I was out yesterday around the harbor fishing up towards Fort Sumter and in the Ashley and even though it was raining and pretty cold I seemed to notice a number of boats doing the same and they looked to be pretty successful, whereas me not so much. I was fishing the incoming tide and using mud minnows as bait and tried several spots that I was told were producing good fish. I have used the same method in the past and caught fish on nicer days. Can anybody tell me what I was doing wrong or what I should have done because other boats seemed to be catching fish and I wasn’t.
very clear water makes them spooky, very cold water makes them slow. this time of year requires silence and gentle presentation… i.e., cut the motor off and push the boat into the shallows, don’t let the anchor make a sound, and put a koozie on your beer for when you put it down. very light weight with minnows-- a split shot and 18" of leader will do. heavy impact splashes from a 1oz egg are a great way to push a school too far down the bank.
if you hear it holds fish, don’t just take a word for it. push or drive the boat through an area- if there are fish in shallow, you’ll see their wake. for that matter, you’ll see how many spots each of them has in this kind of clarity. drive away, drink a beer, then push back in quietly with attention to the shallows.
fish are so slow they’re having trouble closing their mouth on the DOA the last couple days… if you have live bait, just put it out and let the minnow do the work. i managed to get one fish to commit yesterday on a short trip… finding the warmer mudflats on nice days will be key to catching them for now.
PS incoming tide on a not-so-low cycle means those fish aren’t coming very far out of the grass/little creeks for fear of flipper… and as soon as the tide pushes in, they’re following it.
So should I concentrate more on being closer in towards the grass and the little creeks on tides like yesterday?