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Capt Rick Hiott (Capt_rick_hiott)
New member
Username: Capt_rick_hiott
Post Number: 2
Registered: 10-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, November 13, 2008 - 4:52 am: | |
Charleston,SC 11/1/08
Man,,,, what a day!
I had two guys in the boat yesterday that knew how to fish. All I had to do was get them dialed in on how to use the rattle float and the game was on!
They caught fish in the Ashley and the Wando rivers.
Like I said before,,,That Berkley "Gulp Alive" is the ticket!!
I dont know how many fish they boated,,,but it was a lot!
If you dont use the Gulp Alive,,,,,you should be.....................
Here is a few shots for you.
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/Carter07.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/Carter06.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/Carter05.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/Carter04.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/Carter03.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/carter02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/Carter01.jpg[/IMG]
All pictures are copyrighted. |
Capt Rick Hiott (Capt_rick_hiott)
New member
Username: Capt_rick_hiott
Post Number: 1
Registered: 10-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 - 6:14 am: | |
Once the wind stopped blowing 20mph we could get out and catch some fish.......
The live and cut mullet has been my favorite bait.
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/AALouAnnSuba01copy.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/AARichSuba01copy.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/Kaley02.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f68/RickHiott/Kaley01.jpg[/IMG] |
Delta Guide Service (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 3:52 pm: | |
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 08-01-04 through 08–31-04
Even with two hurricanes making a direct hit on us, we still managed to have some really good fishing. When these storms visit us, the wind and wave action causes quite a bit of silt to be stirred up into the water. The real problem however, is that with that much rain, all the fresh water coming down our five rivers brings us some really muddy fresh water. As the runoff water got here, one of the things that happened was that many of the shrimp that were growing in the estuaries left because of the big fluctuation in salinity. After the shrimp left, the reds and trout were hungry and searching for food and we were there to offer them something to eat! When we have such muddy water, not much will beat a live mullet minnow for bait. There are several reasons we prefer the "finger mullet" over either mud minnows or shrimp. When you put a mud minnow on a bottom rig, he will do his best to hide himself by getting under a shell, or in a crevice of some sort. A shrimp will not continue to move a lot after it has been hooked for a short time and will not attract much attention. On the other hand, the finger mullet is typically a surface swimmer, and will constantly swim towards the surface. They are normally strong and durable baits. One of our favorite rigs is to simply tie a hook on your line, and then hook-up a big mullet minnow (around 3"), gently toss the bait in the area of the fish, and hold on! We see it time and again, even when there are hundreds of minnows in an area, when your hooked minnow swims and is slowed by the line’s drag, he becomes the target of choice of all the predators. He is literally the “injured minnow” that most all lures attempt to mimic. Some times when the water is 5 or 6 feet deep, we’ll add a 00 split shot about 16" above the bait in order to get him down a little deeper. An added feature of the mullet is that his side scales are like a mirror where even the smallest amount of light and movement will cause a bright flash of light. Since he is constantly swimming upward, the effect is something like a flashing neon sign saying "EAT HERE"! Also, since they are normally so active, they produce sound waves that alert fish to their location. We normally hook our baits from the bottom rear of the jaw up through the cartilage plate just in front of their eyes. This way, their mouth can work properly and they don't have a problem getting a good flow of water over their gills. My favorite hook is a 4/0 or 5/0 circle hook. Some people think that hook is much bigger than is needed but, I disagree. The point of a small hook can easily get lost in the bait as a fish turns it to eat it. As the fish turns the bait head first, the hook shank will turn under the bait, and the hook point will turn over the top of the baits head. Smaller hooks can wind up stuck in the bait, and not in the fishes mouth. With the larger hooks, when the bait is turned, the point is up and well clear of the bait and is in a position to hook the fish. This hook and method also does not require you to let the fish run with the bait before setting the hook. Mullet minnows can be caught by using a cast net and are easily kept in a floating bucket, or an aerated tank. Our typical day produced around 5 to 10 reds and we also had another day where we caught over 50 reds on a trip. Unreal for August!! Conservation does pay!! Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645
|
Delta Guide Service (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, August 05, 2004 - 7:13 pm: | |
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 07-01-04 through 07–31-04
Unlike the weather, which has been hot, the fishing has been either hot or cold. One day we had 52 reds in about 3 hours and the next, we could only find 4. And, so it went all month long. 10 to 15 one day, and 2 or 3 the next. And, added in to the mix was the accursed zero days where nothing I could do would produce a fish. We hooked two tarpon last week. They jumped a time or two and then threw our hooks back at us. We caught a couple of spinner sharks which always put on a show. One nearly jumped into another boat that was anchored near us. We have caught some big reds in the last week. Several of them bottomed out our Boga Grip which is rated to 30 #. We are still using a lot of live bait such as mullet and menhaden, but, we also have been having some luck with spoons and crank baits and have also taken a few on the fly rod. The wind has been less of a problem for us lately, but the heat has gotten to the spot where a good breeze is welcome! Water temps are around 85 in many areas so please be sure to give your fish plenty of time to catch their breath before releasing them. It is pretty well known that the hotter the water is, the less oxygen there is in it and, we have found that the resuscitation time should be at least equal to the time of the fight. That way, if you use light line, such as 8 or 10 pound test, and the fight lasts a long time, you should resuscitate the fish for a long time. We normally use heavy line such as 20# test so we can get them in quickly and release them quickly. It is a lot less stressful on the fish that way.
Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645
|
Delta Guide Service (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 7:13 pm: | |
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
03-01-04 through 03-31-04
The old saying about March didn’t hold true this time. It came in like a lion and left like a lion! It was a battle of wind and muddy water for most of the month but we still managed to pull a few good trips out of it. Our first trip of the month was nearly windless and we paid for it the rest of the month. On that first trip we landed 30 reds in four hours of fishing, and all but three were on the fly. We caught them on several patterns but the one that caught the most was a black “Wooly Bugger.” This has always been a good performer in clear, cold, saltwater for reds. It’s one of those that throws easily and should be fished really slowly. One fly tying magazine says it is “Probably the world’s most popular all-purpose fly.” My client could have continued catching fish but he said his hand and elbow were getting tired since most of the fish were in the three to 9.25 pound size.
After that the wind kept us from seriously using fly tackle and we went to using artificials such as jigs, spoons, and crank baits. Most of the trips caught at least a few reds and several trout but I did have two one fish days. Those are real heart breakers, to the clients and to the guide. I know nearly all of the guides in this area and many from distant areas and they all take pride in catching big numbers of fish and are genuinely disappointed with poor catches. During the cold snaps that came across we got to see some of the really big schools of reds. Some schools would have upwards of 200 fish and most would have from 50 to 100 in the group. However, when they are grouped like that, they are nearly impossible to catch.
Spotted sea trout should be coming in around the first to the middle of May. We have caught a few, but none of them have been spawners. We are seeing a lot of the “glass minnows” in the estuaries so, we take that as a sign the trout will be here shortly. The shad are here in good numbers now and should remain with us at least until the middle of April. A buddy and I went after them one day about two weeks ago and caught 56 in four hours of fishing. It was cold and raining and we pretty much had the area to ourselves. We used light tackle with 1/8 oz. grubs fished deep and slow. Some guides catch them on fly tackle but, if you try it, you will need a full sink line to get down to their depth. Tiny, minnow imitator, baits seem to work best.
THINK SPRING !!
Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645
|
Delta (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 7:19 pm: | |
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
02-01-04 through 02-29-04
February was good to us - very few really cold days and plenty of hungry fish. What always hurts is that when the fishing is really good like that, there aren’t many fishermen that are willing to brave the cold just to catch a bunch of fish. The ones that did, were rewarded with some really good catches. Numbers like 31, 20, 44, and one day with 68 were the normal. We also had several trips with the fly rod that produced quite a few fish. One day had 11 and another had 19 on the fly. Still no trout in any numbers. Most of the reds were caught on spoons, or jigs. Dark colors always seem to work best in this clear water. This time of year you have to be willing to change baits and techniques often in order to find what the fish really want. What you want to use has nothing to do with catching fish. Always try to find what they want and give it to them!
Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645
|
Delta Guide Service (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 15, 2004 - 1:28 pm: | |
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 01-01-04 through 01-31-04
January continued just about the same as December. Cold for a day or so, then warm for a day or so and that kept the fish biting. Quite a few trips in our group produced 30 or more fish a day and of course we had the 5 or 6 fish days also. The great majority were caught using jigs but there were a few days where the spoons worked well also. No real tricks involved in catching them, just move the bait really slow. Two things have come to my attention in recent days that I want to share with you. The first one is that once again politicians and greedy people are playing a game with the reds. There is a movement afoot to try to raise the bag limit up to at least 3 and possibly back to the original 5 per angler per day. For the life of me, I can’t see how someone with an ounce of sense could be in favor of such a move. How do they think the reds came to be over fished in the first place? Could it have been that the bag limit was too liberal? If not that, then why do we see a rebound in the population after restricting the bag limit? True, the two things may have nothing to do with one another but it certainly makes sense to most people that the two are tied together at some point. Another factor these people love to ignore is that the “unit of effort” is increasing daily on these fish. In years past, we would hardly ever see anyone fishing in the winter months. Now, it’s an everyday event. Summer and Fall see more boats chasing reds than at anytime I can remember. The fact is that there are more people getting into saltwater fishing now than ever before and their fish of choice is the red drum. The pressure on these particular fish is increasing faster than any other fish in the southeast and, if we don’t take some of the heat off them and keep it off, we’ll be right back to the problem of no fish once again.
The part of this whole deal that aggravates me the most is that we, the tax payers, hire and support a group of biologists to study these fish and report their findings to help manage the population. And, when their findings are not what the politicians and selfish others want, they promptly ignore the guys with PHD’s that have dedicated their lives to researching these fish and come up with some stupid, selfish move like this. If you have any sway with a politician, please call them and tell them to stop using reds as a poker chip in some political game. Go ahead and play politics, just leave these fish out of it!
Always remember, take good care of the fish, it’s simply the right thing to do.
Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645
|
Delta Guides (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, January 10, 2004 - 7:25 am: | |
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 12-01-03 through 12-31-03
An unusually warm December helped us catch quite a few fish. They, the reds, were bunched up just like they were supposed to in the winter, but the water was still warm, so they fed great. Water temps in the 50's were common and several times I found it as high as 55 on the flats. The fish were aggressive when it was like that. But, as water temps go down, it seems that their interest in feeding goes down also. I guess it’s natures way of taking care of them; the colder they get, the less they move around and the less food is required to keep them happy. It can certainly be a frustrating time for angler and guide alike when you can find schools of 100 to 200 fish and only catch a couple of them. Sometimes you will see the fish follow the bait for a long distance, only to see it spook when it gets right up to the boat. Other times we will see the bait, see the fish following it, stop the bait, watch the fish nose right up to it and sit there. Then, after a long wait, move the bait just an inch and the fish spooks and runs off as if it were scared of the bait! It seems also that a big bait is not what they want. Smaller seems better in most all cases. 1/8 oz. jigs with 2" curly tails and tiny crank baits in dark colors seem to work good. Since the fish are not as active and won’t fight as hard so you can size down on the line to make casting the lighter baits easier. We have had a couple of good fly rod trips also. One trip had 11 reds up to 8.5 lbs and another had 8 reds to about 7 lbs. Once again, smaller seemed to work best and dark colors caught the most. We hope you have a great new year and look forward to seeing you on the water!
Always remember, take good care of the fish, it’s simply the right thing to do.
Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645 |
Delta Guides (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 10, 2003 - 7:23 pm: | |
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 08-01-03 through 08-31-03
Summer fishing has been good. We had quite a bit of hot weather but at least we didn’t have a 30 mile an hour wind to contend with. I don’t remember a single day, this month, where wind was a problem, and that is really unusual. We’ve had so much wind for so long that it’s a little spooky when you can fish an entire month without it! The calm weather allowed us access to the jetties where we had some really good days on big reds. The problem was finding big baits. There is so much fresh water coming down the rivers in our area that the water is black for miles out into the ocean and the bait fish were either scarce or not to be found. Tarpon were absent again this month except for the rare sighting of one jumping. We think they were missing for the same reason, fresh water and no schools of bait. When things did go right, we caught some really first class fish. Many of them were in the 25 pound and over class. One group had 9 big ones and 2 of them were over 30 pounds each. Back on the inside, in shallow water, a typical day was from 6 to 12 reds in the 4 to 8 pound class with a few that went over 9 pounds. One day had 27 reds, another had 41 and several had over 10. Most were caught on live mullet minnows, but, about a third were caught on artificials such as jigs, spoons, and crank baits. One crank bait that has always worked well this time of year, and is still paying off, is a floating Rat’l Trap. The model I use most often is the one with silver sides and a blue back and will crank down to about 2 feet. I guess it looks like a small menhaden which is fairly common in these waters. One thing I recommend is that you bend the barbs down on all crank baits. The reason is that many times as you crank and then stop, the fish will gulp the bait when it is stopped. That lets them take it deep and makes it hard to remove the plug in a short time and get the fish back over. Always remember, take good care of the fish, it’s simply the right thing to do.
Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 2:54 pm: | |
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 07-01-03 through 07-31-03
Another summer month has come and gone and the fish have been fairly easy to find but harder to catch. The water is teeming with mullet and menhaden minnows but they are so small that they are hardly useable. I guess the flood rains we had early this season must have caused them to spawn late, and, they are just now getting started on their growth pattern. If that holds true, then late this Fall and early into the winter, we should have live bait galore. Then, we will see if that screws up the fishing or helps it. We’ve had a few days where we could catch some trout. My best was 14 in about an hour. We found some small blue fish working on glass minnows around a sand bar and were catching them on jigs. From past experience, I knew that sometimes, trout will be under them and sure enough they were this time. In short order, my group caught 14 trout, 11 blue fish and 4 lady fish. On another day, in really shallow water, we caught a blue that was 6.5 pounds and on two other days in the same area, we caught a couple that weighed 3.25 and 3.5 pounds. Our typical blue is only about a pound, so, I’m not sure what’s happening here to give us such big ones, but I’m glad to see them. We have been catching some really big reds at our jetties. Most of them are between 12 and 20 pounds each but we also catch some that will bottom out our Boga Grips at 30 pounds. When fishing for the big ones, we use the biggest live baits we can find and that usually has been either menhaden or mullet. We’ve also had our fair share of sharks and rays mixed in with the reds. So far, the tarpon are not to be found and I don’t hear of many being sighted either. Several times, we’ve tried the fly rods but luck has not been with us. The combination of rain and wind has given us a problem of muddy or murky water and that makes it tough to sight the fish until we’re right on top of them and then, they usually spook. One guy did manage to catch 5 one day with the biggest being 9.25 pounds and another guy on another day caught 3 around 5 to 6 pounds each. All of us are looking forward to Fall and early Winter to see if the fishing will really be as good as we think it will. We, and the DNR are finding many of the small reds in the 10 to 12 inch range, so, it seems we had a good spawn again this past year. Hopefully the cycle will continue.
Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 01, 2003 - 6:21 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 04-13-03 through 05-31-03
We had another really great late Winter and early Spring Season. The reds were here in big numbers and in all sizes. Our guides all agree that none of us have ever had an early season that produced as many fish as this one did. We all had some record breaking days with numbers such as 42, 66, 87, 102 and one guide had our best day ever on reds. His four (very good) anglers caught and released 168 reds in a day! That same day, my two (fair) anglers had 62 reds and another of our guides with a party of two had 54. And, there was a good mix of sizes with everything from the small to the large ones of 12 to 14 pounds each. I was born here, and have been guiding for reds for over 20 years now, and, I can say in all honesty that we’ve never had it this good before. Sea trout have been another story. Another poor season seems to have started and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. In our group, a great day with trout may have produced 12 to 14 in a hard day of looking for them. Of course, we all hear the occasional story about a big catch, but we don’t hear of it on a regular basis. The reds were caught on all of the regular baits. Weedless Johnson spoons accounted for most of the fish, and live mud minnows were probably the second most productive bait. We also used soft plastics, rigged weedless, to catch some of the ones in the heavy grass, but, the spoon seemed to work so well we didn’t bother with the slower baits except of a few occasions. As the water has warmed, the mullet minnows, crabs and shrimp have all become more abundant and active. And, with bait being much easier to find, the big concentrations of reds has started to break up and become scattered. The sheepshead are biting around the rocks and pilings now. Fiddler crabs work well with them, as does a very small piece of fresh shrimp. The problem with using shrimp, is that you’ll catch everything in the area and will spend a lot of time replacing baits. Always remember the rule about catching sheepshead, you will want to set the hook just before you feel the bite! Here in Winyah Bay we’ve been catching quite a few reds with really gruesome sores and raw flesh areas on their bodies. Our DNR guys from Charleston are very concerned, and have taken samples of the fish, and even a few of the infected live fish, and delivered them to scientists in Virginia to see if they could tell what is going on here. Preliminary tests show it to be a bacterial infection problem, but what is sort of confusing is that the infected fish were only found in this one part of the state. We have several large river systems that empty into our bay, and tests are under way to try and determine what might have caused the infections to only occur here. I’ll let you know more as I learn it.
Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 17, 2003 - 8:02 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 03-06-03 through 03-17-03
A couple of weeks have passed as we continue to ease toward spring and summer. The water temps have begun to rise and have gotten to the mid to upper 50's, and the fish are getting friskier with the longer days. I think the fishermen are feeling friskier also because we are seeing more cars and trailers at the landings now than even a few weeks ago. If the weather favors us and stays warm, the water should get up over 60 and stabilize soon. When it does, the fishing will get much better since the fish won’t be constantly confused as to whether it’s spring or not. Once the water gets back around 65, we should start seeing the small male trout here in good numbers also. They usually appear around mid March and the big females won’t be far behind them.
We have run several trips, and had several canceled because of wind and rain since the last report. There has been a bit of wind, but at least it wasn’t as cold as it has been being. The fish are still bunched up pretty tight but they are getting more aggressive and willing to chase a bait. We caught several on weedless spoons and the fish really attacked the bait just like they do in the warmer months. I take that as a good sign! The other bait that has been doing well are the crank baits. We’ve caught some really good fish with them on recent trips. Just remember that it’s real easy to pull one too fast, but it’s hard to pull one too slow for a red. This time of year you have to be willing to change baits and techniques often in order to find what the fish really want. What you want to use has nothing to do with catching fish. Always try to find what they want and give it to them!
Good fishing!
Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html
Georgetown, SC
843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 24, 2002 - 5:58 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 10-20-02 through 11–23-02
The water temp has dropped into the 50's now and the colder days of winter are not far away. Trout and reds are feeding as hard as they can, knowing that during the colder months, there will not be a lot to eat. Nature has equipped them to deal with this annual cycle though. As the water cools and there is less bait available, the cold blooded fishes metabolism slows and they will require less food to sustain them. The fact that they need less food daily is the main reason they can be harder to catch during the colder parts of the winter. We normally find the trout bite slows considerably when the water gets into the lower 50's. They don’t leave, they just seem to hunker down in deeper places and come out to feed when there are warmer days. There are some places that we fish in the winter months that are 15 to 25 feet deep and it’s not uncommon to catch as many as 30 to 75 in a spot if you get everything just right. And, when the water is in the mid 40's, you will need a lot of patience to find out if they are there, and secondly if they will feed. To catch them, you will have to fish the bait, and in our case, the jig, as slowly as possible. We typically will use an 1/8th oz. head with a 3" curly tail jig body. The color can be critical on rare days, but, most times the old favorites will work just fine. We also will “sweeten” the bait with a touch of bait scent to get them a little more interested. Reds on the other hand will remain in the shallows, or very close to them, all winter long. On bright sunny days at low tide, the sun will warm the mud that is exposed and as the tide comes back in, the water absorbs the warmth. Many times, the reds will be right against the edge of the rising tide in only inches of water. When you find them like this, they will grab almost anything that moves. We will try to determine which way a fish, or group of them, is moving and cast ahead of them, letting the bait settle to the bottom and pulling it until it is directly in front of them. As the first fish or two get within a foot or so of the lure, pick it up and start moving it. The fish thinks it has spooked a bait, and most often, will attack it with all it can. Nearly all of our trips for the last month have been good ones. A typical day was 10 to 20 reds with a couple of days with only 4 or 5 caught. When we targeted trout, a typical trip was 15 to 35 trout with a few reds mixed in when the water got low. Jigs, spoons, crank baits, and soft jerk baits have all worked well. Some days when the wind is blowing hard, we will use live bait, but, for the most part, artificials are working great.
Totals for the period are: Reds = 132, sea trout = 74, blue fish = 93, and black drum = 27 .
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service Web Site: http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC Mail to: Delta-Guide-Service@sc.rr.com
1-843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
Unregistered guest
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, October 20, 2002 - 7:17 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 09-24-02 through 10–19-02
Another month has passed and the reds are still here in good numbers and the trout have shown up in some good numbers also. The size of the trout seems to be better now than even a month ago. We’ve been catching some really big ones. The biggest so far is one that went 5 1/4#. The really big reds are about done with their spawning, so, they will probably be harder to find after this coming full moon cycle. There have been some really big ones caught this season, and true to form, some jerks have been keeping them. The game wardens have made several cases lately against people with reds as large as 40 to 45 pounds each. Some people just can’t make themselves obey the law, and simply do the “right thing” and release the big ones. Just in case some of you don’t know what the fine is, it’s $1,030.00 per fish. That’s right, it is a lot of money for a fish, and it also goes to show how important the fish is. The DNR has taken to stocking some reds in several locations. The small fish have been put in a solution that will put a dye mark on their ear bones (otoliths) so that they can be identified as hatchery fish as they grow older. That will allow the biologists to document the survival rate and growth rate at several locations, etc. We had a few good trips this year with tarpon also. In 4 trips, Tommy hooked 21 tarpon and boated 4. They were in the 75 to 100 pound size. He is still catching a lot of the black drum also and most of them are around the 3 to 10 pound size. We also caught some really big reds in the 25 to 45 pound size by using a really big live bait. I had a guy question me recently about my Boga Grip. He asked me how heavy a fish it could weigh and I replied that it bottomed out at 30 pounds. Then he smiled and asked how I could say a red we had caught weighed 45 pounds. Fair question! I told him that we used 2 Boga Grips at the same time with one person holding both scales and another reading both at the same time and adding the weights shown on each scale. That way you can be pretty accurate up to about 60 pounds. It broke his heart that he hadn’t caught me lying about the weight! Live bait has been working well, with menhaden still being the favorite. Artificials are starting to pay off and jigs and spoons have been working well recently. As the water cools, they will begin to work so well that we will stop with the live bait and use artificials almost exclusively until it warms up again this coming Spring.
Totals for the period are: Reds = 143, and sea trout = 56.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service Web Site: http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC Mail to: Delta-Guide-Service@sc.rr.com
1-843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 22, 2002 - 11:13 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 08-26-02 through 09–23-02
Another Fall season has started and it started with a bang. The big reds are here and they are ready to do business. We’ve regularly been catching fish in the 10# and over class - sometimes as many as 8 or 10 of them a day! We’ve also had our share of broken lines even though we use 20 to 30 pound test main lines. These big fish are only slightly inconvenienced when you stick them with a hook and it’s tied onto anything less than 20# test line. Another fish that seems to be in good supply around here is the black drum. Tommy, one of our guides, has been having some really great trips on them. He has had over 30 a day on several trips lately and quite a few of them have been in the 8 to 10 pound class. The sea trout we have been finding are still the smaller ones. We have had a few larger ones in the 2 to 3 pound size, but not many. The redfish’s bait of choice still seems to be the live stuff. We have caught quite a few on spoons and crank baits and spinners though. During our last week or so, we’ve had some really good tides for the tailing fish and have caught quite a few. We were pleased that the wind gave us a chance to catch some with the fly rods also. We have had so much wind this season that it is really nice to get a decent day, and to have a fly rodder on board when the weather and the fishing is right. The shrimp baiting season is upon us again, but it still is not as crowded at the landings as it has been in the past. On another note, the game wardens have been writing a lot of tickets for people with reds that are oversized and with over the limits. The fines have routinely been at or near the maximum amounts also. And one final note. I found another gill net that was set in one of out favorite spots. I saw a boat pulling it in one morning and called DNR and a game warden came immediately and went to the boat. I had a charter so I didn’t stick around to see what happened. It still makes me mad every time I think about it. If it were up to me, it would be illegal to even posses gill net webbing in SC.
Totals for the period are: Reds = 114, and sea trout = 21.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service Web Site: http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC Mail to: Delta-Guide-Service@sc.rr.com
1-843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, August 25, 2002 - 7:47 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 07-22-02 through 08–25-02
The weather has been really hot, and the fishing has also!! We keep having really good trips normally, and also, the occasional poor one mixed in just to keep us humble. I had a couple of days where we only caught 2 or 3 fish and a couple where we only caught 4 or 5 fish, but most of the other days we had from 8 to 21 fish per day. There were quite a few that went over the 10 pound mark and several that were over 14 pounds and one that went 15 1/2. We are still using live bait regularly but several days of light wind allowed us to catch a few on the fly rods and 4 or 5 trips were done using artificials such as spoons, spinner baits, and crank baits. Yesterday, the 23rd, a father and son caught 18 reds, all on artificials, and quit early in the afternoon because it was too hot. We literally left the fish biting! This is the time of year when we start catching some really big reds in the shallows. It’s spawning time, which normally brings them in near the shores, and, we think they also come in to feed on the shrimp, which are normally in good supply at this same time. Fresh shrimp, mullet, menhaden, or crab all seem to work great on these bigger fish. They seem to be a bit more picky about freshness than the smaller ones.
Totals for the period are: Reds = 186, and sea trout = 14.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service Web Site: http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC Mail to: Delta-Guide-Service@sc.rr.com
1-843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, July 21, 2002 - 10:25 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 07-02-02 through 07–21-02
This month started off great with a trip of 23 reds, 6 trout and 2 sharks and the very next day we had 11 reds and 4 trout. Several other trips had from 5 to 9 reds and a few trout each day and I also had my not-so-good days where we only caught 3 or 4 reds each day. I can remember last year about this time when I thought that it was an excellent day if we could catch 3 or 4 each day. I also remember that we caught two large red fish, a 25# and a 28 ½ # at the end of July, last year and I hope to see more of them this year. The fish we have been catching are of all sizes from small to large. What I do not understand is, where were they last year? I and others were having a heck of a time finding them then, but now there seems to be a few of them almost everywhere we fish. We are still using a lot of live bait such as mullet and menhaden, but, we also have been having some luck with spoons and crank baits and have taken a few on the fly rod. The wind has been less of a problem for us lately, but the heat has gotten to the spot where a good breeze is welcome! Water temps have gotten to 85 in some areas so please be sure to give your fish plenty of time to catch their breath before releasing them. It is pretty well known that the hotter the water is, the less oxygen there is in it and, we have found that the resuscitation time should be at least equal to the time of the fight. That way, if you use light line, such as 8 or 10 pound test, and the fight lasts a long time, you should resuscitate the fish for a long time. We normally use heavy line such as 20# test so we can get them in quickly and release them quickly. It is a lot less stressful on the fish that way.
Totals for the period are: Reds, 66 and sea trout, 17.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service Web Site: http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC Mail to: Delta-Guide-Service@sc.rr.com
1-843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 02, 2002 - 10:08 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 06-14-02 through 07–01-02
During the almost two weeks of intermittent rain storms we managed to run several fishing trips. In spite of rain, gale force winds, and muddy water, the fish we found were pretty cooperative. One of the half day trips had 4 reds from 3 ½# up to 8 ½# and a flounder. Of the full day trips, one had 7 reds that were 2#, 3#, 6#, 2@8#, 10#, and one at 10 3/4#. Another full day had 16 reds that were from 2 ½# to 10 ½# , two trout that were 2 ½# and 4#, and 3 flounder of around 1 ½# each. Today was a great weather day and the fish bit pretty good also. We had 9 reds and they were all around the 3# each. I’ve talked to quite a few guys that are good trout fishermen, and they all seem to sing the same sad song, not many trout this spring. Plenty of flounder are being caught in this area and some of them are really good sized ones. Not much to report except that we are still hoping to see the wind let up a bit.
Totals for the period are: Reds - 41 up to 10 3/4#, 2 sea trout up to 4#, and several flounder.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service Web Site: http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC Mail to: Delta-Guide-Service@sc.rr.com
1-843-546-3645
|
Delta Guide Service
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 10:07 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 05-29-02 through 06–13-02
Vacation’s over and now it’s back to work! We didn’t have much luck with the fish in Costa Rica this trip. The weather was just starting to change and all those other standard excuses for poor fishing were used, and, I’m sure it had something to do with it. What ever it was, there were no birds flying and no bait fish schools in the area where we were. We short hooked several and managed to land one but it was nothing to get excited over. So, we only fished for two days and basically just kicked back and relaxed for the rest of the trip.
Since we got back we’ve run several trips and the fishing here is still good! Day before yesterday we had 15 reds, a trout, and quite a few small sharks. The reds were up to 8 ½ # and were all caught on live bait. A half day today produced 3 nice reds with the largest being 8 ½# also. Today’s fish were caught on live bait also. We did see one huge tail, up in the grass, but we never got a bait to where he would take it. While I was gone, Tommy, Lin, Henry and Sandy all had some good trips and quite a few reds and trout were caught. I know Lin had 11 trout and several flounder today on a half day trip and one of the trout was around 4#. Tommy has fished our secret little depression with good success. In the last few trips he had several fish there that were over 14# each.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service Web Site: http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC Mail to: Delta-Guide-Service@sc.rr.com
1-843-546-3645
|
Delta Guide Service
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 29, 2002 - 1:45 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 05-19-02 through 05–28-02
Still windy, really windy! We’ve had a morning or two where we could fish in some comfort but most days it just blows and blows. What the weather man calls variable winds has now come to mean that it is variable at 20+ from the NE and then at 20+ from the SE. Still, in spite of it all, we have been finding some areas where we can catch the reds with live and artificial baits. High tide in the grass has produced quite a few, and then at low tide in one of several depressions we’ve located recently we’ve had some really good times. One day had 16 reds, 3 trout and 1 flounder. The reds were up to 8# each and two of the trout were around 3# each. Another day had 17 reds up to 6 ½# each. Another day had 5 reds that were from 9 ½# to 13#. Another day had 7 reds from 9# to 12#. Another day had 5 reds that were from 8# to 13 1/4#. Several other days had from 3 to 4 reds and a couple of trout and flounder and we also had a couple of lady fish. I’m heading to Costa Rica on Friday, May 31 and will return on June 9th. We plan to fish for guapote (peacock bass) for a day or so and then make our way down to the Pacific coast for some saltwater fishing. I’ll let you know how it went when I return.
At the risk of starting a war with words, I want to ask all of you this question. How would you feel about reducing the bag limit on spotted sea trout from 10 fish per day to 5 fish per day?
Total for the 10 day period was: 62 reds, 4 flounder, and 4 trout.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service Web Site: http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC Mail to: Delta-Guide-Service@sc.rr.com
1-843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 17, 2002 - 10:14 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 05-04-02 through 05–18-02
We continue doing pretty good with the reds, despite the wind. On several trips, we found some of them in a little depression in an otherwise really shallow area. One day there we had16 reds up to 7 ½ pounds each and two days later in the same spot, we caught 14 more. Then, wonder of wonders, I had a trip on Mother’s Day and the wind was not blowing! I took the client to an area that we haven’t been able to fish for about a month, because of the wind. He caught 13 reds by using weedless spoons (Johnson, Rapala & Red Ripper). Two of them were around 3 to 4 pounds each, ten of them were from 7 to 11 pounds each, and one weighed in at 13 1/4 pounds! He had another really big one hooked but the shank of the hook, on a brand new Red Ripper, broke. Another trip had 8 reds that were from 2 to 6 ½ pounds. Several other trips had 3 to 5 fish each day. I didn’t get to really work on the trout, but, on one really windy day, we managed to catch two really good ones of around 3# each. As in previous reports, we’ve been using live bait for the most part. The reds we caught on spoons weren’t picky about color or style. I tried the Red Rippers because they have a rattle chamber built in and because they come in such a neat looking package! Like reds, I’ll grab something if it catches my eye also. I don’t like they way they fish as much as I do the Johnsons and Rapalas. They have the shape of the Johnson, only they are turned backwards. Because of the large lead edge, they tend to ride higher in the water and if you pull them the least bit fast, they will come to the top. I use the Rapala when the weed cover is really dense and when the wind has a belly in your line. They are heavy and tend to fish deeper than the Johnson. The Johnson is by far the best all round spoon I’ve used. It can run slow and deep with no trailer or shallow and slow with a curly tail for a trailer. In order to fish the Red Ripper deep, you almost have to stop it completely. Even the smallest amount of speed will bring it right up in the water column. I think that can be a good thing when fishing really shallow water over shell beds and I do think there is a place for each of these lures in the tackle box.
Total for the period was: 76 reds, 5 flounder, and 2 trout.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC
1-843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
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Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 03, 2002 - 4:12 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 04-19-02 through 05–03-02
Bingo!!! The trout are here, and there are some really big ones moving in this area. Of course, the wind has fought us tooth and claw to make sure we don’t get to enjoy them as much as we would like. We’ve also had some good days with blue fish that were 2 to 3 pounds each and some really nice spanish mackerel. They would take a clouser fly as quickly as they would take a live bait or jig. What they seem to be feeding on are the “glass minnows” as they come along a shore line or ambush point. The reds are still in good supply, at least for now. I can’t remember a spring season that has been this good in a long long time. Our top redfish biologist, Dr. Charles Wenner, here in SC told me recently that it appears that we’ve had one of the best hatches of redfish in around 10 years!! In the same note, he sent me a photo of a bottle nose dolphin (Flipper) with about a 7 pound red in it’s mouth trying to kill and swallow it. I wonder how we could go about getting Flipper listed as a game fish? I’ll bet they would be a really good pull on a medium weight rig! Of course, we’d have to have a bag limit of say maybe 5 per day? Most of the reds were caught on live bait. Not because they won’t eat artificials; it’s just so windy we can hardly control the boat so we wind up anchored most of the time. Back to the trout. I know it’s hard for some of you to release a really big trout but we really need to do it this spring. This is the first wave of the spawning females and nearly every one is ready to release a million or so eggs. If they are allowed to spawn, they will make our fall and next spring trout fishing fantastic.
Total for the almost 3 weeks period was: 93 reds, 23 flounder, and 47 trout.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC
1-843-546-3645
|
Delta Guide Service
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Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 11:06 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 03-24-02 through 04–18-02
I’m not sure what has happened recently, but we, and some of the guides in Charleston have been finding a lot of hungry reds! Normally we have a struggle to survive this time of year but, I and our other guides have been having some really good days in the past few weeks. Days where there were 21, and 38, and 31, and 23, and 19, and 17 reds caught. That’s not normal for us this time of year. What is normal is a story I head one captain tell me about seeing a school, last week, of about a hundred or so reds, in a long column, moving, as if migrating, from an off shore area to an inshore area and they only managed to catch a couple of them. We think that these springtime groups of reds are some that have been in the ocean for the winter and are coming back inshore to feed for the summer months. Most of the time, and this sighting was no exception, the fish are big ones and they are not feeding, only passing through. Our trout specialist has had a couple of good days with the sea trout lately. One day he had 19 and another he had 14. Still, none of the big roe trout. The water is warm enough, they just don’t seem to have come in yet. We’re hoping that they are just a little late and that there is no problem with them. The next full moon will tell the tale and if they don’t show by then, there probably won’t be any numbers of them again this year. I really hope that doesn’t happen. The wind has blown a steady gale most of the spring. You’d think we’d be used to it by now. It blew all last year, and it’s started out as if it’s going to do the same thing this year. Because it’s been so windy, we’ve had to use live bait for some time now, but, it’s been working just fine. Mullet minnows are plentiful now, and the old stand-by, mud minnows, have been working great. Some of the reds were caught on artificials, but most of these last ones were caught on live bait. The trout were all caught on artificials, 1/4 oz. jig heads with a curly tail jig.
Total for the, almost 4 weeks, period was: 179 reds, 11 flounder, and 31 trout.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC
1-843-546-3645
|
Delta Guide Service
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Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 3:34 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 03-10-02 through 03–23-02
During the last two weeks, we’ve had fair to good fishing for the reds. One guide has had two trips where they caught some sea trout also. Not very many, but at least there are some here. During the winter months, the trout have been in really short supply here in our area. We hope that this is a signal that with the warmer and longer days they will start to show up inside and at their old haunts. The big females will be some of the first to show up, and they will be hungry. When they do show, I hope people will exercise some restraint when they catch these big female roe trout that are loaded with eggs. It’s a pity to see one of these big ones killed before it has had a chance to spawn. The reds have been cooperative on most days and would take an artificial about as easily as they would the live baits. The Bottlenose dolphins (like Flipper) are here in big numbers also. Most of the rivers and bays around here are loaded with them. Whenever I hear someone talk about the sharks being the top predator in the ocean, I always think, “they haven’t paid much attention to a dolphin!” Talk about an apex predator and “Mr. Flipper” and family always come to mind with me. They hunt in packs and are very smart indeed. They also require much more food in a day than the sharks do because they, the dolphins, are warm blooded and need lots of food to keep their body heat up. I don’t remember ever having as many around as there seem to be now. I wonder if anyone does a numbers count on them? If so, I’d be glad to hear if there are more now, or if I’m just imagining this. At any rate, the redfish population seems to be rebounding, at least as far as the numbers of small fish we are seeing. Hopefully the trout will have had a good winter. The water never got very cold, so maybe the trout and shrimp will be back in good numbers this year. We didn’t seem to find any one thing that the fish liked better than the other. Spoons, and jigs caught most of them and a few were caught on spinner baits.
Total for the period was: 11reds and 13 trout were caught.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC
1-843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
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Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, March 11, 2002 - 11:37 pm: | |
Subject: South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 02-24-02 through 03–09-02
Two weeks have passed since my last report and not much has changed. We ran five trips, and all but one were good ones. The bad one was during hard wind, with low tide and muddy water. Not much good can come of conditions like that. The other days were windy, but not too much to fish in. We managed to find some reds that wanted to eat, and we fed them spoons and jigs, and also caught a couple on spinner baits. The water has warmed a bit, and the algae is turning it green again. Unless we have some really cold weather, it will probably remain green until next winter. It makes it harder to see the fish, but, it also makes it harder for them to see us! One of our guides found two groups of fish and really had a ball with them. They totaled 23 one day and most of them were in the 8# and up size. Another day in the same area, he had 14 that were about the same size. I had a trip scheduled one day, and he told me where he had found the school. I started in a totally different area, and we caught two reds in the first 30 minutes of the morning. It was a beautiful morning, and I decided to leave the area we were in and run to his secret spot. About an hour later, we arrived there and fished for 4 hours for one fish. I then left and ran back where we had started and we caught 5 more that evening. All that goes to remind me that you should never leave fish to go find fish! We have had some good catches of smaller ones around 2 to 3 pounds also. Nearly all the fish were taken on artificials. I had kept 3 dozen live mud minnows for over two weeks, and never used a one of them. I finally released them a couple of days ago. Another of our guides went to the west coast of Florida a couple of weeks back, and in three days of fishing, he and his buddy caught over 200 sea trout, a few odd snook and a couple of reds! Now that’s really fishing! They caught them with jigs, fishing just like we do here. As a side line, one of our guides has taken to guiding for catfish. He has always liked catching them, and has had some really good ones recently. Just a few nights ago, they had one that was 89 pounds! The same night, they had 3 that were over 30 pounds each! So, if you have any desire to hook into a really big cat, give us a call, and we’ll hook you up with him.....the guide that is.
Total for the period was: 53 reds and no trout or other fish were caught.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC
1-843-546-3645 |
Delta Guide Service
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Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, February 24, 2002 - 3:56 pm: | |
Subject: Shallow Saltwater Report
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report
From 02-10-02 through 02–23-02
Another two weeks have passed with mild weather and few fishermen out on the water. The trips we have run during this period have been fair, with some really big fish, and some really small fish caught. Weather has been fair also. Some wind and rain, and some nice days with warm winds and plenty of sunshine. We are finding some single reds, and some in small groups of five to ten, much the way they do in the spring time. With all this mild weather, maybe they think it is spring! On two occasions, once during and once right after a cold front, and there were no numbers of fish to be seen or caught. In the Gulf of Mexico most people know that it’s a waste of time fishing behind a cold front. However, in our area, the fish normally seem to be more tolerant of these same fronts, and, on most occasions, can be caught. This time though they were not to be found in any numbers. My guess is that they had moved into deeper water and suspended since we could not find them in any of their normal shallow water areas. During the normal weather days they were out and about and feeding like normal. Mud minnows, jigs, and spoons all seemed to work equally well.
Total for the period was: reds totaled 16 , flounder totaled 1, and trout totaled 0.
Thanks, Gene Dickson
Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com
Georgetown, SC
1-843-546-3645 |
Capt.Ben Alderman
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Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, February 14, 2002 - 4:40 pm: | |
Subject: Superfly Fishing Report
This being my first report on this site, I included the last two weeks reports. (copied from www.Superflyfishing.com )
Just got back from a great trip out to Colorado visiting my cousin and had a chance to mix in a little cold weather trout fishing between snowboarding sessions. Its beautiful and a great change of scenery, but my first charter since I got back(1/31) quickly reminded me just how great we have it here! Perfect weather never hurts, and neither does having a really good fisherman casting the fly. Billy Wingfield is a regular client of mine and we usually do really well, but our last trip out was a frustrating day of watching the fish all over us with no takers. Today our luck would change...fast. After poling us back through some winding creeks we soon came up on a WAD of fish in a turn 20 feet ahead of us. We could see several other groups of big fish all waiting to come straight to us as the tide ran out in a hurry. First cast, first hook up! Soon Billy Landed a 4#er on a gold flashy fly. He insists I fish so it was my turn to cast. Not to be outdone, I hooked a monster on the first cast with a black clouser. I almost felt guilty as I slugged it out with an 11# bruiser, but managed to enjoy myself. Whoops, I forgot the camera today , but Billy had a throw away so maybe I can scan them in when he gets them. Billy's turn again and in a couple of casts he's hooked up again. This time with a big red trying its hardest to break him off in the oysters, but with a miraculous move the line was free and the fish on his way down current behind the boat. A fat ten pounder soon on the boga, we snapped another photo and sent him on his way. The masses of reds coming at us in droves was almost ridiculous. As the water fell out of the flat we were constantly hooking up until it was almost too late. We barely skimmed out of the hole with seconds to spare, but not before landing 6 nice reds and losing a couple others on pulled hooks and break-offs. We tried a few other schools that had been run out of bone dry flats due to the negative tide, but didn't get a bite despite finding tons of them. After seeing an unusual sight of menehaden flipping in the waterway in Jan/Feb we ended a great trip with a fast boatride home. What a perfect homecoming to remind me some of the best fly fishing anywhere is right in my back yard!
(2/2) was blustery but not too bad as we baitfished for big reds. Having 3 anglers on my little boat pretty much dictates our method of attack, especially on a windy day like today. The fish cooperated with steady bites all afternoon long, as we waited them out as they drained out of emptying flats. After a suprising random 2# trout opened up the catching, we landed 6 big reds (all 10# plus) while losing at least that many on break offs and pulled hooks. We should have landed more, but every fight we had all day was an epic battle on light tackle. My clients from New Jersey couldn't have been more delighted. They were able to take pictures with their own camera(I promise I'm going to put mine in the boat!), and I'll get them scanned in when I get'em.
Calm sunny days in February are hard to beat for clear water excitement. Saturday (2/9) I took out Walt Rhodes(outdoor writer and photograper) and his wife Elizabeth to do some ground work for a summertime article. I could only stay out for a couple of hours, but with such nice conditions, that should be plenty of time to find a fish or two. As the tide fell out Saturday morning, I thought it would be a great time to pole back in a favorite skinny water creek I hadn't checked in a while. Though we found a large school way up in the creek, we weren't able to suprise them, and before you know it they were storming all around the boat, mudding up the aquarium like water, and refusing our grubs. It was an awesome spectacle for Walt and Elizabeth, but I quickly scooted out of there to find an eater or two before our time was up. On to an open mud flat with a school of about a hundred reds waiting for a meal. This time, we saw them first, and the advantage was ours. We plucked several nice reds out of the school using Hybrid grubs and finger mullet, as they pushed big wakes back and forth across the flat. Walt snapped a few quick photos and we had to leave them biting. The next day(2/10) I had a couple of fellas from Tennessee, and the weather was kind to them as well. The first few areas we tried around high tide were unproductive, but as soon as the tide got out of the grass, we got on a great big group of reds that were hungry. My clients had a blast catching and releasing 10 big reds. A 12, two 11's, and two 10 pound bullies made for some tight forearms and wide grins aboard Superfly. Tuesday(2/12) was spent scouting some areas around Bulls Bay with fellow guide Peter Brown. The first flat we hit was loaded with several big groups of reds mudding and waking all over the place. A few weeks ago I tied a couple of circle hook gold falshy flies to try out. No better time than the present, I tied one on for Peter and he started to work the line out of the end of the 7weight. In no time he was hooked up, and the circle hook worked like a charm. The fish actually ate the fly coming towards the boat, keeping Peter from getting tight right away and letting the circle hook do its job. Five fish later, all hooked in the corner of the mouth on the same fly, without a nick on the leader, I'm a believer! The next flat tested my Maverick as we rocketed in mere inches of water across a huge flat to check some areas of congregation at dead low. All wadded up in a small shallow pool with nowhere else to go lay at least another hundered reds. The first couple of flies we tossed in them hit pay dirt with a couple of smallish fish before the pool got all riled up and muddy. No need to pound on them we burned back across the flat and called it a day as the wind picked up a little. It was nice to get some action on the pointy end of the boat for a change and its always fun to fish with Peter. Call me ASAP to book your day on the water. Its a great time to fish Charleston.
Capt. Ben Alderman
Superfly Fishing
www.Superflyfishing.com
843/906-3630
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