Anyone ever tried trolling for blues in some of the rivers and the bay around charleston? Is this something that could plausibly work out? Not too familiar with bluefish, more familiar with trolling for stripers and trying to find a type of fishing similar here in charleston. Running umbrella rigs have a chance?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Corey Gigliotti
Yes I do it all the time. Yo zuri crystal minnows will be your best friend. I have some that look like I pulled them down the street behind my truck. Blue fish crush those things.
Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W
Not asking for you to give up any secret spots, but do you mainly just troll along the channel or is that illegal/looked down upon? What sort of depth i guess is the better question to drag these things? Any other trolling options here?
To help explain, I just moved here from Virginia where I went striper fishing every weekend on lake Anna. We would go throw nets to catch blueback herring under a bridge where we hung a light before daybreak. Then would troll for much of the morning hours. We would also troll umbrella rigs with great success. Soon after mastering this kind of fishing with great success, I was forced to move due to my father passing away. Granted I love it here in charleston, I’m still trying to “find” my fishing type. I know that striper fishing is obviously not going to happen here, I would still love to hear anyone’s thoughts and suggestions on fishing that’s similar to what I’ve described? Trolling I guess is the main goal.
Everyone here seems to be in love with redfish but honestly, throwing out scraps of mullet and shrimp and waiting for them to hit seems like catfishing to me. Not saying they aren’t awesome once you catch them, I just prefer the thrill of finding the schools on your graph and anticipating the rod to bend and reel to scream.
Anyways, hope someone can relate in some way.
Appreciate everyone’s time and patience with me, I desperately want to feel that anticipation once again here in this great city.
Corey Gigliotti
Corey,
Blues are a cake walk. When you’re in the channel watch the birds. Blues are always under the birds this time of year. You don’t need any special electronics to find the schools. If you find the birds there’s blues and spanish below. Troll the crystal minnows around the school and they’ll all get hit when you pass by.
Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W
Awesome! Just to confirm, anywhere in the main channel it’s legal and totally fine to troll? Not as familiar with channel markers and the legality of trolling in the middle of it.
Corey Gigliotti
You’re perfectly fine fishing in the channel. Just make sure you stay out of the way of the giant freight ships.
Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W
Thank you for everything. Out on the water now but can’t seem to find the schools ur talking about where I’m at in the charleston harbor, I’ll keep looking
Corey Gigliotti
Corey,
I’m working today but judging by the wind over here the harbor is probably a bit choppy. The birds are on the schools early in the morning and later in the evening. Mid day the schools will be deeper. When they’re deeper as they probably are now, you need to cover some ground to find them. Troll the edges of the channel and circle around Castle Pinckney a few times. If you’re trolling yo zuris or Clark spoons you will find them. Pm me and if you’re interested I can take you out with me the next time I go. I’ll be happy to show you the ropes if you’re willing to pay for gas.
Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W
Corey, the fishing you are looking for imo, is Spanish and King Mackerel, all trolling, and very much like Striper fishing. We have Striper fishing at Santee Cooper, same as Virginia, also upper end of the Cooper River, below the Santee dam.
You didn’t say your type of boat, but I’m guessing smaller bay type. Trolling the harbor, and the jetty area are good for starters, BUT, don’t look down on redfish, they fight even harder than Stripers, just don’t school much, except on the flats(shallows).
Good luck, and welcome to paradise, if you like salt fishing, sun, and sand. You probably need to think 20-21’ center console, and ocean fishing.
“The big one’s still swimming, let’s go.”
Thanks Mac daddy. Right now I’m a part of the carefree boat club here in charleston. (Trying to get a sense of what boat works for my kind of fishing before I spend the money on buying one), right now the biggest boat I have access to is a robalo 22’ center console. Killinr has helped me a ton so far, so a shout out to him, and has put me on basically what you discussed with the Spanish and kings. Going to try Wednesday out past the jetties for some kings trolling some artificial. Eventually I’d like to give menhaden a shot seeing that kings love em. Don’t know if I can keep them alive In my live wells on the boat without special chemicals though. Definitely seeing that offshore is where I’m headed in terms of my kind of fishing. Thank you for your kind welcome and happy fishing!
Corey Gigliotti
Coreyg89; You’ve gotten some real good advice from killinr , I’ve only one concern!!! If you’re not familiar in and around the harbor
I would suggest getting a good</font id=“size2”></font id=“red”> chart of the area and study it well along with taking it easy until familiar.
There is some skinnie water that you don’t want to find the hard way!!
There is some of it around the lower end of the Castle and between the crab banks and MP , just to mention a few. Good luck!!
Just be careful and catch em up.
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