First Lowcountry Wiles Trip
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It was long overdue. Only a five hour straight interstate trek southeast from our driveway. Several of our friends looked at us like we were crazy for never visiting Charleston….We could tell that we’ve been missing out on something great.
With a last minute confirmation for a VRBO rental on a modest beachouse on Folly Beach, we loaded up our gear, bicycles, and the HogIsland skiff in tow for our first and definitely NOT last journey to the Lowcountry Marsh.
We did the tourist thing and ate some amazing food:
(Ahi Tuna Nachos with watermelon salsa)
Critters were encountered….and Breelyn got to discover some new friends in Catch….Pet…..and Release.
Some critters couldn’t be caught….
Did some wandering solo fishing. My first exploratory trek up a remote creek on a just falling high tide led me to discover a monster wake pushing downstream. I launched a bait right in it’s path..and had a tremendous blowup…chaos battle as the redfish sped straight at me , then under my boat….releasing the hook and barreling down the channel from under the stern. A pretty nice warm welcome, considering I had no clue how to search these fish, and it was my first 30 minutes of casting. It was a bit uneasy dealing with an 8 foot rise and fall of a full moon flood tide in unfamiliar channels that were literally covered in oyster rakes….wound up giving the Hog a couple new scuffs when I explored spots that were a little too skinny. So much water…every corner looked great…overwhelming to begin to understand this intriguing fishery.
We decided to charter 2 guides for later morning high tides, fishing two entirely different ends of these harbors. Both taught me a lot about the short-lived flood tide behavior, where fish come funneling through the grass like Jazzi dog waddling through a hayfield. I learned about what type of hard bottom to look for…and that perfect , short well spaced grass that extends just above the water line….I could atleast now eliminate plenty of the wrong water I was fishing.
It was pretty neat watching redfish move blades of grass as they crawled through the skinny water With the high sun and clear skies, the fish were ultra-spooky. Blew a couple good chances thanks to last minute snags on grass as the fish was closing in….and saw some goliath beasts that were cruising….but not eating. Both days — both guides mentioned we were fishing to some of the pickiest, most stubborn fish that they’ve encountered. Still managed to land my first tailing redfish in skinny, clear water….this is some pretty addicting stuff.
When the tide starts to drop…it’s like closing time at a bar at 3 AM….you gotta get out! That grass your fishing in is about to become a dry lawn, and you better move before the oyster beds start to stick above the waterline.
This is the kind of grass to look for:
Learned a few tips from the locals, and soon became a proficient shrimper with a castnet:
A good catch for one throw:
Some innocent bycatch:
Cuttlefish??
A Quarter Flounder
Using our fresh caught bait…it was time to catch some fish at the inlet:
We landed about 20 of these puppy drum in an hour…unfortunately, they were all about this 12-14” size…had an absolute blast though.
Finally caught a nicer fish…and we invited him home for dinner:
Had some true quality moments with the girls, and enjoyed some awesome sunsets:
My favorite photo…Bree’s expression pretty much sums up the trip. We’ll definitely be back—probably for Thanksgiving.
Nice pictures.
I particularly like the one with the guide in the background – he looks like Hank Patterson.
www.dsaphoto.com
A picture is thousand words that takes less than a second while a thousand words is a picture that takes a month.
Good like a nice trip.
How did the jet outboard work in the salt, and the rest of the boat for that matter?
That’s a fantastic trip with very impressive results. That fishery is great but learning the timing and habitat is not easy. This time of year, those puppy drum you were catching could just as easily have been 30 inch fish. I think you have an Atlantic squid (Loliguncula) and a smallmouth flounder (Etropus) in those photos.
G
Thanks guys. I look forward to the seasons ahead where I get to unravel a few more glimpses of this impressive fishery.
Mike, the HI Skiff did great. I really look forward to buying a good pushpole next Spring and improving my capabilities in the shallow water stalking game. I was nervous with the drastic tidal changes that the jet would get bogged down with mats of grass, but that wasn’t the case.
For now my only handicap is that I tend to overload the boat with so many types of fishing gear—-I really look forward to just having the confidence to trusting the flats only/fly only approach once my knowledge of habitat improves.
My only dilemma with the Hog jet, is when the creeks narrowed down to barely wider than the boat hull…then the foot would clog with grass on turns….luckily the Minn Kota moved me around just fine.The skiff does much better in rough water than I expected. Some of the Tampa inlets gave us rollers about 3.5 feet cresting with whitecaps…other than some spray at the gunnels, the boat handled the rough water just fine. We didn’t venture too far offshore though.
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