Hey guys, i just moved to charleston (DI) early in october. I came from upstate new york in the finger lakes region. Im not a complete a newbie to surf casting- having family and fished on LBI, boston and long island. Mostly for stripers and blues. Im an avid fisherman and have won a dozen or so musky and walleye tournaments in NY. I don’t know anybody down here yet, i wouldn’t mind making a few fishing buddies.
This is the biggest red of the day landed yesterday (10-29-12) (4 total) i lost one bigger, about ten smaller and caught too many blacktips to keep track. my problem was not having enough hook exposed. the bait i was using was way too big for hook size. for about a half hour straight i couldn’t set the hook or keep a fish off any of my rods. pretty aggravating… This storm definitely has these big fish moving. there is no real definitive “surf” just a lot of chop. and they are alllll over. (no joke had a 40" beach itself chasing my bait while reeling in"
Way to go bobdesalvo! What kind of rig were you using in the Sandy -caused high surf ? What kind of bait ? Which beach ? I’m not trying to get your spot, just hoping it was Folly Beach since I live there…
wasn’t folly. i was up on IOP. Im new so don’t hate on my rigs lol. I had (2’) 100lb mono leader w 7/0 circles. one rig had the slide sinker above the leader, the other had the sinker on the leader (casts a little better). both had same amount of action. the water was very stained. the surf actually wasnt high. no more than 3’ but there were a lot of 2-3 foot waves bouncing around inside of the initial surf. this was the first time ive been out when the wind was blowing towards the north. nne possibly. usually its going south. so the wind goin north and the waves going south was a little tricky.
I was using whole 9-11" mullet until about the 5th red/shark i lost. the circle barely had enough point showing to dig into a mouth. as i was reeling in a few times id have reds attacking 20ft off shore, it was frustrating to be able to see their huge tails and feel them pull and not get a hook in.
After having too many on to count and not landing a single one, i went with- one rod cut mullet. Whole side fillets and the carcass minus the head. The other rod i changed hook position on the whole mullet, to a stinger in the tail and one just north of the dorsal.
surprisingly enough, the rod that had only steel leaders, had all the same bait even a live mullet for about an hour- never got a single hit. the other 2 were non stop for about a half hour window. i think the tide may have had a bigger effect on them biting than presentation. either that or there was a monster school that came through right then. The fish were biting basically from shore out to as far as i could cast. seemed to have a little more action in closer <40yrds from shore (like a little wrist ■■■■■.)
The picture was taken by a couple of gentlemen riding their bikes down the beach, i had to flag them down to take the photos. The beach was completely empty otherwise. like i said i am new here and yesterday i brought my 2 year old out. (she cant take pics) i usually go alone so id be interested in goin out with someone/a few people
3-5 oz sliders. they dont stick the best to begin with but didnt have much trouble. when tide started coming in they were drifting south but not too bad…
text me sometime, 631-553-6301, I live on folly and moved here from NY as well. If you are into tournament fishing there is a small group of us looking to start tournament land based shark fishing. We have had success with big reds and a few blacktips in the surf here. All of us are in our mid twenties or early 30s and fish weekly at least depending on weather. It is a little cooler now so we will be doing some trips down to FL during the winter.
thanks stan, exactly what i was lookin for. Whats a big blacktip up here? ive only caught 10 or so here. but a ton in mississippi. biggest up here about 50" down there over 6’
Congrats on the nice fish. I come down from Columbia once a week and stay on IOP and have been wanting to try the surf but never bothered. We have a dock on a deep water canal and catch reds and flounder off of it a lot so that usually ties me over. Let me know one day during the week and I would be glad to hit the surf with you, in return you can come fish on my dock if you ever want to try the smaller “meat” fish one day.
Hey, I’m a little younger than most on here, still in highschool. But I’d be interested in fishing. Pretty knowledgeable if you ask some people on here and at the tackle shop lol. Pm me on here or shoot an email, not a huge fan of putting my number up where people can see it…
Hunter P. Hames
11’ Tarpon 100
19’ Sea Fox 125 merc
Probably a really dumb question since I’m guessing the surf is loaded with them, but since this is the second time I’ve seen someone say they are using 9 - 11" mullet recently… where does one find 9 - 11" mullet around here? in the surf? creek? take a net and sling it? … Also, honestly the IOP and Sullivans surf have always seemed to me to be flat and structureless. You guys actually can find some cuts in the bars at low tide around here?.. Most of my surf fishing has been the steeper beaches in NC and I’ve stuck to inshore around here. Thanks.
the surf where i fish is absolutely barren of structure. There are possibly some channels dug in the sand from the current but nothing significant. i bottom bounced for hours and never felt anything significant. i dont believe the fish to be attracted to structure right now as much as they are attracted to the bait running inside the surf (which can act as structure too) as for these mullet- being from NY and having fished almost every state on the east coast. These mullet are the biggest and cleanest i have ever seen. i am not kidding i netted a just under 20" mullet the other day. bigger than most the reds i get in my creek. I live on the creek on the north side of daniel island and we get some fat boy baits up here. mullet from 3.5" to (**() near 20", menhaden, mud minnow. i do believe the bait are starting to move out though. the day after sandy came through (saturday maybe) is when i got that pig mullet, about 2 doz 9"+. and in one cast about 20 lbs of menhaden- which i threw back. the last 3 days combined i havent netted a dozen mullet. going to put a solid evening in tonight to hit the surf tomorrow.
Another upstate new yorker here. I also recently moved to the area (Mt. P) and have absolutely no idea what I’m doing when it comes to surf fishing. I’m good with a fly rod but have pretty much no experience throwing bait. I’d like to meet up with some folks to go fishing with who might be able to show me a thing or two. If anyone would be up for it shoot me a text or call (585)739-1701