Friday morning a buddy and I headed out to the ashley to try to find some reds and blue cats. Didn’t plan on catching much but the launch is only 2 miles from us so we figured couldn’t beat a short drive like that. We launched around 730am at high tide and water temp around 83. The river was dirtier than usual from all of the rain. Saw a dead deer floating and what looked like a bullet hole in its neck.
Threw out mm’s along some creek banks and picked up a 19 inch blue at the falling tide. The bite didn’t pick up until low and the first hour of rising. I ended up landing another blue around 21 inches at low tide. First hour of rising tide I landed a 22 inch red on a mm along the bank. My buddy wasn’t catching anything and I felt bad. Took him to a spot I had marked on the gps and the tossed out a mm on the bottom. within 5 minutes we see his line heading from the bank to the center of the river. He starts reeling in and his rod bends in half. After a good battle we pulled in a 36 inch blue cat. He was very excited and I was happy for him considering his lack of catching throughout the day. I weighed it with my cheap scale and it said 32lbs. Not sure if thats 100% accurate but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was.
19 and 21 inch blue cat
22 inch red
36 inch 32 lb blue cat
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
I know that a healthy-sized (girth) redfish that is 36" long will weigh around 18lbs. I’d guess your catfish is well into the 20’s, maybe upper 20’s. Either way, that’s a sweet day!
… The Cross of Christ is the anvil upon which the hammer of evil wore itself out.
Thanks guys. We weren’t expecting anything like that cat lol. I need to get a boga but I always end up buying something else. I think I’ve learned the tricks of the upper ashley. I can’t catch fish unless its low tide or the first hour of rising tide.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
NICE fish there Al. Bottom rig with shrimp or mud minnows on the bobber? I just bought my first boat, a little 17.5’ CC and am keeping it at RiversEdge Marina in West Ashley. I’ve surf fished all my life, but am very new to salt water fishing on a boat. Caught about 6 rays and a mess of decent size whiting today off the reeds and oyster beds (I think?). I had two rods with mud minnows on bobbers, not one taker all day. Everything else was hitting fresh shrimp on the bottom. I’m going to have to figure all of this out, can anyone offer any general suggestions if launching from that Marina?
NICE fish there Al. Bottom rig with shrimp or mud minnows on the bobber? I just bought my first boat, a little 17.5’ CC and am keeping it at RiversEdge Marina in West Ashley. I’ve surf fished all my life, but am very new to salt water fishing on a boat. Caught about 6 rays and a mess of decent size whiting today off the reeds and oyster beds (I think?). I had two rods with mud minnows on bobbers, not one taker all day. Everything else was hitting fresh shrimp on the bottom. I’m going to have to figure all of this out, can anyone offer any general suggestions if launching from that Marina?
Thanks, we got lucky on that one. Caught all of our fish on live mm on carolina rigs in only 3 feet or less of water. I’m not very experienced on the lower ashley where the marina is. I only fish about 3 miles of the river south of the ladson/dorchester rd launch. I only fish there occasionally because its 2 miles from me. I do my best down behind Sullivans and near the harbor. I’ve found that low tide and the first hour of rising tide has been good in the upper ashley. Where you are fishing I would try the same techniques that I use down near the harbor. At high tide fish the grass lines with popping corks with live bait such as shrimp, mms, and finger mullet. At falling tide try to find creeks pouring out into the main river and fish a little down river from them. The fish will stack up on the outside of the small creek catching bait coming out. I try to find any structure I can such as docks, oysters, depth changes, etc. It takes time to figure out each body of water. If you have any other questions i’ll do my best to answer them. Im no pro by any means, but i’m usually on the water one or 2 days a week.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a littl
blues and reds in the same trip, not a bad bag. that body of water holds good fish, but has a lot less pressure than most waterways in Charleston. keep it up
blues and reds in the same trip, not a bad bag. that body of water holds good fish, but has a lot less pressure than most waterways in Charleston. keep it up
Thanks. I’ve managed blues and reds on 2 trips now. Where I fish in the upper ashley I’ve only ever saw 3 or 4 boats in the 6 to 8 hours of being on the water. Then again I usually fish out there on week days.
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
