New here but have been watching the forum. I moved down a couple years ago, got a small 17 foot sea pro and tried concentrating on the Ashley since it’s near the house and was easy to learn to launch and retrieve without much pressure. My question is- are there really not all that many red fish in the Ashley? Or is that just what people say to keep others out?
I’m 95% artificial and have found a couple spots with fish and all the timing needs to be so perfect I’m not catching. I’ve got some trout spots that seem to work, but reds not so much. Any input?
David
Fishing for reds has been tough since the big flood 3 years back. Especially larger fish. I assume you are fishing the lower Ashley (I526 area and south) since you mentioned trout spots. You are right in saying they are very tide specific. There is not a lot of good structure that holds fish throughout a tide like other rivers. The Ashley can also be very on or off. Last December I caught 145 reds (albeit small) in December. Numbers up to 38 a day by myself on artificials. Then in the beginning of January, poof, almost all gone.
Now through the end of the year should be good regardless. Especially once the temps drop to below 60 and the water clears up. Focus on river and creek bends touching high ground. it is not coincidental that these are areas with hard sand or gravel bottoms.
I’ve caught some pretty big (30s) reds in the ashely but it’s usually nov-Jan. I have concluded however, that they are fewer numbers of fish and they are much harder to catch on artificals due to poor water conditions. I have had the most luck with live bait around structure (docks mainly). Also, ive never caught a flounder in all the years I’ve fished it. All this info is pre great-flood. Imo I would fish somewhere else closer to the ocean. Goodluck
I will say there is a ton of gar and catfish in the upper Ashley but the rest of it is tough fishing in my experience. The great thing about Charleston is we have so many options. You can drive less than an hr and find much better fishing, water. I know the stono, folly and harbor are producing. The stono has been on fire this year. Fish any creek that leads to a flat the warm water flowing off he flats attracts fish and usually they are more active too.