Thanks for the info guys! As for tasting the water… My Dad taught me that one. I can’t get ppm, but I can pretty much guarantee an area that wont’ produce trout. My wife saw me doing it one day as we were headed up the Combahee. She thought it was disgusting. Said I would get sick. LOL. I told her You never swallow it, just taste for salt. I think she’s got it now. On the Combahee it let’s me know if fishing around the Bluff Plantation for reds will be worth it or if I can go up a little further to a known productive spot. I’ve been focusing on the Asheepoo lately because of Joe’s Fish camp landing. $10.oo and ya don’t have to worry about anyone messing with your truck or trailer. Greys Hill has always been my go to, but lately they have had some Catalytic converter thefts. Caught one guy.
Optiker, on the Striper I’ve known of more big ones coming out of the Combahee than any other river besides the Savannah in this area. There is a stretch just up river from steel bridge that trolling has produced, but most on live shiners. When I was a kid (called rock fish) some monsters came out of the Salkehatchie… Way up between 63-64. Haven’t heard of anyone catching one in a long time in that area.
wow what a report. I was thinking about getting into tagging. especially in this one place on the Ashley I like. I’ve always thought it was cool to real in a tagged fish and see where it has been.
I would definitely encourage it. I’ve tagged for I think 9 years and something like 1,700 fish so far. You learn a lot about growth rates, behavior of fish and fishermen, and the importance of catch and release by doing so. Joey Coz at DNR is the contact cozj@dnr.sc.gov
Man, that did come from the archives. Larry was a great guy. I met him when he offered to help me with a fiberglass repair. I dragged my boat all the way to his house in GA just to meet him. I was not disappointed. Man, the stuff that guy knew and had done.
Bob befriended me. I’ll never understand why. whata man. he was just about everything that’s right about the lowcountry. i never told him, but when he called i pulled out pen and paper and took notes. one of the calls was over 2 hours. a wise old guy gifting a dumb redneck with decades of experience. he was an encyclopedia of outdoor/fishing wisdom. if you can find his posts, they’re gold
After he became disabled, I invited him to speak to SSWA. He came in with some difficulty, with a walker, because his knees weren’t too reliable. He sat in a chair and talked for a while with an audience of about 50, completely transfixed. I don’t even know if he talked about fishing at all. He was an outdoorsman’s outdoorsman. He loved to quote Joseph Cambell
“If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time”
To this thread: best one and most interesting in a good while. I don’t know the old timers but I love stories about these old salties.
Great report Dave. Going out tomorrow, Friday and Sunday. That’s a bunch but I like putting people on fish with artificials.
I would absolutely love to host an oyster roast with guys from this forum out at my place in Awendaw just to hear all the stories and meet some of you guys.