Headed out of the Marina with family on Memorial Day, and ran the glass out to the 40 about an hour before low tide.
Was hoping the pinfish and shark show would be over, but unfortunately it’s still playing. Probably explains why we were the only boat out there.
After an hour of catching sharks, pinfish and grunts, we made the quick run to the 60 and saw ten boats lined up. They were there looking for spadefish, same as us. But in the course of two hours all we managed were a few BSBs and a porgy. None of the other boats were catching anything either.
Figuring my family would rather catch something, we headed back to the 40 to fish there for a couple hours. The usual suspects were there for the taking; Sharpnose, pinfish, Grunts and BSBs.
My SIL hooked a long thin fish that flipped off her line when she brought it to the surface. Too slim for a Bluefish, too long for a weakfish. I’ve heard barracuda are in these waters, but I’ve never caught one.
On the way back we stopped at my semisecret spot off the beach to look for Whiting again. Caught a BSB and a Sharpnose, but no whiting. After 30 minutes we called it a day.
Heading out again tomorrow. Maybe a day of dry weather will change our luck after three days of unseasonably cold temps and rain.
Thanks for your report!
I’ll take a day catching junk over a day sitting on shore.
sounds fun either way!
Agreed, these days junk fish nearshore is the norm.
Even 40 years ago it was hard to fill a cooler, but the size limits were so small then, IF you liked all bones and a little meat, you had a meal or two.
Used to get about 40 to 50 bsb 9 inches or so, of course that is what happened to bsb nearshore.
follow up May 30 trip.
Repeat of the 40/60 run.
Hate to sound like a broken record but its still BSBs, pins, grunts and sharpnose sharks at the 40. All day.
At the 60 we parked over the barge, and my sonar was absolutely blowing up with fish.
The Spades were back, but were easily spooked and werent biting our squid.
Due to the morning chop we didnt see any jellyballs at the 40 to bring them, so the next time I see one float by, I will take him home and put him in the freezer to have with me.
There were plenty of ring tail porgies to be had, and some interesting small grouper species.
Water temp at the 60 was 69 degrees.
Any size to the BSB? On your mystery fish. Plenty of Barracuda around. Got a “secret” hole near Otter Island and have caught a couple that close inshore. How does freezing affect the “Jelly Balls” ? That might be a good option to try.
Why bother, when the cannonballs are gone so are the spades.
Might have one of those trips out and not see any??? Never heard of freezing them. I’m really curious how they would turn out once thawed out. Never to old to learn new things. I just learned this morning that Helium is a Non-renewable resource. Some estimates say 20 years left others say 100-200. It would be sad not to be able to donald duck talk.
Fred: BSBs were what I call “almosters”; 11-12 inches. So they all went back.
EF: on Spades, my thinking is I don’t always see jellyballs, so it would be good to have one handy.
To finish out this thread; today (May 31) was day 3/3 fishing, and I took a friend and his 12 year old grand daughter out to fish. Three hours before low tide. Water temp 69.
Too rough to head to my near shore beach spots or the 40, so we set up about 300 yards south of the 1st green can on the South Edisto.
Surprise; we caught about 10 Sharpnose in 2 hours. But we also caught Whiting; I landed about 6 good size ones, and I am happy to report they appear to be back off the beach.
Gonna rest up for a few days, then Ill be back to post more reports.
I have used frozen jellyballs before. They don’t hold up as well as fresh, but will work in a bind. They did hold up good in our teasers though when we found fresh. I have also taken a clear 2 liter bottle (soda) and half filled it with mirky harbor water and when floated as a teaser in clear water it resembles enough that the spades would rise and peck at it.
learn stuff all the time. Never heard of the cloudy water in a bottle trick.