Made it out Friday morning. Absolutely beautiful day and get to the spot I wanted to be in. This is one of my first trips on new kayak and no fish caught yet. Get anchored, 4-6’of water, and have one on bobber, one double rig on bottom, both live shrimp, and casting random jigs and 4-6’ diving baits. Fine if I don’t catch anything BUT there were several reds(12-30")tailing all around my kayak!!! Hitting the top and just cruising around! New to the reds and kayak fishing…BUT VERY ANNOYING WATCHING THEM TEASE ME. Did catch a sting ray though…sad that that was the first one but better than nothing. Any thoughts?
If everyone where a genious, there would be none.
For the bottom I would go to a carolina rig instead. Alot of different things work in the grass for tailers but my favorite thing to throw is the bigger gulp crabs on a decent size circle hook. Try to anticipate which way they are heading and get it down in front for them to find.
They don’t seem to like jumping crabs or airborne ranger crabs so you will have the best success if it’s sitting still on the bottom for them to find in their path.
I have the same problem. I’m new kayak fishing, although I’ve kayaked for a while, and new to reds so the first lesson I had to learn was not to spook them with the kayak. I would find what I thought was a good spot get no results and get tired of them mocking me by tailing new around me, so I would try to reposition for a better line. Someone offered the advice that I might be scaring them every time I moved so it was like starting over waiting for them to settle down each time. I have gotten much better about this now but still haven’t landed the ever mocking red fish. The irony is that I have been kayaking for a long time and before when I didn’t carry a rod the fish didn’t seem to care that I was there, this fish are smarter than they look.
Once I conquer this issue of moving around too much I think my next battle will be finding the bait/lure I feel most comfortable with for reds. I have gotten some good suggestions and look forward to try them all out but need to get more advice and most importantly need to get the lures in the water to see which one I like the most ( well i really only care about which one the fish like the most).
Good luck to us both.
–It is impossible to have a bad day fishing, because no matter what you still got to be on the water.–
Ride 135
Grass edges and structure… Look for feeder creeks that dump out of the marsh into the river/creek and set up near them. Reds and trout will hang out on the slack current side of structure ( oyster rake, dock, point etc ) and lay in wait for bait to swim past. Throwing a soft plastic along those areas with the current or drifing your baits past those ambush point will result in bites. As far as soaking the bait, yes letting it sit will usualy get you bit more often but making sure it is soaking in the right spot will be even better 
lay your bait up against the grass edge on a falling tide and the reds will find it, lay it up on the grass edge on a rising tide and the reds will find it… I hope I have provided a couple dots to connect the next time you go out… keep fishin…
“Paddle faster boys… I hear banjo music!”
SC Chapter Coordinator- Heroes on the Water
http://www.HeroesOnTheWater.org
Charleston Director- SCKayakfishing.com
Tarpon 160os
Glad to hear I am not the only one they tease! Thank you for the advice. I have found that I will pick out a spot I really like and see something on the way that I waste a ton of time on and never make it. Wanted to go to creek btw Cosgrove and 526 on north side but ended up by the two marsh “islands” across from landing near 526. Does this look like a good place to go? Never see anyone there… kinda clueless… And is it worth the trouble trolling as I paddle? What to use if so?
If everyone where a genious, there would be none.
Personally I gave up trying to catch fish on the trashley a few years ago… I highly suggest the wando or the stono if you wanna catch fish… Just because an area looks “perfect” doesn’t mean it’ll hold fish… Another good way to find good structure is to go out at the lowest low tide you can find and scout the area and make notes about where the structure is and then go back and fish it when the water is moving…
“Paddle faster boys… I hear banjo music!”
SC Chapter Coordinator- Heroes on the Water
http://www.HeroesOnTheWater.org
Charleston Director- SCKayakfishing.com
Tarpon 160os
I’m just gonna put this out there. If you were in 4 to 6 feet of water and had reds tailing all around you, they were probably gar. You wont see a tail unless the water is 2 ft or less. If they are rolling on the surface = gar. Many, including myself have been fooled by this behavior!
2000 SeaPro 180CC w/ Yammy 115 2 stroke
1966 13’ Boston Whaler w/ Merc 25 4 stroke “Flatty”
www.sswaonline.com