Inshore slams build as Georgia coast rides the mullet run

What's biting

What's next

The moon is in a waning crescent phase and sliding toward new moon later this week, which typically builds tidal exchange as the cycle approaches its spring-tide peak. Stronger moving water through creek mouths and inlets tends to concentrate bait and the predators chasing it, so the redfish-and-snook pattern already showing up this week has room to build rather than fade over the next several days.

Saltwater Sportsman's mullet run should keep intensifying through the rest of October before tapering toward its usual November close, meaning the inshore bite tied to that baitfish push is still on the upswing, not past its peak. Anglers planning around this weekend should target the stronger tidal movement building into the new moon, and lean on the same soft-plastic-over-hard-plugs adjustment that produced results this week rather than assuming a slow spot needs a new location instead of a new lure.

With water still sitting in the high 70s, expect the current warm-water activity level to hold for at least the next few days before any broader cooling trend would start reshaping the bite.

Context

Early October is the hinge point for the Georgia Atlantic coast: water in the upper 70s is typical for this stretch of fall, with the deeper cool-down and the shift toward classic late-fall inshore patterns usually arriving as November approaches and the mullet run winds down. This year's timing looks on schedule, not early or late, with the baitfish migration running its usual September-to-November course and inshore species still feeding aggressively in warm water rather than pulling back into deeper winter holding areas. Georgia's coastal fishery this time of year typically rewards working familiar water harder over searching for new structure, and a simple presentation change, as this week's reports showed, is often the more productive move.