Savannah River Morning Bite: Reds, Trout, and Stripers on the Incoming Tide

This is Artificial Lure with your Savannah River fishing report, coming to you like a local standing on the dock at first light. Around Savannah and Port Wentworth this morning, we’ve got a warm, muggy start, light southwest breeze, and highs pushing upper 80s to low 90s by afternoon. Skies are partly cloudy with the usual chance of a pop-up thunderstorm after lunch, so keep an eye on the horizon and have rain gear stashed. On the coast side near Fort Pulaski and Tybee, first light is just before sunrise, with sunrise right around 6:20 a.m. Sunset is just after 8:30 p.m., giving you a long window to work both the early and late bites. Tides on the lower Savannah are running their typical 6–8 foot swing. Expect a strong morning incoming, topping out mid-morning, then a falling tide through the afternoon, bottoming out late day. That rising water pushes bait up on the grass edges and creek mouths; the falling tide pulls it right back off the flats, concentrating fish along drops, dock lines, and channel edges. Inshore and brackish stretches from Elba Island up past Houlihan Bridge have been steady. Local anglers report good numbers of **redfish**, **speckled trout**, and a mix of **flounder** and **black drum**, with the occasional **sheepshead** off structure. Upstream toward Augusta and Clarks Hill tailrace, folks have been boating **striped bass**, **hybrid bass**, **catfish**, and some chunky **bream** and **crappie** around brush and blowdowns. Best bite windows: - Redfish and trout: first two hours of the incoming and the first of the falling. - Stripers and hybrids: low-light periods, especially dawn, working current seams. - Catfish: all day if you sit on them, but strongest at night and during good current. Recent catches: in the lower river, slot reds and keeper trout have come in decent numbers, with a handful of upper-slot and over-slot reds pulled off shell bars at daybreak. A few doormat flounder have been caught at creek mouths near Wilmington River access and around the marsh drains on the South Carolina side. Upriver, catfish limits haven’t been hard to come by when soaking cut bait, with a few double-digit blues reported below the dams. Best lures right now: - For reds and trout: 1/4 oz jigheads with 3–4 inch paddletails in natural mullet or shrimp colors, and a white or bone topwater plug at first light. - For stripers: medium diving crankbaits in shad patterns, bucktail jigs with a soft trailer, and silver spoons worked through the current. - For flounder: Gulp-style scented jerk shads or shrimp bounced slow along the bottom. Best bait: - Live shrimp under a popping cork for everything inshore. - Mud minnows and small finger mullet on a Carolina rig for reds and flounder. - Fresh cut shad, mullet, or bluegill for catfish. - Live herring or shad on free-lines or light sinkers for stripers and hybrids below the dams. A couple of local hot spots to circle: - The **Elba Island cuts and surrounding marsh drains** on the Georgia side: great current, shell, and ambush points for reds and trout on the turn of the tide. - The **Houlihan Bridge area and nearby deep bends**: solid for mixed inshore species, plus a shot at bigger cats and the occasional stray striper in the brackish stretch. If you’re more upriver, the **Savannah Rapids Pavilion and Clarks Hill tailrace** are worth a dawn trip for stripers, hybrids, and bream along the rocks and eddies. Work the current edges, let your bait sweep naturally, and keep your presentation slow and close to the structure; the fish are there, but they’re making you earn it as the water warms up. 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