East End of SGI

[AUTiger]

Hello all,

Need fishing help, tips, holes, or whatever any of you guys are willing to talk about for SGI week of Saturday 9/19 thru Saturday 9/26. We will be staying on the bay in one of the last couple of houses before the state park begins. We have been to SGI numerous times, but last year was the first year I was able to take my boat. We went to the east end and loaded up on Spanish. My 15 yr old loved it, only problem was we were not directly on the bay, so had to deal with putting boat in the water and taking out and then leaving the wife without a vehicle when we were fishing. So did not get to fish as much as we wanted. No problem like that this year.

Since we will be on the water, we will be fishing every day. Most of the time we will be in the bay. What is the best fish to target this time of year in the bay? Of course my son says he wants to catch redfish, trout and flounder, but do I need to target one more than the other. Also how should I be rigged? I will have my castnet, so live bait is an option. Also is there an area near the east pass of SGI I could head out 5 miles or so to get into anything. I’ve seen pics of decent sized grunts, sea bass, and trigger fish, but was not sure how far out to go or where. If you are willing to give any actual locations and don’t want to post publicly you can PM me.

I will have my 8 yr old with me some too. And he does not care what he catches as long as he is catching. I thought maybe take him under the bridge, so he could be a little shaded and maybe he can catch pinfish around the pylons. Are sheepshead holding on the pylons? Maybe he can reel one of those in too. Just want him catch the fishing bug like his brothers.

Thank you for any info you may be able to give me.

[silverking]

May be a tad early for peak fall action, but the water is cooling off and the NFGFC club will be holding their next tournament out of Lanark, so you'll see some recent reports.

Yes on trout, reds and flounder. For artificials you can't go wrong with topwater plugs like Skitterwalks or Super Spooks, especially in low-light conditions. Aqua Dream weedless spoons retrieved slowly will score reds and trout. Flounder will hit DOA shrimp or plastic grubs on a light jig head. Should be some Spanish around and maybe some pompano as well.

Grass flats, Pelican Reef and sand troughs are all good places to prospect bayside. East Pass can be great too, but be careful. The current rips through there.

Live shrimp, mud minnows, finger mullet and pinfish will all work in the live bait department. For the youngest, small pieces of fresh-dead shrimp on a light egg-sinker rig will keep him busy at the bridge for a variety of fish, including sheepies.

Other than Dog Island Reef, can't speak with too much experience about offshore. Hopefully others will chime in on that account.

[Pirate]

You shouldn't have to take the eight year old to the bridge to entertain him. Just right out from where you are staying there is a deep hole (30 feet plus) that will entertain everybody in the boat. Use cut and salted mullet which will stay on the hook until you catch something. No question. Look at a chart, I think it shows 28'. Over the last 35 years we have caught enough fish from this hole to sink SGI. I have trained many young fishermen here.

[DixieReb]

That 28 ft. hole is a great place to fish. We used to go there and would catch just about anything, including some big sharks. Saw a tarpon roll in there one day.

[Pirate]

Your right. We have hooked several Tarpon there and lost a keeper Cobia a couple of years ago. Never a dull moment for sure.

[AUTiger]

Any current reports from SGI Bridge to Dog Island area. Heading down on Saturday for a week. Bumping this up to see if anyone has any current reports.

[DixieReb]

Fish are biting off the bridge now. Whiting, croakers, and an occasional big black drum. And of course, sailcats. Big ones. I always rig a big pole up with cut fish for sharks and big cats.

[Fish Dawg]

We go to SGI in the HOT summer and if I were you and had a long dock on the bay side , I would fish there. We did that last year . We got up before sunrise , caught live minnows with a cast net and caught reds and a 25" trout fishing on the bottom. We used a barrel weight , bead and swiffel , then 12" leader and fished on the bottom. The bite was for about 1 hour.
Good luck

[AUTiger]

So far we have caught 3 slot reds (one 24") and 3 flounder from the dock using live Elwy as bait.