Hello this is my first post on CF. I have a 21 Pursuit with a 225 Mercury. I have gone to some offshore reefs in Beaufort such as the Betsy Ross, Beaufort 45, and The Fripp Reef, but have never gone to a any Charleston Reefs. I have looked at some of the basic reef rundowns and read reports on here, but do not really know my way around offshore. Any information would be great such as bait, tackle, suggested beginner reefs and such. Was also wondering how many miles off of Charleston the Charleston 60’ is? Thank you in advance for any information! Have a great day
Hunt cold, Fish warm, work… Never
Try this http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/pub/seascience/reefloc.html
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Charleston nearshore reef is just outside the jetties. You can see the yellow marker that marks this reef on your port side once you clear the jetties. Here you can catch seabass, sheepshead, sharks, and others. Bait of choice would be squid, frozen shrimp, mullet whole or cut for most anything that would bite here. Fiddlers for the sheepshead. Keeper sea bass will be a slight challenge as you’ll likely catch a dozen small sea bass for every decent one you catch.
Chicken rig for bottom fishing most species will be fine here. 2-0 owner hooks and probably 4 oz sinkers is what we use. More if current is bad.
Carolina rig for sheepshead- go as light on the weight as you can while still fishing vertically.1/2 ounce up to two oz lead. 1-0 owner hooks.
You can also use jigs if you want, most of the time, the bigger sea bass come on the jigs.
4ki is a few miles offshore. Put in at Folly boat ramp for fishing here. Follow the channels markers carefully. This cannot be stressed enough. You will likely find the bottom quickly if you stay outside the channel. 4ki is a lot like Nearshore reef, but the spades are thick here certain times of the year. Jelly ball pieces drifted back into the schools on light leaders and small strong hooks. Lots of fun
Charleston 60 is much further, 13 or 14 miles outside the jetties. Give or take. Same species here plus a few others. Cobia swim around on the surface occasionally so keep a live bait or yellow buck tail handy to throw at them. There’s also amberjack, any live bait you send down will likely draw their attention. Hang on, very strong fish. Table fare quality varies depending on who you speak to. Occasionally you can catch grouper here in the warmer months, but this area is fished regularly, so a grouper is a nice surprise from time to time, but it’s not the norm.
Good luck and be safe.
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