Keaton Report April 6, 2018

Doug hardegree of Jefferson, Ga with a fine trout

Trout were cooperative this past week as evidenced by my trip Tuesday with Mike and Jim Hardegree of Jefferson and McDonough, Ga. with their buddy Curtis Shoemaker also of Jefferson. We landed 20 keepers using live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 4 – 4.5 feet of water on the rising tide.  We had 3 trout over 20 inches. Our water temps were up to 74 degrees in the late afternoon.

Ray Carlile, of Tampa, Florida, had two grandsons down this week and they had a limit of trout both Monday and Tuesday with a 26” red Tuesday using live pinfish under Cajun Thunders.

Mike Bosch of Tifton, Ga.  with his pals Chris and Carter Norman with Drew Hall fished the 31st and picked up 18 sea trout, a Spanish, and a blue on shrimp, pinfish, and plastics. Had our best success in 4 to 5 ft. on the end of the fall.( falling tide) Water temps were 64 to 67( degrees). Overall a great trip.

A few more reds are beginning to show up with the warmer water temps but are still scattered out from Keaton to Warrior. I have found remains of pinfish in my trout for the last two weeks but no shrimp.

Jonathan Sisson and his wife( sorry I forgot her name) of Gainesville, Ga. limited out on hard jerkbaits both Monday and Tuesday and told me his fish had shrimp in their stomachs. ( Hint) he is fishing clearer water than I am.

Keaton Report March 30 2018

Scott Davis w/trout  Caught on wagasaki Elite shiner

172 & 174  Scott Davis of Macon Ga. with a fine trout caught on a Wakasagi pattern Elite Shiner.

Keaton Report  March 30 –31

Trout fishing couldn’t get much better as evidenced by the reports I received as well as the days we spent on the water on board One More Cast.

This past Friday,  Capt. David Malone and I went out for four hours fishing time and caught and released over a dozen keepers and 3 – 4 dozen shorts. Our smaller fish bit shrimp under Back Bay Thunders; then I picked up a plug and caught three over 20 inches and another 4 over 18 inches. Capt. Dave finally changed over to a plug and landed 3 over 19”. Then he tied on a swimbait and caught our largest of the day a four-plus pound trout. We started in 4- 4.5 ft . of water and ended our day in 2.5 ft. as the tide was falling.

Sunday, I took Scott and Walden Davis of Macon, Ga. out and we brought back a beautiful cooler full of trout including three over 20 inches, one of which was Walden’s best trout-to-date a nice 23 inch sow. Our 15 trout were the heaviest yet for the year. We caught most of our trout on live shrimp under Back Bay Thunders in 3 – 4 feet of water.  Scott landed one 19 “ fish on an Assassin Elite Shiner ( Wagasaki) We caught trout on the rising tide and on the flop.

I ran into Sam Shaw of Homerville , Ga. out on the Gulf Friday Afternoon and he had 4 keepers in the boat  and said he was out of shrimp;  so I flipped him a pack of  Wakasagi Elite Shiners and he texted me later that he caught 4 more keepers on them. He had it rigged up under his Back Bay Thunder. Sam also sent me reports that he caught his limit Sunday on one drift. I suppose he was still using live shrimp and Elite Shiners.

Keaton report March 9 2018

“ photo cutline: Michael Aman of Perry, Florida with his winning 6.33 lb.trout 3/3/18

Michael Aman of Perry  6.33 lbs

Bang I’d say March came in like a lion.....whew has it been blowing or what..... .Just ask the NFGFC ( North Florida Gulf Fishing Club members who fished last Saturday (3/3) about the w-i-n-d which blew all the water back to Mexico. They had a tough day on the water but several teams weighed in limits of five trout including Michael Aman of Perry with his daughter Makayla who won the event with a 13+ pound string of trout. Michael also had BIG trout of the tourney with a 26”

, 6.33 Pound BEAUTY. Michael said they had 6 ( six , count ‘em) bites all day!

here is a report from David Bosch,of Tifton, Ga. “Fished with Peng and Ronnie from TN on Saturday the 3rd.  Got delayed until around 11:30 by the extreme low water, but eventually got on some fish.  We wound up with 13 sea trout and a couple of surprise Spanish.  We caught the majority of our fish in the middle of the rising tide in around 4.5’ - 5'.  Water temps were 65 to 67. Started out with shrimp and white curly tail grubs. Picked up pins fairly easily and then used a mixture of the three.”

Doug Garwood from Dalton Ga. was down in Steinhatchee, most of last week, with his buddy Joe and they caught a bunch of short trout while having 2 – 4 keepers each day with a limit of reds every day they fished. 1.5 – 2.5 ft. was Doug’s best depth as he prefers throwing Renegades all day.

Cooler temps this week will slow the bite in shallower water and probably have less effect on the deeper fish. Try Bite-A-Bait fighters and MirrOLure’s L30 MR s.

Keaton Report September 22-23, 2017

1902 Billy Pillow with a 4.1 pound trout caught 9/20/17

1906 Billy Pillow with a 20" flounder 9/20/17

Keaton Beach Report

Trout are biting like crazy!

Mike King ( Hammanocker) from Thomasville, Ga. had a limit of ten trout with his grandson, Saturday, with a flounder and a bluefish.

David Malone fished with his son-in-law and limited out Monday using live pinfish under Cajun Thunders.

Billy Pillow and I went Wednesday and for the first three baits Billy cast he was bit. We only saw one fish though a nice keeper trout. Four baits later Billy had three keepers in the boat. He had thrown back two shorts. I moved on up the pond to look for some darker water and possibly a redfish or two. Next spot was a zip.

Then the third spot was the charm. First cast, Billy had a nice keeper trout. Three baits later he said " This is a good one!" so I grabbed the net and landed a 4.1 pound trout our largest of the day.

He caught a nice red then lost one around 5-6 pounds right at the boat before I could get a net on it. Then I caught a red ; so we brought in two then released two more keepers after that. Billy also caught a beautiful 20" flounder; so I guess he caught the Big Bend Slam a trout, redfish and flounder all on the same trip!

Our first stop we were in relatively clear water, started in 5 ft. turned and left from 3.5 feet of water. My second stop we didn't catch a keeper after three baits; so I moved further North. It was and hour and a half before the full tide when our best drift ( bite) came to fruition. Most of the reds bit from hi tide til :30 after the tide peaked while the trout bite quit on the hi as they usually do. That drift started a mile off the hill and wound up 50 yds. from the grass. Again the water depth went from 5.5 to 3.5 ft. So the fish have returned to normal and resumed the same positions they were in before Irma blew all the water out of sight. Water temp in the Gulf ran from 83 - 84.5 degrees . We caught all our trout on live pinfish rigged up under Back Bay Thunders, of course.

There is, however, an unusually large amount of dead floating grass which has moved back in after the storm. The opposite

Keaton Report September 15-16, 2017

Keaton Report 9// 15/16 //17

Recommend you give it a day or so to settle down as ALL the water was "gone" just prior to Irma's passing through, as in out of sight or the "Mexican's took the water back, we must missed our payment" etc. etc. Usually this phenomenon only occurs in February with a 25+ knot East wind added to a new moon lo lo tide and the water "disappears" Well, this time Irma's power pushed it out.

Reports of the "surge" forecast are "Nope" as the NWS missed it this time; there was none, NADA zero. The water went out out of sight then never even came back to normal hi tide.

This is GREAT for Keaton Beach property owners and Keaton Beach anglers alike.

Fish should ( have to) be all bunched up together as they move back toward the flats. Once you find the "bite" it should be grand as these fish come back from their "evacuation"

Expect dirty water or at least in areas near the rivers and creeks as the rain outflow back into the Gulf should be turbid while offshore it may be surprisingly clear as an East w-i-n-d pushes all the "color" offshore only to be replaced by cleaner water on the subsequent incoming tide.

Maybe the floating grass is gone now? If so pluggers especially the topwater enthusiasts will be happy and tossing all sorts of stickbaits and jerkbaits at the trout.

When, I get back in the water I will clue you in on the fishing.

Keaton Report Sept 8-9, 2017

1880 Judy Ferguson with a "red " Redfish

Keaton Report 9/8-9/17

Fished Sunday with Sam and Matt Brown with his daughter Cameron all of Jax. Fla. and we caught their limit of 15 trout all on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 5.5 - 6.5 feet of water. Water temps have dropped down around 83 -85 which is much better than 90 degrees of a few weeks ago. We are starting to see a little more bait in the 4.5 - 5.5. ft depths on top of the tide but no real runs of pogies or pilchards like we would expect.

Monday, I took Judy Ferguson of Cedar Isle and her son-in-law, Max Harper ,from Warner Robins, Ga. out and we caught 15 trout and two reds with two trout over 20" including a 22" fish for Max his first time out for trout. Judy landed a short cobia after a nice fight and we released it. First ling I have seen in several weeks.

If Irma will stay away from us I would predict great fishing this weekend as the fish are just enjoying this cooler water of late.

Keaton Report Labor Day weekend

Keaton Report Labor Day Weekend 2017

Billy Pillow and I went Wednesday and had 9 trout to 21" ( Billy) and two reds to 26,5 " ( Billy again) matter of fact those were the first two fish we caught. e fished live pinfish under Back Bays in 5.5 -6 feet of water to catch all the fish but the big red which came out of a school of 200-300 redfish I ran up on leaving 4 ft. of water. That is the first school of reds I have seen in some time although others this week have reporting seeing several schools of reds down south as well.

We only fished 4.5 hours of the falling tide and never saw a fish break the surface.

I would expect this weekend to hold good fishing away from the scalloping folks.

Be Careful FLY your Dive Flags ! It's the LAW!

Keaton Report August 25-26, 2017

Keaton Beach Report 8/25-26/17

Went by myself Wednesday and fished just under 3.5 hours 'til the top of the incoming. I caught a trout on my second cast then an hour later caught number two of five trout to 19" all taken on live pinfish rigged up 34" under a Back Bay Thunder. Hung two blacktips didn't boat either, and missed a few no see-ums. Decided to move in to 4 feet of water to look for a Rock Eating Devil ( you can figure that out eh?) and decided to catch a few fresh pins as I had been using some from my holding pen which were a few days worn. Well I caught one held it and caught another then cast out one rod and it went under as soon as I put the rod in the holder. As I cast the second bait he "Willy Mays" it ( caught it on the fly) and a huge swirl enveloped the bait and Thunder right as it hit the water. Well, I had already put that rod in the holder before it hit the water and picked up the first one and set the hook into something "solid" as the Yankees say. Rock Eating Devil I thought. Yep, just as I saw my hooked up fish was an over-slot fish the bait rod ( which consists of a #14 hairhook and a piece of chicken gizzard) dragging along behind me, sounded off and laid to the water. I turned around just in time to see another Rock Eating Devil over 45" long had eaten the pinfish which was munching on my gizzard as we drifted through this "school/mob/bunch" of slobs and was headed to Cancun with it. That first fish was already halfway there and had taken most of the line off the spool so I decided to move that rod to the other side of the boat (towards Cancun) just to help him out. Something misfired in that snap decision transaction between switching holders and holding the other hooked fish off the motor as it dove under the boat ( don't they just love to do that?) POW line broke on number one. I netted the second fish, a 30" red and looked up to see the bait rod pop back upright as the 3rd hooked fish either "Let Go" a phrase my clients like to use ) or simply tore the tiny little hook out of it's mouth. Score: Reds 2 Pat1 Anybody want to guess where that group of fish will be tomorrow?

keaton report August 18-19 2017

Trout fishing was great when you could dodge the Thunderstorms and catch a breeze from the draw of the same.

I had Butch Barwick, Alan Feagin and Buddy Martin all from Columbus, Ga. out Monday and Tuesday and we caught a limit of trout both days with one 21" red on Tuesday for Butch. We fished live pinfish under Back Bays in 88 degree water and fished the incoming tide 1:30 p.m. til 7:30 p.m. on Monday then had to fish the falling tide from 8:00 a.m. til 1:30 p.m. for our limit Tuesday.

We caught most of our trout out 1.5 to 2 miles out as the low tide .8ft. Monday didn't leave much water to fish in close. We fished the 5.5' - 4.5' break for most of our fish. Tuesday a.m. we got about .5 mile out and found the red and a couple of trout before moving back out to the deeper grass. I managed one nice trout

keaton Report August 11-12 2017

Cutline:

1853 Donna Osborn of Monticello, Florida with her first ever speckled trout a 22" beauty !
 

Keaton Beach Report August 11,12 2017

Trout fishing couldn't have been much better Monday, as I took two rookies, (who had never fished in salt water before, much less the Gulf) Tim and Donna Osborn of Monticello, Florida out and they had an outstanding trip!

They caught their limit of trout and reds with two large Black Sea bass as bonuses. We also had two trout over twenty inches including the 22" trout Donna, also her first-ever trout.

The water temps were back up around 88 degrees; which didn't bother the trout as we must have caught another ten short trout, several blues and a Jack Crevalle mixed in to boot. We caught all our fish on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders from 4 - 5 feet of water on the incoming tide. Oh, and it was a full mOon Monday ...a day many folks don't like to fish; me? I love it!

The incoming tides are moving into the afternoons this weekend; so choose a late mid-day start for better trout fishing.

Keaton Report August 4 ,5 2017

doug hardegree25" Sow!

1849 Doug Hardegree of Atlanta, Ga. with a Great 25" trout caught July 27
 

Keaton Beach Report 8/4,5/17
 

Trout fishing was Grand! my last trip out, Wednesday with Jim, Mike and Doug Hardegree as we caught 17 trout and a 14" Black Sea Bass for Mike who caught it on an Assassin 5" Fried Chicken pattern along with two other trout close to 19" each on the same color. Mike also caught two trout on Candy Corn Sea Shads, one 20" long. Mike was bouncing these two baits with a 1/8 oz. chartreuse Assassin jighead. But our Big Trout of the trip for the Hardegree boys was Doug's 25" 5.1 pound trout caught on a live pinfish rigged up 34" under a Back Bay Thunder. We were over a mile and a half off the hill when he got his sow trout in 4.5 feet of water. It was around 3:00 p.m. at the hottest time of the day in water which was 89 degrees....so much for this "early and late" program you read so much about. Matter of fact the last three trout over 24" caught in the last three weeks on One More Cast charters were caught in the middle of the day. Tide overrides time, light and temperature.

'til next time......

Keaton Report July 28 -29

1843 Bob McManus of Lake City, Fl. with his best ever, a 25" trout taken July 24
 

Keaton Beach Report July 28 , 29 2017

Trout have been biting as long as there is a breeze; well, except Monday when they just wouldn't recover from the front rain etc. over the weekend.

Last Friday, Billy Pillow and I fished less than two hours landing four trout and two reds with two trout over 21" long and a 25" red for the best there. We fished right on top of the tide and for :30 afterwards with live pinfish under Back Bays in 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water

Monday, We struggled to catch 3 trout and a red while bringing in a 25" trout for Bob McManus of Lake City, Florida; his best trout -to -date while fishing with his nephew John Runion of Jacksonville. We fished with live pinfish under Back Bays and had two dozen "pick-it-up-take-the-float-under-and-drop-it " bites from trout. Very frustrating day to say the least.

Wednesday, I had the Hardegree Boys, Jim, Mike and Doug of Atlanta way out and after the slick let go we managed 14 trout , a 12" Black Sea Bass and a nice 22" redfish. We caught the trout out in 5' of water while the red came from 4' all on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders.

Keaton Report July 21

andrew ackert first-ever speck

1836 Recent FSU Doctorate graduate, Andrew Ackert of Tallahassee with is first ever speckled trout

Keaton Beach Report July 21 - 22

Trout continue to take live pinfish under Cajun Thunders and Back Bay Thunders from 4.5 - 7 ft. of water. Catch a breeze to catch a trout; otherwise it is tough for most folks without the added current and oxygen associated with the same. Fish in the incoming tide and an hour of the fall for best results at Keaton. All the rain of late will cool the water off slightly near the hill, but will also move fish away from the grass line.

Floating grass has made it very difficult to try and throw any artificials much less plugs with two or three treble hooks on it. If you must toss artificials use Intruder Hex II weedless spoons in Gold, Copper and Cajun Copper for trout and reds in shallower water near the creek mouths.

Scallopers should look south, below Dallus Creek, and remember to Fly Your Dive Flags! It's the LAW!

not sure what to call this?

recently there has been a Facebook page created by someone called "Keaton Beach Fishing Reports" which is great,  just not my page,  not my report and quite frankly, since I am too busy to learn how to use , not going to be posting my weekly reports there....unfortunate but true.

I am writing this because I have had at least three folks asking me to allow them to join this page/site whathaveyou and I am not the administrator of this creation despite it looks great.

I you wish to receive"my" weekly fishing report on the day I write them, usually on Wednesday, then you MUST email me ( remember emails) at onemorecast@gtcom.net and ask to be added to the " Keaton Beach Group" that way I have your email address to add to the group. thanks

Alas, I can't tell you how to join the Facebook Page "Keaton Beach Reports" as I don't do facebook anymore

they are way too pushy, difficult and arrogant for my tastes. maybe in another life.

Meanwhile Good Fishing to you all!

Pat McGriff

Keaton report June 30 July 1 2017

her best to date! 6.1 28"

1803 Dawn Taylor of Perry, Florida with a 27" 6.1 pound trout 6/22/17

1818 Joe Claborn of Tallahassee with a keeper cobia caught on ten pound test 6/27/17

Keaton report June 30 - July 1 2017

Last week, on Thursday, I took Dawn and Richard Taylor out and we had a "chamber of commerce" day ( Dawn runs the Taylor County Chamber of Commerce) We brought back 10 trout and two reds with Dawn taking top honors by landing her largest trout to date, and the largest trout of the year on board One More Cast, a 27+" long trout weighing in at 6.1 pounds! She caught the trout 2 hours after the Hi tide while we were "red fishing" in 3 - 3.5 feet of 88 degree water. Yes, she caught it on a live pinfish under a Back Bay Thunder.

We had 14 trout and three reds for Jim, Zach and Kendall Bruchey of Moultrie, Ga. also last week. The Brucheys fished in 4.5 ft. to land most of the trout and 3' - 3.5' for the reds on top of the tide.

Tuesday, of this week I took Joe Claborn of Tallahassee, with his brother, Major and nephew, Travis, from Benton, Arkansas out and they had a great trip despite some lousy weather which shortened our trip. We brought back 10 trout with two over 20" and two reds to 26" and Joe capped off the day in the pouring rain by landing a keeper cobia on the trout tackle. His 40" ling ate a live pinfish in 3 feet of water while we were seeking reds. Heck of a fight!

Scallopers need to go south, from all report I heard they are finding the little molluscs below Grassy Isle. Nothing this side of Piney Point according to the locals in the know.

All I got ..except to say, Fly Your Dive Flags It's the LAW!

KeatonReport July 14-15 2017

1837 Just one of a limit of trout caught by John Ackert( 83 y.o.) with his son Andrew, both of Tallahassee, on July 9th

From the Burgers

Susan Burger

"0618 Susan Burger of Live Oak Nice Red!

0616 Chris Burger of Live Oak with a nice trout"
 

chris burger

Keaton Report July 14 -15 2017
 

We have had some fantastic fishing this week! We had limits on three out of four trips this week, while the off-day was due to lack of breeze. Water temperatures are running 88 - 90 degrees yet trout are still biting as we have been catching great limits of trout and reds this past week. The stronger incoming tides on the Full moon held a great bite and we brought in limits including our one-per-person of trout over 20" long to boot.

Sunday, I took John Ackert and his son Andrew out on a trip we had cancelled and re-scheduled four times in order to finally get them out there. They had a Great trip with 15 trout all caught on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders. John is 83 years old and out fished both Andrew and me! The weather cooperated and we had a wonderful day on the water. We fished live pinfish under Back Bays and Andrew counted out 7 species of fish we caught Bonnet Shark , Atlantic Sharpnose, Ladyfish, Spanish, Gafftop Sailcat, Jack Crevalle, and Speckled Trout.

We saw Tarpon this week and some were monsters near 200 lbs. one less than 10 feet from the boat as big as any I have seen in 28 years of guiding at Keaton; but it wanted a trout not a pinfish? Oh well we tried.

Saturday, I took Christopher and Susan Burger of Live Oak, Florida out for their first-ever trip out on the Gulf and they had a blast catching their limit of trout and reds. We fished with live pinfish under Back Bays again ...of course! The trout off 3.5 -4.5 feet of water as were the reds.

Some folks think it is too hot to catch fish.....hardly.

For the last four trips we have hardly seen a boat. Man do I love scallop season!

Speaking of which... Fly Your Dive Flags! It's the LAW!

Keaton Report June 23- 24 3017

1775 Matt Williams of Dallas, Ga with a nice redfish.

Harry Dorseynice trout

1785 Harry Dorsey of Albany, Ga. with a fine trout

larry Sculley of Albany

1788 Larry Sculley of Albany with a redfish caught 6/14/17
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report 6/23.24/17
 

Trout and reds continue to please when there is a breeze. Water temps are down a few degrees after this latest round of rains which will help the bite on both species.

We had 12 trout and 3 reds last week for Harry Dorsey, Larry Sculley and Melvin (their buddy to have a last name later) of Albany, Ga.

We caught all our fish on live pinfish rigged up 34" under Back Bay Thunders from 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water. Our best bite was the first hour of the incoming and the very last hour of the same, as the water was slowing to the stand.

Thursday, I had Danny, Jake and Jude Jaramillo of Valdosta and we landed 11 trout and two reds, again on live pinfish under Back Bays and several of our better trout, including two over 20" came in on the stand of the tide and the first hour of the flop.

Better tides this weekend with higher ranges should improve the bite for trout and reds. Morning lows will at least make the anglers happy an should produce a little topwater bite for an hour or so if you can find a clear spot to toss a treble hook.
 

Scallopers will be out in force I imagine, so watch out for divers in the water. FLY YOUR DIVE FLAGS It's the Law!

Keaton Report June 13 -14 2017

Keaton Report June 16-17 2017
 

Trout were tough on the slick early mornings Friday and Saturday; then on Saturday, when the w-i-n-d got up a bit we managed 10 trout with three over 20" including a 26" trout weighing 4.28 ( according to the FWCC who weighed it at the dock while doing a survey) and a 25" trout which weighed 4.14 lbs. We also landed 5 keeper reds keeping 3 of course, to 24" I had Steven Cook and Matt Williams of Dallas, Ga. on the boat Saturday and we used live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders to land our fish from 3.5 - 4.5 feet of water.
 

Don't really have much else as the weather took two more days I was to fish away from me.

Scalloping will be the rage any how, so ya'll be careful out there and Remember to FLY YOUR DIVE FLAGS! It's the Law

Keaton Report June 3 -4 2017

Photo Cutline :

Jim Hardegree with a "Slob"

1727 Jim Hardegree of McDonough, Ga. with a 4.6 lb slob 23.5" 5/26/17
 

Keaton Report June 3-4 2017
 

Flats fishing will take a back seat to Snapper Fishing as the HOLY HOLDERS OF THE HORSE HOCKEY (Feds) saw fit to grant us low life sorry good for nuthin' recreational anglers a lousy three days to catch Red Snapper...ohthanksabunchfornuthin' Oh and if you are ever wondering why you can order red snapper from the menu of all the chain seafood rests. then you now understand who gets to catch red snapper anytime they want to. They just can't have us out there messing it up for the commercial harvest.

Trout fishing has been "off the chain" as we have caught some of the heaviest stringers of the year this past week right into the Memorial Day weekend. Saturday, We had 29 trout with three over 20" . Friday was the day though as I took Jim and Doug Hardegree of McDonough ,Ga. out with their buddy Neiman Kopher of St. Simons Ga. and we caught four trout over 21" two which were over 24". We had to throw back two more over 21" long and still brought back 17 trout and three reds to 25"

We caught all our fish on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders in 3.5 - 5.5 ft. of water. We pinned up with my WANG on a small bar to catch the reds and threw back three more short reds.

The early morning incoming tides should make for some good fishing this weekend and while the floating grass is everywhere, you might slip up on a fish or two with a plug late in the afternoons on the falling tide. We continue to catch reds on Intruder II Hex Copper and Cajun Copper spoons when the grass will let us fish them.

1689 Slade Williams of Dallus, Ga. with a great 23.5" trout taken 5/13/17
 

Keaton Beach Fishing report May 19 - 20 2017
 

Water temperatures have moved back up to 81+ degrees as of mid-week and trout have responded nicely as evidenced by our 15 trout Tuesday with 3 over 20" for Laura and Aaron Gavronsky of St. Augustine, Fl. We caught fish on almost every cast for over 3 hours with plenty of shorts and catfish mixed in with the trout. Laura caught a keeper redfish and had one around 24" follow her hooked trout to the boat several casts earlier in the drift. We caught this nice box of trout from waters 3.5 - 4.5 feet deep on live pinfish under Back Bay Thunders. We started at 12:00 noon and our bite was on as soon as we stopped the first time. The Southwest w-i-n-d combined with the incoming tide was the key to our success.

This report from Dave Bosch of Tifton, Ga. who fished all week from Sunday May 7 to Saturday May 13 with his pal Bil Gburek of North Carolina, Peng Chee of Tifton,Ga. joined them for two days and another friend (sorry I don't have his name) fished with them Friday. They had their limits each day and caught at least one red each day; then three reds when Peng was down and released 7 on one of those days. The reds have been out away from the rocks and bars and hitting on the first hour of the falling tide.

"We had some very good fishing most days once the wind started to pick up. We caught some very nice trout and some solid reds to go with it. Not the 28" trout we'd all like to catch, but some solid 20"+ fish. We caught the majority of our trout in 4.5 - 5' and had our best bites on the beginning of the fall, but that may have been because that's when the wind got up and the water had warmed. We had some exceptional trout fishing on Saturday during the blow. While we tried a wide variety of artificials that will typically pick up fish in May, nothing beat the real thing. ( live pinfish under Cajuns)

Report May17,18 2017