Our area has charters and guides for offshore, bay, river and freshwater fishing. But one of the real beauties of our island is that with just your rod and reel and a little local knowledge, you can put dinner on the table more times than not.
And you don't need a boat. Just think of the island as a wonderful fishing pier stretching five miles out into the shimmering Gulf of Mexico. Unlike the limitations of man-made piers, St. George Island offers fifty miles of prime fish habitat: From the ever-changing surf to the bay side of underwater fields of grass and massive oyster bars to the deep, tide-swept ends of the island, and the angler will find the waters busy with the daily coming and going of predator and prey. These are our seasons.
As the water temperature approaches sixty-eight degrees in the surf, fishing begins to break loose. Migratory speicies like pompano, mackerel, cobia, and jack crevalle show up in the surf while resident redfish, speckeled sea trout and flounder head to the bays and inlets-- all hungry. Fishing will be good during the convenient daylight hours as cool nights restrict feed activity.
This is the time when the total fish population is highest, but most of the action had switched to early or late as the redfish, trout, flounder, mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish and cobia seek deeper comfort zones during the heat of the day. The exception is tarpon and summer is the hot time for the silver kings. Find them in the East Bay, East Pass and West Pass. They will feed on plugs, flys and live bait.
This is the renewel of good middle-of-the-day fishing. As the water cools, it triggers schooling activity in trout, redfish, and flounder and stimulates their appetites. This is the time for trophy reds at Bob Sikes Cut, gator trout around oyster bars and doormat-sized flounder in shallow water. This is generally considered the best time for speckeled trout.
All migratory fish are gone. Cold water has pushed resident fish up rivers or deeper into the Gulf. The Apalachicola and East rivers become hot spots for redfish and trout. On the island, sheepshead fishing is at its peak and these fine-tasting fighters help us make the most of a temporarily limited selection.
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