no luck (or no skill?) from about 2pm to sunset in the folly river, high tide was about 5pm. used live mud minnows, live finger mullet, & old shrimp under popping cork & on bottom with carolina rig. i tried docks, grass, flats, deep holes, nothing all day except one quick battle by a bridge piling. definitely getting jealous looking at all these great reports on here! I thought for sure I was going to have a great day after my luck @ the ramp, I was about to head out & I had planned to use artificials, but some nice guys pulled up in a beautiful new seafoam colored 16’ Hewes & offered me a huge amount of leftover live bait, like 4 dozen mud minnows, a dozen old shrimp, & a dozen live finger mullet. o well, i had fun being out of the house & so did my dog. Here’s a picture of the sunset last night, anyone wanna help me bloody this deck?
Try going out a couple of hours before low tide and fish some docks on the bottom with live finger mullet. That should get you some reds. Once the tide gets up on the grass, hit some spots with oyster rakes and good moving water using that popping float with live shrimp for bait. You might get into some trout that way.
Jack Taylor
thank you Mr. Taylor, I appreciate the advice. What exactly is an “oyster rake”? just a clump of oysters on a mound in the middle of a creek? or a bank of oysters by some grass? not really sure what you mean
Sent you a pm
“you win some, you lose some…but nothing beats getting some!”
Remember this advice is free…
I’ve only been fishing the Folly area 6 + years but have learned a few things.
- if you want to catch fish , initially stack the deck in your favor by letting them come to you. Near high tide you take the same amount of fish and spread them out over hundreds of more acres of water and bottom there. Start around low tides when all those fish are squeezed into much less territory. Work high tides later on when you want to diversify your skills and experiences.
- you can catch flounder, trout, reds, black drum, lady fish, blues within sight of the Folly ramp. Literally. Not often the biggest, but they are fish if you want to start catching.
- the fish aren’t always feeding at every spot when you can get on the water ( I’m a weekender). Develop a “portfolio” of spots over time and always search to add more that share the same fundamental structure/bottom / water flow features.
- like the rest of life, outcomes improve with experience.
- no magic baits. I’ve caught trout-flounder-reds there on live anything and plastic most things. I use mud minnows and finger mullet a lot cuz they’re easy to catch for free.
If you live by Folly or launch from there much, PM me for more specific info. Or we’ll take a trip together.
BTW, those SAME mudders and mullet caught flounder, trout, blues, lady fish in the Folly and Stono Inlet hours before I passed on the surplus. In fact, had caught 2 flounder within sight of the ramp, minutes before pulling up and passing the bait on.
It’s not the boat. I’ve caught nice trout from my kayak, my best Red from our 10 ’ jonboat, and lots of fish in my cheap Stinger. The nicer boats just let me keep more baits, fresher baits, more pre-rigged rods, subtle advantages in electronics, and toys that get you fishing faster. …and more beer.
I always pass on my surplus bait at the ramp if I see a fisherman launching. Pass it forward…
thanks China
stick, thanks again for all of that bait, sorry to report I didn’t put it to good use… i’ve never thought of low tide like that, great point! i’ve definitely been working on a portfolio, but it’s mostly a big list of places, water temps, & tides that yield nothing, heh. i only have 1 real go to spot that produces once the water cools down. i RARELY have any luck in the warmer weather, probably because I’m doing it all wrong.
Sorry, should have been more specific on the oyster rake thing. I love to fish oyster beds, rakes, clumps, mounds, when the water is moving over them. The ones on either side of a creek mouth can be quite productive, especially fishing with a cork and live bait. I haven’t fished Folly this year, but have had a lot of success fishing that area over the years. Especially in the late summer and fall.
Good Luck !
Jack Taylor
thanks for the info, I finally turned my luck around w/ the help of a buddy, here’s the report: http://old.charlestonfishing.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=139818
2 hours before and 2 after low are best for me
“Just one more cast”
Key west 196 bay reef