This is more of a Discussion/Questions than a Report, but it is a report so i will post it here.
Fished Edisto from Live Oak on Saturday. This was maybe my 5th time inshore fishing and my first from Live Oak…
Hit the water about 5:45 with a few fiddler crabs and cut mullet. Saw sheephead hitting a dock nearby and couldnt pay one to bite a fiddler, so i moved on. Threw the cast net and picked up a few shrimp. Wanted to take advantage of any “morning bite” using artificials and the few shrimp i had, so i started fishing. I threw jigs, bucktails, flukes,& shrimp under a poping cork at docks/structure/oysterbeds all morining and never had a bite…
Drifted up a creek into a flat/marsh and caught 20 or so menhaden so went back to fishing. Since I was in the tidal creek at that time and had no more shrimp I wanted to use the menhaden while they were alive (I have a rectangle live well and knew they wouldnt last long) so I pitched the menhaden under a cork at grass points that I knew also had structure/oysters underneath or nearby… Did this for an hour or so while the tide was still coming in… not a bite…
Got back in the deep creek and went back to throwing artificials… nothing…
Found a different smaller/shallower creek throwing DOA shrimp under the poping cork… nothing…
At this time its about 1:00 and if ive put on sunscreen once, I put it on 30 times… but I was determined not to get skunked… found a nice shade spot in a big deep creek and tied off under it and threw out the cut menhaden and cut mullet… hooked a nice shark (looked like a hammerhead) about 3-4ft and got all the way to the boat and poped off. Hooked another shark about 8 inches long and landed and released him. Skunk is off the boat now! I never caught another fish LOL. I pretty much quit fishing after that and went exploring.
For those who catch fish on live menhaden, do you fish them on the bottom or drift them under a cork as I did? Do you have the same results after they die as when they are alive? Do you
Thanks for the report and keep putting the effort in out there, that’s the only way to really figure it out. That shark you hooked was probably a bonnethead, they can be seen cruising the shallows throughout the summer looking for an easy meal. Easily confused with hammerheads but they rarely get over 4 feet long in my experience.
I’ve only just started using menhaden because of their abundance but I do fish them off the bottom, alive or recently dead. So far I’ve only had sharks and rays hit them but I’ve also struggled to find the big reds so far this summer.
Lastly, you were probably seeing spotted gar rolling in the creeks. If you see one up close (especially the tail) they can look like monster spotted sea trout. Until I started fishing saltwater more heavily, I didn’t know they’d be found in such high salinity waters. They will hit live bait on the bottom or on a cork, I’ve even caught them near Pinckney. Just my two cents, would be curious to ehar others’ input.
Lastly, you were probably seeing spotted gar rolling in the creeks. If you see one up close (especially the tail) they can look like monster spotted sea trout. Until I started fishing saltwater more heavily, I didn’t know they’d be found in such high salinity waters. They will hit live bait on the bottom or on a cork, I’ve even caught them near Pinckney. Just my two cents, would be curious to ehar others’ input.
Lastly, you were probably seeing spotted gar rolling in the creeks. If you see one up close (especially the tail) they can look like monster spotted sea trout. Until I started fishing saltwater more heavily, I didn’t know they’d be found in such high salinity waters. They will hit live bait on the bottom or on a cork, I’ve even caught them near Pinckney. Just my two cents, would be curious to ehar others’ input.
Nice, hooking them is one thing, landing them is a whole different story. I’ve hooked 4 and never gotten one in the boat. Their mouths are nothing but teeth and bones, and they give very violent head shakes. They always break me off or throw the hook as soon as I get them next to the boat. Kudos to you for landing that one, I’d like to cook one someday.
I have seen a bunch of gar this year in Bailey and Store Creeks. There are also lots of bluefish feeding on these schools of menhaden that are everywhere. Since they showed up I have had very poor inshore fishing around Edisto compared to earlier this year, although I am not a huge inshore guy. Fished a week ago all day with a buddy in virtually every place I have every caught fish and got nothing but a few bluefish.
I am not familiar enough with sharks to tell the difference in a Bonnet and a Hammer right off. All i know is it had the hammerhead look to him in the water.
The strange thing about the gar is I did not see any bait fish hitting the top… just the gar rolling… and there were alot of them.
FS that makes me feel better! … Im sure others are experiencing the same…
I read a lot of technique from your report but not much on what type of areas you were fishing and when. Let me preface this with the fact I don’t like fishing live bait.
Think first about where you are going to fish at the right tide stage. I use a point system…and fish areas with 3 points or more… 1 point for creek bend, mouth of creek, oysters, drop off, docks etc. so I like places with three of the above.
Next think about the water column and how best fish the structure. . Bottom, middle and top. Top for me includes popping corks.
Also, don’t spend an hour at a place without a bite. I spend 10 min and if no bites I move. You can put out live bait on a cork, one on Carolina rig and work a suspended bait at the same time. 10 min doing this will tell you everything you need to know.
I’m trying to get a gar on the fly using unwound rope. You can also live bait a gar with treble hooks. Gar are common.
BTSHIP is probably right about the Bonnethead thought we do have hammers too just not many to my knowledge.
I thought the were Longnose Gar. I’ve caught a dozen or so up Nowell Creek.
First, Most, Biggest
I want to catch them all
Upon further research, I think you’re right, these are probably longnose gar. I just always saw the spotted tail dissapearing into the depths and didn’t realize that longnose’s had spots as well, especially on the tail.