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. 
 

Solid Trout and Redfish Action: Winyah Bay, Georgetown SC

We've been blessed with a relatively mild December and as a result, the redfish and trout bite has been as good as it gets! The best trip we've had this month was with Tommy Griggs and Bill Lainey from my hometown of Cheraw SC. These two long time friends had a very memorable day fishing out of Georgetown SC, catching over 25 redfish in the am and 30+ trout later that day. Thanks to a weak but slow moving cold front, the air temps were a comfortable 60 degrees and the skies stayed overcast most of the day which always seems to trigger a solid inshore bite.
The trout preferred the brighter color grubs, particularly the Saltwater Assassin "Chicken on a Chain" with a Chartreuse 1/4oz Jig Head, and the bite really turned on at the top of the falling tide. Although many of the trout were on the small side, it was great to see good numbers of them. The redfish wernt as picky and were basically eating anything from Gulp's Ghost Shrimp to Watermelon Zoom Fluke. 
I cant wait to get back on the water with Bill and Tommy... these boys are great company and excellent anglers!

 

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

Top Water Redfish, Trout, and Flounder - Georgetown SC

The weekend of Sept 24th, I had the pleasure of fishing with Charlie Wray from Virgina Beach who made the trip all the way down to South Carolina to fish for the entire weekend. Charlie normally makes his annual fishing trip to the Florida Keys so I had the pressure on me to show him a good time and find some fish. It wasn't long into our first trip before a feisty redfish made an impression on Charlie. We picked away at the trout on the higher tides with DOAs and Grubs, then proceeded to bang up the redfish on the lower tides. Charlie fooled a couple of big redfish with a top water plug which made the drive to SC worth while. A couple of flounder also took a ride with us which capped off a great weekend of fishing in South Carolina.

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

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. 
 

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