July and August Report for St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Jekyll Island and the Coast of Georgia

[Fishing Report]

Capt Scott Owens
977-605-3474
http://captainscottowens.com

by Captain Scott
Well July has come and gone and I wish I could say the same about the heat but I cant. The key inshore is go early and fish hard. Tarpon finally showed in numbers and we have been catching lots of fish in the 30 to 120 pound range and the bite seems to be getting better. I fished inshore the last two days and got reports of big numbers of catches from 2 other full time guides who also specialize in targeting tarpon. Dont be fooled by a "shark and tarpon" trip is not a tarpon trip! If you want to go tarpon fishing shrimp boats are not the place to be. Make sure you ask questions and make sure who ever you go with knows what they are doing.

As for inshore.. The redfish have been steady and early morning lows are best. We have some good tides this week so I am looking forward to sight fishing some fish on the low. Trout have been in big numbers with lots of smaller fish and some HUGE GATORS to be had as well. We released 6 fish today over 20 inches and all were full of eggs. We are working with the DNR and CCA towards operation ROW Release over 18 due to the fish kills over the last 2 winters we need as many big female trout alive to spawn as possible. Enjoy and remember aways hire a full time guide and make sure you express you expectations for the trip. We all specialize in different types of fishing so dont be afraid to ask questions.

Tight Lines

[Fishing Report]

Summer Tarpon fishing still strong as is inshore trout and redfish
by Captain Scott
As summer runs its course and mother ocean teams up with mother nature and throws hurricane Irene towards the east coast I sit here thinking of the thousands of tarpon that fill the inlets and bays here in Coastal Georgia each year and wonder why today I'm not fishing. Well everyone needs a day off and today it looks like I may get a few due to the storm. So lets talk tarpon and whats been going on.

The tarpon showed up this year a little late but in big numbers. Filling the deep channels and open water rips and bars off the coast. Find the fish and success is immanent. Sight fishing this year has been good. As I stated in a post Will landed a nice fish on fly while we jumped and landed several on Strike King Shadalicious that same weekend. Capt. Rob put his clients on a big fish on fly over the weekend and had several other shots. He and I continue to work hard to find new areas that hold laid up fish which are eager to eat. Redfish continue to be worked hard and need a break. Some flats have been pressured so hard that the fish spook from the slightest noise or when a small bird flies over. Staying away from these flats has kind of been nice fishing newer waters and flats that might have been a little ride before are making for some great days on the water. I will be out fishing the flood tides caused by Irene this week while the beaches get pounded by her large swells. Trout of all sizes still in big numbers are still going stronge and anyone who tells you


Fishing Report

Capt Scott Owens
977-605-3474
http://captainscottowens.com

[Fishing Report]

Top of the food chain! Coastal Georgia Sharkin!

Well lets just say it takes a tough person to want to catch black tip and spinner sharks and these guys were in for a surprise. First let me say Jordan and his father had only fresh water fly fished and Jodan biggest fish on fly to date (a 6 pound largemouth) could have easily been used for bait this day. The story is told like this. First find 30 or 40 hungry sharks (check). Then explain that things happen fast and that the most important thing is to stay on the boat while the ocean tosses my Hells Bay 17.8 Pro about and out of the water. Once we went over the rules I handed an eager Jordan the 12wt. which was the largest fly rod he had ever picked up and to my surprise he cast it well and on his first cast the line came tight to a big spinner which leaped into the air and proceded to take about 200 yards of backing off the Tibor Gulfstream with it. The first thing that crossed my mind was maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe we should have went redfishing! But no way Jordan handled the fish like a true pro and with little instruction the fish subdued in about 20 min. Next was his fathers turn and again we hooked up inidiatly. At one point we had somewhere between 20 or 30 - 50 to 150 pound sharks less than a foot from the boat and remember a 17.8 is only about 8 inches above the water! His father fought the shark with atitude but about 3/4 the way through the shark started to break him down and he needed a break. We switch it up and I took the rod which I soon regretted once I figured out that this was a monster and I was in for battle myself but in the end the shark lost. We ended up boating around 10 fish and loosing another 10! What an incredible day! I sure wish more people wanted to catch sharks on the fly. They are eager to eat and hardy fighters for sure.

Tight Lines
Scott
Capt Scott Owens
977-605-3474
http://captainscottowens.com