Tag: redfish

Salt Marsh Update

More Redfish on the Salt Marsh Heron

After a few of more trips on the Salt Marsh Heron, I even more impressed with how it performs.  My low cruise speed at 4,200 RPMs is 25 MPH.  When I am in a hurry, the fast cruise speed at 4,800 RPMs is around 30 MPH.  The Evinrude ETEC 60 is a great match for the Heron.   Recently, the Redfish and Trout have been on a post cold front pattern and are holding a little deeper.  So, I have not been in the ultra-shallow water that I normally fish in.  However, I have been surprised by how well the skiff handles open water.  In the chop, a little bit of trim tab smooths things right out.  The skiff is dry as well.  So far, the Salt Marsh Heron is exceeding my expectations.

This week, the fishing slowed down a bit but it is still very good.  The post productive technique (for the post cold front conditions) has been erratically bouncing a Z-Man Trick ShotZ on a NedLockZ jig down depth transitions.  My new favorite Trick ShotZ color is Twilight.  It seems to be what the Trout and Redfish want.

 

 

Scary Good Fishing

Trout on a Z-Man Trick ShotZ

Like Halloween, the fishing this week was scary good! On Saturday, I experienced perhaps the best Trout bite ever. My brother Dave and I were fishing a submerged oyster bar in the harbor. The bar was about 2 feet deep and directly adjacent to deeper water. We cast Z-Man Trick ShotZ on 1/5th ounce NedlockZ jigs on top of the bar and let the incoming tide sweep the lure into deeper water. Our retrieve was a slight jigging action. Trout in the 14 to 20-inch range were crushing the Trick ShotZ before it could hit the bottom. We caught fish on almost every cast.

After releasing 15 to 20 Trout each, we put away our spinning tackle and began casting flies into the area. Results were the same. More Trout! We literally got tired of catching them. So, we left them biting and went deep hole shrimping. The shrimp tricked us. After several casts of the deep hole net, we had zero shrimp. Dave and I debated catching more Trout but decided to target Redfish in the flooded marsh instead. A quick run run up the Wando, put us on a small school of Reds hanging around a shallow marsh channel. I cast a Trick ShotZ ahead of the first fish and it slowly swam forward and ate it. The fight was spirited and the Redfish won. Dave was still making fun of me when the school came back into casting range. He picked up his fly rod and made a quick presentation. A Redfish inhaled the fly as soon as it hit the water. Unfortunately for me, this one did not get away and I was reminded of it for the rest of the day.

Fishing is really good right now. REALLY GOOD! So, treat yourself to some Halloween fun and go fishing.

Day One on the Heron

Salt Marsh Redfish

Elliott stopped poling long enough to get a few of these

Got this guy on the first cast from the Heron!

Day number one on the Salt Marsh Heron was simply epic.  The wind was calm and the water was clear.  Perfect conditions to try out the new skiff.  Right away, the Heron exceeded my expectations.  It was easy to pole, floated shallow and extremely quiet.  Elliott poled me within 30 feet of the first school of Redfish we encountered.  The Reds did not seem to know we were there.  It was cool to watch them track the fly and see the strike.  We caught several fish and watched each one eat the fly.  The longest cast we had to make all day was 30 feet.  Fishing from the Heron will be up close and personal.  Just the way I like it!

The Heron performed well with the Etec 60.  Cruise at 4000 RPMs  was 25 MPH.  The highest RPM I hit today was 4800 and the GPS speed was 30 MPH.  So, the skiff has plenty of speed for my purposes.

It was flat calm today.  So, I did not get a chance to try the skiff in choppy conditions.  However, with winter coming, there will be plenty of time for that.

When the tide got into the marsh, Elliott and I switched our attention to Trout.  We made a quick run to a submerged ledge in about 10 feet of water.  I deployed the Minn Kota 55# thrust trolling motor and it easily pulled the skiff against the tide.  We cast Z-Man Trick ShotZ on NedlockZ 1/5 ounce jigs into the current and bounced them along the ledge.  They never bounced very far.  Trout pounced on the Trick ShotZ soon as it hit the bottom.  Strong Trout bite today.

Day number one is in the books.  It was a day to remember.  Very happy that my son, Elliott, was there to share it with me.

 

Fishing with Friends

Todd Van Hoosier with a Good Redfish

Last week, I sold my trusty Mitzi Skiff to make room for the arrival of my new Salt Marsh Heron. If all goes well, I should take delivery of the new skiff in early November. In the interim, I am limited to fishing with friends on their boats. Thankfully, I have a lot of friends with boats!

On Friday, Todd Van Hoosier invited me to fish with him. We were joined by fellow Daniel Island Inshore Fishing Club member, Dave Twitchell. The tide was falling when we launched Todd’s boat. Our plan was to target Redfish until low tide. One benefit of being a guest and not the boat captain is that I can focus on learning new lures and techniques. Recently, I have been experimenting with the Z-Man Trick ShotZ on a Ned LockZ mushroom head jig. Friday was a good opportunity to practice with the new lure. After a short boat run, Todd stopped at a small channel that drains an expansive shallow area. It only took a few minutes to locate a big school of Redfish. Unfortunately, the Redfish felt our approach and spooked away from the boat. I made a long cast in front of the departing fish and a not-so-smart Redfish ate my lure. Sometimes, it pays to be lucky.

After a quick move to another shallow area, we located another school of Redfish. The school was so shallow that we could often see their backs out of the water. However, the fish never came within casting distance of Todd’s flats boat. Situations like this are perfect for my new Salt Marsh Heron. Technical skiffs are smaller and lighter than a flats boat. As such, they can get into much shallower water. In two weeks (upon delivery of my new skiff), I plan to pay this school of Redfish another visit.

We fished several more locations throughout the afternoon and caught fish pretty much everywhere we fished. But, we never found a truly hot bite. We ended the day releasing 15 to 20 fish. While we did not catch a lot of fish, we had a great day. Good weather. Good friends. Great time. Thanks Todd!

Trick ShotZ

Windy conditions (and a trip to the mountains) limited my local fishing time this week. However, I did brave the wind a few times before heading to the mountains. On those trips, the water was clear and 76 degrees. Perfect conditions for targeting Redfish, Trout and Flounder with lures. Recently, I have been experimenting with a Z-Man Trick ShotZ lure on a mushroom head jig. While I am still refining my technique, early results have been positive. Casting the Trick ShotZ into current seams using a snap and pause retrieve has been producing good numbers of fish. Creek mouths on the falling tide have been particularly good.

Of course, the StreakZ 3.75 is still my favorite lure but the Trick ShotZ is quickly becoming a close second. As the water cools and the fish begin to slow down, I believe the Trick ShotZ will become even more effective. So, I am practicing now in preparation for Winter.

The other day, I fished with a friend who prefers to fish with live bait. On the day of our trip, he was using mud minnows on a quarter ounce lead head jig. We took turns casting to the current seams. Both methods (lures and mud minnows) produced equally well. Regardless of how you prefer to fish, now is the time to fish!

As the days get shorter and the water gets cooler, fishing will improve from very good to great (and possibly even epic). The Cooper and Wando Rivers are full of Trout and Redfish that are schooling up and feeding voraciously. If there is such a time when fishing and catching are synonymous, this is that time. Don’t miss it.

Sometimes, a change is good


Sometimes, a change is good. Typically, I prefer to fish with flies and lures. However, my friend Donna Crocker, likes to fish with live shrimp. So, when we fish together, a coin flip determines which method we will use. On this fishing trip, I lost the coin toss.

We launched the skiff late in the afternoon near the end of the falling tide. It only took a few casts of the net to catch enough shrimp for a few of hours of fishing. Our plan was to look for feeding predators in shallow water (by observing shrimp jumping on the surface). Once located, casting a live shrimp on a lead head jig into the area often produces a Redfish, Trout or Flounder. In the summertime, this is a very reliable fishing pattern. Especially, during lower stages of the tide.

For the first hour or so of this trip, smaller fish were prevalent (at last for Donna). I managed to complete an inshore slam and release a couple of 25-inch Reds. As always, when we fish together, there is a lively banter about who is fishing the best. For most of the trip, I got the best of this exchange. As the sun began to set, we made one last stop on the way back to the boat landing. Donna spotted several shrimps jumping and fired a cast right on top of them. The water exploded as a big Redfish attacked her jig and shrimp combination. Immediately, I knew I was in trouble. Donna was giving me a hard time before she even landed the fish. When the fish came to the skiff, I had to admit to defeat. Heading back to the boat landing, I pretended to be unable to hear Donna because of the sound of the outboard engine. This got us to laughing. It was a fitting end to a great fishing trip with a good friend.

Simple But Effective

A lot of fly anglers spend more time at their vise than on their skiffs.  While I enjoy tying flies, I enjoy catching fish more!  As such, my files are all very simple and easy to tie.  They are not very pretty but they do catch fish.  This time of year, Redfish, Trout and Flounder (along with everything else that has fins and teeth) get really focused on eating shrimp. Thankfully, a sparsely tied tan Clouser Minnow looks just like a shrimp.

Recently, I started using Steve Farrar’s Flash Blend for all my shrimp and glass minnow flies (which are sparsely tied Clouser Minnows).   This material is easy to work with and provides a translucent silhouette in the water.  It helps me to quickly tie simple but effective flies (that catch fish).

Step away from that vise and go fishing!

 

 

 

When fishing does not go as planned

Sometimes, a fishing trip does not go as planned. This was certainly the case on Friday evening. Elliott and I decided (at the last minute) to target Redfish on the fly. It was breezy but the wind was forecast to subside, making for challenging but fly fishable conditions. The wind did not subside. Elliott thought I was bringing my 8-weight flyrod and I thought he was bringing his. We ended up fishing with an inexpensive 6-weight flyrod that I keep on the skiff (for just such emergencies). It was way under-powered for the size fly (a chartreuse bead chain Clouser Minnow) and wind conditions (15 knots) but it was all we had.

Upon arrival at our designated fishing area (a shallow area with a slight channel), we immediately saw a small school of Redfish chasing shrimp. Elliott volunteered to pole the skiff and I took the bow with 6-weight fly rod in hand. My first, second and third casts were simply awful. The wind kept knocking my presentation off line or short. In such conditions, an 8-weight fly rod would have been a great help. For the next hour, we cast to several fish but it was more of the same. I resolved to buy an 8-weight fly rod and keep it on the skiff.

Just as I was about to give up, Elliott spotted a single Redfish tailing beside an oyster bar. It was a short downwind cast and my first accurate fly presentation of the evening. On the first strip, I felt weight and thought the fly had gotten hung up on the oyster bar. Very frustrated, I began cussing and tried to break the fly off. Then I realized, it was actually a Redfish. Elliott made a comment about “the worst hook up on the fly” he had ever seen. He was laughing so hard, I thought he would fall off the poling platform. I began laughing too.

We eventually caught, photographed and released the fish. Fly fishing can be a challenging endeavor. Especially, when you forget to bring your fly rod.

Daniel Island News – May 18

Between bad weather, skiff maintenance and my daughter (Maddie) graduating from college, I did not get to fish much last week.  However, when I did manage to get out, fishing was quite good.  Especially for big Redfish on the falling tide.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Elliott and I decided to fish the Cooper River and Clouter Creek.  We launched the skiff at the newly renovated boat landing near Bellinger Island.  Which, by the way, looks and functions great!  After a quick run into the Cooper River, we began casting Z-Man MinnowZ (Pinfish) lures on quarter ounce Trout Eye jigs to creeks that were draining into the main river.  It took a while to find the right drain but when we did it was game on with big Reds.  Most of the fish were over the slot (of 23 inches).  A few were way over the slot.  Elliott caught the biggest one of the trip, a 30+ inch bruiser.  As a bonus, Trout were also feeding in creek mouths. So, Elliott and I had steady action well into the evening.

The most productive technique was a long cast into the mouth of the creeks.  We imparted an erratic jigging and wiggling retrieve as the tide swept the lure into the main river.  Most of our strikes occurred in the current seam where the creek and river met.  Trout were holding deeper and the Reds were feeding tight to the creek mouth.  So, if a Redfish did not eat the lure, a few seconds later (in deeper water), a Trout usually did.

While I typically fish in the Wando River, Clouter Creek and the Cooper River system are full of Trout, Flounder and Redfish.  So much so, that I believe I will be spending a bit more time there!

Q&A

Recently, a few people have been asking questions about how the tide influences my approach to fishing.  In the Lowcountry, we have a tidal range of 5 to 6 feet.  Subsequently, we have a consistent  2 to 3 knot current as the tide rises and falls.  Tidal range and current are helpful factors for anglers that plan accordingly.

As the tide begins to fall, shrimp and baitfish funnel out of the marsh through small drains and creek mouths.  Trout, Flounder and Redfish have this figured out and position themselves accordingly.  So I tend to fish this pattern early in the falling tide.

When the water flow from small drains and creek mouths  begins to slow down (and food is no longer being funneled), I move to larger creek mouths or marsh points that are still being swept by a good current.  These areas are predator feeding stations and should be productive until slack tide.

At the bottom of the tide, I focus on Redfish in shallow water.  Not just any shallow area but areas with oyster bars and a depth transition (like a channel).  Bait gets concentrated in these areas and Redfish can often be seen chasing it around.  They are literally fishing in a barrel.  Anglers with shallow draft skiffs can fish in the same barrel.

Three patterns for three stages of the tide.  I hope this helps.