Savannah River Report: Trout, Reds, and Stripers Biting on Falling Tide

This is Artificial Lure with your Savannah River fishing report. We’ve got classic December conditions on the river this morning: cool, damp air in the low 50s warming into the low 60s by afternoon, with cloud cover and a light north to northeast breeze, according to the National Weather Service marine forecast out of Charleston. Winds will stay manageable inside the river but it’ll be choppy if you poke your nose out near the jetties. Tides4Fishing’s Savannah table shows sunrise at about 7:20 and sunset around 5:23, with a morning high tide near 8.4 feet around 8:13 a.m. and low just after 2:30 p.m. The solunar rating is “average,” but that falling tide from mid‑morning into early afternoon should be your best window. Inshore along the lower Savannah and back toward Turner’s Creek and Wilmington River, local reports this week have had keeper **speckled trout** and **redfish** coming steady on the edges of shell and deep bends. Most boats picking up a half‑dozen to a dozen trout, plus a couple slot reds, if they sit on the right drain and let that bait sweep past. A few nice **black drum** have come off dock pilings on the South Carolina side up toward Port Wentworth. Best producers right now: - Live **shrimp** under a popping cork 2–3 feet deep along grass points and creek mouths. - Mud minnows on a 1/4 oz jig head bounced slow down the drop. - Artificial‑wise, a 3–4" paddletail in opening‑night or natural mullet on a 1/8–1/4 oz jig, and a MirrOdine or small suspending twitch bait worked over shell at higher water. Farther upriver around New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam near Augusta, FishingReminder’s bite chart lines up a solid major feeding period late morning into early afternoon. Folks up that way have been putting decent numbers of **stripers**, **hybrid bass**, and **blue cats** in the boat. Bucktail jigs with a white trailer, small crankbaits, and cut shad on bottom rigs are taking most of the fish. Two local hot spots to circle: - The **Savannah Harbor / Fort Jackson reach**: work the outside bends, old rice dikes, and rock along the shipping channel edges on the first half of the falling tide for trout, reds, and drum. - The **New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam** area: current seams below the structure and deeper holes just downstream are holding stripers and cats when the Corps is moving water. If you’re planning ahead, Georgia DNR notes that commercial shad season on the Savannah opens January 1, with the river open below I‑95 certain days of the week, so expect more net traffic and early shad showing in late December and early January. Keep your leaders light and your drags smooth; that winter bite can be soft but the fish are quality when you find ’em. 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 This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.