Pushed of from the dock at 10 with a friend from work and headed up river with 2.5 hours of outgoing left. My coworker is very new to saltwater fishing, but he has had some success fishing some places in the Stono with live shrimp. He showed up with about 2 dozen live. By the second spot he questioning why I am not using the shrimp as he watches me switch rods from one rigged with a paddletail to another with a trick worm. Second cast I feel the subtle tap of a cold water red and set the hook on a day starting 17.5 incher. “I think I will stick with artificial for now” I coolly responded. Water temp was hovering above 49 so the little guy did not have much fight. I thought the was going to be the case for the rest of the day, but not so. A few casts later I feel another tap and rear back on a much better fish that did not care about the cool water temps. After a spirited fight my friend swings the net under a fat 31" red. We continue fishing and he gets a bite, but the hook never finds a home.
We move around quite a bit. I lost a nice red pitching in some pilings (after one of the cast when you say to yourself I know I’m getting bit there) and a 14" trout working down a shoreline. We eventually make it back to the first spot which is a shoreline with some rip rap and other natural structure. Things heat up and I catch 4 (lost one other nice fish) and he catches one. Sizes ranging from 16 to 25". After that we fished a little, but mostly just rode down river and enjoyed the afternoon. We did help one gentlemen and his wife and dog the last few hundred yards back to their launch ramp…said the water pump failed.
A total of 7 reds and 1 trout for the day. 5 reds got tags and 2 my friend wanted for dinner. Water temp at 3:30 when I pulled out was 50 and some change. Water vis was at best 2 feet, but most of the time 1 foot or less. The wind needs to take a break…tired of seeing white caps in the river.
Saw you out there a in a number of different places… I hit all of my normal spots using paddle tails and other plastics - not one bite. No stripers, no trout, no reds. Didn’t see much bait, didn’t see one “push” and didn’t have one little bite.
I am detrmined to figure this river out using nothing but plastics… so far my batting avg is low. Using bait - now thats a different story.
Jughead, what boat were you in? The center console fishing by yourself?
I didn’t see any bait either. Though my experience on the river is limited I have noticed that the reds seem content to sit in very selective ambush spots and given the quick dropoff of the river bottom from the shore there is very little chance of seeing fish pushing water.
I have been using much more of a freshwater bass technique than what works in the lower river, ICW, and harbor. I end up donated a handful of jigheads to the river everytime I go out to structure. Reenforces my saying that if you are not loosing tackle you are not in the right spot.
Good day out Iain?..
I’m frustrated reading reports?..I haven’t been out since ‘last year’! Too many domestic projects have been keeping me busy on the weekends.
soon?..
Jughead, what boat were you in? The center console fishing by yourself?
I didn’t see any bait either. Though my experience on the river is limited I have noticed that the reds seem content to sit in very selective ambush spots and given the quick dropoff of the river bottom from the shore there is very little chance of seeing fish pushing water.
I have been using much more of a freshwater bass technique than what works in the lower river, ICW, and harbor. I end up donated a handful of jigheads to the river everytime I go out to structure. Reenforces my saying that if you are not loosing tackle you are not in the right spot.
Typically I fish plastics in the creek mouths and small cuts into the banks - these areas are typically full of mullet, small hadens and shrimp, and along a strech of bank you can pull a few reds and even some flounder on jigs. I don’t fish the docks/piles much with jigs, I loose to much tackle and get few bites… Yesterday there was no sign of bait.
Now fishing bait around the docks while anchored and sipping a few beers - thats when the river produces for us.
