Went with my buddy to try my hand at scouting reds cruising the banks of the wando and its many creeks. We didn’t see ****. We decided to try a dock he had heard about and headed that way. When we got there i saw some bait jumping about 300 yards down stream. So we rolled over there and flipped our mud minnows right into the bait and we saw 6 or 7 large wakes peel off of where we threw our lines. What i don’t understand is why we didn’t see the reds pushing wake before we cast. you’d think that they would be chasing that bait. Anyways we went back to the dock and I broke my previous record of an 18.5 inch trout and upped my new personal best a half inch. I caught one more which was 14’’ and then my buddy lost something huge and one other fish because he had his back reel on and when the fish hit his hand was off the reel and it started spinning and by the time he reacted it was too late. He broke his skunk with an 11" trout. We tried chatter baits, gulp shrimp, electric chicken shad with pro cure and the only thing that worked were mud minnows.
The reds are looking for an easy meal. When you casted to the bait they spooked off. Next time you see that happening, try to ease up on the area and observe what’s in the water and try to see the fish before casting into the area. Once you see which way they are headed toss it out in front of them by 10 yards or so. We caught a bunch of reds yesterday under the docks. The ones we found on the flats were spooky and moving more than usual. What size line, weight and leader are you using when fishing the docks?
i know about casting in front of the reds when are cruising but the only thing we saw were 5 or 6 little mullet jumping and i just wanted to cast in and actually see if anything was there. We didn’t even see them moving until they took off. I was using 30lb braid with a 1/4 ounce jig head with no leader.
just watch and be patient. you’ll see the school in shallow water. we used to buzz them up on a huge flat by planing the jon boat in 2ft of water. then chill and watch and 30 mins later you got a school targeted and lead them. dark flies with crab juice and minimal movement
for the dedicated. cracked crab if you’re trying to impress a date.
It was low incoming, about an hour past dead low when they were biting and then an hour after that when they stopped. The funny thing was the fish weren’t biting underneath the dock. They were biting directly next to the dock in a little cove.
The times they are a changing! Thanks for the info. I’ve had better luck this winter at high tide for reds than low tide, since i can’t get on the flats. Opens up a few more options!
