Savannah River Early Summer: Cats, Reds, and Stripers in the Heat

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Savannah River fishing report, talking both the Georgia and South Carolina side. We’re sitting on a warm, muggy early‑summer pattern. Overnight lows hugging the low 70s, climbing into the mid to upper 80s by afternoon, with that classic coastal humidity and a light southwest breeze most of the day. Skies are partly cloudy, with a chance of a pop‑up shower inland late in the afternoon. Sunrise comes early over the marsh, sunset lands late enough to give you a solid evening bite window. Tides around Savannah and up the river are running a typical semi‑diurnal cycle – good water movement on both morning and evening turns. Expect a solid incoming tide to push clean, slightly cooler water upriver, and a fairly strong outgoing to pull bait off the flats and edges. Current is your friend here: fish the first couple of hours of either side of the tide change for the best action. Slack water has been slow. Water is stained to muddy in the main river with better clarity on feeder creeks, rice canals, and backwater bends. Surface temps are running warm, pushing fish to shade, current seams, and deeper ledges by mid‑day. Early and late, you’ll still see some surface life along grass lines and around wood. Recent reports along the Savannah, from Port Wentworth down toward Elba Island and up toward New Savannah Bluff, have been solid for a mixed bag. Anglers are picking up good numbers of channel and blue catfish on cut shad, cut mullet, and chicken liver on the deeper bends and outside turns. A few flatheads are showing up on live bream fished tight to heavy structure. Striped bass and hybrid action is spotty but steady enough if you put in the time near current breaks, the training walls, and bridge pylons. Smaller fish are more common, but there have been some better linesides caught at first light on swimbaits and bucktail jigs worked just under the surface. In the brackish stretches and side creeks, folks are tangling with redfish, speckled trout, and the occasional flounder. Reds have been cruising the grass edges on the flooding tide; trout are hanging on shell bars and deeper cuts where cooler water lays in. Bream and crappie action is decent in the quieter oxbows and backwaters, especially around laydowns and old pilings. Best lures right now: Soft plastics on 1/8–1/4 oz jig heads in natural baitfish colors, particularly paddle‑tails and flukes, are putting trout and schoolie stripers in the boat. Gold and silver spoons are still a Savannah River staple for reds and stripers in the stained water. Medium‑diving crankbaits in shad and craw patterns are producing largemouth and spots in the upper, more freshwater stretches. For topwater, early and late try walk‑the‑dog plugs and poppers along grass lines and seawalls. Best bait: Cut shad, mullet, or menhaden for cats and bigger stripers. Live shrimp or mud minnows under a cork in the brackish zone for trout, reds, and flounder. Nightcrawlers and crickets for panfish around woody cover. If you can get fresh local bait, it will out‑produce frozen most days. A couple of hot spots to keep in mind: First, the area around the Talmadge Memorial Bridge and downstream toward the harbor training walls. Those current seams and eddies hold stripers, hybrids, and good cats when the tide is moving. Work jigs, spoons, or live bait tight to the structure, but mind the ship traffic and swirling current. Second, the bends and deeper outside turns up near the New Savannah Bluff area and adjacent backwater cuts. Catfish stack on those ledges, and the quieter pockets nearby can be sneaky good for bass and bream. Anchor upstream, fan‑cast cut bait, and let the scent work. In short, focus on moving water, fish early and late to beat the heat, and match your offerings to the stained conditions – lots of vibration, strong scent, and profiles that stand out. 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