Savannah River Winter Fishing Report: Reds, Trout, and Sheepshead on the Move

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Savannah River fishing report. We’re sitting on a classic winter pattern along the lower Savannah, from Port Wentworth down toward Elba Island and on out toward Tybee. Air temps are running in the low 60s at daylight, warming into the upper 70s this afternoon under mostly clear skies, light north to northeast breeze according to the National Weather Service marine forecast. That’s comfortable fishing weather, but bright skies will push fish tight to structure and into deeper edges by mid‑morning. Tides are running on an average swing today. Tides4Fishing’s Savannah table shows a morning high around 6:49 a.m. at about 8.2 feet and a midday low near 1:05 p.m. just under a foot, with the evening high coming back around 7 p.m. This gives you a strong falling tide through the late morning and a good push of incoming right before dark. Sunrise is right around 7:19 a.m. and sunset near 5:22 p.m. SolunarForecast’s Savannah outlook has today rated “average,” with major feeding windows mid‑afternoon, roughly 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., and a minor morning window around 8:30 to 9:30. That lines up nicely with the last of the fall and first of the flood tide. Inshore fish activity’s been solid the past few days. Local chatter up and down the river has reds, trout, and sheepshead doing the heavy lifting. Anglers around Port Wentworth and the Garden City docks have been picking off slot redfish and a few oversized brutes on the dropping tide, plus decent numbers of speckled trout on deeper bends and creek mouths when the water’s moving. Dock pilings and riprap have been giving up sheepshead, especially on stronger parts of the tide. Best baits and lures right now: • For redfish: live or cut shrimp on a Carolina rig, or a quarter‑ounce jig with a 3–4 inch paddle tail in new penny or natural mullet tones. Work the current seams off grass points and along shell bars as that tide falls. • For trout: 1/8–1/4 ounce jigheads with white or chartreuse soft plastics, or a light popping cork with live shrimp over 4–8 feet on the edges of the channel. The clearer the water, the more natural you want to go. • For sheepshead: fiddler crabs or small live shrimp tight to the pilings; short leaders, enough weight to hold the vertical drop. If you’re carrying hardware only, small suspending jerkbaits in glass minnow patterns, or a slow‑rolled grub along the bottom in the deeper bends, have produced mixed bags of trout and reds. Stay subtle; the river’s cool and fish don’t want to chase far. Couple of hot spots to keep on your list: • The Port Wentworth stretch around the industrial docks and old pilings – lots of current breaks, perfect for reds and sheepshead on the last half of the falling tide. • Elba Island Cut and the mouths of the small feeder creeks between Elba and Hutchinson – great for trout and slot reds on the turn of the tide, especially the first hour of the incoming. If you’re pushing closer to the mouth, the gras This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.