Moved down to Charleston a few months ago and have been hitting inshore game pretty hard with very limited success. I have tried everything I can think of. Live bait, cut bait, Carolina rigs, popping corks, jetties, docks, creek mouths etc. Caught 1 nice redfish all year and I am starting to think he was just lost.
Am I just unlucky or doing things wrong?
In some situation you just have to put the work in and find what works for you. It took me awhile and with a lot of assistance from guys on this report. A little of everything works once you get that fever. Stick with it.
“Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education”
18’ CC SeaFox
Try to focus on the lower tide stages – at dead low, you will learn a lot about what the bottom looks like. As the water rises you will likely catch some fish, and once the water gets into the grass it will probably slow down some for you. Once you find a spot that works, make a note of tide height and direction – there are lots of spots that work well under certain conditions but don’t produce at all if the tide is different. The biggest thing when starting out is not not get discouraged!
1994 Hewes Redfisher 18, 2004 Yamaha 150 VMAX
Malibu X-Factor Kayak
Inshore can be tough to figure out. I’ve put in countless unproductive hours. Have you been going by yourself or someone that knows the area?
Mainly just by myself to areas that look “fishy”. Grew up fishing fresh water so it’s all pretty new to me. Guessing I need to try to cover more water and not sit and wait for a bite.
Mainly just by myself to areas that look “fishy”. Grew up fishing fresh water so it’s all pretty new to me. Guessing I need to try to cover more water and not sit and wait for a bite.
Your post SCREAMS hiring a knowledgeable guide. Please read the posts in Inshore Discussion on this topic. You will spend much more money and precious time trying to figure things out by yourself with little experience. I can PM you contacts of local guides that will be well worth the money on shortening your learning curve if you like. IMO, this is an inshore guide’s main function if you are a true fisherman and want to succeed on your own with much fewer frustrations.
quote:
Originally posted by Sea_King19Mainly just by myself to areas that look “fishy”. Grew up fishing fresh water so it’s all pretty new to me. Guessing I need to try to cover more water and not sit and wait for a bite.
Going with someone that has done it before helps… Subtleties like boat positioning, casting, rigs, weights, and stuff are different than freshwater and the learning curve is reduced with experience. Moving around definitely helps. I rarely find that the bite suddenly turns on if you wait long enough. Occasionally that happens in the dead of summer, but regardless, i like to move around. Today i fished at least 6 different spots not including where i got bait. Being stealthy when you approach helps… e.g. Don’t scream through your spot at WOT, heavily wake your spot, or do the “olympic anchor toss.” Had a buddy do the olympic anchor toss today… It was be only spot we didnt get a bite in. Slide the anchor into the water
quote:
Originally posted by RADDADDYYour post SCREAMS hiring a knowledgeable guide. Please read the posts in Inshore Discussion on this topic. You will spend much more money and precious time trying to figure things out by yourself with little experience. I can PM you contacts of local guides that will be well worth the money on shortening your learning curve if you like. IMO, this is an inshore guide’s main function if you are a true fisherman and want to succeed on your own with much fewer frustrations.
quote:
Originally posted by Sea_King19Mainly just by myself to areas that look “fishy”. Grew up fishing fresh water so it’s all pretty new to me. Guessing I need to try to cover more water and not sit and wait for a bite.
X 2 for Raddaddy’'s advice.
Olde Man Charters
843-478-1538
Oldemancharters@gmail.com
286 Seafox/Twin 300’s
Definitely agree with Raddaddy. Also don’t think just because you are on salt water that you don’t have any knowledge. Yes we have tides and some other variables, but at the end of the day, fish like structure in all habitats. That structure may vary in the salt such as oysters beds and the marshes, but your fish will still look for structure in most cases. I would say your biggest variable will be to figure out and understand the tides. Like someone mentioned earlier to head out at low to rising tide, this way you can see areas of structure, but you won’t end up stuck somewhere on an outgoing tide. While Raddaddy, may not recommend himself as your guide, I will go ahead and throw his name into the hat as one of the guides you can learn a ton from, as he enjoys the teaching aspect as much as the actual fish catching.
Read up on the fish you target and apply the things you learn about the habitats and food they eat. Then when you fine those areas you will know how to fish them. Where do you fish the most, which rivers, harbor, big water or back creeks, if you tell me the area I might could help you better. A few generals are grass lines and above oyster mounds at high tide. The edges of creek mouths and the base of oyster mounds that have at least 3 ft of water during the fallen tide and low incoming. I tend to fish bigger water at low tide and don’t fish way up the creeks until closer to mid tide. Some spots I fish you will get slow bites all day but there’s a small time period like 30 to an hr where the bite is on. If you are fishing a great looking area try to fish different tide stages some spots only produce at certain times like low in the morning or afternoon, when the tides moving. If it is a really common area it can be overfished, some of the spots I used to fish have become over fished. A good sign of over fishing to me is only small undersized fish there, because everything else has been caught and kept.
Remember that 90% of the fish live in 10% of the water. Now that you have eliminated 90% of the water match the bait they are feeding on and pick the technique you have the most confidence in and work that 10%. Structure, shellrakes, along the spartina grass and down on the bottom. You will come home smiling after appropriately paying your dues just like the rest of us!
Thanks for the advice guys. Definitely not afraid of putting the time in.
Already mentioned above ;Bryson , Raddaddy , Olde man charters , time on water is invaluable, Take a day and take along a note book and a camera , start out couple hours before low tide and slowly</font id=“size4”></font id=“red”> make your way around creeks ,channels , piers and docks, note water depths , oyster flats , drop offs/humps . Assuming you have a gps/depth finder, log likely looking numbers ,take plenty of pics,watch number of boats fishing these areas and how they are fishing. You’ll be amased as to what you’ll learn that will put fish in the boat. As noted slowly and at near low tide so if you happen to ground out tide will be starting to rise
and will float you free , pictures because things look entirely different at higher water… hope this helps, now go to it:smiley:
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listen to raddaddy
quote:
Remember that 90% of the fish live in 10% of the water.
And 10% of the fishermen catch 90% of the fish 
Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper
You got that exactly right Cracker. Born and raised here in Beaufort I have been a stealthy member of that club for longer then I am willing to admit.We live in a very blessed part of the country if you love the outdoors like most of us on the forum.
Where do you put over? What kind of craft do you fish from?
First, Most, Biggest
I have found that fishing with my eyes has helped me tremendously. Look for Reds pushing water on banks at low tide… Look for bait acting strange (being chased). Look for any type of commotion… mud plumes etc that don’t look normal. I find a lot of fish and good spots just by looking and seeing something to cast at.
1989 17ft McKee Craft Waccamaw w/ 115 4-stroke Yammy
I fish out of a 19ft cc. Mostly behind Sullivan’s and IOP along the ICW. I have hit the jetties several times on calmer days but have just been getting torn up by sharks and small bluefish. A lot of good advice on this thread I really appreciate it.