Hey everyone, I’m new to the forum, and more importantly new to the area. Just a little background to start:
I grew up in the Northern Virginia area with my family owning a house on a lake in Central Virginia. Grew up loving fishing alongside my little brother. Im in my early 20’s now and he’s just getting into his teens. Long story short we had a tragedy in the family leaving my mom, and 2 siblings to relocate and start a new life in the Mount Pleasant area. Growing up at the lake house my brother and I found a love for striper fishing. From trolling live herring to pulling u-rigs we did it all. After moving we’ve been doing everything to get my little brother back out on the water doing what he loves the most, fishing. This upcoming winter we plan to purchase some kind of small-mid sized boat capable of getting us back into the game. After researching the forum as much as I can, i can’t seem to find a pattern to if and where stripers can be caught in the surrounding rivers and offshore saltwater options. I’m not familiar with the area all that much yet so all the abbreviated names of areas to fish are a foreign language to me. Don’t know if stripers can only really be caught in the inland lakes or if we can catch them closer to home.
To sum up the questions I have:
Are stripers in the surrounding inshore and offshore saltwater, significantly enough to go after them?
What size boat is well suited for us to go out? any details appreciated so much
Any special laws I should know about?
By surrounding inshore saltwater options I’m really asking more along the lines of the wando, cooper, ashley, isle of palms area, and up towards see wee bay? I’m not asking for fisherman to spill their secret spots or anything, just any information giving me a good education before I go out and buy a boat would be much appreciated.
Just a guy and his brother looking to getting back to doing the things we love. Thanks again
Sorry to tell ya bud but there just isnt a population big enough in our saltwaters to target them. There is SOME but not alot. not for sure on the size limit for your area but do know you can only fish for them/keep them from oct 1st-may 31st. The closest body of water to you that holds a population worth targeting is the santee lakes (lakes marion and moultrie).
Good luck with your adventures and ask all the questions u want.
“All fisherman lie. And if they say otherwise, then they’re lying”
Thank you for your response! Guess I was afraid of that I guess the next question then would be what are my comparable options to go after? Definitely prefer good eating fish if possible. Went red’s fishing once and can’t say it was too overly exciting, not so much for the cast, sit and wait game. Prefer to troll some u-rigs or live bait if possible. Thanks again for your response and hopefully I can get a good idea of the boat we need too!
Good luck with the relocation. There should be plenty of options for some fun fishing out of Mount Pleasant for sure though it may be more seasonal than you experienced in Virginia. The shrimping season is about here if you want to put your cast net skills to work… Look into flounder fishing and gigging for a challenge with a tasty reward too. I don’t much care for eating red drum but they are abundant and can be caught in a million different ways and places, with or without a boat…I’d put some posts out there on the Charleston Fishing message boards to pitch in for fuel, bait, boat scrubbing, etc. to tap into the local knowledge and see what size and style boats will best match your budget and the waters you want to fish.
Here are a few articles on the striper fishing opportunities down there…
The Santee lakes would be your best option once October is here. If you’re up for a road trip, Murray’s not a bad drive up 26 from the Charleston area. For Clarks Hill, you’d probably want to do at least an over-nighter.
I guess the next question then would be what are my comparable options to go after? Definitely prefer good eating fish if possible. Went red’s fishing once and can’t say it was too overly exciting, not so much for the cast, sit and wait game. Prefer to troll some u-rigs or live bait if possible. Thanks again for your response and hopefully I can get a good idea of the boat we need too!