Tailing Tides: Winyah Bay and Cape Romain

The last round of tailing tides was a testament that summer is just around the corner as redfish have been very active on the flooded grass flats around Cape Romain and Winyah Bay.

Fishing for Tailing Redfish is one of the most exciting sight fishing that our area has to offer. The ideal times to catch tailing redfish are during the late spring to late fall, typically on the evening and early am flood tides. When the tide begins to cover the hard bottom grass flats, redfish will move in with the tide to root out small crabs burrowed down in the mud. As fish use their nose to root for crabs, their tails can been seen waiving high above the water line, often in water less than 6in deep.

There are several different methods to catch tailing redfish but perhaps the most effective is by fly fishing. 8wt-9wt outfits, and light weedless flies that mimic small shrimp or crabs are ideal. When flyfishing, the subtle presentation of lightly weighted flies are less likely to spook a weary redfish.

Other methods including using light spinning tackle with weedless flukes or even top water plugs, modified with a 2/0 octopus hook to reduce snags. Which ever method you choose, presentation and casting accuracy is critical to getting that bite.

Some of the best flats in our area can be found around Winyah Bay leaving from Georgetown, or Cape Romain leaving from McClellanville, and the best tides generally occur on the New and Full Moons from May - Oct.



If you have any interest in catching tailing redfish with us this Summer, here are some dates with ideal tailing tides...

May: 16-20
June: 1-4,  16-19
July: 1-3; 16-19; 29-31
Aug: 1; 14-18; 28-31

Spring Fishing Report

After a winter that never was, the spring fishing season is off to a great start thanks to an exceptional run of weather the last few weeks. Water temps are clocking in around 70 degrees which is more typical of late April rather than late March. Spring has certainly arrived early and I expect the rest of 2012 to be one of the best we’ve seen around Winyah Bay and Cape Romain in many years. 

Overall the inshore fishing has been exceptional this spring! Although we’ve had a few days that seem to baffle even the most experienced fishermen (which is often the case during the winter/spring transition), we certainly can't complain about the beautiful weather and early exit of Winter. Redfish have been finicky at times - here one day/gone the next, and catching them on flies and artificial baits has been challenging. When redfish are in this spring transition period, I always like to bring along a few blue crabs which can be quartered and fished on a 4/0 circle hook on a carolina rig or even a 1/4oz jig head.
 



 
Flounder are beginning to carpet the shallow creeks and we’ve caught a good many keeper size flounder in Murrells Inlet and Georgetown. This is a good sign that the new size limits are paying off so we should have a great year for flounder.


Trout have also been a bit of a surprise the last few weeks, lots of 2-4lb fish are being caught in their typical springtime spawning grounds in Winyah Bay and North Inlet. This is one of my favorite times of year to throw top water plugs which is the most productive way to target larger sea trout. Another effective way to catch larger trout is fishing with finger mullet under a popping cork, or working a 5in jerk shad in a flutter or weightless hook.


With some excellent tailing tides this month, I anticipate the redfish to settle back into their warm weather patterns and begin swarming the flooded grass flats. 

If you plan visiting the Myrtle Beach or Pawleys Island area, I hope you’ll decide to join myself or Capt. Richard for some very exciting sight fishing on fly or spin tackle. 
 

October Flyfishing - Winyah Bay

Between the wind and rain the last few weeks, we've had some great fly fishing trips on both ends of the tide cycle. Early morning flood tides always get me excited, especially in October when the redfish tend to be the happiest. The top of the falling tides have been producing decent numbers of trout although the size of most trout have not been spectacular, they are still a blast to catch on light tackle. On the last part of the ebb, we've been putting up some decent flounder which seem to be very plentiful this year.  Redfish are also feeding aggressively around low tide which makes for some spectacular sight fishing on light tackle and flyfishing gear.

Tailing Redfish - Unforgettable Solo Trip - Cape Romain SC

Stalking tailing redfish on a flooded grass flat is one of the most exciting types of fishing in our area and it happens to be one of my favorite. On a recent solo scouting trip around Cape Romain,  I pulled up on a flat that always looked like it had potential. Moments after pulling back the throttle and sliding the boat into the grass, I saw the first tail at the back of the flat.  As I reached for the fly rod, another tail caught my eye from the opposite direction and before I had a chance to tie on a fly, I found myself surrounded by tailing redfish. Instincts were telling me to grab the flyrod and bust as many as I could, but I must have been running a fever that day and grabbed the camera instead. Counting out loud as I walked towards the commotion in the distance, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7---8, I counted 8 tails in the air at one time! Pretty amazing to watch so many happy redfish feeding in the grass all once and I was lucky enough to have gotten a few decent shots.

Redfish generally "tail" on the flooded grass flats from April - Oct when fiddler crabs are abundant and water temps remain relatively warm. Please contact me if you would like to find out more information. 

-Capt. Jordan

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

It's Tarpon Time in South Carolina

Tarpon showed up in great numbers last month and we’ve already managed to land a few bruisers over 100lbs. We’ll continue to see a great run of fish thru Oct when the water temps dip below 70. Multiple shots at tarpon have been common and this year is shaping up Trips are booking up fast for the prime months of August and Sept so give us a ring today if you want to tangle with a silver king!

Here are a couple of shots from recent trips in the Georgetown area. 
 

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.