Savannah River Fishing Report: Redfish Blitz, Trout Steady, and Catfish Cranking Up

Artificial Lure here with your Savannah River fishing report for Friday, May 23, 2025. We started the day with sunrise at 6:28 AM and you’ve got daylight until sunset at 8:18 PM, so there’s plenty of time to wet a line. Weather’s holding out nicely, with temps pushing into the mid-80s by afternoon and a gentle southeast breeze at 5 to 7 mph—just about perfect for chasing a bite out on the water. Tide watchers will want to note a mid-morning low tide rolling into a high tide later this afternoon, which lines up some great windows for both inshore and riverbank anglers. Water clarity is solid with just a bit of stain in the main channel, no big worries about muddiness unless you hit a backwater slough. The redfish bite is red hot right now, especially around grassy points and creek mouths. These spot tails are smashing mud minnows and cut mullet, but if you’re like me and lean on artificials, gold spoons and scented soft plastics in new penny or root beer colors are putting in work. Don’t overlook the shell bars on the outgoing tide for bonus action. Speckled trout are still in play too with solid catches, mostly in the 15 to 18 inch range. Folks are having the best luck where current rips across shell beds and grass lines. Live shrimp under a popping cork is hard to beat, but white soft jerkbaits are also drawing strikes when the shrimp run low. Catfish action has cranked up as well—channels are just about everywhere you throw a cut herring, chicken liver, or even shrimp. Recent reports had anglers hauling in solid numbers on the downstream side of sandbars and deeper holes near the bluffs. White catfish are around and biting, with the lake record just broken last week by a 4 pound 4 ounce beauty, so now’s the time to target those bullheads. Up the river, bass are still feeding shallow on blueback herring off points, especially early. Topwater lures and flukes are producing, but if you can find some live herring, you’ll stay busy. Crappie have finished spawning but are still hanging near brush in shallow water—minnows and little jigs will fill your cooler if you get on the right pile. For hot spots today, target the marsh edges and creek mouths near Fort Pulaski for redfish and trout, and try the drop-offs below Houlihan Bridge for steady catfish action. If you like casting, the shell bars along the Wilmington River are holding fish on the change of tide. Best of luck, y’all—tight lines and enjoy this stretch of pretty weather on the water. This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.