding fish should be easy!

One very safe and popular fishing spot is downtown Brunswick along the marina slips. The tides are 6 to 7 feet, but the "river" there is a dead end with no thru currents, so paddling is easy no anchor needed. Fishing there is sometimes great and otherwise still pretty good on any incoming tide.

 

[Jgibson]

Those guys will be glad to have you, and you can pick up a lotta good info from some of them. I used to be firmly entrenched in that group.

Look for a big blond headed, fair skinned feller named Deano, and tell him I said take care of you, and howdy.

Hahaha I might do that.

 

[flconch53]

You know how to tell if water has sharks in it?
Take a spoon down to the water, dip it in the water and then taste it. If it’s salty, there are sharks in it.

That only means for sure there are sharks. The bull sharks go well up into freshwater as well

 

[Batjack]

That only means for sure there are sharks. The bull sharks go well up into freshwater as well

I just didn't want to bust their bubble.

 

[Sunbury]

Just deal with the shark factor. As we get into cooler waters this season, the sharks go away and you can fish easy.

 

[Jgibson]

I ain’t scared of no sharks. Who knows, I might catch one. 8 foot bull shark caught in a 12 foot plastic boat? Why not. ?. Hang on and enjoy the ride. Hahaha

 

[Yelpu1]

Georgia coastal waters are loaded with sharks. Keep a sharp knife handy to cut your line and don’t put your catch on a fish stringer and you will be just fine. You will have more problems from no-see-ums than sharks!

 

[Ihunt]

That only means for sure there are sharks. The bull sharks go well up into freshwater as well

While that is true, the OP mentioned wanting to catch whiting, flounder, sea trout and sheepshead which do not go into fresh water. His comment led one to think that only deeper saltwater had sharks.

Also, the spoon test only holds true for saltwater. If it’s fresh water, sharks (Bulls) are a maybe.