Skip to main content
Monthly Archives

June 2019

Charleston Fishing Report – July 2019

By Fishing, Fishing Report

Charleston-Fishing-Report

While the weather has been quite hot, it hasn’t slowed the fishing down. Fishermen can try starting early in the morning where they can find fish chasing bait on the surface as well as lighter winds that allow them to sight fish on the flats. Evenings also offer cooler temperatures and a chance to target tailing redfish on big flood tides.

The redfish bite has been great. The large schools of redfish have now split up but you can still find pods of twenty to thirty fish, especially on the flats. Putting a scent trail in the water and an easy meal in front of redfish is a tactic likely to succeed. We usually put live mullet or cracked blue crab on the bottom with enough weight to hold it in place. Use circle hooks in size 3/0 combined with a heavy test line and watch those rods rip over!

The trout bite is getting steadily stronger. We’ve started catching a healthy number of larger trout mixed in with smaller fish. Fishing mud minnows on jigheads is quite effective and lets you get your bait in front of trout in deeper pockets. I use 1/8 oz. or 1/4oz. jigheads. You can use heavier jigheads but make sure their size is not significantly bigger than the bait. Try alternating the speed of your retrieve as you work through an area.

Spanish mackerel are plentiful and are often best found at first light. If you find schools of fish busting bait on the surface, toss reflective casting jigs and reel them quickly through the school. Move your boat gradually around the school; running through a pod of fish will put them down. If you know fish are present but not up top, try trolling Clark Spoons at different depths and different speeds.

See you on the water!

Fishing Charleston Harbor

By Fishing, Fishing Report

Fishing Charleston Harbor

Headed off to Ranger school on Monday, Luke and his family wanted to get some fishing in before he left home. Started the charter watching bluefish and smaller trout mess with our popping corks. Kept moving until we found a strong trout bite that lasted for almost an hour with Luke putting the largest keeper in the boat. He wasn’t done yet. As we finished the charter, Luke’s cork got smoked and a few minutes later he had a beautiful 11 pound redfish onboard! A fishing memory that will hopefully keep a smile on his face throughout training.

Folly Beach Fishing

By Fishing, Fishing Report

Folly Beach Fishing

Found a few seams of calm weather in an otherwise windy stretch of days. We were able to pole on the flats and the redfish clearly did not mind the bouts of choppy water. Schools of redfish could be seen flashing their bellies in the sun as they fed. There were no takers on artificials so we switched over to cut mullet. It sure did the trick as we caught redfish up to eleven pounds. The bite stayed on for a solid two hours until the water got up into the grass.

Charleston Fishing Report – June 2019

By Fishing, Fishing Report

Charleston-Fishing-Report

June is a great time of year to be fishing because there are so many options. The usual suspects, redfish and trout, are plentiful and active. Sharks are readily available to really give your arms a workout while ladyfish make your drag scream as they fly acrobatically through the air. Bait is easily accessible with a quick toss of a cast net. You just can’t go wrong.

Menhaden are redfish candy and our waters are teeming with them. Using a carolina rig, we’ve been fishing with both live and cut menhaden. Make sure to use a heavy enough weight to hold the bait stationary, otherwise your rig will tumble along the bottom until it snags. Try fishing docks and other structure immediately around where you netted your menhaden, you’ll be sure to find plenty of reds!

The popping cork remains the way to go when targeting trout. Fish these corks in front of creek mouths, along grassy banks and over shell rakes. Look for places trout can sit and ambush prey. Live shrimp and mud minnows are very effective but sometimes bait stealers and snapper bluefish make short work of them. When this happens, I’ll switch over to a DOA 3″ shrimp in their glow/gold rush color.

This has been one of the best years for shark fishing in recent memory. Bonnethead sharks have been especially thick and you can see their fins as they slice up and down the banks. We’ve been using carolina rigs here as well. Chunks of ladyfish or live menhaden work well as does cracked blue crab. Look to fish areas where there are sharp changes in water depth.

See you on the water!