Archived Reports

 

 

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

 And the winner of the 1st Annual Coffee Bluff Fish Derby is......

Jay Turner!!

Mr. Jay Turner of Savannah pulled off the feat of catching all 10 required species, and having a total weight of 52 pounds 8 ounces to win 1st Place by 3 1/2 pounds over 2nd Place angler TJ Ryan, who also had all 10 species. TJ finished with an even 49 pounds. Dr. Jerry Case was the only other angler out of 48 who caught all 10 species, and finished in 3rd Place with a total weight of 36 pounds even.

Jerry Case was the first angler to land all 10 species, and therefore has a free entry in the 2nd Annual Coffee Bluff Fish Derby, which begins today. Also, we placed the names of each angler in a hat who caught the biggest fish of each species, and the angler whose name we pulled from the hat also has a free entry...and the other free entry in the 2nd Annual Coffee Bluff Fish Derby goes to Chip Harris, who caught the biggest sheepshead at 10 pounds 2 ounces back in June while fishing with Jimmy Davis. The biggest fish of each species looks like this:

Speckled trout goes to Jay Turner with 4 pounds 14 ounces

Redfish also goes to Jay Turner with 5 pounds 9 ounces

Flounder goes to Troy Gattis with 4 pounds 15 ounces

Spanish mackerel goes to Thomas Bishop with 5 pounds 6 ounces

Whiting goes to Alderman Tony Thomas with 1 pound 3 ounces

Black drum goes to Jay Turner with 7 pounds 10 ounces

Striped bass goes to Matthew Lee with 28 pounds 8 ounces

Tripletail goes to Scott McAllister with 14 pounds 4 ounces

Sheepshead goes to Chip Harris with 10 pounds 2 ounces

Black sea bass goes to Jackson Walker with 2 pounds 14 ounces

All of these names went into a hat, and Amy pulled out Chip Harris for the 2nd free entry in the new Derby, which begins today! Click over to "Fish Derby" for the rules and regulations for the new derby, and to see the new 10 species that must be caught.

It looks like we're going to have favorable weather for the upcoming Labor Day weekend. Please join us for a BIG Labor Day Sale all weekend long...click over to "Sale Items" to get the latest. Also, all month long in September, we are offering "Two For Tuesday". Come put in at the marina and you can keep your boat overnight at our docks for free! Enjoy 2 days of fishing for the price of 1....

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

The last day of August...and with it comes the last day of fishing for the 1st Annual Coffee Bluff Fish Derby!

10 species of fish were required to be caught for this year-long derby, and after 364 days, only 3 anglers out of 48 were able to accomplish the feat! However, 2 more anglers still have until 6 pm tonight to bring in one more species each to become the 4th and 5th anglers to capture all 10 species. Congratulations to Jay Turner, TJ Ryan, and Jerry Case for catching all 10 species of speckled trout, redfish, flounder, striped bass, tripletail, Spanish mackerel, black drum, whiting, black sea bass, and sheepshead. Thomas Bishop needs only a tripletail, and Scott McAllister needs a striped bass to be included in this elite group of guys who landed all 10 species. The winner will be decided by total weight of these 10 species, and by 6 pm tonight we will have a winner! Check back to see who pulled it off!

Jerry Case was the first angler to land all 10 species, and therefore has a free entry in the 2nd Annual Coffee Bluff Fish Derby, which begins tomorrow. Also, we will place the name of each angler in a hat who caught the biggest fish of each species, and the angler whose name we pull from the hat will also have a free entry. Currently, unless something changes today, the top weight of each species looks like this...

Speckled trout goes to Jay Turner with 4 pounds 14 ounces

Redfish also goes to Jay Turner with 5 pounds 9 ounces

Flounder goes to Troy Gattis with 4 pounds 15 ounces

Spanish mackerel goes to Thomas Bishop with 5 pounds 6 ounces

Whiting goes to Alderman Tony Thomas with 1 pound 3 ounces

Black drum goes to Jay Turner with 7 pounds 10 ounces

Striped bass goes to Matthew Lee with 28 pounds 8 ounces

Tripletail goes to Scott McAllister with 14 pounds 4 ounces

Sheepshead goes to Chip Harris with 10 pounds 2 ounces

Black sea bass goes to Jackson Walker with 2 pounds 14 ounces

Unless something changes by 6 pm tonight, those are the names that will go into the hat for a free entry in next year's derby. Stay tuned to see who comes in today to attempt to change the lead and steal the thunder! And don't forget, sign-ups are underway for the 2nd Annual Coffee Bluff Fish Derby, with just a few rule changes...click over to "Fish Derby" to get the latest!

Sunday, August 29th, 2010

My friend, Jimmy Davis, and I ventured out for tarpon Friday morning. Along the way, we decided to stop and pitch some topwater baits for trout on the beachfront, and found some modest success! It was fun watching the trout bust the baits, and the trout were a little bigger than just a few days before. The speckled trout are all over topwater lures right now, expecially along the beachfronts and grass beds early in the morning...MirroLures, Spooks, etc. all work...if you want to have some fun action, I HIGHLY recommend it! As for the tarpon....saw some, no bites...hear is a picture of Jimmy and I upon our return...

We also heard of a good bunch of redfish from several fishermen. Live mud minnows, live shrimp, and artificials all continue to be good baits right now.

With this NE wind we're having right now in the 15-25 mph range, offshore may not happen over the next few days, but inshore fishing is taking hold!

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

The 1st Annual Coffee Bluff Fish Derby has a tight one going on!!  With only 6 days to go, three fishermen were out yesterday diligently searching for bigger fish...Dr. Jerry Case desparately needs a big black drum, but his search proved benign. Capt. TJ Ryan crashed the structures in search of a bigger tripletail, but his efforts fell short. However, Jay Turner brought in another whiting that eclipsed his previous whiting by 9 ounces to spread the distance between his 1st Place status and the rest of the leaderboard. He now holds a 3 pound 8 ounce advantage over 2nd Place.....click over to "Fish Derby" for the latest!!

There has been a tremendous amount of speckled trout caught recently, although the size of 90% of them have been to short to keep. They have been attacking live shrimp, Gulp baits, and topwater artificials.

Reports are also coming in of redfish, flounder, Spanish mackerel, and tarpon. We also heard of some nice size tripletail yesterday. Looks like Fall fishing may be a darn good one!

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

There certainly was some pretty good fishing this past weekend! First, the Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club held it's monthly tournament, which was a redfish, trout, flounder slam event. Mike Smith finished 1st Place with a total weight of 5 pounds 12 ounces, weighing in a 2 pound 7 ounce trout, a 2 pound 7 ounce redfish, and a 14 ounce flounder. David Sloan finished 2nd with a slam of 4 pounds 6 ounces, weighing in a 14 ounce trout, a 1 pound 3 ounce flounder, and a nice redfish at 2 pounds 5 ounces. Bob Tedder finished 3rd with a flounder going over 1 pound, and I pulled off 4th Place with a single trout barely under a pound. However, I must of caught 30 or so trout, and all but 4 were under 13 inches. I also was able to find a couple reds, one was too small and one was to big! Nevertheless, we had a good time and there was certainly some fish around!

Dr. Jerry Case took his new boat out Saturday, and slimed it up with the first fish upon his new Pathfinder! Here is a photo of Linda Soss who put the tripletail in the boat! 

Jay Turner came in yesterday and weighed in a whiting and a flounder. The whiting gave him all 10 species for our annual derby and thrusts him into 1st place! The flounder added a little weight to his total....please go to the "Derby" page to get an update...nice job, Jay! 

Jay's friend and fishing patner yesterday also boated some nice trout, and here is his picture holding up 2 of the fish he landed... 

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Again, congratulations are in order for Mr. Jimmy Wheeler of Brunswick, who landed two nice tripletail in one day over a week ago to win the inaugural 2010 Tripletail Rodeo!! Jimmy weighed in a 17 pound 5 ounce and a 16 pound 3 ounce tripletail for a total of 33 pounds 8 ounces. Jimmy was also the only angler of the 17 participants who put 2 tripletail on the board...several people caught 2 or more, but the vast majority of the tripletail were in the 8 to 10 pound range, and weren't weighed in. Jimmy stopped by yesterday morning and talked fishing with me for awhile, and we were able to hand him his winning check and tripletail mount as the 1st Place Champion trophy! Mr. Wheeler is a real nice fellow, and he immediatedly jumped on board for our 2nd Annual Coffee Bluff Fish Derby!

And speaking of tripletail, Jay Turner came in with a legal tripletail that weighed 4 pounds 11 ounces. What makes this fish significant is that Jay now has 9 species in the 1st Annual Coffee Bluff Fish Derby, AND he now has the most weight of any contestant. However, he still needs one little ol' whiting to complete the 10 species catch, and he has 13 days to catch one! Here is Jay's son holding up the tripletail...

Click over to "Fish Derby" for an update on the leaderboard!

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Congratulations are in order for Mr. Jimmy Wheeler of Brunswick, who landed two nice tripletail in one day over a week ago to win the inaugural 2010 Tripletail Rodeo!! Jimmy weighed in a 17 pound 5 ounce and a 16 pound 3 ounce tripletail for a total of 33 pounds 8 ounces. Jimmy was also the only angler of the 17 participants who put 2 tripletail on the board...several people caught 2 or more, but the vast majority of the tripletail were in the 8 to 10 pound range, and weren't weighed in.

The tripletail fishing in our immediate area was good early on in the competition, with several fish being caught in the 8 to 13 pound range, but then it became a difficult fish to find and catch! Our friends, Chris Tedder and Melissa Knight, went out for a boat ride on the ocean side when they came across this 8 pounder last Saturday, and tossed a Gulp shrimp at it for an easy hook-up...

So, after 16 full days, Hickory Bluff Marina won top honors with 2 fish for an average weight of 16 pounds 12 ounces! Mackay River Yacht Club is in 2nd with the one fish going 15 pounds 6.4 ounces...Coffee Bluff Marina is bringing up 3rd with 3 fish for a total of 33 pounds 7.9 ounces for an average of 11 pounds 2.7 ounces. The tough fishing conditions didn't stop Dr. Jerry Case and David Roach from venturing out yesterday for one final try, and they do win honors for bringing to the dock the freshest fish of the rodeo for our tripletail fish fry last night...here is David with the final fish caught during the 16 day rodeo...

Thanks to everyone who participated, and thanks to all those who shared their catch for the tripletail cookout yesterday evening...the weather moved in on us, but we were able to cook under the lift and enjoy the efforts that brought in this scrumptious fish! Thanks to Jerry Case, David Roach, David Sloan, Chris Tedder, and Melissa Knight for sharing their catch of tripletail, and thanks to Mr. Stealth himself, Jackson Walker, for cleaning some last minute tripletail on the back of his truck in a rain storm to provide everyone with some good fillets! Also, thanks to Tommy Knight for bringing by some delicious ribs to add some turf to the surf...

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

Still, there have been no tripletail weighed in or reported over the past 7 days from the anglers in the Tripletail Rodeo...the Leaderboard remains the same.

We have a total of 17 anglers in the 2010 Tripletail Rodeo, representing either Coffee Bluff to the north coast, or Hickory Bluff Marina and Mackay River Yacht Club to the south coast. Here is a complete list and standings of the anglers progress after 14 full  days with 2 days to go:

So, after 14 full days, Hickory Bluff Marina is leading the way with 2 fish for an average weight of 16 pounds 12 ounces! Mackay River Yacht Club is in 2nd with the one fish going 15 pounds 6.4 ounces...Coffee Bluff Marina is bringing up 3rd with 3 fish for a total of 33 pounds 7.9 ounces for an average of 11 pounds 2.7 ounces. Only 2 full days of fishing left!

We are currently holding live shrimp and live jumbo mud minnows at the marina!! Reports have come in that show mostly bottom feeders being caught, such as whiting. We've heard several reports of black drum, a few sheepshead, and redfish in the grass. 

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

No tripletail weighed in or reported over the past 3 days...the Leaderboard remains the same.

We have a total of 17 anglers in the 2010 Tripletail Rodeo, representing either Coffee Bluff to the north coast, or Hickory Bluff Marina and Mackay River Yacht Club to the south coast.

So, after 10 full days, Hickory Bluff Marina is leading the way with 2 fish for an average weight of 16 pounds 12 ounces! Mackay River Yacht Club is in 2nd with the one fish going 15 pounds 6.4 ounces...Coffee Bluff Marina is bringing up 3rd with 3 fish for a total of 33 pounds 7.9 ounces for an average of 11 pounds 2.7 ounces. 6 full days of fishing left!

We are currently holding live shrimp and live jumbo mud minnows at the marina!! Tides are running high and are suppose to peak out tomorrow night, but we have still heard reports of redfish everywhere, but mostly smaller in size. This is a great opportunity to find reds up in the grass on these extreme tides! 

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Jimmy Wheeler marched into City Market Seafood and weighed up a 17 pound 5 ounce tripletail, AND another 16 pound 3 ounce tripletail to take a commanding lead with 2 fish going 33 pounds 8 ounces!! Nice work, Jimmy.....now some guys are getting motivated!

We have a total of 17 anglers in the 2010 Tripletail Rodeo, representing either Coffee Bluff to the north coast, or Hickory Bluff Marina and Mackay River Yacht Club to the south coast.

So, after 7 full days, Hickory Bluff Marina is leading the way with 2 fish for an average weight of 16 pounds 12 ounces! Mackay River Yacht Club is in 2nd with the one fish going 15 pounds 6.4 ounces...Coffee Bluff Marina is bringing up 3rd with 3 fish for a total of 33 pounds 7.9 ounces for an average of 11 pounds 2.7 ounces. 9 full days of fishing left!

We are currently holding live shrimp and live jumbo mud minnows at the marina!! We have heard and seen small jack crevalle, some pretty good trout fishing, flounder, and small rat reds throughout the past week....looks like some fair fishing! Tarpon are rolling, tripletails are being caught, Spanish mackerel in the 4-5 pound range, and BIG black drum are out there!

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Four of us headed out to search for tripletail yesterday afternoon, and it was David "Tripletail" Sloan who put one in the boat. David has been on a roll, and here is one he landed on Monday to enter the rodeo with...it went 9 pounds even...

  

While searching a tideline for tripletail yesterday, we thought we saw a school of jack crevalle cutting the surface, so we eased over to find a nice school of tarpon exploding on bait. We had nothing to throw at them but artificials, so we attempted to hook one on some pretty light tackle, all to no avail. It was nice seeing such a large school...when this tripletail rodeo is over, it'll be time for a tarpon hunt!

We have a total of 17 anglers in the 2010 Tripletail Rodeo, representing either Coffee Bluff to the north coast, or Hickory Bluff Marina and Mackay River Yacht Club to the south coast.

So, after 5 days, Mackay River Yacht Club is leading with the one fish going 15 pounds 6.4 ounces...Coffee Bluff Marina is second with 3 fish for a total of 33 pounds 7.9 ounces for an average of 11 pounds 2.7 ounces. Hickory Bluff Marina has yet to weigh in, although they are catching some nice fish right now. 11 full days of fishing left!

We are currently holding live shrimp and live jumbo mud minnows at the marina!! Reports have come in all last week of redfish, speckled trout, flounder, Spanish mackerel, and some local hook ups of tarpon. Most of the redfish reported are smaller in size, while some of the speckled trout have been big trout at night under lights of docks!  

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

Danny Jones weighed in a nice tripletail down south yesterday to take the lead in the Tripletail Rodeo after 4 days of fishing! Here is a photo of Danny's nice fish...

   

We have a total of 17 anglers in the 2010 Tripletail Rodeo, representing either Coffee Bluff to the north coast, or Hickory Bluff Marina and Mackay River Yacht Club to the south coast.

So, after 4 days, Mackay River Yacht Club is leading with the one fish mentioned above...Coffee Bluff Marina is second with 3 fish for a total of 33 pounds 7.9 ounces for an average of 11 pounds 2.7 ounces. Hickory Bluff Marina has yet to weigh in, although they are catching some nice fish right now. 11 full days of fishing left!

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Capt. TJ Ryan came in yesterday with a 13 pound 1.6 ounce tripletail to take the current lead in the Tripletail Rodeo, which began last Saturday. David Sloan came in today with one that went 9 pounds even...

We have a total of 17 anglers in the 2010 Tripletail Rodeo, representing either Coffee Bluff to the north coast, and Hickory Bluff to the south coast. So, after 3 days, Coffee Bluff is leading with the three fish mentioned above...3 fish for a total of 33 pounds 7.9 ounces for an average of 11 pounds 2.7 ounces. I'm afraid, however, that it is going to take a lot more than that to win this one!

We are currently holding live shrimp and live jumbo mud minnows at the marina!! Reports have come in all weekend of redfish, speckled trout, flounder, Spanish mackerel, and some local hook ups of tarpon. Most of the redfish reported are smaller in size, while some of the speckled trout have been big trout at night under lights of docks!

Sunday, August 1st, 2010

Justin Watson, a local fisherman who keeps his Grady White at our docks, drew first blood yesterday in our 16 day long Tripletail Rodeo!  Justin came in yesterday with this 11 pound 6.25 ounce tripletail, the only one weighed in on Day 1 from the whole coast!

On Friday, while pre-fishing the Rodeo, Capt. TJ Ryan landed this 13 pound 6 ounce tripletail...

We have a total of 17 anglers in the 2010 Tripletail Rodeo, representing either Coffee Bluff to the north coast, and Hickory Bluff to the south coast.

We are currently holding live shrimp and live jumbo mud minnows at the marina!! Reports have come in all weekend of redfish, speckled trout, flounder, Spanish mackerel, and some local hook ups of tarpon. Most of the redfish reported are smaller in size, while some of the speckled trout have been big trout at night under lights of docks!

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

This past weekend showed some pretty good fishing for folks venturing out...we have heard of Spanish mackerel just about anywhere you go, redfish all along the flats and grass edges (although most reports we heard were small slots), speckled trout action in the 13-15 inch range, and good flounder fishing. More and more sightings of tarpon are being reported, especially a little further south. And, be on the lookout for jack crevalle, which should be hitting on the surface anyday as the latest water temperatures were 85-86 degrees.

The Tripletail Rodeo starts this coming Saturday, and look at the fabulous 1st Place Trophy and mount for the 1st Place Champion!!  Very, very nice...

If you are interested in joining the rodeo, please click over to "News" and scroll down to Event #1...Tripletail Rodeo. The complete set of rules is under that heading...remember, you must be entered by 6 am this Saturday to participate...no late entries will be accepted!! 

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

The Tripletail Rodeo is only a week away, and look at the fabulous 1st Place Trophy and mount that arrived today!!  Very, very nice...

We also received a good bunch of live shrimp in the tanks this afternoon, so we are now currently holding live shrimp and live jumbo pollywogs!!

Early this morning, Dr. Jerry Case and David Roach stopped by before I even opened up to pick up a few supplies before venturing out into the tripletail land...think they found any? Coffee Bluff is going to be hard to beat in the upcoming rodeo!!

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

With all the rain we had last week, waters have been muddy and the current flowing fast, but things are finally coming back around!

The Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club held it's monthly tournament last weekend, and the format was a tarpon tournament. Probably should have waited another month for that one, as nobody hooked one up, but one was seen in the Ossabaw area. Tarpon have been showing up and are being caught further south, around Satilla, St. Simon, Jekyll, and Cumberland. Look for the silver king to makes it's way north within the next couple weeks...

Spanish mackerel continue to be an easy and safe bet. In the sounds, right outside the beaches, and around the wrecks have had big schools of Spanish, and many going over 4 pounds.

Inshore action continues to be flounder and redfish, although the flounder bite doesn't seem to be as good as it was just 2 weeks ago. Most of the redfish we heard of were caught under the slot, but there were still a good amount that went in the slot.

Although we haven't seen any trout action since the weekend before last, we have had reports of a few being caught. Also, sporadic reports of black drum, sheepshead, and whiting have come in this past week. 

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

What a big day for Team Coffee Bluff this past Saturday! 4 of our 5 team members came back to the docks with slams, and one team member just missed a slam by only getting a trout and flounder. Team Coffee Bluff secured 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th places to put us in 2nd overall in the statewide event just 64 points out of the overall championship. The final leg takes place September 18th on Lake Oconee...

Congratulations goes out to our friend and kayaking guru Chris Chappell for taking 1st place in the event. Chris had an overall score of 59.75 inches with a 22.5 inch whopper of a flounder, a 21 inch redfish, and a 16.25 inch speckled trout. Chris won a handsome Ocean Kayak decked out with a stakeout pole, paddle, life jacket, and a nice GPS/depth finder.

Local Savannahian Dylan Munn came in 2nd place in the adult division, and 1st place in the youth division. Our very own Coffee Bluff youth participant and future Coffee Bluff team member Will Walker made his kayak fishing debut and scored 29 inches with a whopper of a flounder at 19 inches!

Dr. Jerry Case came in 3rd place with a total of 54 inches, including a 19.5 inch redfish, 17.25 inch flounder, and a 15.5 inch trout.

Our team not only won the event but we did it with authority! Now we have to figure out how to slam at Lake Oconee to put this one to bed! I was able to pull off 4th place, with a few fish of my own...

 

Local captain TJ Ryan also came in Sunday morning with a nice 4 pound 1 ounce Spanish mackerel to take the lead back on the annual derby...click over to the derby board to get an update!

 

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Reds and flounder.....reds and flounder....it's beginning to sound like a broken record!

A real nice group of folks from Alabama came by yesterday and rented our pontoon boat to explore and fish, and came across this nice redfish within sight of the marina...

Anyone wishing to participate in the upcoming kayak slam event should take note!!!

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

What a fun July 4th weekend at Coffee Bluff! We had numerous inshore fishermen out and about, with few venturing offshore with the easterly winds. The flounder bite has been on fire, with numerous caught up and down the river edges. Reds continue to be strong, although the size being caught is smaller than the past few weeks.....looks like a good crop for next year!

Have the tripletail moved into the area yet? Ask these folks...Mike Womble is a terrific guide out of the Ford Plantation, and he slipped out Sunday morning with his client from Chicago, Bob Levy. Here is one that went 16 pounds 1 ounce...

Brady Tedder, son of famous local tournament winner Bob Tedder, slipped out yesterday morning and came across one that went 17 pounds 1 ounce... 

These tripletail were all caught on JUMBO mud minnows.....the kind that we stock and sell!! Nice job to these guys who were able to locate and catch the fabled tripletail....don't forget about the upcoming Tripletail Rodeo that starts in just over 3 weeks!!

Monday, June 28th, 2010

We had some folks the past several days fishing inshore, and have had good reports of redfish, with a few flounder thrown in the catch list. Two nice folks who recently moved to Savannah stopped by yesterday to try out some kayaks, and ended up landing a couple speckled trout in the 15-16 inch range. The flounder fishing has not been as good as it was a week ago, but they are still being caught.

There has been a lot of action with Spanish mackerel and a few king mackerel. Jay Turner stopped by Saturday with a nice catch of Spanish and one good king. Here is his biggest Spanish that went 4 pounds 15 ounces.

Then, yesterday, Thomas Bishop stopped in with a Spanish that weighed in at 5 pounds 6 ounces. 

There hasn't been to many fisherman willing to battle extreme heat, but those that are venturing out are finding success. Reports of tarpon are trickling in, and speckled trout have been fair off the beach fronts.

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

There was some dandy fishing last weekend, so let's get started! Capt. Jackson Walker, his father Bill, Craig Adams, and Mikey Morgan kicked it in high gear and went way out.....I'd say they had a great day!!

 

The big dolphin that you see weighed in at 21 pounds, and the interesting part of the story is that he hit two baits, and Jackson and Mikey brought in the fish on two separate rods! Top that story!!

On Saturday, Michael McAllister tossed some mud minnows around Racoon Key and found a plump 2 pound flounder.. 

On Sunday, David and Kim Warren took off in search of trout, reds, and flounder, and using a plastic shrimp made by Billy Bay, Kim landed the biggest trout of her life....2 pounds 2 ounces! Pretty fish, Kim!

Also, over the weekend, our friend and fellow Coffee Bluff Kayak Fishing Team teammate Kevin Kappel decided to take his father to the ocean pier on Tybee for a little Father's Day fishing, and here is a shot he sent me of a nice 26 inch trout landed on the pier...the trout have been on the oceanfront for some time, and reports are coming in of some strong catches....

 

And finally, on Monday, local legend Jimmy Davis ventured off with Chip Harris in search of big black drum, but look what they stumbled across instead! Lots of nice sheepshead, and the biggest one that Chip is holding up cleared over 10 pounds!!

 

Monday, June 14th, 2010

What a fun weekend! Mr. Bob Tedder landed on a flounder hole Saturday morning to not only win the Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club's 3 Aggregate Flounder tournament, but his fish that he caught, including a whiting, enabled his team to secure 1st place in Coffee Bluff Marina's Catch & Cook Tournament! I've never known a fisherman to win 2 tournaments in the same weekend, so Bob Tedder deserves an extra round of applause!

Here are the 5 flounder that Bob caught Saturday morning, all on pollywogs...

  

Bob's 5 flounder for the "Catch & Cook" tournament weighed in at 8 pounds 6 ounces, while his 3 flounder aggregate weighed in at 6 pounds 1 ounce. He also had the biggest flounder, which is the one he is holding, that weighed 2 pounds 14 ounces!

On Sunday, the cooking took place. And once again, Bob Tedder shows his skill at preparing his flounder topped with sauted green beans and almonds! 

Bob's teammate and coattail rider, yours truly, already prepared the whiting with a potato chip crust lightly fried in butter, while Mike Morgan, along with Robert Thornton, can be seen in this photo preparing their awesome dish of smoked dip using the Spanish mackerel that they caught for the "Catch & Cook" tournament. It was an amazing dip that very much impressed everyone there!

But, alas, the total points after added put the team with Bob Tedder, Ray Golden, and Amy Golden in 1st place for the inaugural "Catch & Cook" tournament, and here is a picture of one of the judges, Freddie Love, presenting the cash and trophy to Bob Tedder and myself...

 

As stated earlier, Bob also won the Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club's 3 flounder aggregate tournament, but Mike Smith came into the docks yesterday, along with his brother Carlie, with a few fish. Mike Smith took second place with his flounder, and he also brought in a speckled trout to secure the trout calcutta. Nice job, Mike! 

 

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Thomas Bishop stopped in the store to put a 4 pound 5 ounce Spanish mackerel on the derby board, which moves Thomas up from 4th place to 3rd in our year long derby...click over to "Fish Derby" to get an update...nice fish, Mr. Bishop!!

Legendary kayak fisherman Chris Chappell took off to a "secret" spot and wailed on reds until his arm hurt this past week...here are a few photos of his catch... 

 

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

Everyone should by now know that Dr. Jerry Case became the first Coffee Bluff Marina 1st Annual Derby participant to catch all 10 species. He weathered some tough conditions to get out for a Spanish mackerel, pictured below, to become the leader with less than 3 months to go! Nice job, Jerry! To follow the leaderboard and see the top 5, click on the "Derby" page to find out more information.

Yesterday, while fishing a local tournament, Robert Thornton and his team found a nice red... 

The inshore picture has been flounder and redfish, with a few speckled trout. Offshore the story has been cobia, with several folks now searching for tripletail. Fellow Coffee Bluff team member Chris Chappell headed out at 6 am to kayak fish just this morning....while I was hard at work, he kept binging me every 10 minutes or so with pictures of his fish. He had a slam by 7 am, and was using top water MirroProps for speckled trout, and Gulps for reds, along with DOA's. He had a dandy of a flounder he guessed to be over 4 pounds that he lost while getting his net, but he did manage to get some flounder, also. Nice job, Chris! Again...I'm glad you're on our team for the upcoming kayak tournament being held out of Coffee Bluff Marina in 5 short weeks! 

Here are some of the pix Chris sent me this morning.....

 Friday, May 28th, 2010

Has anyone heard of tripletail being around? John Adams had a nice one show up on the other end of his line a few days back...it weighed in at 17 pounds! Nice fish, John...

Our good friend Jack Ezelle headed out to the deep this week and found a nice cobia catch... 

Pictured are Charles Marks from Augusta on the far left, Jack and Stephen Ezelle, both from Savannah, Capt. Roger Burge from Richmond Hill, and William Lorick from Amelia Island, FL. The biggest is at 58 pounds, being held up by Roger Burge.

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Our good friend, Brian Ballagh, came down from Statesboro and headed out with a kayak to get into a nice mess of trout and flounder this past weekend. Brian is quite skilled at finding fish...take a look at these trout and flounder...

 

 

 Flounder seem to be biting fast and furious everywhere...take a look at Jim Cross.. 

Let's not forget about cobia! Capt. Jack Ezelle headed out and got 5 cobia in 2 days...one going a whopping 58 pounds! Capt. TJ Ryan spent a couple days chasing the brown slabs and found success, as pictured below... 

Finally, a special congratulations to Mr. Bob Tedder for winning the Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club's monthly tournament held this past weekend. Bob loaded up on 18 whiting totaling 8.5 pounds to grab 1st place. David Sloan landed a 10.4 ounce whiting to win the calcutta, and Mikey Morgan weighed in a 17.5 pound shark to get the shark calcutta. Great weekend and hope to see everyone out on the water soon!

Friday, May 21st, 2010

Jay Turner stepped into the marina last weekend to weigh a monster redfish for the derby board! Take a look at this chunky 5 pound 9 ounce redfish!

Capt. Brad Stewart has been on fire with the cobia fishing, putting his 23rd cobia of the year in his boat just two days ago! Nice work, Brad!! Brad runs the "Knot BC" for Amick's Deep Sea Fishing, and is one of the finest gentlemen and captains in coastal Georgia. For anyone interested in fishing with Brad, give us a call and we can hook you up! Here are just a few of his cobia in recent days... 

 

The cobia fishing is reaching it's peak, and anyone interested in putting one of these rod benders in the boat should call to book soon, as you have about 4-5 more weeks of it left!

Tomorrow, the Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club is holding it's monthly tournament...whiting! We are attempting to load up for a fish fry in the near future...stay tune for results!!

Monday, May 17th, 2010

We just returned from our 5 day trip to the NE Georgia mountains for the 2nd leg of the Georgia Kayak Fishing Tournament. As everyone by now knows, Coffee Bluff Marina will be hosting the 3rd leg on July 10th, and for anyone interested in joining this fun event, check out this website...

http://kayakfishingtrail.com/

We are going to have a BIG event at the marina for July 9th and 10th, so be ready!

At any rate, leg 2 could be fished in either Lake Rabun, Lake Seed, Lake Tugalo, or Lake Burton. Amy's father, Ken Woodring of Charleston, WV, came along to fill in as an alternate for Team Coffee Bluff since 3 of our members couldn't make it. Three of our members (myself, Jerry Case, and Kevin Kappell) were able to make the event. On Day 1, Ken, Jerry, and I pre-fished from my boat on Lake Burton, and it was a beautiful lake! We caught several nice bass, and Ken nailed the biggest...all on spinner baits...

Ken was our "ringer" so we decided to change his name from Ken Woodring to Ken Woodringer! Anyway, on Day 2, Ken, Jerry, Kevin, and I kayak fished from rugged Lake Tugalo...if you've never been there for bass, it is a must place to go and see! But, take your 4 wheel drive! Finally, on the day of the tournament...Saturday...we fished hard on Lake Burton. Kevin got an 18" pickerel, Jerry got a 12" bass, Ken got a 15" bass, and I got a 16.25" bass....pictured below... 

We had a really good time, and our scoring moved Team Coffee Bluff up in the standings from 6th place overall to 3rd, as we finished 2nd place in the Northeast Mountains. As we approach July 10th, our team will go past the competition and bring the state honors to our humble bluff!! As we just got back from the mountains, I haven't had an opportunity to get the latest saltwater report to post, but will do so in the next couple days!

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

This past weekend was not on fire, but there were fish caught in and around Ossabaw! First up is John Drawdy, who put a nice red in a photo on Friday of last week...

We were also told that Stanley Devegter put a 25 pound cobia and a king mackerel in the boat while fishing around the CCA. Nice job, Stanley! Greg Monroe from Kansas City, Kansas, and Jim Phillips from Mobile, Alabama, went fishing with Jimmy Davis last Saturday and had a nice mess of reds upon their return, as pictured below. Jimmy stopped by the shop yesterday and he and I strolled around the river banks for about an hour to see if we could get a bite...Jimmy had a redfish thump him on a white DOA jerkbait, but he lost it after a brief fight. 

Michael "The Man" McAllister brought in a 2 pound 3 ounce redfish this past weekend to pump up some weight on his derby catch. Click over to the "Derby Board" to see the list of fish weighed in recently for the derby participants.

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

Some good fishing the past couple days! First up is John Batts, showing how to find big reds on Thursday in the Ossabaw Sound on cut mullet! This nice red was released unharmed...nice fish! 

Yesterday, Michael McAllister was using some mud minnows in the Ossabaw Sound when he landed this nice flounder...nice job, Michael! 

Michael's father, Scott, also got into some fish yesterday...nice red! The conditions were great yesterday for some great fishing!

Because of the great conditions yesterday, Capt. Jack Ezelle and his son, Stephen, headed out to deep water along with Roger Burge. Take a look at their nice catch of dolphin!

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

Chris Chappell fished yesterday from his kayak...a little pre-fishing for some upcoming kayak fishing trips we have scheduled. Using Gulp Pearl White Swimming Mullet and DOA Stark Naked, take a look at a couple fat flats he landed! Nice job, Chris! 

 

Monday, April 26th, 2010

This weekend saw some stiff breezes, but it didn't keep the Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club from holding it's monthly tournament, which was a trout tournament. 1st place honors went to Mike Smith with three trout weighing in at 8 pounds 5 ounces! Mike also got the top calcutta for his biggest trout, pictured below, at 3 pounds 11 ounces. And, Mike got top calcutta for flounder, which came in at 2 pounds 2 ounces! 

Jimmy Davis placed 2nd with his three trout weighing in at 6 pounds 12 ounces, and he captured the calcutta for biggest red which went 2 pounds. Nice job, fellows! Looks like the trout are here!! The Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club's next tournament is scheduled for May 22nd/23rd...a whiting competition! 

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

While pre-fishing for the Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club tournament this weekend, Jimmy Davis showed why he'll be a force to be reckoned with as yesterday he landed this nice 3 pound 1 ounce speckled trout...beautiful fish and great job, Jimmy!

Jackson Walker also headed out deep yesterday with his father, Bill Walker, and good friend Bill Johnson...take a look at the black sea bass in the middle of the photo...a whopper at 3 pounds 14 ounces!!

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Congratulations go out to David Sloan and his daughter, Becky Hancock, for hauling in a limit of redfish to claim the title for the 1st Annual His & Her Fishing Tournament!! We had 9 His & Her teams enter the contest, and only 3 teams came back with fish! Certainly a tough day of fishing, but David & Becky brought in 5 reds totaling 9 pounds 8 ounces to claim 1st Place honors as well as top dog redfish for the calcutta.....nice job and hats off to this dynamic duo!

Coffee Bluff Marina will be hosting it's next tournament on June 12th and 13th, the 1st Annual Catch & Cook Tournament. We have just finalized the format, so please click on "News" and scroll down to that event date to get a glimpse of the format and rules...it should make for a lot of fun and a terrific cookout afterwards! Hope you can join in...

Capt. TJ Ryan spent the day yesterday chasing some fish, and he was kind enough to send me this picture of a so-so redfish that he landed! Nice job, TJ!!

 

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

Speckled trout are beginning to show up after a long and difficult winter...we aren't hearing of many being caught, but there are some. There are some reports also of a few flounder, although they are smaller in size. Redfish has been the best inshore go to fish all winter, and it continues into this early Spring. I took some fine folks out from West Virginia last week, and here is a picture of young Brad Bratcher holding a red that he caught on Gulp Pearl White shrimp...

Earlier in the week, Capt. Cefus McRae and the crew from "Nuts & Bolts of Fishing" came to town to film the winner of the Getaway Giveaway in his brand new kayak for another upcoming show to air on Fox Sports South sometime in June. Monday started out perfect up in the flats...calm winds, and swirls of big reds on the prowl. Guide Chris Chappell caught a couple bruisers in the 30 inch range, then Dr. Jerry Case popped a nice one...

Shortly afterwards, Jerry hooked into one that he couldn't turn and it pulled drag for about 2 full minutes before turning on Jerry and coming off....certainly would have been a big 35+ inch red. Eric Isenhour from Hickory, NC, who won the prize package, hooked into a nice one also that got away...

You can see Eric in the upcoming show, which we will post the air date as it approaches. Unfortunately, as soon as the reds began showing and a few were caught, the wind went from a whisper to a good 20 mph, and everything shut down. The next day I carried Capt. Cefus and his camera crew, along with Eric, into some creek areas out of the wind and Eric was able to put some slime on his brand new rod and reel with a flounder!

Yesterday was a picture perfect day, so Dr. Jerry Case and Chris Chappell loaded some kayaks to venture into an undiscovered area. Here is why kayak fishing has become popular, as Jerry and Chris went where boats literally could never follow...

This creek was full of fallen trees, and the guys paddled way up where redfish have never seen human contact! They blasted away and caught double digit reds, many up to 27 inches, all on artificial (Gulp Pearl White Swimming Mullet - but don't tell anybody). Here is Dr. Case with another of his fish...

As the tide fell out, the guys left their newly discovered honey hole, only to find that the trees that were submerged at high tide now blocked their passage, but they were able to skimper over some fallen branches to get out in time to have a cold beverage with us back at the marina!

 

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

Some pretty good fishing lately...Capt. Jackson Walker held a charter trip this past week in search of sheepshead with a nice group of folks from Iowa, and he was able to get them on some good sheepshead fishing...pictured below is Jackson's charter, Terry Newell and family,  after they returned with a good catch of fish...

Yesterday, Michael McAllister was chasing some fish off the docks when he landed this nice catfish...

Also, yesterday was the big Coffee Bluff Marine Rescue Squadron Barbeque benefit, and several young men decided to fish the dock while the pork butts were smoking...pictured below are Cole and Jack Williamson along with Dennis Robertson holding up their nice redfish and catfish catch! Nice job, fellows!!

The word is out...whiting are biting...Dr. Jerry Case took his grandson's out this past week and got into a nice school of them in the Wassau and Ossabaw Sounds, as pictured below...

 

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Jackson Walker came into the shop yesterday and made an April Fool out of some sheepshead! He went offshore about 10 miles and found some fatties, including this 7 pound 10 ounce sheepie!!

Tagging along for the massacre was Dr. Jerry Case and Bill Walker, who also landed some nice fish!

We also heard reports of scattered whiting, a few trout picking up, and redfish...weather looks great for the next few days...could be an awesome Easter!! 

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Well, March came in like a lion, and is going out the same! This past weekend showed typical Spring weather...high winds, rain, sun, hot, cool, and sand gnats...this past week, however, showed some promise as we explored the flats several times and found fish. The water temperature is still in the high 50's, but with warming air temps in the forecast this week, things should start heating up quick.

Top dog kayak guide Chris Chappell went off into the flats earlier in the week and found some good redfish action, as pictured below...

Later in the week, in what appeared to be a perfect morning, Chris led a couple of kayak fishermen from Asheville, NC, into the flats...several fish were seen, but the bite was extremely slow. Buzzy McCorkle did, however, land a nice red in the 25 inch range, pictured below... 

There are limited reports of speckled trout showing up, along with solid reports of sheepshead and reds when the weather permits....hang on tight....things are going to shape up overnight! 

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Redfish seem to be everywhere you look! They are prowling the sounds, creeks, flats, and shoals...here is a picture of Tommy Thompson and David Sloan with several they caught while fishing this past week using live mud minnows...

Dr. Jerry Case, Chris Chappell, and I went into the flats 2 days ago...those guys found a nice school of 28 inch redfish that they caught on gold DOA shrimp. The water temperature was 56 degrees...slowly creeping towards top water action!

Still no word on trout action, but the sheepshead are also going off the hook...looks like a favorable weekend...the first in I don't know how long as we quit keeping track 3 months ago!!

Monday, March 15th, 2010 

What a weekend we just had!!! While Team Coffee Bluff was out in pouring rain and muddy waters on Lake Harding on the Georgia/Alabama border, Matthew Lee strolled in with a 28 pound 8 ounce striper he caught this past Saturday! Below is Matthew's picture with his big fish...

Capt. TJ Ryan also fished for stripers Saturday, and boated this one that he caught and released as it was tagged...

 

Like I stated earlier, Team Coffee Bluff had a hard time finding fish at Lake Harding for the 1st leg of the Georgia Kayak Tournament Trail, and we are eager to go to the 2nd leg on Lake Rabun in May to redeem ourselves. Out of 50+ kayak anglers, only 5 guys caught fish! Tough, tough conditions. However, the day leading up to the tournament, Jerry Case and Chris Chappell pre-fished from a powerboat and Chris nailed this nice striper...to bad he didn't wait until the next day!

 

Monday, March 8th, 2010

The winter is amost as good as gone...Chris Chappell headed out in his kayak yesterday in search of reds...what he saw, he said, was something unimaginable...over 200 reds rolling and playing, yet spooky to the bite...he did manage to pop one nice one shown here...

I'm glad Chris is on our team in the upcoming Georgia statewide fishing tournament!!  Also, Tommy Thompson and Robbie McGalliard headed out yesterday morning with some live mud minnows and limited out on reds in just a few short hours. Here they are pictured with their catch upon their return...things are heating up on the bluff!!!!!

 

This weekend is a BIG weekend for several Coffee Bluff guys!!!  The 1st leg of this 4 legged event through Georgia finds Team Coffee Bluff headed to Lake Harding on the Georgia/Alabama border. The Georgia Kayak Tournament Trail is a big event for us at Coffee Bluff Marina for one HUGE reason...the 3rd Leg of the Trail comes right here to the marina on July 9th and 10th!! There are 3 freshwater legs and 1 saltwater coastal leg, and Coffee Bluff Marina was selected as the coastal site for 2010!! For more information on the event and how to participate, please follow this link...

http://kayakfishingtrail.com/

Our team, Team Coffee Bluff, has 6 members heading to each leg to attempt to bring to our Bluff the statewide honors. There are individual honors to be awarded, but up to 6 individuals can form a team to compete. Our team is comprised of myself, Dr. Jerry Case, kayak fishing guru and legend Chris Chappell, Kevin Kappel, Jamie Davis, and Dustin Fackler. Each individual is awarded points much like the NASCAR system to determine a champion at each leg, plus the points add up at each event to determine a statewide champion after all 4 legs are complete. The team category works the same way...the top 4 scoring individuals on a team have their points total added to declare a leaderboard after the first leg is completed, and after all 4 legs are finished the total points for a team declares a statewide team champion. We are headed to Lake Harding with a zeal and determination to bring that honor to Coffee Bluff!! Wish us luck!!

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

There has been some more horrible weather and high winds this past week, but last weekend local swordfish specialists Zack, Brendin, and Zane Page of Windsor Forest hopped upon their ride the X-Ta-Sea to head out to open waters for a special Georgia treat...nice job, fellows!!

 

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Finally...the worst winter in forever is almost over, but January and February are behind us!!!

Jackson Walker and his father, Bill, took Bob Tedder out to 80 feet of water this past week and filled a cooler full of black seabass. They were some nice fish, and Bob is in the center holding the biggest one at 2 pounds 11 ounces. Many of the fish were over 2 pounds...nice job, gentlemen..

The reports this week include redfish, sheepshead, and black seabass. Stripers and trout are hiding somewhere, but it won't take long for a few to be found...

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

This past weekend saw tremendous annihilation of the sheepshead species!! That'll teach those varmints to hang around those wrecks and feed on fiddler crabs!

Robert Thornton and his brother David, along with Michael Hodges and Johnny Connors headed out in perfect conditions Saturday to fill up a cooler...how about this?????

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

What a beautiful day in the middle of winter....finally!! First, I have to say it has been a tremendous burden to find fiddler crabs for all you guys heading out this weekend, but believe me we tried for three weeks. Freezing temperatures in Florida have caused a BIG problem, but things will turn around!

Yesterday, Jerry Case suckered Scott McAllister away from the striped bass to go into the flats in search of reds. Bingo...good call! Here is a photo of Jerry's catch on Gulp baits....he told me he had hundreds around him but they were very spooky...

Jerry ran his boat over to the flats with his kayak, and launched the kayak from there to go into the shallows and was rewarded with this nice fish. He told me it put up a good fight, even though water temperatures were still cold. Here is his fish coming to the kayak...

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Tough, tough fishing yesterday for the only 5 people out on the water. The Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club held its monthly tournament yesterday...3 Bass Aggregate of either striped bass or redfish. The water temperature upriver fell 8 degrees in a little over a week, and the water temp closer to the ocean was barely 4 degrees better. My boat had snow in it when we started, and the wind chill froze it into a sheet of ice! If the water temperature had fallen another 2 or 3 degrees, I think we could have targeted halibut!! We pulled up a crab pot to see what was in it and found 3 Alaskan King Crabs!! Tough fishing conditions and we didn't see anything stirring, although later in the day we did see a pod of dolphin swirl and some shrimp skimper across the water, so there was life in the sea!

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

If it appears we haven't updated the fishing report in 9 days, that should tell you something about the fishing and the weather! If it hasn't been blowing, it's been raining, and several days it was blowing and raining!

We have, however, had several people in the past couple days with some fish. One fellow stopped by with a very nice striper in the 27 pound range that he caught while fishing the Savannah River last Friday. Thomas Bishop stopped by yesterday with a nice black drum and a nice sheepshead he caught on the wrecks...both fish went in the 6 pound range. Sorry, I've been doing some work with the camera at home and we didn't get any photos of these fish as there was no camera at the marina. 

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

 I, for one, am glad to see January come to an end...this weather has been way to wintry for our blood! However, it didn't keep a lot of folks from getting out and finding fish. On Friday, Jackson Walker and his father, along with Capt. TJ Ryan and another friend headed out to deep water to take advantage of calm winds and came back with a cooler full of nice seabass. The biggest was 2 1/2 pounds, but they all were plump seabass! Nice job, fellows!

On the same day, Jerry Case and Chris Chappell took their kayaks over to Little Tybee, and in a short period of time put a hurting on some reds cruising shallow water. They were using live mud minnows, and it seemed to be the ticket.

Yesterday morning , as the tides rose to extreme levels and rain was falling hard, several guys were in the shop discussing where the stripers come from and where they go in warmer months. Then, a discussion began about how small of a striper has ever been witnessed in the Ogeechee tributaries, and I told them although I've never seen a small striper, they could find them about 10 inches or so. Nobody would believe me, and when I told them that those little fellows could even be caught on artificials, a heated debate began.....soooo, Jerry Case and I took off up the Ogeechee around 3 pm yesterday in a falling rain to prove my point. Eventually, we found the terrain I was looking for, some falling trees in standing water, and I pitched a fatback gold deep diver near it, and BANG...just like that a small striper nailed it as pictured below...

 

The fish was certainly over 10 inches, probably closer to 13 inches, but we proved that small stripers do exist in the Ogeechee and they will hit artificials. As this was our main focal point of our fishing trip, we didn't even search out anything bigger, preferring to see how many schoolies we could catch, but as it was, the day quickly began getting late, so we had to leave our experiment for another day!

We had this same discussion earlier in the week about how small stripers are on the Savannah River, when another heated debate began about there never being any stripers in that river in the 27 inch range...they all seem to be BIG! So, Capt. TJ Ryan ventured up that way last Thursday and brought this striper back that weighed in just under 10 pounds at 28 inches to prove there are small stripers in the Savannah River, too!!

 

Not to be outdone, Jackson Walker and Mikey Morgan were bragging that if you hung around the marina late at night on a full moon, mullet would jump out of the river into your hands! Of course, I couldn't hang out that late to see if they knew what they were talking about, but when I woke this morning to a cup of coffee, I saw that I had a text message at 11:15 pm last night, and sure enough, those fellows proved that they knew what they were talking about, too!

All joking aside, there was some good fishing this past week, and TJ's striper puts him in the lead for our annual derby, and I will update the derby leaderboard after today is over.

Saturday, January 23rd, 2010

This past Wednesday was as pretty as it gets in January, and several people headed out in search of fish...first up is Bob Tedder and his son, Chris. This twosome headed out to the wrecks and came back with a cooler full of black seabass...pictured below is Bob Tedder with one of the largest of the day at 1 pound 5 ounces.

 

Jerry Case headed up river in search of the fabled Ogeechee Striper, who folks are beginning to call the Loch Ness Striper...No More! Jerry brought home a 4 pound 8 ounce striper pictured below...

 

Jerry kept the fish alive in his livewell while continuing to fish, brought the fish back for weigh-in as it counted in our annual derby, then released it alive right at our docks! What conservation!! AND, check our derby leaderboard and you will notice Jerry has regained the lead..... 

Monday, January 18th, 2010

What a crazy weekend of fishing! First, on Friday, Jerry Case, Chris Chappell, and I took some kayaks up into the flats to see if our heat wave warmed up some reds into the biting mode. The water temp was less than 43 degrees, and the water was very clear, but nevertheless, Chris and Jerry got on a school of reds in the 18-20 inch range and worked them for about 1 1/2 hours. The wind was less than 5 out of the northeast, and the trick was slowly moving the bait, and they seemed to only desire chartreuse...Chris was using a FishBites product, while Jerry was using a jerk bait. Chris did catch a couple on a gold colored DOA shrimp.

On Saturday and Sunday, the newly formed Coffee Bluff Inshore Fishing Club held its first monthly tournament. Saturday was heavy rains, and Sunday was heavy winds...tough fishing conditions! However, the winner and 1st place goes to Mike Smith, who caught several sheepshead and this whopper of a red that went 4 pounds 7 ounces! Congratulations, Mike!

 

Second place went to Jimmy Davis, who also caught several sheepshead and a redfish. Jimmy had the biggest sheepshead that went 2 pounds 4 ounces. Excellent job, Jimmy!

Hopefully, we see a warming trend with both air and water. There are fish being caught for those savvy enough and hardy enough to get out and find them!! Also, we had another change in our derby leaderboard, so check that out and see who now is in the lead...and check out our "Sale Items" page to see if anything might interest you!

 Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Finally, the bitter cold is gone and someone came in with a fish!!! There for a minute I forgot what type of business we were in!! Jay Turner came in today with a 15 pound 3 ounce striper caught in the Savannah River...nice job, Jay!

  

Monday, January 4th, 2010

Jay Turner came in yesterday to weigh in some fish for our annual derby. He had along with him some black drum and a limit of redfish. Here is his biggest red going 3 pounds 10 ounces.... 

  

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

Brrrrrrr.......but, for those willing to brave the Artic blast, this is your reward...

Jackson Walker reeled in this 7 pound 9 ounce sheepshead recently while fishing in the river system around dock pilings! Great job, Jackson!

There are reports of striped bass continuing to trickle in, with some reds and scattered trout, but it seems everyone is waiting for the cold spell to snap before heading back out for sheepshead and stripers. 

Sunday, December 27th, 2009

We have had some good reports from those who could either brave the conditions or brave the family requests to not go over the holidays, but here is what we have heard and seen...

We have weighed in our first Ogeechee striper at 9 pounds 10 ounces yesterday, caught on live mud minnows. It was a pretty fish and we have heard of several or more caught in the Ogeechee system, but this is the first one we have seen...caught by Thomas Bishop...nice fish!!

In the past several days, we have weighed in, seen, or heard of black sea bass and sheepshead on the wrecks...trout and redfish in the creeks and flats, and sheepshead on the inside around pilings and structure. Capt. TJ Ryan found several big reds this evening around structure using live mud minnows, also.

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

With holidays, flooding, wind, rain, etc...fishing has not been easy, but nevertheless, some guys are getting out and finding fish. The catch list these past few days includes black seabass, as evidenced by Thomas Bishop, pictured below with a 2 pound 7 ouncer he came in with yesterday!

There have also been reports of flounder, redfish, trout, and sheepshead. Jay Turner came in yesterday with a flounder, black seabass, and a sheepshead, pictured below...

 

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

There has been some crazy fog rolling around Savannah the past couple days, but that didn't stop a few fishermen from getting out. When the fog was at its thickest Monday morning, 5 of us set off in two boats loaded down with 5 kayaks to hit the calm, slick flats in search of redfish...

Once we staged our vessels and launched the kayaks, we didn't take long to paddle to our skinny water destination, and within a few minutes, the reds were on fire! Two of our boats were hooked up and the big reds seemed to know how to ram the kayaks into each other...big bruiser reds were yanking us all over the place, and as Jerry Case was hooked up, my fish turned me into him and I was forced to T-bone Jerry's kayak with no way of slowing down or stopping...it literally looked like a demolition derby! Then Jerry Case and David Roach had two fish that decided to wrap each other up, and another fiasco ensued with no way to calm it...crazy but fun fishing!! Chris Chappell was along and landed some nice reds, as pictured here...

 

David Sloan was with us for his first ever sleigh ride, and powering the Commander, he soon jumped in on the fracus...

It was a great day of fishing with some fine friends...but, as we made our way back to our vessels at dead low, we made a tactical error in positioning, and found ourselves aground...that was when Chris discovered a new purpose for a kayak....a YakTow, or in this case, a YakShove...

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

Weather has been hardly to our liking...we had to postpone the 1st Annual Christmas Light Parade until next Saturday, December 19th, at 7 pm. Very few fishermen have been out and about, but we have had a few chasing stripers to no avail.

However, David Sloan went out into some sloppy mess yesterday and came in with this nice 4 pound 4 ounce redfish that he caught, proving that the weather can be foul and fish will still bite...nice job, Mr. Sloan!

 

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

Some pretty ugly weather kept many fishermen away, and unfortunately, I don't have any photos, but I do have a couple reports from those who braved the conditions...

First, David Sloan walked over and picked up a handful of fiddler crabs Friday afternoon, then walked down to his docks at the Coffee Bluff Marine Rescue Squadron, and was back within 5 minutes to weigh in a 1 pound 2 ounce sheepshead...if that isn't easy fishing, what is? Everybody should be able to take some fiddlers to their favorite piling right now and have a mess of sheepshead for dinner if they so disire! 

Thomas Bishop and a couple of his friends stopped by yesterday afternoon with a cooler full of black seabass and flounder that they caught offshore on Friday. They used sabiki rigs to catch some live bait, then drift fished them around some wrecks to catch some very nice flounder. The biggest one we weighed in was 4 pounds 15 ounces, and the biggest seabass was just under 2 pounds. Nice job, fellows! 

 

 Monday, November 30th, 2009

We had beautiful weather for Thanksgiving weekend, and lots of folks were out and about. The fish catching list included sheepshead, speckled trout, redfish, and black seabass. Pictured above is Carlie Smith with a nice 4 pound + sheepshead...black drum...sheepshead...black drum...sheepshead...black drum...sheepshead...black drum...sheepshead...black drum... he and his party landed on Saturday.

Carlie and his fishing buddy also got into a few trout, pictured below...

 

 

Speaking of trout, a couple real nice folks from Asheville, North Carolina, came by on Saturday and Sunday and rented a couple kayaks to venture out into unfamiliar grounds to see if they could hook into something of the saltwater variety. Damien Wells was using a fly rod loaded with a chartreuse clauser and landed this little fellow:

His friend, Hayley Roper, used Gulp Pearl White Swimming Mullet to find a trout for herself, also...Great job for first timers!

 

  

A few boats explored the depths of the wrecks to see what was biting, and we weighed in a few fat black seabass...that fishery should start heating up, and the sheepshead bite is starting to heat up, and we had a report of a couple stripers, so fishing for the cooler winter months is starting to come in!  

And finally, Chris Chappell and Jerry Case put their kayaks in the vessel and headed off to redfish stomping grounds, and well, it is better if I let Chris describe it...here is his report from Georgia Kayak Fishing Association's Saltwater Forum: "The water temps are down in the fifties and the redfish are moving onto the flats in big schools. The cooler water also results in very clear water. So sneaking up on the fish recquires extra stealth...perfect for us kayak fisherman.
Yesterday I got an invite from Coffeebluffseaman to join him on a trip to explore some flats. Besides being a good fishing buddy, Jerry is also one funny MoFo!!! We had perfect weather for sight fishing. Clear skies, wind light and variable with a high around sixty....doesn't get any better than that.
Upon arriving at the flats in question we realized we misjudged the tides a bit, no worries though. We saw mudding reds all over the place. They were a little shy and would only follow my top water plug up to the kayak and then spook. We gave up on the top water bite and started finesse fishing. We landed a couple of smaller fish first but then the big boys showed up to play.
Me and Jerry were side by side when off in the distance we see fifty plus big azz "V-wakes" pushing straight at us....talk about an adrenaline rush!!!
Soon as they got within range we started blasting and then the drags started screaming. For the next three hours we would see school after school, it was a red fish massacre and one hell of a good time."

Here are a couple photo's from their outing...great job, guys!!

 

 

 

 Friday, November 27th, 2009

There were some high winds today, but that didn't stop Jackson Walker and his son, Will, from going out to get a few sheepshead by using their small boat to manuever around some dock pilings along the Forest River...Jackson said they had better luck as the tide neared its peak. Their photo is above. All fish were caught on live fiddler crabs, which we have plenty in stock and will continue to carry right on through the winter!

Speaking of sheepshead, Jerry Case went after some trout yesterday and landed this nice 4 + pound sheepshead on live shrimp...a Thanksgiving treat for the good doctor... 

 

This past Tuesday found some good action from a couple of our local customers...Carlie Smith and his friend Chuck Carter chased after some trout and I would say they found some good action! Here is a photo of this dynamic duo...

On the same day, Jeff Soss and his son, Jeff Soss, Jr. came back with a nice cooler full of reds and trout...

 

  

Jeff even got into some that were to big to keep...good job fellows!!

  

 

 Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Matthew Lee stopped by a few days ago to add this nice 6 pound sheepshead pictured above to the derby board...to date Matthew has the largest sheepshead. We now have 43 participants in this year long derby, and if you click over to "Fish Derby" you will see an updated leader board as of this past Sunday.

 

 

Last Saturday, Chris Chappell and Dr. Jerry Case decided to paddle their kayaks up into some skinny water. Chris decided to start out with top water and he was well rewarded! Take a look at the photo above and see what is still hooked in the reds mouth.

Immediately thereafter, Jerry whopped one on Gulp baits, as pictured below. Nice job, fellows!!

 

  

 

 Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Amy and I took a couple kayaks up into the flats yesterday afternoon...well, pictures are worth a thousand words! Above is a picture of Amy landing her first red ever from a kayak expedition...what a tremendous amount of fun. I had a great time trying to paddle into range for a picture as the reds pulled her around on a redfish sleigh ride! We were only using plastics, and the fish were everywhere and impossible to miss, as their beautiful bronze backs were sticking out of the 6 inch water depths we were fishing!

Everywhere we turned reds were swarming!! It was fantastic fishing and it will continue to be red hot throughout the winter if early indictions are accurate..

What was the most fun was watching these fish pull the kayaks around with no way to slow them down but by waiting for the drag to finally catch up to the strength of the red beast!

Of course, before we unloaded the kayaks from the Pathfinder, I pulled up to a good spot and dropped a Gulp on a nice rake and blasted a good red before hopping into the yak...they are everywhere right now and the only people not catching them are folks not out fishing!

When we got back to the dock yesterday afternoon, we found Carlie Smith had been out trout fishing, and I would say he had one hell of a day also! Take a look at his nice catch! Terrific job, Carlie...

 

 Monday, November 16th, 2009

There has been a stong offshore swell far, far away from the U.S. that has coincided with the astronomical high tides to make coastal Georgia a raging river as the tides rise and fall, but that didn't stop some folks from going out and blasting some fish! Above is a picture of Ryan Hartwig from Wilmington Island, and below is a picture of Jason & John O'Kane. The three fished together yesterday in Ossabaw and did really well.

Jason O'Kane emailed me this report..."Based on advice from the friendly Coffee Bluff Marina operator, Capt. Ray, one local fisherman, Jason O'Kane of Coffee Bluff, his dad, John O'Kane from Thomson GA, and friend, Ryan Hartwig from Wilmington Island, went out looking for reds Saturday.  The bite was slow until low tide.  Winds were moderate but with bright sun and a high in the 70's, it was a gorgeous day.  Fishing in water as shallow as their boat would allow, they came across a group of reds in Ossabaw Sound.  Ryan had the best luck of the day, 5 under 23 inches and 4 over.  Jason and his dad, John, landed 5 fish for the day including two nice trout.  The trick for the day was a slow retrieve of soft plastics in the shallows.  The fisherman attributed Ryan's greater catch to either his rig that allowed for slightly longer casts into the shallows or the Coffee Bluff Marina hat he had just purchased earlier in the morning.  Either way, Jason and John were confident no difference in skill was involved."

On Saturday, while fishing off the docks at Coffee Bluff Marine Rescue Squadran, young Michael McAllister hooked a nice gar while using live shrimp. Here is a photo of Michael and his father, Scott, holding the fish up for a picture.

Over the past week, many of these garfish have been caught up our neck of the woods using live shrimp under a cork...coastal Georgia certainly has an amazing array of species that live together in these brackish waters.

Finally, we welcome Dr. Jerry Case to the world of kayak ownership! As many folks are aware, Coffee Bluff Marina is now a kayak dealership for Wilderness Systems kayaks. We carry the Tarpon 120 Angler, Tarpon 140 Angler, Tarpon 160 Angler, Ride 135 Angler, and the Commander 120 Angler. We offer them for sale or rent, and we offer guided kayak trips that leave directly from the marina, or we'll carry you by boat with the kayaks to a destination and set you out to fish in unchartered kayak territory. We are working on the "Kayaking" page right now and hope to have it up soon, but we'd like to thank Dr. Case for being the first purchaser of a Wilderness System kayak from the marina...Jerry is now the proud owner of the Ride 135!

Pictured above is Jerry with his new vessel, along with my wife, Amy, assisting as she always does. At Coffee Bluff Marina, we want you to be happy with your purchase, so we have implemented a "Try Before You Buy" program. You can rent the Commander, Tarpon, or Ride of any size and try them out. When you settle on a product, we simply deduct the rental price from the sale price. Jerry paddled a Commander and a Tarpon 120 on two separate fishing excursions before trying out the Ride 135 and settling on that as his new access vessel for shallow water redfish stalking! When we filmed the kayak show for "Nuts & Bolts About Fishing" several weeks ago (which I understand is set to air in early December), Jerry went along as a scouting party in the Commander 120, pictured below... 

We look forward to posting some of Jerry's fishing reports from his new kayak in the near future!

 

 Saturday, November 14th, 2009

I believe the latest wind and rain storm has left us, and it looks like perfect winds and tides in the near future!

Capt. TJ Ryan stopped by yesterday evening with a very nice flounder and sheepshead he hauled in...the flounder went almost 4 pounds and the sheepshead went over 5 pounds! The fish were landed on some kind of new bait called "None of your Damn Business". With these fish, TJ has advanced his short lived lead in our year-long fishing derby!

On Thursday, with the winds howling and the slight rain falling, we couldn't figure anything better to do than to chase a striper or two...within minutes I hung into something that felt solid like a big red..reports of stripers are beginning to trickle in, so be on the lookout.

Friday was a fun day! Chris Chappell, Jerry Case, Scott McAllister, Mike Morgan, and I took 4 kayaks up into the flats to search out some reds...even though the wind made fishing difficult, the fish were there and Scott caught 2 reds and a trout, while Jerry and Mikey either had them dead to rights or missed an opportunity. I struck out, but Chris had a good time, catching about 7 in some very skinny water while I sat on the outside not being able to get the Pathfinder in. Here are a couple of his fish from the skinny flats.

 

  

Look for fairer conditions over the next couple days, and hope to see everyone on the water soon!

 

 Monday, November 9th, 2009

We had a great turn out for the 2009 Alderman's Cup Grand Slam Tournament this past Saturday! A total of 29 boats and 64 people entered this great event which allowed for proceeds to be donated to the Veterans Council of Chatham County's WWII Monument Fund. Out of 29 boats, 12 came back with the Grand Slam under slightly hard conditions...springing tides, muddy waters in a lot of locations, and a low tide falling early, early in the morning. I fished in the tournament with my friend Chris Chappell, and we had a banana of a day! The only thing we could get into were some big reds cruising along the grass...these fish were every bit of 35-36 inches, and they were inhaling the Gulp 4-inch shrimp like they were very hungry...above is a picture of one of the fish. Below is a picture of the tail of one of the fish, and you can see how meaty they were in relation to my hand size....needless to say, it was hard to leave this school to pursue the grand slam fish for the tournament!

Anyway, a HUGE congratulations to the winners of the 2009 Alderman's Cup Grand Slam Tournament, and here are the results...unfortunately, since I was fishing the event and helping with the weigh-ins, I could not get any pictures, but Alderman Tony Thomas has many that he took, and as soon as he sends them to me, I will post them on the updated report. 

1st Place for the Grand Slam Event with the Alderman's Cup and $1,000 first place prize is Jimmy Roberts and Alan Daniels with a combined weight of 11 pounds and 12 ounces.

2nd Place was Chris Herrington and James Keeran with a combined weight of 11 pounds 3.8 ounces. They went away with a check for $500.

3rd Place and $250 went to Joey Wigley and Brent McCullough with a combined weight of 10 pounds 8.8 ounces. If anyone has anyway of contacting Joey or Brent, please let them know that they forgot to leave the trophy so we can have their names imprinted on it!!

There were also plaques and prizes for the biggest fish of each category, and here are those winners:

 Biggest Flounder went to Chris Herrington with a 4 pound 8.4 ounce doormat!

 Biggest Speckled Trout went to Michael Hodges with a 3 pound 7.2 ounce gator trout!

 Biggest Redfish went to Jimmy Roberts with a 4 pound 14.2 ounce whopper!

Thanks to all for coming out to Coffee Bluff Marina and getting a hint of what we have to offer in the future.

As for yesterday, we had several boats out, but many were coming in with a few fish, mostly trout and reds. Nobody that we saw was bragging, although a good amount of fish was landed. Redfish, speckled trout, flounder, whiting, sheepshead, black drum, and even a couple striped bass were all reported over the past few days.

 

 Saturday, October 31st, 2009

What a terrific day we had this past Thursday! The film crew from "Nuts & Bolts About Fishing" was on hand to allow us to take them out in the flats with kayaks in tow to discover a whole different world where boats must leave with the tide, but kayaks can stay behind and stealthily punish the bruiser reds.....somewhere out there a school of reds is saying among themselves "Man O' Man, now who in the hell figured this out??" and the answer will come back "Coffee Bluff Marina!!"

Pictured above is Tony Narcisse, president of the Georgia Kayak Fishing Association. He came down from Atlanta to take part in the shoot, and did he have a good time??!! Tony, at one point, was positioned to where the big reds were trying to push past him, and as he was hooked up, three of four punched through him and his kayak to get past. His kayak literally raised up as they pushed under him! 

This photo above shows Tony eagerly awaiting an ambush as myself, Jackson Walker, and David, with the cameras, sit in my boat pointing out and capturing the action on film. This will make for some wonderful coverage and I believe it is going to air the week of Thanksgiving or the week after on Fox Sports South Network (FSS). The "Nuts & Bolts About Fishing" airs on Thursdays at noon and Sundays at 7 am. We'll post when it should air as the time comes near, but Capt. Cefus McRae and David are really nice guys and we enjoyed working with them. Check out the "Nuts & Bolts About Fishing" website as you may find some information that could help catch more fish! http://www.nutsandboltsfishing.com/

 

Of course, no kayak adventure would be complete without last week's Kayak Tournament champion tagging along to show Capt. Cefus where and how to get on the fish. Pictured above is Capt. Cefus with Chris Chappell. Chris is holding up one of many reds he caught, and he and Cefus are on air discussing the catch.

Our friend, Jackson Walker, went along and took his 25 foot Parker to bring the kayaks for the adventure. As a reward for his hospitality, I showed him how to properly use a brand new rod and reel he purchased from us as I landed a nice bruiser red from the boat, allowing the cameraman opportunity to get some close up footage of what a red can do. Nice rod & reel combo, Jackson!

Also along for the journey was Dr. Jerry Case. Jerry was going to serve as the scout team just in case we couldn't find them. By the time I called him to tell him we were on them, he had already boated 4 in his kayak, his first kayak fishing experience. Jerry said he was thrilled as these bruiser reds pulled him around in his kayak in 6 inches of water. Below is a picture of him bringing one to his kayak.

Catching 4 big reds on your first kayak trip is impressive, and Jerry showed his skill as he put one in the boat, pictured below.

This is an exciting new concept, and we at Coffee Bluff Marina are the first and only bait and tackle shop/marina on the coast of Georgia to embrace the sport. We offer guided kayak fishing excursions leaving directly from the marina, and also our backcountry kayaking. We'll load you up with the kayaks and Chris (the best guide on the coast) and I will carry you to an area boaters never venture to. We'll drop you off and let Chris show you a world where very, very few have ever traveled. Give me another week and the page titled "Kayaking" will have all that information and more. We'll also post the airing of "Nuts & Bolts About Fishing" as soon as we hear the air date.

Don't forget, Saturday, November 7th, 2009, the 2009 Alderman's Cup Grand Slam Tournament will be held out of Coffee Bluff Marina. For more information, click on the "News and Events" page, or give us a call at the marina at 925-7474.

 

 Monday, October 26th, 2009

Troy Gattis ambled over to the marina carrying a 4 pound 15 ounce flounder yesterday, so his picture is above with his big doormat. We saw several flounder the past few days, but none as big as this fattie flattie. Nice job, Troy!

Amy and I would like to extend a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to our friend and local bench warmer Chris Chappell for winning the Georgia Kayak Fishing Association's 2009 Charity Coastal Tournament this past Saturday, the 24th!! Chris finished 1st Place with a 54" grand slam...his redfish went 22 inches, his trout went 15 inches, and his flounder went 17 inches. I am proud that Chris takes the time out of his busy schedule to drop in on us at the Bluff to keep us informed of fishing and kayak information...big, big things are on the horizon!! I am equally proud and simply damn happy that Chris is going to be my partner in the upcoming 2009 Alderman's Cup Grand Slam Tournament in less than two weeks out of our marina! All I have to do is drive the boat and sip on some beers and let Chris handle the rest! Here is a picture of Chris doing what he does best...

 

The past several days has seen some tremendous redfish action, from keeper size to big bulls. Out on the shoals, big bull reds continue to haunt our grounds...they are fairly easy to catch if you want to have your picture taken with one. Simply cruise up to some shallow shoals being careful to keep the boat in deeper water where you won't get swamped, anchor up, and toss some mullet in the rougher, shallower waters. Or, if you want to have some fun, stop by and check out our 3 or 4 inch Gulp Pogy in various colors, then take them out to the shoals and let'em fly! Better hurry, though, as the big bull reds won't be around all year!

This past weekend, we weighed in several reds right at 23 inches or slighly under that were beginning to show signs of fattening up. Capt. TJ Ryan stopped by with one that weighed in at 5 pounds 5 ounces. Several others clipped the 5 pound mark. Speckled trout are also on the catch list, mostly using live shrimp or live mud minnows, but a good amount also being caught on DOA, Gulps, and FishBites. Bigger flounder are also being caught, and many are in the 3 to 4 pound range. One of Capt. TJ Ryan's speckled trout went 2 pounds 15 ounces, pictured below.

Several other fishermen had great days, as evidenced by Gordon Gnam with his redfish and trout pictured below from yesterday's hot action. Things are getting fired up on the Bluff!!  Stop by and check it all out!!

 Don't forget, Saturday, November 7th, 2009, the 2009 Alderman's Cup Grand Slam Tournament will be held out of Coffee Bluff Marina. For more information, click on the "News and Events" page, or give us a call at the marina at 925-7474.

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Fall was upon us this past weekend...we had few fishermen out as afternoon winds were kicking it up and the tides were running fast. This past Saturday we did see a few whiting come into the docks, along with a few trout and redfish. Alderman Tony Thomas stopped in with a nice 1 pound 14 ounce trout, and some pictures of some oversized redfish that he caught and released while fishing from his boat The Majestic. His fish were caught on DOA shrimp and live shrimp.

On Sunday (yesterday) we had a couple boats go out and search. One came in with a nice flounder, but mostly we heard of tough fishing conditions and scattered trout, whiting, and redfish. The flounder that are being caught are nice size flounder, and hopefully will continue for the next several weeks as the 2009 Alderman's Cup Grand Slam Tournament comes to town! For details about the tournament, click onto the "News and Events" page to read more about it.

 Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

As I write this report the rain is coming down, but fear not! It should push out of here by tomorrow and the weekend is looking fairly nice! This gives us a chance to get out some inventory that was attempted to be delivered yesterday, but they arrived just after we closed, so today we have a big shipment of new reels for 2010, Gulps, rods, etc., etc., coming to town...stop by to check it all out!

The picture above is Charles Harris who landed a grand slam this past Sunday while out fishing with his father, Chip. They had numerous redfish and a few trout, and one nice flounder...great job, Charles.

The picture below is Robert Carver who stopped by with a whopping 2 pound 6 ounce black drum he landed off the docks just down the river from us, also caught on Sunday. Black drum of this size have been reported more often recently, but the main catch up and down the coast the past few days continue to be the redfish, with trout and flounder coming in a close second. 

 

 

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

The picture above is Moe Sibilio who came in yesterday with this nice redfish going 4 pounds 14 ounces. Notice the 7 spots on one side, also...pretty fish. Yesterday we heard of a few trout scattered around, and some flounder were caught as well. We weighed in a real nice flounder caught by young Tyler Smith that went close to 3 pounds! We also heard of a report that a flounder went just over 6 pounds. The best of the day was red action...Capt. Fuzzy from the Ford Plantation stopped by and told us of some big bull reds that he and his party caught, and several boaters spoke to us of some good keeper size reds, and a few that were to big to keep. The big bull red action has hit a peek, with many being reported up and down the coast from Tybee to St. Catherines.

Reports of some large sheepshead has trickled in from some guys who fished the Savannah River jetties, along with some bigger size trout. For the bottom fishermen, there is no shortage of whiting around, as you should easily be able to find them, along with some scattered black drum.

 Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Man Ol' Man...the reds are hot!!! Went up into the flats this morning and decided it was OK to get stuck when bruiser reds are creaming your Gulp baits!!  Within 5 minutes we had a grand slam...redfish, trout, and flounder. All nice size, all eager to pull drag. The bite lasted until we had to leave...this is going to be a great fall season of fishing!!

 

 Monday, October 5th, 2009

There were more tripletails in the area this past Saturday than you could shake a hook at! The above photo is of Scott McAllister with two that he weighed in, although he caught and landed 5 and released three. His biggest went a whopping 14 pounds 4 ounces! The photo below is David Roach with a couple that his boat caught while out Saturday. His boat actually came in with three, as Jerry Case caught two and David had the biggest. The picture below that one is another tripletail that came in Friday!

 

 

As yesterday was coming to a close, Captain TJ Ryan came in with a nice catch of redfish and flounder, and yes...even a whiting, to bump his total derby catch up to 7 species taking Scott McAllister's brief lead away. TJ's catch is below, sans the whiting. He kept the whiting alive in his livewell and released them unharmed after weighing it in! Great job, TJ!! 

There were a good amount of trout and reds this past few days. Several of the catches included flounder, although not as many as we had expected with light winds and gentle moving waters. The speckled trout and redfish action has been terrific, though, and should only get better as the fall moves in!

  Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

The last day of September brings relief from the heat, and tons of fish! Fall fishing has begun, and this past weekend we had a good amount of weigh-ins for our annual fish derby! Redfish, trout, sheepshead, black drum, whiting, tripletail, and flounder all came in to the scales.

Above is a picture of Moe Sibilio with a nice trout he brought by Sunday afternoon. It was one of the biggest trout we saw this past weekend, and there were many trout coming in...mostly smaller ones, but a few fat ones, too. Below is a picture of Carlie Smith, who stopped by with a nice red and a black drum to add to his list for the derby.

 

Karl Branch was out on Saturday with John Giddens, and when they came back they had a mess of nice fish...trout and reds as pictured below with Karl holding up a few.

Finally, as we were closing Sunday evening, David Sloan stopped by with this nice red pictured below to put on the derby board! All in all, it was a fantastic weekend to be on the water. TJ Ryan also stopped by Monday afternoon to weigh in a couple tripletail. We were busy all weekend pulling out the scale to weigh in fish!

  Monday, September 21st, 2009

Amy and I are back from a week on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and upon our return we heard that the past week was mostly filled with rains, winds, and high tides; however, we did hear of various trout reports that were encouraging in our waters, along with some sheepshead and black drum being weighed in for our annual fish derby.

Prior to our leaving the area, Jerry Case and Jimmy Davis came into the shop on separate days with tripletail to put on the derby board.

 

Once these tides begin to slow down, I think the fishing will get hot! Check out the photos of Jerry Case and Jimmy Davis with their tripletails caught prior to last week, and we'll get a new update on here within the next couple days!

  Monday, September 7th, 2009

Wow! What a busy holiday weekend for Coffee Bluff Marina! Lots of boats out the past couple days, but most were probing the fishing grounds and pleasure riding.

Our local bench warmer, John Giddens, came in with a very nice flounder weighing 3 pounds 4 ounces. His flounder is pictured above. Chris Chappell came in Saturday afternoon with several very nice sheepshead, one going 3 pounds 6 ounces to get on the board for the fishing derby.

There are also some smaller trout being caught, and a few whiting coming in. Things should be getting better as the water temperatures begin to drop slightly.

Also, with the changing of the daylight, season, etc., our hours will begin to change today. Our schedule will still be 7 days per week, but on Monday through Thursday, we will be open 7 am until 5 pm, on Friday we will be open 7 am until 6 pm, and on Saturday and Sunday we will open 6 am until 6 pm.

  Friday, September 4th, 2009

The 1st Annual Coffee Bluff Marina Fish Derby got off with a bang yesterday with Dr. Jerry Case coming in with a nice trout and a nice flounder to take the 1st lead.! His photo is above with his nice catch.

His lead didn't last long, though, as around noon today David Sloan came in with a grand slam...a redfish, trout, and flounder to take the lead...BUT, TJ Ryan came in this evening to take the lead with a redfish, trout, flounder, and a black drum! With a mere 361 days to go to determine the champion, things are getting heated up!

Chris Chappell, the local kayak fishing wizard, caught a bunch of trout yesterday from his kayak, and also hooked a gator on a DOA...that isn't a gator trout, by the way, but an actual alligator!

  Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Mikey Morgan took a ride with Jackson Walker this past Sunday and landed this nice amberjack pictured above...on a cedar plug!!

Redfish and trout continue to be caught up and down the coast. Jimmy Davis came in yesterday with another banner day, and several people we talked with said they are really nailing the trout, although many are small. The fall is shaping up to be a great year!

Check out this photo of Craig Adams, who was spearfishing this past Sunday aboard Jackson Walker's boat as well...a nice hog snapper!

 

 

  Sunday, August 30th 2009

Mason Sloan, all the way from San Diego, has been fishing with his grandfather, David Sloan, the past several days. His picture is above with a nice red they landed...they actually have been tearing the bass up! Actually, nearly everybody has been tearing the redfish up! Live baits, artificial baits such as Gulps, FishBites, DOA...you name it, and it has been working!

The redfish bite has been really, really good. Chris Chappell took his kayak into some areas yesterday where he caught tons of trout, many on top water. He also found some good redfish action, too.

Check out this photo of our Alderman, Tony Thomas, with a Grand Slam he hit yesterday...trout, reds, and flounder! The red went just under 23 inches...fishing is really good right now and it is only going to get better!

 

 

  Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

Man, one of life's greatest rewards is not just catching fish, but being right about how to catch them!! Take a look at the photo above of my friend Chris Chappell fishing from his kayak yesterday. We've always known of a few spots back in the flats where vessels have to vacate as the water continues to drop, but a kayak can stay and fish. We loaded Chris' kayak and gear in the Pathfinder and headed off yesterday about 11am. If you want to see some crazy pictures of Chris hammering some nice 30 inch reds, go to this link on his kayak forum and check out his pix and report!http://atlantakayakfishing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7986 is the link to cut and paste...you'll be quite amazed. Here it is August in skinny water and Chris beat them to pieces using Gulp pearl white swimming mullet. In fact, Chris had only a few baits when I dropped him off, so I handed him a tub of these baits that had been sitting in my console since last fall...mold was growing on the lid!

We have decided to start running charter trips back up in the flats with kayakers in mind...stay tuned for more info!

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

David Sloan's granddaughter came all the way from San Diego a couple weeks ago and found some awesome redfishing.

These typical summer days of rain and storms, coupled with springing tides, has kept most boaters in the past several days. However, one or two ventured out, and the catches they had were better than fair for trout and reds.

Prior to the new moon, there were also some good reports of Spanish mackerel. Lots of blue crabs up the rivers for those wishing to have a feast of crab.

The Grand Re-Opening was held yesterday, and we were very surprised by the turn-out and support! Thanks to all who came out and showed how fortunate we are to be part of a wonderful community.

Thanks go out to Coffee Bluff Marine Rescue for the awesome food. The Boston butts were first class! Thanks to Tim, Mikey Morgan, Dr. Jerry Case, David Roach, David Sloan, and all the others who stood over the smoke to see the job through! Thanks to Alderman Tony Thomas for your tremendous support and reminding us that we need barbeque sauce for the pig! Thanks to Chris Chappell, Trey Legget, Arthur Fleming, and Mark Munn for all the drinks through Georgia Kayak Fishing Association. Your support was monumental and we look forward to the future with our relationship. Thanks also goes out to Michael Carr from FishBites for spending time with us and showing how great a product they have...I'm sure there will be quite a few trout and bass, and flounder, who show up on the end of a FishBite this fall! Thanks also goes out to Abu Garcia, Eagle Claw, Uncle Josh's Saltwater Baits, and Flying Fishermen for the great door prizes. 

 

 

Contact Us

Coffee Bluff Marina
14915 Coffee Bluff Rd.
Savannah, GA 31419
912-925-7474
866-8-MARINA
gofish@coffeebluffmarina.net

 

Service Area
Savannah and Coastal Georgia

 

Hours of Operation
Open 7 Days per Week
Mon - Thur 7 am until 5 pm
Fri 7 am until 6 pm
Sat & Sun 6 am until 6 pm

 

Links
Nuts and Bolts Fishing
Atlanta Kayak Fishing
Ossabaw Island
Chef Joe And All