Photo by Ron Sinfelt

It was a beautiful summer morning in coastal South Georgia. A gentle breeze blowing out of the west was hardly noticeable along the Cumberland Island beach. The air was still cool at 6:30 a.m. and the tide was just beginning to flood. Anchoring the boat just off the beach above Christmas Creek and within casting distance of the white sand, fishing partner David Wallace cast a live shrimp toward the shore. Before he could click the bail shut, his float disappeared. A minute later, Dave lifted a nice 2-pound seatrout into the boat.

But that was just the beginning. Before I could get my stuff together, Dave was baited, out again and hooked up. This time he had a little smaller speck, but a trout just the same. I was now baited up and sailed a live shrimp to the same general spot Dave had been fishing. My float bobbed along looking like it was unsinkable. In the meanwhile, David re-baited and cast about three yards from my cork. He hooked up again! I was beginning to wonder what was up. Then my float went down and we had a double working until each of us boated keeper fish.

As the morning proceeded, we caught several fish as each school moved through, intermixed with 15- to 30-minute intervals of no fish. By 10:00 a.m., the bite had ceased and we headed back to Jekyll Harbor Marina with close to a limit of fine-eating seatrout. The morning was a fine example of what summer trout fishing can be like around Georgia's Golden Isles.

Seatrout have a protracted spawning season beginning as early as April and running into September. Fish move to sandy beach areas along the Georgia coast. Beaches associated with sounds, inlets or rivers are preferred. Females lay millions of eggs that are then fertilized by males. These eggs then float with the tide into area rivers and creeks, where they eventually hatch into young trout fry. Once fish are spent, they move into the closest sound system, where they stay, in loosely knit schools, until the winter migration begins.

Seatrout are not fussy eaters and devour almost everything that swims, providing it is small enough to get into their mouths. That is not all that small considering the size of these fish's mouths. The one thing a prospective meal must be is alive, or have the appearance of being alive. Except for the occasional breaking of the rule, seatrout do not eat dead or cut bait fished on the bottom.

Live shrimp is the bait of choice during the summer months. They are easily caught by local bait shrimpers and are sold by area marinas and bait shops. Shrimp stay alive reasonably well in a good aerator, and trout love them.

The most popular way to fish a live shrimp is under a float or cork. Shrimp and minnows feed near oyster bars, mainly because the crooks and crannies offer some protection from predators. Therefore, trout feed near those same oyster bars, and the only way to fish them without hanging up is to suspend the bait just over the shell via a cork.

There are two basic types of floats -- popping and sliding. Popping floats are attached directly to the main line so that the cork moves the same distance as the main line when the rod is moved or the line is retrieved with the reel. These corks sound like feeding fish when they are popped on the surface of the water, thus attracting fish. This is accomplished by jerking the rod sharply. Poppers are effective in water depths up to about 8 to 10 feet. A leader of more than 5 feet is unwieldy and difficult to cast with popping corks. The Cajun Thunder is the most popular popping cork in our area.