I didn’t expect much as I ventured off to one of my favorite flats in the second week of November, but conditions have a way of working out for the best at times and it looked like today might be one of those days. The weather was supposed to be right. The weather man predicted light winds and a decently warm day for our harsh Charleston wintertime, not to mention the wife had a day of shopping and prepping for the upcoming holidays which luckily did not involve me. Who was I to argue against these odds? It was like it was meant to be, so off to the water I went. The flood tide at high noon would put me in 65 degree water at the peak of the day; I had high hopes that the hungry tailers in the grass would be there as aggresive as they once were in the height of summer eating every little crab they could stuff in their jugbellies. The first thing I noticed as I put the boat in and rounded the first creekmouth to the ICW was the abundance of boats. There was no shortage of sailboats and cabin cruisers staying tight to each other passing in oppossite directions. Captains calling out to others passing by to watch out for sandbars and other navigational hazards. The snowbirds have started their usual journies south in hopes of warmer weather and they’ve seemed to have found it in Charleston. I’ve been asked by many why I love Charleston so much. This weekend was exactly why. The weather was beautiful, the fish were biting, everything just seemed right with the world.
When I arrived to the flat that I would commonly have to myself on a November day, the water was up earlier than I anticipated. Dropped the anchor in a foot of water and slowly got in the 65 degree water. Cold at first, but after a few minutes, it was like summer again…just with a jacket on today instead. Walked it for five minutes before I spooked my first redfish, then five minutes later, I spooked my second. Well, at least this is a good sign; the fish are up on the flat milling around and occasionally showing themselves. Finally,
That’s pretty sweet. Well written post.
I thought I’d given up on tailers in the short grass with the long rod. Apparently, persistence pays.
What has to happen weatherwise and at what point do you think you won’t find any more tailers in the grass?
I’ve caught them on the flats February through November. I’m sure they are up there all year, I just don’t go after them in the colder months. They are most active for me from June through October. I didn’t see many fiddlers on saturday, but occasionally a redfish would blow up on something. I assume it was crabs they were after. Didn’t see much bait on the flat at all. One or two random minnows and that was it.
Weatherwise, I’d be looking for a smaller floodtide in the midafternoon. Saturday happened to be a 5.8 at 12:30 and the air temperature was nice enough to go wading. Those conditions aren’t the norm though, you gotta pick your days.
If you’re after reds in the winter, its a lot of fun to chase the low tide schools.
Yeah id like to here more about chasing low tide schools also. Been fishing mostly offshore for the past few years and am trying to get back inshore. Any tips would be extremely appreciated.
There are a ton of videos on YouTube. Basically during the colder months, they will school up in the shallow water where the temperature is slightly warmer. Schools can be in the hundreds of fish.
The report was great but! The photos are awesome. What a photo shoot. You must be linig up the shots for GoPro next movie showing. You’ve got a head start if so.
“Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education”
Yea I am pretty sure we got on top of a school like that last year, they were swirling all around us and there were plenty of em! Couldnt get one to eat a live mullet , spoon or gulp shrimp though…but they were busting all around! It was exciting with out pulling one out I can imagine snaggin a few out of there would be awesome!
“you win some, you lose some…but nothing beats getting some!”
Awesome pictures as always! It doesn’t get much better than chasing large schools of reds around in the winter. Well except for stalking them in the flats. I find my most productive days in the winter when there is a warmer than usual day with the wind laid down. Those days are hard to come by, but great when it happens. For me the wind is key though. You can spot them from a mile away if the water is flat. Otherwise, I usually roll right over them and see the cloud of mud from them pushing away. I also watch for birds diving. They are a good sign a school is around. I would cruise a lot of banks and flats at low tide and once you find them, they usually don’t move to far away. My favorite time was when we came around an oyster bed and had the reds pinned in a small pocket. The only way by us was under the boat. Seeing 100-200 reds dart under the boat and listening to them hit the bottom was pretty cool. My drag screaming would have been better to hear, but we couldn’t get them to bite after that!
