I went out last Saturday in the ICW and didn’t do well on the reds but caught around 30 sheephead. Only five were keepers but the bite was steady.
During this time of year I know the reds and trout school up but what part of the tide is best to find them and at what depth?
220 Viper Sea Fox
The reds are schooled up, at least on the Wando. If you know where the fish are you can find them on any tide as they don’t move too far from their home base while they are schooled up, but to initially find some fish its easier to scout around near low tide. Pick a day with a smaller tide swing and low winds so the water is clear and then scout on the incoming tide. Incoming will have clearer water than outgoing and if you find the bottom you won’t be stuck too long. I find the fish in less than 2’ and I actually normally fish less than a 1’. The fish will usually be on or near a flat but you can find schools along the edge of the ICW or the main river channels almost anywhere. Schools hang out deeper in some areas than others, all depends on the local terrain.
Depending on how you are scouting (i.e. poling, troller, idle speed, drifting) it is pretty tough to see fish before you run over a few at the edge if you aren’t fishing a known school. I normally just stand at the front of my boat on my casting platform and alternately troll and drift with the tide or wind. I stay at least 20 yards from shore as I’m investigating a new spot. Typically you’ll see a puff of mud from a fish taking off as your first clue that something is around, might be a red or it might be a mullet. Stop (anchor pin or something quiet is best) as soon as you see fish moving and try to determine what you have. Its always tempting to cast into what you think may be the middle of a school, but mostly that just spooks the whole herd if you are right. Try to cast around the edges if you can. Use something light that doesn’t splash too much like a shrimp of small piece of cut mullet on a hook with just a split shot or a jig head. You don’t need much weight in this type of fishing.
If you do spook a school it all depends on the tide as to what they will do. Outgoing and already at their low tide home base and they will likely stay put, incoming on a nice warm day around noon and they may keep moving to their feeding spots. A
That’s golden anhinga
Thanks brother
220 Viper Sea Fox
Trout have been in deeper water the past couple days with the cold snap. I had to move out between 5 and 10 ft from where I have been the past several weeks. Been trolling to locate exact depth and seems to been paying off. On low tide I switch to scouting for schools of reds just like mentioned above. Can’t wait for Santa to bring me my mount for my trolling motor. Will make life so much easier
“Everyone should believe in something; I believe I’ll go fishing.” Henry David Thoreau
Nervous Mullet
1986 Boston Whaler 15 Sport
2000 70 Yamama
Mud Minnow
Wilderness System Tarpon 120
Thanks Anhinga, I’ve been doing it wrong for a long time…(might explain why I catch most of my Reds by accident)…
Appreciate it.
Very slow today. Fished out of sewee in 1-2 ft water on falling tide. Nothing wanted to bite. I saw one " poof" of water but I think it was a mullet rather than a red. Not a bite and tried EVERYTHING! Luck