I have been fishing Hilton Head area now for about 4 years. I get out about once a month on average. I have been pretty successful at finding fish on the low end of the tide swings, but I am still lost in the wilderness when it comes to high tides.
I have tried the conventional wisdom and look for structure close to deep holes. Nada. I get into what flats I can reach in a Sea Hunt Trident 177. I have found a stray redfish here and there.
I feel like I am missing a piece of the puzzle. Any ■■■■■■■■ you guys might have on what to look for would be great. I don’t want the gps to your go to spot, but fish are fish, and once you figure out the formula, you can narrow down the water you need to cover. I have not figured out that formula yet.
I also am frustrated because I get very little time on the water these days. It is hard to pattern the fish when you don’t fish often. I used to fish 3 or 4 times per week when my family had a place on Lemon Island. I used to target trout on the high tides in early December. I’d troll jigs/grubs and do well with short trout in the Lemon Island area on high incoming tide. Water clarity is usually better on HI. I’d troll 4 rigs just off the grass edge. You get few keepers like this as the big trout are usually deep, but trolling for shorts is fun fishing. Avoid spring tides with muddy water and lots of trash in the water. Areas with a lot of feeder creeks and white shell beds were best. The bite was usually slow, but I would pick up a fish here and there.
The Deep Hole thing should work, but the bite is so light it is easy to miss the fish. Gotta reel super slow and bump a jig/Mud Minnow/shrimp/grub slowly across the bottom, sorta like fishing a largemouth bass worm. Sharp bends in creeks about a good cast wide with 15 to 20 feet of water, a red clay bluff, and trees falling into the water are usually good. The treefall bite is usually best when the water is moving, but not too fast about an hour or so either side of high or low tide. If the water is moving too fast, it is hard to feel the “tap” of a cold water trout. Also, if there are no bites in the middle of the treefall, try dropping jigs off the ledge at the “lastgrass” at either end of the treefall bluff. Sometimes the trout are waiting at the bottom of the dropoff. Also, try this at the lastgrass/ledge on either end of bends/bluffs with boat docks. Study Google Earth to find the bluffs/treefalls. My info is dated, but hopefully something here will help you. Good Luck.
Give me a call some early evening Dan and I will coach you up. Some of the best winter time Redfishing is on the high water. When you get into Jan and Feb the Reds have been harassed by Dolphins and Flats boats on the low water so much they get super spooky, they get comfortable in the grass on high water.
Coach, I will absolutely take you up on that. Spec, thanks for that info. That was not how I was fishing it at all. Maybe I have been in the right spot, but taking the wrong approach.
Boat needs a little tune up, so I am dropping it off at the shop today, but once the kids are out for Christmas, I plan on hitting the water hard!
All things being equal, I would rather be on the water.
You’re welcome danluginbill. I forgot to mention that light lines and a sensitive rod are critical to feeling the light tap of a deep hole trout when the water temps get down in the 50’s. I use no more than 10# test mono. Some use tiny braid. Yes, you will lose some jigs, but you’ll miss fish with heavier lines and rods.
I’m also interested in the “Grassed Bass” winter fishery. My old 21ft. workboat won’t get skinny enough for the low tide flats. My redfishing is usually a Sept-Nov. rattlecork the oyster beds thing, then I spend the little TOW (time on the water) I get on trout.
I’m constantly amazed by all there is to learn about the Good Lord’s saltwater critters and their environment. Learning new drops/fisheries is the exciting part. It would be no fun if it were possible to learn it all. I’ll stay tuned to this forum. I have learned tons on here. Thanks for the thumbs up Cracker Larry.
Google Earth is a serious inshore fishing tool. You can scout more spots with it in a few hours than you can in a year in a boat. Or at least find spots worth scouting.
Most of the recent GE shots were taken at high tide, but if you go back to a year or so ago they were taken at low tide.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Just for fun, get on GE, set the time slider to 1-28-11, go to 32* 17.260’ N Lat & 80* 45.510’ W Long and zoom in to about 250 ft. Even flipper gets his butt in trouble in the river occasionally!
Saluda, every morning about 5 am., I have to have my “GE Fix” along with my “coffee fix”. I pick an area and zoom in and study it closely. I have pretty much covered every inch of the Broad/Chechessee River areas, yet I learn something new every morning. There’s lots of very interesting things going on in the river at any given instant.
Try this one: same time slider setting: 1/28/11 at 3223.000’ N. Lat. x 8030.000’ W. Long. Zoom to 2,500 ft. altitude. Check out the perimeter of the star shaped island. If anyone knows what it is, use the 2 week rule like we use in cobia season please. Let’s get 2 weeks of speculation going!
Pretty wild observation Spec, definitely man made/placed, approx. 8 foot width, some appear to be out of round. They cover a wide area around the island and shoreline south. Large tires? experiment for oysters, erosion control? I’m hooked, going to make some calls Monday, thanks, things were getting slack on CFC.
Saw another feature by small plane 30 years ago, large, Indian shell “arrow” pointing due west on small high spot, right below GE’s label for Daws Island.
I’ve got one for your sweetie on Valentine’s Day: 1/28/11 @ 21.135-48.950. Zoom to 250 ft., hold down shift and tap the right arrow until things take on the correct orientation. Tell sweetie you did that just for them!
Danlug, when I first started fishing for reds I got a DNR publication on reds and read it front to back. Inshore reds spend 90% of their lives in less than 3’ of water. Cruse (slow) shorelines on a still day and watch for the wakes (pushes). Its likely reds this time of year. Reds rarely move more than a half mile during their inshore life. John Archenbault at DNR has records of tagged fish for years, they tag em and we catch em in the same area. Catch em once at a spot and then figure out their pattern…they’ll be back. Youll end up with a bunch of drops for high or low or inbetween tides.
But your absolute best bet to learn quick is hire a guide once and ask lots of questions.
