There is something special about fall fishing for trout in the lowcountry. Every year as the days get shorter and the temperatures begin to get cooler, my mind turns to trout fishing, Finding a nice quiet winding creek off the beaten path and away from other boaters epitomizes relaxation to me. Several people I’ve talked to over the years have said they enjoy catching redfish more than trout. The number one reason is the size and strength of redfish.
While I will concede redfish are much stronger and grow much larger than trout, when you do find a big trout it is a special moment. I can remember the first big trout that I caught like it was yesterday. I can also remember most of the trout I have caught over the 20" mark. There is something about catching these larger trout that gives me a real sense of accomplishment.
Over the years I’ve had people tell me all they catch are small trout and most of the time when I ask what they were using for bait, the answer is live shrimp. Many years ago I worked delivering supplies to the shipyard. The guys at the warehouse were always telling me about a guy that worked with them, who always brought in pictures of big trout he was catching. I made a point to meet this gentleman, talked fishing with him and he showed me pictures of some of his really big trout. Knowing asking someone where they caught their fish was in poor taste, I simply asked him what he was using for bait and what type of area he was fishing. His reply was that he only fished one type of lure and it was a MirrOlure TT series. He used two colors and that was all he fished with in the fall. That fall I purchased a healthy supply of MirrOlures and my first big trout, I mentioned earlier in this article, came on one of the lures he told me about.
Years later The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources published a great book entitled, “Spotted Seatrout Natural History and Fishing Techniques in South Carolina”. This book was written by Dr. Charlie Wenner and John Archambault. Reading this boo