I’m with Tooth…thats no different than cornholing offshore. Looking at the types of areas the guides are fishing and finding similar setups elsewhere is one thing, but making it your number one tip on finding spots isn’t cool. There are TONS of great spots in our rivers/icw…i guarantee you that a decent guide has 100 spots to your one anyway, but it’s because of their time on the water…nothing better (for me at least) to find a new spot and catch fish in areas new to me. Like I said earlier…you had some great advice to give, but after your #1 tip…i found it hard to take the rest seriously…my .02, but your 1st tip rubbed me the wrong way, I don’t normally chime in to bicker but couldn’t help it. I’m not a guide, have lots of guide friends, I’ve put in a lot of time figuring out the wando…now when I have a fish on, boats slow down, take a mental note, and I see them posted up the next weekend on the opposite tide thinking they’re in the right ‘spot’…annoying, but I guess if you can’t find spots on your own just hit where you saw a boat fishing the weekend before…there’s gotta be fish there. Lol.
'a stranger is just a friend i havent met yet’jt
quote:
i guarantee you that a decent guide has 100 spots to your one anyway,
Or even 1,000, and he/she knows when to fish them, and when not to. There is a lot more to it than just location, it is tide, wind, moon phase, water temperature, bait, and many factors that combine to being in the right place at the right time. Many spots have fish sometimes and no spot has fish all the time.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Larry - I totally agree that there is a lot more to fishing than just a location. That’s part of the fun and challenge is finding locations, and learning when/how to fish it. The OP asked what to look for and that’s all I intended to provide.
Frankly if there is anybody on here who will say that if they see a fishing guide fishing a spot, they wont fish there because there are 100’s of other spots… Well more power to ya. I’ll smile and say that’s nice and firmly believe it’s a lie. Sorry.
Also for me that is partially a private joke. I spent the first 2 years that I lived here having very very little success fishing. A friend of mine took me out to educate me and one of my first questions just like the OP was “What do you look for to determine a good fishing spot?” he smiled, cracked a beer and said “Guides” and we both laughed. I learned a lot from him on the many subsequent fishing trips, but that 1 word response always gave me a chuckle. So now whenever anybody asks what to look for it’s always half jokingly my first response - that does not make it any less true. Maybe not just the “guides” statement but there is a reason you see people fishing and catching in the same spots consistently.
Anyway I’ve seen the many many pages of threads on this forum with silly arguments over 1 sentence by folks who have not added any advice to the thread, only discuss what they disagree with. I won’t be drawn into that. Anything that I offered was meant to be helpful and if anyone wants to take it differently, well frankly that’s your problem not mine. If you liked my advice use it. If you don’t like my advice don’t use it. Either way - enjoy the water and good luck.
I would argue, you wouldn’t have to look so hard for good spots, if their wasn’t so many guides/tourists. It is interesting however to hear everyones unwritten rules.
14’ Carolina Skiff
19’ Sea Pro
Fair enough…good response RF,wasn’t trying to start a silly argument. Unfortunately we can’t tell tones via text messaging and I didn’t pick up on the half joking part associated with your #1 tip. That being said, if you ever see me posted up on the upper wando come on by and tie up to me and we can trade fish stories…18’sea pro cc, with a PVC pole weaved through the bow rail (to help push off sometimes).
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Cadill
'a stranger is just a friend i havent met yet’jt
Can’t resist the obsessive need to comment on “fishing spots”, guides, and the general tension that accompanies a newbies attempt at learning the local waters. People have moved here in great numbers over the years because it is an awesome place to be. I’ve lived in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and California, and Conn., and the midlands of SC. It is easy for me to understand the majesty and mystery, and uniqueness of this area we know as the lowcountry. It’s easy to want to covet it and preserve it and “keep” it for myself. I also know how much time and effort I put in to learning and gaining the experience to develop a knowledge of the seasons and rhythms of the tides and moons and wind, etc., and I naturally want newbies to “pay their dues” like I did for over 30+ years. Fishing guides were known as “Captains” when I 1st moved here, and they ran Hatteras’ and Buddy Davis’ and Bertram’s offshore…not flats and bay boats inshore. The Charleston Trident fishing tournament results told you who knew how to fish, and I desperately wanted to compete with them. So, I did the work. You darn sure didn’t pull up next to one of those guys and throw out an anchor…he might blow your head off’ or at least meet you back at the landing for some education. You respected the process. Times have changed, and I’ve caught my share. My boys have grown up out of the house and are on their own, my buddies got old like me, and Mt. Pleasant has a high school with 3500 students. There are docks built right over most of my fishing spots in the Wando. Remley’s Point, and Haddrells Point have million dollar houses all over them. Shem Creek is choked full of kayaks and paddle boards, and most folks don’t know how to pronounce Manigault, and LeGare, and Huger, heck their dogs sleep in bed with them. I figure I might as well help the newbies out, and share a few tips and some perspective. They are never going to get what I got because it’s gone, and if they chunk an anchor next to me I’ll wave and move on. I will say that the fis
Question… I use Google Earth to scout as well. But, does anyone know how to sync your “pins” from your desktop Google Earth to your iPhone Google Earth app? I’ve been trying for a while, but can’t figure it out.
Thanks in advance!
j
17 Malibu CC
88 'rude
quote:
I figure I might as well help the newbies out, and share a few tips and some perspective. They are never going to get what I got because it's gone, and if they chunk an anchor next to me I'll wave and move on. I will say that the fishing inshore is better today than back when the geechee boys from hungryneck stretched their gill nets across the creeks, and kept anything that could be fried or cooked in a stew.
Very well said. I feel the same way 
One of the best things you can do is keep a log book and record every trip you make. Include location, time of day, tide stage, moon phase, water temp, water clarity, air temp, wind speed and direction, baits, fish catch or not, anything else pertinent. After a while you will see trends and patterns. The longer you do it the better your data base becomes. After about 40 years you’ll usually know exactly where to fish when for what, and you’ll still get skunked sometimes:smiley:
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
quote:
Originally posted by NorthChuckTiger
Question… I use Google Earth to scout as well. But, does anyone know how to sync your “pins” from your desktop Google Earth to your iPhone Google Earth app? I’ve been trying for a while, but can’t figure it out.
Thanks in advance!
j
17 Malibu CC
88 'rude
On pc google maps, in the top right corner there is a blue circle/character, click on that and log in with your google account. Then on your phone do the same thing by going into maps and to the right of the search bar you’ll see the same icon… login there also. I can’t guarantee that will do the trick but I expect it will.
You can also create your own map and star all your fishing locations. You can actually share that with other people and give them permission to add to the locations on the map. You can create a hot spot map with all your friends if you’re good with giving up your locations to them.
2004 Action Craft 1820
Flats Master SE
Yea…about the rusting…my brother-in-law told me that his pop used to say “heck, even a plastic bucket doesn’t stand much of a chance in salt water”.
200 Bay Scout
115 Yamaha 4 stroke