Savannah River Fishing Hot Spots - Crappie, Catfish, and Inshore Species on the Bite

This is Artificial Lure with your Savannah River fishing report for April 23, 2025. Water’s warming up, and spring is in full swing—so the fish are waking up and hungry. Today’s sunrise was just before 6:45 AM and sunset will hit around 8:00 PM, giving us plenty of daylight to wet a line. Tides are running strong this week. We’re seeing higher water levels upriver, especially from all the recent rain. River gauges near Clyo showed levels nearing 10 feet and still inching up. This means backwaters and oxbows are a bit flooded, but fish are moving shallow and looking for food. That’s good news for anglers who know where to look. Weather’s mild, with daytime temps pushing up into the low 80s. Skies are partly cloudy—perfect for keeping the bite active throughout the day. Light winds make for easy boat handling, especially in the main river channel and backwaters. Freshwater action is heating up. Crappie fishing in the river’s oxbows has been excellent. Mark Vick recently pulled in 23 nice slabs, mostly fishing super shallow. The fish were feeding aggressively on the surface, mostly taking live minnows and chartreuse jigs, especially the Specktacular Jig. If you’re after papermouths, follow the spawning activity into the shallows and target brush piles and submerged timber. Catfish are biting well too. Flathead cats have been caught on big live or cut bait, like panfish or shad. Set limb lines or fish deep holes near structure for your best shot. Flatheads in the 20 to 40-pound range have been landed recently, so bring heavy gear. Bream fishing is warming up as water temps rise. Nightcrawlers and crickets are catching bluegill and shellcracker around grassy banks and old stumps. As we move through April, expect the bite to get better every day. If you slide down toward brackish water near Savannah and the ports, redfish, trout, and flounder are all starting to bite. Live shrimp under popping corks works wonders. Adjustable floats and small hooks will keep your bait in the strike zone. Don’t forget to try artificials like soft paddle tails and scented plastics, especially in those marsh drains on an outgoing tide. A couple of hot spots to check today: - The oxbow lakes north of Port Wentworth are on fire for crappie and bream. - The flats and creek mouths just above the Houlihan Bridge are good for mixed bags of cats and panfish. - For saltier action, the creeks around Fort Pulaski and Lazaretto Creek are holding reds and trout, especially on a moving tide with shrimp or mud minnows. Best baits: Live minnows for crappie, cut bait or panfish for flatheads, and shrimp or soft plastics for inshore species. Chartreuse jigs and white curly tails are always a safe bet for panfish. That’s your local report from Artificial Lure. Tight lines and see you on the river! This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.