It Pays to Explore

The Ralston Creek boat landing is closed for renovations until the end of March. Thankfully, the Beresford Creek boat landing is still open. While it only takes a few minutes to launch in Beresford Creek and then run around Daniel Island to the Wando River (where I fish most of the time), I have decided to take the month of March and learn more about fishing in the Cooper River area. My first trips have been very promising.

On Monday afternoon, I decided to fish in Clouter Creek. The tide was falling and about an hour away from dead low. This provided me the opportunity to see oyster bars that are normally covered during higher stages of the tide. Most of the oyster bars were dry or in very shallow water. A few were in water between 1 and 5 feet deep. These were the bars that I spent a little time fishing around. Redfish were feeding near the shallow bars. I could easily seem them sloshing around. A quick cast of a StreakZ 3.75 on a 3/16-ounce Finesse Jig produced a solid strike. The Reds were not particularly large but they were hungry and plentiful. After releasing a few, I went in search of Trout.

The Trout were a bit more spread out. Most were congregating at the base of oyster bars in deeper water. Each deeper bar seemed to hold a fish or two. By hitting a few bars, I managed to release a decent number of Trout. The size of the fish was larger than what I have been seeing in the Wando. Most were 16 to 18 inches long and I released a few approaching the 20-inch mark.

I love fishing in the Wando River. However, the Cooper River area is growing on me!