By Captain Tim Cutting:
It’s no secret that the marshes of the southeastern United States offer arguably the best fishing anywhere on the planet. Destinations like Boca Grande Pass, Key West and Venice, La. are household names for fishing enthusiast worldwide. While I’ve been fortunate enough to fish these places, and many more, I am about to let one of the South’s biggest fishing secrets out of the bag. The Georgia coast, in particular the area around the Golden Isles, offers an unrivaled amount of fishing opportunity.
The speckled seatrout fishery on the southeastern coast of Georgia may be better, for sheer numbers, year-round, than anywhere these fine-eating and hard-fighting fish roam. Biologists for years have tried to figure out why the marshes around the Golden Isles are so favorable for the unbelievable population of seatrout that inhabit the area. It’s been said there may be more speckled trout per acre in southeastern Georgia than anywhere else in the world. The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has done an excellent job managing the trout fishery here on the coast of Georgia. Because of DNR’s success, a very liberal catch limit of 15 trout per person has been instituted. Trout must be over 13 inches to keep.
Fly fisherman take notice! Another species that has flown under the radar for years is the tripletail. There may not be a better place to sight fish these hard-fighting prehistoric-looking three-finned fish. They are also absolutely delicious. I can assure you that during the warmer months of the year, you will see more of these fish than anywhere in the country. And while fly fishermen relish sight fishing tripletails, they are very user friendly to anglers choosing conventional spinning or casting gear and live shrimp.
For those who like to up the ante, the nearshore fishing for black tip and spinner sharks in the 50- to 150-pound class may be unrivaled. Both these species are known for spectacular aerial displays and brute strength.
Two more great sport fish that aren’t as big a secret around these parts are tarpon and bull redfish. Many savvy anglers plan their trips around the excellent late summer tarpon fishing or the huge run of late-summer/early fall bull redfish.
The angling possibilities do not end there, as flounder, whiting, black drum, cobia, sea bass and Spanish mackerel all sport a healthy population in our area. Add in the fact that the Golden Isles is a 365-day fishery, and you may have one best-kept fishing secrets on the east coast.
It would be a shame not to mention, as a vacation destination, it is not all about the fish. The accommodations and restaurants in and around St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island and Sea Island range from five-star to extremely affordable. Between the quaint little towns of St. Mary’s and Darien, the Golden Isles offers something for everyone, including some of the best golf courses in the country, wild horses, uncrowded beaches, water parks, camping, birding, kayaking, shopping and of course, our rapidly leaking secret… World-class fishing!