Took two grandsons out at sunup on Tuesday. Ashley River. Start of incoming. They each caught 6 reds and a flounder on finger mullet, The seven year old battled a 27 incher to the net with a dolphin lurking about the boat.
General observations on lower Ashley this summer: Lots of reds with most at 21 inches and biggest at 35. No trout. More flounder than previous years. The redfish schools that used to be resident on the Northbridge flats have seemingly moved elsewhere the past few years. Increased boat traffic prohibits weekend fishing and more guides are working the Ashley than in previous years. Fewer tagged fish caught… maybe DNR cut back on tagging during Pandemic ?
Congrats, especially the Grandsons and the photos. Interesting general observations. I used to fish the Ashley a lot until I moved to Pineville 8 yrs ago and started largemouth fishing. Now I’m back and I used to be able to do well catching trout but now they are, at least for me, few and far between. Same thing when I put in at Bushy Park. Trout used to be almost a sure thing but now I have to really fish hard to find keepers. At least on my trip last week I found a couple places that were trout on almost every cast but almost all were 10"-13". Maybe that’s a good sign for next year. Again, congrats on building memories for the Grandsons. One last thing, I had a decent redfish almost to the boat last week and a 3-4ft shark swirled up and grabbed him! First time that’s happened to me.
Interesting observation and I agree on the Ashley reds. I also have a fun fact That I can’t quite figure out on the Ashley with respect to flounder. I can’t catch a flounder on rod and reel in the Ashley to save my life, However, the creeks I go in to catch bait, I always net at least one or two baby flounder every single time! I tell my wife that the mom HAS to be around somewhere, but I can’t get them. I don’t know if they just don’t stick around that area or what. Either way, great report!
What a great day. You need only look at those kids faces to see what kind of day they had. A great way to spend time with your kids and create memories for years to come.
23Sailfish…It’s Rik D …I recognized your photo on a previous post… I hired you at SIGNAL for some installation work back in the 90s when you were barely out of high school
