In April 1898 the Spanish American war broke out and at the time Ft. Sumter was in ruins with nothing more than an unmanned lighthouse on the island. With the entrance to the harbor defenseless Charlestonians went to work building Battery Huger, a large re-enforced concrete block installation for defense on the island.
Though the harbor never came under attach from the Spanish they still come and visit in large numbers patrolling just off the beach and many times passing Battery Huger to gather around Castle Pinckney another historic Charleston landmark. These aggressive Spanish have tremendous appetites and are known to attach a Clark Spoon at the blink of an eye.
Thank you for wading through a little bit of Charleston history there; of course in the latter part of the previous paragraph; I am referring to Spanish Mackerel a great game fish here in the low country that can be served up from a good summer time meal. The Spanish is the smaller of the mackerels that we see here in South Carolina behind the Cero Mackerel and of course their big cousin the King. Since Spanish are smaller they are often overlooked as a game fish but make no mistake about these fish are aggressive fighters that put light tackle to the test with their explosive strikes often leaving the water with the bait followed by long fast runs.
Spanish prefer water temperatures above the mid sixties and therefore move into our coastal waters typically in late April and stay through mid-October. These fish usually feed in large schools are and most easily spotted chasing bait with Terns and other sea birds in pursuit of stunned baitfish and scraps. Much like their larger cousins, Spanish prefer cleaner water and therefore they stay just off the beach and in the shipping channel; however they will move into the inlets and harbor to feed most often on an incoming tide. Spanish are not as structure oriented as many other species; essentially as long as bait is plentiful they can be located in open water.
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