Aug 2011: Georgetown SC, Cape Romain, Myrtle beach SC

Late Summer Update - Inshore fishing around the Winyah Bay and Cape Romain areas have been extremely productive over the last several weeks. Redfish and Flounder are being caught in shallow water and along the banks around inlets and jetties, and sea trout have made a strong appearance as of late. Redfish and flounder have been reacting to various artificial baits but the most productive bait has been the Morning Glory - DOA Shad on a 1/8oz Chartreuse jig-head. Topwater plugs at daylight have been drawing some exciting strikes from redfish and trout as well. Bone Color and Black/Chartreuse have been my best colors, preferring the Bone color in the clear water and the Black/Chartreuse in stained or muddy water.  

The Tarpon Fishing has been excellent since the mullet run began in late August. The beaches are packed with huge wads of mullet and the larger predator fish(like tarpon and sharks) are in hot pursuit. We’ve been doing a lot of scouting to pattern these fish on different tide cycles and conditions, and trying new fishing techniques, from running the beach looking for the big ocean fish, to flyfishing for “laid up” tarpon in the shallows early in the am. We’ve learned a lot this season about our migrant tarpon and we continue to improve our techniques for catching them. 
 

 
Forecast: With Autumn right around the corner, the fishing only gets better! As water temps cool, game fish sense the change in season so they are actively feeding more aggressively than they have all year. Big numbers of trout can be caught under the right conditions - clear water, lights winds, and overcast skies is the ideal scenario for trout. I’ll be throwing my favorite artificial lures which include the DOA Paddletail and 3’ Shrimp in Electric Chicken, Figi Chicken(trout like chicken too), and Pink Ice. I recently discovered an innovative new popping cork from MidCoast Products that doesn't tangle and you and can literally throw it as far as you want. Check them out at http://midcoastproducts.com and look for the “Inticer” and “Outcast” models. 


Redfishing will offer anglers excellent sighfishing opportunities as they will be gorging on shrimp, crabs, and baitfish in shallow water. Look for them on the lower tidal states and come rigged with weedless flukes or Gulp baits on jig heads, or any fly patterns that mimic baitfish or shrimp. 

Tarpon will stick around thru Oct as long as water temps remain above 70. Most of the fish Ive caught in Late Sept/Oct are large females in the 110-150# class so be prepared for a serious battle with a late season tarpon.

Please contact me with any questions and we hope that you’ll book a trip with us soon to take advantage of some excellent fall fishing!

Capt. Jordan Pate

Weeeknd Report - Cape Romain

I had a couple of great days fishing the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge which lies between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina. This undeveloped stretch of coastline is loaded with wildlife and is relatively unpressured by other fisherman which can make fore some excellent fishing.
Brent Groom and his son Evan from Myrtle Beach,  enjoyed a great day on the water despite temps in the mid 90's, the redfish were biting surprisingly well and most of the Redfish that came to the boat weighed between 5-10lbs. Brent and Evan live on a farm and brought me a whole summer's supply of fresh watermelons... I look forward to fishing with them again soon!
The next day I had the pleasure of fishing with McCarn Bennett and his father Robbie, long time family friends from Cheraw SC.  Although the fish went nearly as fired up as the day before, we got to tug on a few nice redfish and everyone enjoyed each others company and the surroundings of the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge.

10ft Alligator - Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge

January 2011 - Cape Romain

 
We are still finding the large schools of resident redfish in the ICW and creeks around Bulls Bay but finding them is one thing, getting them to bite in this cold is another. Various soft plastic baits like gulps, exudes and black and gold clouser flies are still working well, However the best results we had this month were on Tube Baits juiced up with Pro Cure. Tube baits are perfect for rigging weedless when fishing around grass or oyster beds, and the hollow body allows the pro cure to really hold inside the bait. Tube Baits also have great action when fished slow which is what how you want to be fishing this time of year. My preferred color in the ICW is a Rootbeer with Gold Flakes, and a Smoke Silver for the clear water in the Creeks and Bays.
January is a perfect month to get out and scout new redfish spots and I was able to get out a couple of days and do just that. My scouting trips usually start in Google Earth and I’ll try to find a creek or a flat with all the signs of redfish habitat.... Shallow Mud/Oyster Flats with deeper water nearby, small feeder creeks and hard bottom/oyster lined creeks. I try to pick the bluebird days with a midday low tide which will make spotting redfish easier. Being creatures of habit, I can usually expect to find them in the same general area year around.

March 2011 - Cape Romain & Winyah Bay

Richard and Danny - ICW

Good News! March is over, the days are getting longer and the water is warming up every day. Between the windy and rainy days we managed to slip out on a few nice days last month and found redfish on nearly every trip. Although the numbers wern’t impressive last month, we caught some nice fish on artificials and some real “Creek Donkeys” on crab chunks in shallow water. You’ll know when it’s time to start fishing with crabs when the inlets are blanketed by crab pots and you cant keep any other bait in the water without a crab trying to eat it. Blue Crabs are coming out of winter hibernation and they are swarming the inlets as they begin to molt. A molting blue crab for a redfish is like crack-cocaine to junkie... they simply cant get enough of them! The best way to fish with crab chunks is to remove the top shell, quarter or half the crab in 2-4 pieces(depending on the size of crab) and remove the legs and claws. A 3/0 circle hook on a Carolina Rig with a 3/4oz egg sinker should be sufficient. I also like to fish this rig with a clamp on cork so you’ll know where the bait is and when a fish has picked it up. Although this method of fishing is not the most glamorous, it is the most effective in early spring.

The boys in Charleston are finding tailing redfish on the flood tides and catching them on a variety of flies including the local favorite “Coperhead” fly and dark colored clouser minnows.  There are excellent tailing tides predicted for Cape Romain in mid April so I am looking forward to getting back on the grass flats and busting a few on the fly rod. We hope to be doing a lot of filming in the coming months so be sure and check out our video page and subscribe to our channel... www.youtube.com/carolinaguideservice/

We’ve also been catching a few flounder and there have been some reports of trout showing back up around Georgetown and Charleston. Look for flounder in front of ditch mouths on the last of the falling tide or around structure like docks and jetties. Trolling for Flounder is also a very effective method that is very popular in Pawleys Island Creek and Murrells Inlet. The local tackle shops are very helpful and will assist you with picking out the right gear and bait for flounder fishing... check with Booty's Outdoors in Murrells Inlet and Pawleys Island Outdoors on 17N in Pawleys Island.  


-Capt. Jordan