I've got a friend from middle GA that is trying to set up a get-together where we can do some SW fishing either in Dec or Jan. He's proposed using the Fort McAllister Marina and camp ground. I've got an 18' Kenner that I'd be bringing to fish from. I live in SC GA, so I mainly fish the gulf coast. I'm wondering what I need to prepare for. We're hoping to catch a few SS trout, redfish, maybe a flounder or two or some sheephead. I'm not experienced with the big tide swings you get in that area, or the general techiques that may be used. I just want to stay out of trouble, catch a few fish, and have a good time. Any general advice on do's and don'ts? Can we mostly stay in the rivers and catch a few fish / stay out of trouble this time of year? Thanks in advance.
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Fort McAllister Marina
- Thread starter ddb
- Start date
earl
Banned
Try coastaloutdoors.com for more local info. I have only used ft. Mc once and it was earlier in the year. Get a good chart and watch your depth at low tide.
seaweaver
Senior Member
The marina and Fort are two different things. The marinas has NO tackle. The Fort and camp ground are great and they have a nice dock to leave the boat in overnight. There are a multitude of places to fish IN redbird creek and out side of on the back of Ossabaw.
cw
cw
Mechanicaldawg
Roosevelt Ranger
I'm certainly no expert.
I've camped at McCallister twice for about a week at a time and had pretty good success.
However, I did a lot of planning, studying charts, tides, moon phase etc.
If you do that you should have no problem navigating around.
If you don't? Well, just DON'T!
There are a couple of sand bars in Redbird Creek that will get you if you don't know where they are. They are on the charts so it's no problem if you use the chart.
Below is a graph of the tide at McCallister in the Ogeechee for Dec. 17th. Sometimes seeing it in graph form is a better 'eye opener' than just hearing that the tide will move 8 feet.
I've camped at McCallister twice for about a week at a time and had pretty good success.
However, I did a lot of planning, studying charts, tides, moon phase etc.
If you do that you should have no problem navigating around.
If you don't? Well, just DON'T!
There are a couple of sand bars in Redbird Creek that will get you if you don't know where they are. They are on the charts so it's no problem if you use the chart.
Below is a graph of the tide at McCallister in the Ogeechee for Dec. 17th. Sometimes seeing it in graph form is a better 'eye opener' than just hearing that the tide will move 8 feet.
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Parker Phoenix
Senior Member
Looks like the gulf isn't the only place that experiances negative tides.
seaweaver
Senior Member
Yes...but when they happens here w/ a 20-30k W wind, our banks break and THEN there are some sandbars!
cw
cw
fishtail
Senior Member
Also think about putting in at Kilkenny Marina to save some running time to St. Catherine's sound.
Thanks for all of the info. I'm used to studying tides and fishing accordingly, but the gulf tides are nothing compared to the Atlantic tides. I appreciate the info about the sand bars, that's the type of trouble I was hoping to avoid. Our best option would be to hit a weekend with smaller tides and do some exploring. Any possibility of doing some sight fishing for Redfish, or is the water too dirty in that area? Also, thanks for the info about the Marina and the camping area. We're planning on camping, so I'm assuming my friend is looking into the camping area.
You can sight cast for tailing reds in the marsh when flooded but other than that NOPE! Visibility is about 6" if your lucky. Since I last fished about 2 or 3 weeks ago the water temp has dropped around 10 degrees from what I'm hearing, I was putting a hurtin on the Trout and Reds in that area up until then. I don't really know what they're doing right now, I was still catching shrimp in the creeks the last time I went out but like I said this was all before all these cold fronts moved in so who knows now.
Just make sure you have a good chart cause those mud flats will slip up on you in a hurry. Running through Ossabaw at low tide the Garmin 540 map is pretty much dead on with the depths. St. Catherines on the other hand, that one changes quite regularly. Last summer headed out off shore running through a normal route we hit 2' of water where there was supposed to be 15'. Good luck
Oh if it doesn't seem to be working out with the Trout and Reds Shoot up the Ogeechee and give the Stripers a shot.
Just make sure you have a good chart cause those mud flats will slip up on you in a hurry. Running through Ossabaw at low tide the Garmin 540 map is pretty much dead on with the depths. St. Catherines on the other hand, that one changes quite regularly. Last summer headed out off shore running through a normal route we hit 2' of water where there was supposed to be 15'. Good luck
Oh if it doesn't seem to be working out with the Trout and Reds Shoot up the Ogeechee and give the Stripers a shot.
