Tag: Trout

Summertime Fishing is Like a Box of Chocolates

Summertime fishing is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to catch. This was the case when fishing last week with my good friend, Todd. We launched early in the morning wanting to target Redfish with top water lures. We found the Redfish, but they were not interested in our topwater offerings. Jilted by the Reds, we decided to run to the harbor and try for Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish. Along the way, we stopped and caught a couple of dozen Menhaden with a cast net. Bull Redfish and Sharks love Menhaden. With a bunch of menhaden in the Pathfinder’s livewell, we had more target species options available to us.

Once in the harbor, Todd began casting a shiny jig named “Deadly Dick”. While the manufacturer’s name is somewhat dubious, the lure is a proven Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish catcher. Todd caught a few of both. He also has a new nickname.

When the falling tide began to slow, the bite did as well. We decided to run out past the jetties and target sharks behind the shrimp boats. There were only two shrimp boats still working when we arrived. So, we picked the closest one and set up behind it. While I positioned the boat, Todd picked up a 20-pound class spinning rod and nose-hooked a Menhaden on a 5/0 circle hook. We were about 50 yards behind the Shrimper when I took the boat out of gear and Todd cast his line. Almost immediately, a good-sized Black Tip Shark ate the Menhaden and began jumping and trashing about. The fight was spectacular but short lived as the Black Tip bit through the 50-pound fluorocarbon leader. In my experience, that happens about half the time. That was just fine with Todd and me. For us, most of the fun is right after hook-up on the initial jumps and runs. After that, on 20-pound class spinning tackle, the fight becomes hard work.

On the ride back to the boat landing, we stopped and caught a few Trout. Todd and I covered a lot of water and targeted a lot of species, all before lunch. A typical summertime fishing trip. Out early. Catch whatever is biting. Return home before it gets too hot. In the summer, don’t worry about having a solid fishing plan. Just enjoy whatever comes out of the box.

Fishing with The Charleston Angler Crew

Paul & Dave from The Charleston Angler

 Wind and rain dominated the fishing scene this week. However, when I did manage to get out, the Trout and Redfish were biting. Earlier in the week, while at The Charleston Angler, my brother Dave, Paul Speranza and I were wondering how the bite was in the upper Wando. None of us had ventured up that way since the snow storm. Rather than continue to wonder, we decided to go find out. On Saturday, we launched into the last of the falling tide. A thick fog made navigating up river an interesting endeavor. Thankfully, my new skiff is equipped with a Garmin 54CV GPS/depth finder. The Garmin allowed us to make the trip in near zero visibility.

Upon arrival up river, we began casting Z-Man TRD Ned Rigs and TubeZ lures around docks and drop offs. The water temperature was 54 degrees (which is close to normal for this time of year) but the fishing was slow. We tried shallow and deep-water locations but we could not locate a large concentration of feeding fish. A few Trout is all we could manage in the first hour or two of fishing. Rather than continue scouting, we decided to head back down river and catch some fish. The fog had lifted by then so the run back down river was a quick one.

We stopped at a submerged oyster bar outside of Horlebeck Creek. On the first cast to the bar, I hooked an over-slot Redfish. Paul and Dave followed suit. At last, we had located a school of hungry fish. After releasing several Reds, we switched our attention to Trout in deeper water. It took a bit of looking, but we found a few schools holding along depth transitions in 10 to 15 feet of water. They were hungry too!

On the ride back to the boat landing, we laughed about wearing T-shirts and flip flops to fish in February. A far cry from fishing in the snow a few weeks ago. Hopefully, the warming trend holds and fishing continues to improve. Especially in the upper Wando.

Time for the Slim SwimZ

With the water temperature nearing 60 degrees, Trout and Redfish are feeding more aggressively.  So yesterday, I switched from my favorite cold water lure (Z-Man TRD Ned Rig) and began fishing a Z-Man Slim SwimZ on a 1/6 ounce NedlockZ jig.  Trout and Redfish have been crushing it.  While I am still learning to use the Slim SwimZ, a couple of things have become apparent.

A Slim SwimZ on a 1/6 ounce  NedLockZ jig is a light weight lure that requires a light tackle system to fish effectively.  I am using a 6’8″ Shimano Zodias light rod matched with a 1000 frame Ci4 reel that is spooled with 10 pound PowerPro.  A 12 pound fluorocarbon leader about 2 feet long completes the tackle system.  This outfit casts the 1/6 ounce NedlockZ jig really well and the light Zodias rod telegraphs even the most subtle strike.

Retrieving the Slim SwimZ is something I am still working on.  However, a slow retrieve with a pause (letting the lure hit the bottom) and short snap of the rod has been producing a lot of strikes.  Still experimenting but this is the retrieve cadence that I always begin with.

Slim SwimZ colors that I have been using are Opening Night and Bad Shad.

Time will tell but I think the Slim SwimZ is going to be a great year-round lure.  I will keep you posted on how it does.  So far, Trout and Redfish like it.  I do too!

 

Rigged and Ready

Salt Marsh Heron 

Over the past few weeks, I have fished the Heron in a variety of conditions.  From super shallow on calm days to submerged ledges in a nasty chop, in all situations, the skiff performed flawlessly.  Thus, I declare the new skiff Rigged and Ready to Roll!

Finesse Techniques Producing Fishing

Yesterday, was windy and cold.  Post cold front conditions made producing fish a bit of a challenge.  However, by using my fish finder to locate Trout holding on a ledge in 10 feet of water and vertical jigging a Z-Man TubeZ on a NedlockZ jig, I put together a pretty good day.  The bite was very light and it took a good bit of concentration to feel it.  On days like yesterday, a light and sensitive tackle system made a big difference.

As winter approaches, post cold front conditions will become the norm.  If you want to consistently catch fish in the winter, I recommend finesse!

 

First Cold Front of the Season

 

Cold and Windy Trout On the Fly

This week, one of the first cold fronts of the season passed through the Lowcountry. Leaving behind, strong northeasterly winds and lower water temperatures. These conditions are a mixed blessing for anglers. When the wind is blowing against the tide, the Wando River can be downright nasty. However, anglers willing to brave the rough conditions will often find ravenous schools of Trout and Redfish.

On Friday and Saturday, the nasty conditions kept me off the water. On Sunday, conditions were not much better but Elliott and I decided to go fishing anyway. The Wando River was rough but my new skiff handled the chop extremely well. After a short run up river, Elliott and I began fishing on a shallow flat with a slight channel running through it. I cast a Z-Man TRD TubeZ on a 1/5 ounce NedlockZ jig into the channel and erratically hopped the lure back to the boat. Halfway through my retrieve, a Redfish crushed the lure. While I was fighting the fish, Elliott staked the skiff with the Power Pole Micro and fired a cast into the channel. He hooked a Redfish as well. We released our fish and then immediately caught two more. After releasing the second set of fish, we decided to put away the spinning tackle and switch to flyrods. Given the strong breeze, casting was a bit of a challenge. It took me a few tries but I eventually made a long cast into the channel. The fly, a chartreuse Clouser Minnow, was eaten immediately. Elliott and I figured it was another Redfish but when it came to the skiff it was a nice size Trout.

We continued to work the channel with our flyrods and enjoyed steady action with Trout and Redfish. The fish were still biting when a strong gust of wind caught my front cast and the fly hit me in the arm. Good thing the fly was tied on a barbless hook. It came right out and only hurt a little bit. Just enough to convince me it was time to stop fly-fishing.

Conditions on Sunday were not optimal but Elliott and I managed to catch a good number of fish. I even caught myself!

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.

Take Kids Fishing

In a world filled with electronic devices and a myriad of other indoor activities, it is important to encourage kids to play outside. So, when neighbor’s son, Luke Bishop, dropped by to talk about fishing, we decided to go fishing instead of talking about it. The purpose of our trip was to determine if Trout were already forming large schools in Clouter Creek and the Cooper River. Our plan was to run and gun (try a bunch of locations) until we located large concentrations of Trout. Typically, in the Fall, Trout congregate around creek mouths on the falling tide. While we caught a few in these areas, they did not produce the numbers we were looking for. Luke and I kept moving.

After five or six stops at creek mouths, we tried something different, a deep channel. Luke cast a Z-Man StreakZ 3.75 (Pearl) on a Finesse jig into the channel and caught a nice Trout. I cast my lure (a Streak 3.75 Blue Back Herring) into the same area and hooked up as well. For the next 30 to 45 minutes, Luke and I caught a Trout on pretty much every cast. We did not take any pictures because one of us always had a fish on. It was an epic Trout bite. Luke and I released over 50 fish (I even kept a few dinner).

During the non-stop action, I was impressed by Luke’s development as an angler. He was completely self-sufficient. We have fished together many times. Each time, his fishing skills just keep getting better. I feel sure, one day (soon), he will be teaching me about fishing. And that, is that fishing is all about.

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!