Okay gang another rookie here, I am an experienced mountain trout guy who just started fishing Charleston inshore a few months ago, looking for some knowledge on what these reds are going to do as water cools down. I took my lumps early and just recently started having some luck, what can I expect to happen with the few good spots I have discovered primarily up the Wando and it’s creeks.
They will start congregating into schools and will prefer live baits as the days get shorter and shorter. They’ll still slam your lure if you are throwing what they want to eat.
I love it when they school up, because it makes them easier to find. The water will clear up too, making sight-fishing easier.
This is the right time to start taking an extra set of clothes with you. You don’t want to try to make it back to the boat landing in wet clothes when it’s 60 degrees or colder outside.
Semper Fi
18’ Sterling
115 Yamaha
Big Ugly Homemade Blue Push Pole
Definitely take a charter. It would greatly reduce the learning curve.
Winter can be a fly fishermans dream. Reds school up in groups of 50-100 fish and just lazely swim. Its easiest to target them during low tide, where they sit on the flats; shallow mud bottom between the river banks not in the grass. Its awesome! Generally people pole or drift at the school. While staying absolutely quiet, people throw variations of flies, nothing too bright redfish are real finicky with the clear water and will spook. Or use a natural color minnow, jerk shad, or paddler on a flutter hook or light jig head. Fly guys have a leg up because they can present their bait alot better with less risk of scaring the fush, a feather lands softer than lead! Say you can cast 25 yards, stay 24 yards off the school, you only want to fish the edge so you can pull multiple fish off a single school.
Seriously take a 4 hour charter on a good captains flats boat, youll learn more that way than in an entire winter by yourself!
14’ Skiff-“Redfish Reaper”
great stuff --thanks for the help–it’s greatly appreciated
The Blind Squirrel in a Flats Boat