Early Summer Savannah River: Bass, Cats & Current Seams—Fish the Tides Right

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Savannah River fishing report for the Georgia–South Carolina line. We’re riding a classic early‑summer pattern. Skies are starting mostly clear with a light southwest breeze, warming quick into the upper 80s this afternoon, humidity thick, and the chance of a pop‑up thunderstorm late day. Morning starts comfortable, but it’ll turn steamy by lunch, so plan those longer runs early or late. On the coast side feeding this system, NOAA’s tide tables for Savannah show a predawn low and a strong incoming through the morning, peaking mid‑day, then falling hard late afternoon into the evening. That translates upriver to a nice push of cleaner water on the mid‑tide, then good current seams on the outgoing around the main bends and creek mouths. Sunrise hits just after six local time and sunset just after eight‑thirty, giving a long low‑light window. First light to about 9 a.m. and then the last two hours before dark are your money times. Fish activity has been solid all week. Local tackle shops and dock talk up and down from Port Wentworth to Augusta report: - Largemouth bass and shoal bass chewing around current breaks, riprap, and laydowns. - Good numbers of eating‑size blue catfish and some bigger flatheads pulled from deeper bends. - Striped bass and hybrids popping up below the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam and around any cooler inflow. - Bream and redbreast sunfish stacked on woody cover along the edges. Bass catches have been 10–20 fish mornings for folks who stick with it, with the better largemouth in the 3–5 lb range and shoal bass commonly 1–3 lbs. Cat guys soaking baits after dark are boating 10‑plus fish nights, with a few fish pushing 20–30 lbs reported along deep ledges. Panfish anglers filling half to full coolers when they find the right brush. Best artificial lures right now: - For bass: **green pumpkin or junebug Texas‑rig worms**, 3/8 oz **black‑blue jigs**, and **white or shad‑pattern spinnerbaits** slow‑rolled through current breaks. Topwater walkers and poppers at daybreak along grass edges and riprap are getting crushed. - For stripes and hybrids below the dams: **1/2–3/4 oz swimbaits**, soft plastics on jigheads, and silver spoons worked through current. - For bream: small **beetle spins**, tiny grubs, or crickets under a cork tight to wood. Best natural bait: - **Cut shad** and **live bream** for big cats on the deep outside bends, especially at dusk and after dark. - **Nightcrawlers** and **red wigglers** for mixed bream and small cats along the banks. - **Live shiners** around timber and rock for largemouth when the sun gets high. Couple of hot spots to circle on your map: - The stretch **below the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam**: great current, oxygen, and a mix of bass, cats, and linesides. Target eddies behind big rocks and the first deep drops. - The bends and creek mouths **around Port Wentworth and up toward Houlihan Bridge**: solid catfish and bass on the ledges and around old timber, especially on that outgoing tide. Water’s a typical river stain, clearing a touch on the incoming. Downsizing line a bit and sticking with natural colors in the clearer stretches will help. Play the current, fish that moving water, and don’t be afraid to hop if a spot doesn’t show life in 15–20 minutes. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn