Coastal River Charters

This is first year in a long time that we’ve had a freeze before Thanksgiving! Cold fronts generally aren’t a problem as long temperatures bounce back. A shot of wintery weather can school seatrout. Fishermen this time of year can complain of no bites only to have another fisherman just a short distance away catching one after the other. Despite finding near prefect conditions if the fish are biting keep moving. Lots of the seatrout this week were in the 15 to 16 inch range. Definitely bigger fish around but the bulk of schooling action has been with keeper sized fish. Look for clean water and drifts aren’t too fast and aren’t too slow. When finding very clean water pitching plastics can be effective! Last week’s most of the bites were soft and slow. The trick with a soft and slow bite is patience. Even when pitching plastics anticipate some of the bites to be soft and slow. Downsizing your plastics, on a soft and slow bite, to a three grub can be a good idea! Glup baits in the shrimp and swimming mullet pattern are favorites. When live shrimp are scarce try putting a Gulp bait under your float. Giving a little popping actions to your float can help talk up a seatrout. Despite the cold seatrout bite has been very good!. Capt. Brian Woelber boat’s in this year’s Cystic Fibrosis Tournament took top honors with a large catch of seatrout. Good job, Capt. Brian!

Shrimp are in! Jimmy Adams said his brother is having to release large net loads of shrimp. Bait shrimpers can only keep 50 quarts in their tanks. As long as the bait stays in fishing should be good! Adams Baitshops as rule tries to stay open through December if the weather is mild maybe longer. Finger mullet can be found in deep holes back and in the heads of creeks. Striper action is heating with several large fish landed. So far most of the striper action has been on shrimp and in the main Savannah River. The Savannah River is also notorious for large seatrout (seatrout over 2lbs). Water clarity is critical. A drop red hot one day can be ice cold the next. When water clarity is poor don’t invest a lot of time on a drop. If a drop isn’t producing in 15 to 20 minuets, even if the conditions are good, its time to move particularly now when fish are schooling. Its not only about conditions, simply are fish there. Finding fish sometimes can be as simply as short move. Seatrout love to hang close to object that break the current and cause rips. Fishermen can often find rips off of points, around gullies and creek mouths as well as manmade objects like pilings and walls. Rips sometimes can produce a hot seatrout bite. If rips aren’t working try fishing areas with hard bottom. Hard bottom usually means clean water. Seatrout bite should be good through the Thanksgiving week. Tides are less than 8 feet. Currents should be favorable for seatrout! Afternoon tides will be decreasing. This week likely mean a better bite for seatrout in the morning and redfish in the afternoon. Afternoon tides are roughly a foot smaller. Small tides mean gentle currents.

Staying warm when fishing in cold condition critical! Just as critical is keeping your hands warms. Wind and cold can make using your hands almost useless. Tip of the week – wear water proof gloves when conditions are cold and do not stick a bare hand in the live well! Landing a seatrout requires feel in your fingers. Wear gloves that cover your fingers. Hand warmers are another good idea.

Hope this of help! Fish on! Capt. Jack McGowan

The bite is hot! Redfish action is strong! As the temperature drops seatrout can be found schooling. Schooling action last week was close to the sounds and barrier islands. In recent days seatrout have been on the move in search of food as they fatten up before winter. Tides last week were 7 foot (or less) throughout the week. This week tides are building to 9 feet on Thursday and Friday. Typically big tides are the times to stay off the water and wait for better conditions. Fish will eat even on big tides! When conditions aren’t too poor, fishing should be good! Fishing windward areas can be productive until conditions literally get to rough. Tip of the week – have an anchoring system on board capable of holding your boat in strong wind and strong current. This tip alone should help put lots of fish in your boat! Cloudy days with not much sun light can quickly plunge water temperature. Trash fish are still around but are quickly becoming scarce as water temperature falls. On blue bird days, sunny days without a cloud in the sky, try fishing deep. Blue birds are generally thoughts of as the least productive for hunting or fishing. That said we’ve had several nice days of fishing without a cloud in the sky.

Fishing has been good to excellent! Nice seatrout, lots of redfish as well as blackdrum, sheepshead, and occasional flounder! The baitshops are still finding shrimp but as temperatures continue to drop anticipate bait supplies to become inconsistent in coming weeks. Traditional plastics have been catching fish as well as new ones by Berkley and Strorm. The main ingredient with any artificial is confidence and right technique for that lure. Technique is critical! The best teacher is seeing someone catch a fish then duplicating that technique. This is another reason to attend one Miss Judy’s inshore clinics or book a learning charter (please book this through Miss Judy and specifically request for me).

In recent days good catches of seatrout near the sounds, up the Savannah River as well on the jetties. Corks that produce clicks such as Cajun thunders and bay side Bloppers are very effective this time of the year. While fishing practically still water, Steve Howell asked if he was popping his cork too much. My reply was going to be yes then big old five pound drum engulfed his shrimp. So much for the subtle approach! Can popping be over done? Likely on the other hand seatrout love action. The key is to keep changing your pattern till you’re on a pattern that works. Seatrout fishing should be good for next several weeks! Likely the best seatrout fishing is yet to come!

Tides will remain big through the week. Next week tides on Tuesday, Nov. 18th. tides will subside to 7.9 feet and will continue to decrease throughout the week. Fishing should be good! A few big stripers already showing up. Most of the stripers action for the past few years has been in the main Savannah River. The best time to striper fish is usually at the last of the incoming or first of the outgoing. On sunny days fish deep! Days with little current can be unproductive as well days with too much current. Typically most of these fish are caught during the early morning hours or late afternoon. These fish love structure as rocks and wood. Some stripers around but seatrout and redfish taking center stage!

Those who like catching whiting are doing well! Frank Setera said he caught some nice ones this week as well nice seatrout near sandy bottoms areas. Frank’s unusual catch was a big old stag bass while whiting fishing! You never know. Frank said the sharks have all but vanished. I saw a bonnethead in the Wilmington River several days ago chasing a shrimp but how most of the sharks have eased out to deeper water.

Hope this interest and help! Fish On! Capt. Jack McGowan