Alright... What's the catch

Hello everyone!

Me and my wife moved here about 6 months ago for a new job, and man I could not love this place any more. I have bass fished my whole life, and learning to saltwater fish has been so refreshing, despite having not much to show for it. I don’t have a boat quite yet although hopefully we can swing that in the future, so for now I am just learning how to fish off all of the publicly available spots around me.

I stumbled across this website and have really enjoyed reading post about locations and strategies, so thank you all for taking the time over the years to pass down knowledge. I wanted to ask if any of you have any advice on how to be more productive around some of the piers close to me. We live in West Ashley and I have found some cool spots but really haven’t caught much. The guys down at Haddrel’s have been awesome to talk to and I love supporting them. I also have met some really kind people while fishing and have enjoyed hearing their stories also.

I go over to Higgins pier a lot and really love that place. So far for the past few months I have tried throwing cut mullet, blue crab, squid, etc. on a Carolina rigged circle hook without any landed fish at all. I usually throw it with the tide so the current doesn’t drag the weigh into a snag. I looked up some depth charts and have been throwing basically parallel with the pier. Ive also thrown some popping corked shrimp down the creek banks and around the old sign in the water with no success. I really enjoy that pier and would love any help.

My wife and I have also hit up other places like Demetre park, Northbridge Park, James Island County park, West Ashley Greenway, Fort Pemberton Park, and Pitt Street! I caught a few small reds and a flounder off Pitt street but that is it. I have been blown away by the beauty around here and really want to get better at using the tide and structure to target these fish.

Another spot on my list is the DNR facility down on James, but I read about overcrowding and really like to try and avoid people if I can so I am curious if anyone has been there recently?

I look forward to your responses and thanks in advance, and if anyone is looking for a fishing buddy let me know!

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@C0lby Welcome to the site! Its a great place for information. Reading through the posts is a great way to get some tips for the SC coast line in and around Charleston. I’m three hours inland so I don’t get to fish the salt as much as I would like. My favorite fish to catch are Speckle Trout and Reds. Feel free to reach out if you ever need any help. I use a popping cork and gulp shrimp as a searching tool for trout and reds when my fishing spots are empty. It works great almost any time of the year but is particularly good in fall. Fishing from the pier you want a short leader (1.5 to 2ft) so that you can cast further. The water gets cleaner the colder it gets so make sure you are using a fluorocarbon leader (20lb test). The rod in your picture is perfect for the popping cork! Love the Penn reel!

I am fond of trout due to their aggressive bite. Here is an article I wrote last year on the rod, reel and line setup that I use for Seatrout. Its very detailed and might be more than you wanted to know but it will at least point you in the right direction.

https://fanglures.com/distance-the-rod-the-reel-and-the-line/

Keep your posts coming!

Tight lines!

Mark

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Appreciate the great info!

Thanks for the reply, and the awesome information!