12/16/2023
The 254-foot-long hopper barge is loaded down with 330 chicken cages. (Donated by Claxton Chicken Company) This barge has been sitting in the back river for about 10 years! There are several full-grown Chinese tallow trees located on the barge’s bow. Another added up right thing for fish to accumulate. Just so you know….Georgia artificial reef program covers about 52 square miles and consists of 20 offshore reefs, two beach reefs, eight navy tactical air crew training system towers. This barge joined a host of New York city subway cars, M60 battle tanks, and other steel-hulled vessels. And what does this mean to the Georgia’s coast mostly barren and sandy bottom areas? These additions offer a wealth of underwater hotels and motels for fish to stay and visit. This all boils down to is some fish will become residents (stayers) and others (movers) will be non-residents! Also now you know what’s down under! This barge was placed/sunk at the KC artificial reef. I call it the Chicken Coup!
3150.389N 8046.533W coordinates for Hopper Barge with 330 chicken cages
Now, I am sure you are not going to believe this one..I had a customer ask me what do we feed the chickens?
For some really great information on Georgia’s offshore reef do here:
https://coastalgadnr.org/sites/default/files/crd/Reefs/Guide%20to%20Georgia's%20Offshore%20Artificial%20Reefs%20Jan2022.pdf
Offshore Artificial Reefs
December is a grand month for those fishermen that love a light tackle fishing experience. Artificial reefs are holding sheepshead, black drum, trophy red fish, flounder, and cold-water sharks. Fish put these areas on their list of places to school up to bulk up for winter migrations. The best baits for Sheepshead, black drum, and trophy red fish are going to be the purple back fiddler, juvenile rock crabs, and green mussels. Small pieces of shrimp will also work. These fish love anything wrapped in a shell or the meat that is removed from them. Flounder are known for situating themselves on the outskirts of the structure while waiting for that prefect meal. The best baits for the old flounder are jumbo mud minnows or small sand perch placed on a Carolina style bottom rig. Placement of this bait is simple, cast to the outskirts of the structure, set drag to medium, and place rod in holder. Another baiting up method for flounder is to take a 3 ounce jig head 9https://nuts-and-bolts-of-fishing-boating.myshopify.com/) which is still my favorite “old school type” jig!) bait it with live finger mullet or any live bait that is about the size of a cigar or strip bait and put it on the bottom. -Or you can butterfly a small fish, which when introduced back into the water, offers up two working flowing tails. The best thing about jig head fishing is that you can move your bait along the bottom, and it imitates a small fish. When a small fish is skirting close to the bottom it forms somewhat of a head turning sandstorm. And a fish knows this, because they have been there and ate things doing this sort of thing before. When you get a hit whatever you do don’t try to set your hook, because flounder are known for being slow bait takers. In other words, give them time to eat! Old time fishermen used to say that before you set the hook count like this 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1006, and then set the hook. If you miss the set, I suggest quickly dropping your bait back and letting it just sit. It is going to be a waiting game to see if the fish will give it another try.
If sharking is on your mind and if you are looking for an unbelievable fight of grand portions, I suggest bringing along some squid or cutting up some freshly caught fish. Another great bait when targeting shark is going to be belly strip cut from a sheepshead. All you must do is cut the belly out of the fish leaving you the best part to eat, hook it up, and put it on the bottom. (Removing the belly only from any fish still allows it to be intact meaning tail and head still allowing for any official measuring.) It’s best to try to place this bait as far on the outskirts of the structure as possible. In other words, cast these baits as far as you can from where you are anchored. Please always check state and federal regulations for any closers and size limit.
The artificial reefs located in less than 60 feet of water used to hold the interest of large numbers of summer trout. However, this has changed a bit. We don’t catch a lot of summer trout aka weak fish like we used to, but when we do, they are on the large size! (meaning 20 inches plus size range one size feeds two!) The best bait is going to small pieces of cut fish, squid, and cigar minnows.
Way back when, it was known fact that black sea bass migrated into the near shore artificial reefs during the colder water times. However, it seems that over the years this fish’s migration pattern has changed. What does this mean? Well, when the water temps drop large schools of black fish find 70 to 80 feet of water their sweet spots for bulking up. So therefore, I have noticed that any isolated live bottom areas or grown over debris fields do hold the feeding interest of these fish.
With the gag grouper season closed until May 1, 2024, you can catch, but you can’t keep them! So therefore, practice catching and releasing is going to be in your future when targeting this fish!
