The shrimp's swimming freely under that float is a key to Captain Noble's success. He believes that a live bait presentation should be as natural as possible. The small hook and long leader allow the shrimp to swim and kick. On some occasions, even with a 6-foot leader, live shrimp can be seen kicking and jumping on the surface around the float -- which usually means that a fish is chasing the bait!

On an outgoing tide, Capt. Noble chooses one of the many creeks that flow out of the marsh and onto a flat in the sound. "Fish will be moving out of those tidal creeks and onto the flat on an outgoing tide," he asserted. "The trick is to set up and cast to that flow as the tide runs out."

Sometimes it takes a stop at two or more creeks to find the active fish, but he usually manages to find them. Fishing every day keeps him informed on fish movement. For those anglers fishing only occasionally, his advice is to move until they find the trout or reds.

If you fish a creek outflow and get no bites in the first 15 minutes, you need to move. Sometimes the fish use one creek, stay there a while, and then move to another. Give the fish a chance to bite, but don't spend all day waiting for that bite.

Both trout and red drum can be found at almost any creek or flat. The flats that offer the best shot at a substantial amount of fish are those that still have water on them at low tide.

Speaking of tides: You need to be aware of some basics concerning tides and flats. Water depth differences between high and low tide can average 5 or 6 feet in most areas along the Georgia coast. On a full or new moon, that depth difference can be as much as 9 feet. That huge difference results from the sun and moon lining up together in new and full moon phases and providing an extra gravitational pull on the earth's water. That means higher high tides and lower low tides during those phases.

You may be sitting in 7 feet of water, thinking everything is fine, only to find yourself high and dry when the water ran out from under you toward the low tide!

Georgia's sounds all hold trout and red drum during July. One of the places Capt. Noble suggests you try around St. Simons is the south end of St. Simons Sound, to the west of Jekyll Island. Several creeks feed the flats on either side of the Brunswick shipping lanes, and all of them have fish coming off them at some point. It is a matter of moving until you find them.

A little farther south, Jekyll Creek runs along the west side of Jekyll Island. This is a wide creek that has been dredged for the Intracoastal Waterway. As the tide drops, both banks of the creek reveal large mud flats on both sides of the bridge connecting the mainland to the island. Fish these flats on an outgoing tide with live shrimp under a Thunder Chicken float rig. That float rig will allow you to station the boat in water deep enough to float the boat at low tide, and yet still make long casts up onto the flat. A 2- or 3-foot leader is all that is needed to allow the shrimp to swim on these shallow flats.

Even farther south, St.. Andrews Sound offers Umbrella Creek and Dover Creek feeding in from the west side. On an outgoing tide, they offer an excellent opportunity to find fish coming out of the creeks.

To the north from Golden Isle Marina, the Altamaha Sound offers even more opportunities to find redfish and trout on an outgoing tide.

The Hampton River that separates Little St. Simons Island from St. Simons Island is also loaded with small creeks and outflows that hold fish.

Capt. Noble also catches seatrout, in particular, with another totally different approach than that used in the sounds. All during the summer months you find him fishing the surf from his boat during some part of the day. In the summer, trout spawn up and down the beaches along the coast. Big female roe trout are schooled with the males for their spawning ritual.

Capt. Noble runs out of St. Simons Sound on calm days and heads north or south along the beaches to find a school of trout.

To the south, he heads for the beach on Cumberland Island. That seems like a long run, but he has a reason. Jekyll, St. Simons, and Little St. Simons islands don't allow fishing vessels within 1000 feet of their beaches. That is too far out to find the trout that Capt. Noble targets. So, Cumberland is his destination to the south.

To the north, Capt. Noble can fish the beach and surf around Big and Little Egg islands or Wolf Island. Whichever beach he chooses, his tactics are the same.