Savannah River Late Spring: Trout, Reds, and Cats on the Bite

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Savannah River fishing report. We’re sitting on a muggy late‑spring pattern. Around Savannah, inland temps are running upper 80s to low 90s by afternoon with light south to southeast breeze and scattered afternoon storms in the mix. Early mornings are calm and sticky, perfect for topwater. Sunrise is right around 6:15 a.m., sunset just after 8:30 p.m., so you’ve got a long twilight on both ends to work with. Down at the mouth, the tide’s on its typical semi‑diurnal cycle – two highs, two lows. You’ll want to key on that first couple hours of incoming for trout and reds, and the last of the outgoing for cats upriver. Fish are most active on moving water; slack tide has been slow. Salt side first: from Elba Island down toward Tybee, speckled trout and redfish have been chewing along shell bars and creek mouths dumping into the main river. Folks have been picking up mixed bags of trout, slot reds, and the occasional flounder, most of them school‑size but steady numbers when you stay on the bait. Best producers have been **live shrimp** under a popping cork, **mud minnows** on light jigheads, and artificial-wise, **3–4 inch paddletail swimbaits** in natural or new penny colors, plus small **topwater walkers** at first light. That early walk‑the‑dog bite around current seams and grass edges has been strong. Inshore around Savannah NWR and up toward Port Wentworth, the freshwater mix has turned on. The river is holding a healthy population of **blue catfish**, **channel cats**, and some flatheads, with reports of multiple 5–15 pound cats in a night plus a few bigger blues. Best baits have been **cut shad**, **cut mullet**, and **chicken liver** on the smaller side, fished on Carolina rigs right on the bottom near channel edges and outside bends. Night and low‑light hours around moving current are producing the most consistent action. Bass anglers working the backwaters and oxbows are seeing good numbers of **largemouth** in the 1–3 pound class with the occasional kicker. Soft plastics like **green pumpkin worms**, **black/blue creature baits**, and **white or shad‑pattern spinnerbaits** slow‑rolled along laydowns are doing work. When the river slicks off early or late, a **buzzbait** or **hollow‑body frog** over pads and grass is drawing explosive strikes. Couple of local hot spots to circle: - **Hutchinson Island / Houlihan Bridge area**: solid catfish and bass along the channel edge and around timber; work cut bait deep and plastics tight to cover. - **Elba Island to the jetties**: trout and redfish on oyster points, grasslines, and creek mouths; focus on that moving tide with shrimp or paddletails under a cork. Water clarity has been typical Savannah – a bit stained – so lean on darker profiles and lures with some thump. Fluorocarbon leaders in the 15–20 lb range help around shell and structure on the salt side; a simple 12–15 lb mono or fluoro setup is plenty upriver for most cats and bass unless you’re strictly trophy hunting. Plan your trip around the cooler ends of the day, watch those afternoon storms building, and remember the bite’s been best when you match what’s plentiful: shrimp and small baitfish near the mouth, shad and bream scents upriver. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a 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