No doubt it has been a hot summer, but it hasn’t slowed down the fishing. Anglers leaving first thing in morning have been rewarded with hungry redfish and trout.  All tactics, whether it be artificials, live bait or flies have been working well. Add all the seasonal species present to the mix and you have some great fishing.

We’ve been targeting redfish with artificial lures, especially around low tide. The longer jerk shad lures that worked so well in the spring are still productive. However, we have had better luck throwing smaller, darker artificials like Zman’s Streakz curly tail grub in black/gold flake. With both, we have been using flutter hooks to put more action on the lure.

As for trout, nothing new here. Popping corks remain the way to go. Surprisingly, we’ve had better luck with mud minnows under corks than with shrimp. It usually has been the other way around. If little fish keep stealing your live shrimp, switch over to a D.O.A. 3” artificial shrimp. Their Glow/Gold Rush Belly color has been quite effective.

Coinciding with early morning fishing, Spanish Mackerel have been showing up in numbers in the harbor as well as inlets. Gotcha plugs and Deadly Dick lures are traditional favorites. Anglers have reported that these fish have been finicky recently.  Keep changing lures until you find something that works.

Shrimp have started to really show up and their presence has made for some great fly fishing. On the flats at low tide, you can see redfish with their backs out of water charging down the banks chasing shrimp. Throwing gurglers or other surface patterns can provide some explosive strikes. It can be so hard to do, but when that fish slams your fly, set the hook with a strip set instead of lifting your rod tip.

See you on the water!

Capt. Geoff Bennett operates Charleston Charter Fishing providing fly fishing and light tackle charters. Clients choose from a full menu of fly rods, artificial and live bait fishing options with charters tailored to their desires. USCG licensed and insured, Capt. Bennett is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable charter to anglers of all skill levels and ages. For more information, call Capt. Bennett at 843-324-3332, visit his website at www.charlestoncharterfishing.com or email him at captain@charlestoncharterfishing.com.

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A relatively mature red

Thanks to ample amounts of bait teeming in our waters, fishing has been great so far this summer. The feeding switch has definitely been turned on. With the summer seasonal species now all present, there are no shortage of fish to target or ways to fish for them. In general, fishing has been best in the morning with its cooler temperatures.

Redfish, in particular, have been making short work of any well-placed bait. Make sure to bring your cast net along and catch some menhaden or finger mullet. We’ve been having the most success around docks or other structures while fishing live baits on a Carolina rig. Make sure to use a heavy-enough weight to hold the bait stationary, otherwise your rig will tumble along the bottom until it snags.

Trout have really reemerged over the last few weeks. It’s great to see that the trout stock was not hurt too badly by our cold winter. Anglers should stick with one of the tried and true methods for catching trout: the popping cork. A live shrimp or mud minnow is a hard treat to refuse when it comes floating by right in a trout’s strike zone. Make sure to lift your cork high and hard enough so it makes that clacking sound.

Anglers targeting flounder have been reporting good numbers. Try fishing finger mullet along the bottom around structures. Move the bait slowly and when you think you have a bite wait a few seconds (if you can) before setting the hook. We’ve been picking up quite a few flounder with mud minnows under a popping cork as well.

All of our seasonal species can be caught using the tactics listed above. My favorite summer-time fish is the ladyfish. These dynamic fish will smack shrimp under a popping cork and make your drag zing. Their acrobatic jumps and hard runs make these fish so entertaining. Look for them in some of the same spots that you find trout.

Fly fishing has also been quite good. While we have been seeing the most numbers of redfish when on the flats at low tide, they have been eating the best while in the grass. The copperhead fly, a local favorite, has been producing consistently. Make sure that your flies have a good weed guard so you don’t get hung up all the time.See you on the water!

Capt. Geoff Bennett operates Charleston Charter Fishing providing fly fishing and light tackle charters. Clients choose from a full menu of fly rods, artificial and live bait fishing options with charters tailored to their desires. USCG licensed and insured, Capt. Bennett is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable charter to anglers of all skill levels and ages. For more information, call Capt. Bennett at 843-324-3332, visit his website at www.charlestoncharterfishing.com or email him at captain@charlestoncharterfishing.com.

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Learn how to land the big one with Captain Bennett

by Captain Geoff Bennett

The perfect storm that makes fishing so great in the fall is about to begin. The combination of lower water temperatures, tons of bait and fewer fishermen on the water makes for fantastic conditions, and the cooler days will make fishing just that much more pleasant.

As usual during this time of year, redfish will begin to increasingly take artificial baits. Paddletail shad lures fished on ¼ oz. jigheads are very popular and effective. Jigheads come in a variety of colors, though I usually choose unpainted. Texas Roach and Chicken on a Chain/Fiji Chix are hot colors for the grubs, but check your local tackle shop to get an idea of what’s working. Always try changing the speed of your retrieve as well as the color of the lure.

The biggest trout continue to be produced by throwing topwater lures first thing in the morning. We’ve been consistently catching trout in the two- to three- pound class using Super Spook Jr’s with the black head/chartreuse body as our go-to color. When the topwater bite dies down, we have been switching over to MirrOLure suspended lures and finding more eager fish. Plenty of smaller trout are being caught by the handful using popping corks cast along grass banks and over shell rake. Using either live shrimp or artificial D.O.A. shrimp under these corks will do the trick.

Seasonal species are still present and put up impressive fights for their size. We’ve recently had some tremendous action with spanish mackerel and bluefish crushing topwater lures. These bluefish are only 12″-14″, but can really put a bend in the rod. Live shrimp under a popping cork will take ladyfish as well as bluefish. Don’t be surprised if a rouge bonnethead shark eats that shrimp, too!

Fly fishermen had excellent tailing tide action in August. We frequently found multiple redfish happily eating at any given spot. Dupre’s spoon flies in either gold or root beer worked very well. Incidentally, we have also been throwing these flies at low tide on the flats with good results. The flash and sparkle of spoon flies can be a real advantage when water clarity is an issue.

See you on the water!

Capt. Geoff Bennett operates Charleston Charter Fishing providing fly fishing and light tackle charters. Clients choose from a full menu of fly rods, artificial and live bait fishing options with charters tailored to their desires. USCG licensed and insured, Capt. Bennett is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable charter to anglers of all skill levels and ages. For more information, call Capt. Bennett at 843-324-3332, visit his website at www.charlestoncharterfishing.com or email him at captain@charlestoncharterfishing.com.

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provided by the Islanders Shag Club

The Islanders Shag Club and the Greater Charleston Ski Club will be holding their annual Inshore

Fishing Tournament on Saturday, October 2. The Captains meeting will be held at the Folly

Beach Crab Shack on Tuesday, Sept 28 from 6:30-8 p.m. Cash prizes will be awarded for

Trout, Sheephead, Bass and Flounder. All proceeds will benefit the Ronald McDonald House.

Applications are available online at charlestonskiclub.org or islandersshagclub.com. For more information, call Debbie Disher at 588-6010 or Julie Tillman at 588-0123.

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There are a lot of things to consider when fishing in the Lowcountry, but I never thought I would have to worry about whether or not the weight of snow would cause the tarp covering my boat to collapse! Valentine’s Day weekend brought the first real snowfall that Charleston has seen in quite some time. Fortunately, the snow was followed by a stretch of brilliantly sunny days with temperatures reaching into the 60s. Fishermen weren’t the only people celebrating the good weather; the redfish were pretty darn happy, too. As the water temperature warmed, the reds really turned on. It seemed everybody on or in the water really appreciated a few hearty days of sun.

While the redfish have become more active, they are still somewhat wary and cautious. They continue to huddle in large schools (sometimes numbering in the hundreds), and will continue to do so into March. As I wrote earlier this year, fly fishermen enjoy a distinct advantage in these conditions since the presentation of flies can be so delicate. A well-cast fly landing in the water is almost imperceptible to the fish and can be cast within feet of a school without spooking them. Fly patterns with gold and other flashy colors work well. When redfish refuse these, we’ll often go to smaller flies in lighter colors that resemble minnows.

If you aren’t fly fishing, you’ll still need to consider the impact your lure makes when it hits the water. Redfish are defensive right now and will flee rather than investigate a strange sound or a lure that makes a big splat when it hits the water. The standard ¼ oz. jigheads that you could bomb into a school of fish in the fall and draw aggressive strikes will now send the entire school fleeing. Try using the least amount of weight possible to get your lure in front of fish. You might have to try casting lures with almost no weight at all, which may alter your casting range.

Keep practicing the stealth and slow deliberate movements that you’ve been using throughout the winter to sneak up on schools of redfish. It takes some patience to get to them, but casting to massive schools of fish can send your heart racing. The water temperature is now firmly on the upswing and is setting the stage for our fisheries to roar back to life. It will be here before you know it.

See you on the water!

Capt. Geoff Bennett operates Charleston Charter Fishing providing fly fishing and light tackle charters. Clients choose from a full menu of fly rods, artificial and live bait fishing options with charters tailored to their desires. USCG licensed and insured, Capt. Bennett is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable charter to anglers of all skill levels and ages. For more information, call Capt. Bennett at 843-324-3332, visit his website at www.charlestoncharterfishing.com or email him at captain@charlestoncharterfishing.com.

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There are a lot of things to consider when fishing in the Lowcountry, but I never thought I would have to worry about whether or not the weight of snow would cause the tarp covering my boat to collapse! Valentine’s Day weekend brought the first real snowfall that Charleston has seen in quite some time. Fortunately, the snow was followed by a stretch of brilliantly sunny days with temperatures reaching into the 60s. Fishermen weren’t the only people celebrating the good weather; the redfish were pretty darn happy, too. As the water temperature warmed, the reds really turned on. It seemed everybody on or in the water really appreciated a few hearty days of sun.

While the redfish have become more active, they are still somewhat wary and cautious. They continue to huddle in large schools (sometimes numbering in the hundreds), and will continue to do so into March. As I wrote earlier this year, fly fishermen enjoy a distinct advantage in these conditions since the presentation of flies can be so delicate. A well-cast fly landing in the water is almost imperceptible to the fish and can be cast within feet of a school without spooking them. Fly patterns with gold and other flashy colors work well. When redfish refuse these, we’ll often go to smaller flies in lighter colors that resemble minnows.

If you aren’t fly fishing, you’ll still need to consider the impact your lure makes when it hits the water. Redfish are defensive right now and will flee rather than investigate a strange sound or a lure that makes a big splat when it hits the water. The standard ¼ oz. jigheads that you could bomb into a school of fish in the fall and draw aggressive strikes will now send the entire school fleeing. Try using the least amount of weight possible to get your lure in front of fish. You might have to try casting lures with almost no weight at all, which may alter your casting range.

Keep practicing the stealth and slow deliberate movements that you’ve been using throughout the winter to sneak up on schools of redfish. It takes some patience to get to them, but casting to massive schools of fish can send your heart racing. The water temperature is now firmly on the upswing and is setting the stage for our fisheries to roar back to life. It will be here before you know it.

See you on the water!

Capt. Geoff Bennett operates Charleston Charter Fishing providing fly fishing and light tackle charters. Clients choose from a full menu of fly rods, artificial and live bait fishing options with charters tailored to their desires. USCG licensed and insured, Capt. Bennett is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable charter to anglers of all skill levels and ages. For more information, call Capt. Bennett at 843-324-3332, visit his website at www.charlestoncharterfishing.com or email him at captain@charlestoncharterfishing.com.

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We’ve had streaks of rainy and windy conditions over the last few weeks. Fortunately, the temperatures have been holding steady following last month’s cold snap. If you’re like me, though, cleaning your rods and reels or working on your boat during nasty weather can only keep you entertained for so long. The days are starting to grow noticeably longer and you may soon find yourself with a case of spring fever.

So what’s an angler to do in February? The answer is that you need to pick and choose your days. Although few and far between, the handful of warmer, sunnier days this month have produced some excellent fishing. Right now, a redfish has two priorities: don’t get eaten by a dolphin and try to stay warm. The sun will make the water on the flats a few degrees warmer and redfish in large schools will flood these flats.

During these days, the redfish will be more likely to consider eating, which is kind of a daily bonus for them this time of year(though I suspect that, relative to getting eaten by a dolphin, anything is a bonus). Once we locate these schools, we have been fishing with artificial lures about four to five inches in length called “jerk shad.” I usually rig jerk shad weedless, with the point of the hook pressed into the lure’s back. The profile of this lure is not only slender but also lands softly in the water, which helps to prevent spooking these already dolphin-wary schools. You may want to try a flutter hook, which has weight on the shank that imparts action on the lure and will help you cast farther.

On occasion, you will find that anything cast towards a school will send the fish fleeing when the lure hits the water. Live bait fished on the bottom becomes the best alternative. I really like to use cracked blue crab with cut mullet as my second choice. Redfish are scent feeders and you can image the scent trail crab infuses into the water. Put your bait on a #2/0 or # 3/0 circle hook, add weight to the line near the hook to hold the bait on the bottom and wait for the fish to come to you. A circle hook is designed to catch on the edge of a fish’s mouth without any additional pressure applied by the angler. Try not to set the hook yourself until that rod is bent over and the fish is taking line – much easier said than done!

Think about calling in sick the next time a beautiful day comes along. In February, your boss probably won’t suspect you of playing hooky to fish.

See you on the water!

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It was all fun and games for the redfish...until I got on the water.

The agreement had been to meet at the public boat docks on Folly Beach at 9am. The gray and grizzled sky coupled with a chilly breeze made the warm comforter of my bed especially heavy and difficult to toss away at 8:15. I considered contacting Captain Geoff Bennett, who was probably already at the dock, and calling in sick like you might do at a job you hate. This was supposed to be fishing, not work, after all, and I was already dreading it. However, I recalled that I had really wanted to get out on the water with Captain Bennett when I wasn’t half asleep, so I slowly rolled out of bed, put on some autumn clothes and hopped in the car.
I was about 10 minutes late when I crossed the Folly River Bridge and pulled into the boat docks. Captain Bennett was shuffling around his 16 foot Hewes Bayfisher and when I walked down to greet him, I was a bit surprised. Captain Bennett is relatively young – 33 actually – with red hair. I guess I expected a peg-leg or an eye patch and a beard, at least. Maybe a parrot. And the boat wasn’t large, but among the many things I learned that day, it was the perfect size for inland marsh fishing.
It never occurred to me to separate fishing charters from the open ocean. However, Captain Bennett informed me that his charters are considered “inland”, meaning that we stay on the backside of the barrier islands, cruising the rivers and flats.
We began fishing around the high tide mark which would allow us to stalk red drum on one of his favorite flats near Kiawah. We crossed the Stono River and worked our way onto a very shallow area only a few feet deep. It was there that I learned the small, flat bottom boat we were using was perfect for the hunt. It allowed us to meander through the grass and get to places that larger boats simply cannot go, which gave us an edge. The red drum, he explained, like to round up shrimp, crabs, and small fish on the flats which are usually only accessible during high tide.
The air was cool and a hardy breeze chopped up the unprotected water between Folly Beach and Kiawah. However, things were much more peaceful and the sun was even threatening to make an appearance when we arrived at our fishing spot. Captain Bennett hooked me up with a jerk shad lure (not named for its rude social skills, but instead for the jerking motion you should use when fishing with it) and showed me how to mimic the movement of a small fish. Unfortunately, my schedule forced us to leave a little earlier than Captain Bennett would have liked, so he warned me that the fishing might be a little slow at the beginning.
He was pushing us through the grass on the flats like a gondola conductor as I cast the lure and retrieved it according to his instruction. I was trying to differentiate the feel of the lure hitting a patch of grass from a “bite”. Every time the line pulled on the grass, my heart skipped a beat and then jumped to disappointment when I realized it wasn’t a bite. However, I would quickly learn the difference.
On my third cast, we were facing the flat and I tossed the lure at a 10 o’clock angle. It landed amidst blades of grass and I began to retrieve the jerk shad as per the Captain’s instructions, but I was still working out the kinks when something hit it hard. We were both surprised at how quickly the action began. I hooked it and the fight was on. The fish took off for the shelter of thicker grass as I tried to pull it in. Its strength was amazing and the dark spot on its tail, which became visible in the shallow water, confirmed my opponent was a red drum. Several times it pulled line out of the reel as it tried to escape and I tried to bring it in. The battle seemed to last for several minutes.
Captain Bennett later admitted that he knew it was a relatively large fish when he saw it, but kept his excitement to himself in order to minimize my disappointment in the event the red drum got free or snapped the line. However, with his coaching tips in the back of my mind, I was eventually able to exhaust the fish and bring it beside the boat. Captain Bennett pulled the fish from the water while I tried to keep the huge grin on my face under control. It was a 10.5 pound red drum that I caught on the third cast on my first time out with the Captain.
Bennett’s knowledge of fishing is remarkable, and I admired his skill as he placed the red drum back in the water and gently held it, waiting for the fish to catch its breath and take off. It was obvious that he is living his passion.
We talked about all sorts of things over the next couple of hours. Captain Bennett has been fishing since he was a kid, casting his first hooks as a fly fisherman in the north. He began to make his way south before settling in the Charleston area with his wife, and began the process of mastering the local waterways.
I caught one more red drum during the trip. It was a smaller three and a half pounder. I also missed the opportunity to catch a couple more as I jerked the lure out of the water in my freshman excitement, watching two other fish chase the lure into the shallows.
As we made our way back to the Folly Beach boat docks, I put my hat back on despite the fact that it was damp. It was chilly, but I did not notice. In fact, I couldn’t have been happier that I crawled out of my warm bed that morning. I am hooked.
Captain Geoff Bennett operates Charleston Charter Fishing and can be found through his website: www.charlestoncharterfishing.com. If you want to learn how to fish the marsh with an expert, you already know what you’re doing, or you just want catch something, be sure to contact him.

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Winter fishing success continues in December.

With the chilly weather quickly moving in you might think that fish are nowhere to be found, but it’s a different story below the waves. It takes a long time for our local waters to completely cool off from the scorching days of August. Water temperatures are now in the low 60s and will drop modestly into the high 50s by the end of the month. December can be a very hospitable month for both trout and redfish.
This crisp weather, with its occasional cold snaps, really turns on the trout. Pretty much all tactics are working for trout: both artificials and live bait are working as the trout are feeding aggressively. This is a great time of year to get your young fisherman (or fisherwoman) “hooked” on fishing.
For the trout, we are using 3” D.O.A. plastic shrimp underneath a popping cork and it is a great setup. These shrimp come in a wide assortment of colors ranging from realistic lighter tones to bright attractor colors. I’ve found the best success comes from using the Glow color, which is basically white, as well as their Glitter colors which are translucent and filled with glitter. To me, these colors best represent what a live shrimp would look like. The Fiji Chicken color has become popular this season and is quite effective. These artificial shrimp already have weights inside their bodies, with the ¼ oz. weight being the most common. The weight makes the lure fall naturally into the water. Don’t be afraid to change the length of your leader as trout may sit in different parts of the water column.
One of the most interesting phenomena that occur when winter begins is the large schools of redfish that begin to form on the flats. They will develop these giant schools and stay in them throughout the winter. They bunch together as a means of protection from predators, namely bottlenose dolphins. As a result, these schools are quite skittish and spook easily. One of the best tactics is to locate a school and setup nearby while waiting for the fish to eventually come close to the boat. Live bait, especially chunks of blue crab, work very well when allowed to sit on the bottom. Redfish will happily devour these offerings!
The water is also becoming quite clear as the vegetation that was present in the summer has cleared out. Fly fishing is simply terrific as we stalk these big schools of redfish on the flats. The water clarity allows you to spot redfish from quite a distance. It is an awesome sight to see literally hundreds of fish balled up together in one spot. Watching the water erupt and boil when you hook into one fish is an experience like no other.
See you on the water!

Capt. Geoff Bennett operates Charleston Charter Fishing providing fly fishing and light tackle charters. Clients choose from a full menu of fly rods, artificial and live bait fishing options with charters tailored to their desires. USCG licensed and insured, Capt. Bennett is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable charter to anglers of all skill levels and ages. For more information, call Capt. Bennett at 324-3332, visit his website at www.charlestoncharterfishing.com or email him at captain@charlestoncharterfishing.com.

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Although temperatures are getting cool, inland fishing remains hot.

The middle of November was witness to a week of heavy storms then followed by a week of huge daytime tides. The result was stained and choppy water that tempered the trout bite. With the water clearing as I write this, expect fishing to return to its normal late Fall excellence.  Make sure to treat yourself to some fishing with family and friends as the holiday season begins!
Redfish were less affected by the aforementioned poor conditions than the trout. Artificial lures remain the theme. While fishing in skinny water and on the flats, we also continue to trend to more delicate presentations. The flutter hooks that I had been using with weights on the shank have been replaced with weightless hooks. I’ve been reducing the size of the plastic lures I have been throwing as well. When sight casting to redfish, try to lead the fish by a few feet and bring the lure across its nose. Hitting the fish with the lure will more than likely cause it to spook and flee instead of drawing a strike. While not as prolific as in the summer, we are still finding “tailing” fish up in the grass. When redfish are rooting in the weeds for crabs and other crustaceans, their noses are to the ground while their tails wave above the water. Besides being an amazing sight to see, tailing fish are engrossed in digging up food and more approachable than a fish just cruising along. You can literally toss a lure right next to a redfish while its nose is in the dirt. When it raises its head, a little twitch of the lure and it’s on! Gulp! 3” crabs are an excellent choice and are very effective. You may need to add a small split shot weight a few inches above the hook so that you can cast a good distance when it is windy.
Trout have are growing bigger every day as they continue to gorge on the shrimp and other bait fish that now fill our waters. When conditions have displaced the trout from your usual fishing holes or you find them already occupied by fellow anglers, trolling can be a very efficient method of locating new fish. We will traditionally troll 1/4oz. jigheads with different color plastic paddletail grubs. Throwing the lure a good distance behind the boat, drive along banks covered with oyster beds and other structure paying special attention to creek mouths and cuts in the bank. The goal is to find a speed that keeps the lure swimming close to the bottom but not so low as to repeatedly get hung up and stuck. Clearly, having a trolling motor makes this a much easier exercise, but it can be done while running a boat’s engine. If you are running your engine, you may want to try trolling your lures even farther behind the boat to account for the noise possibly putting off the fish. Kayakers will find that they have the perfect vessel for this tactic given its stealth. Remember to set the drag on your reels lightly not only so you can detect a soft trout strike but also so if you do snag the bottom you will not immediately break off the lure.
See you on the water!

Capt. Geoff Bennett operates Charleston Charter Fishing providing fly fishing and light tackle charters. Clients choose from a full menu of fly rods, artificial and live bait fishing options with charters tailored to their desires. USCG licensed and insured, Capt. Bennett is committed to providing a safe and enjoyable charter to anglers of all skill levels and ages. For more information, call Capt. Bennett at 843-324-3332, visit his website at  http://www.charlestoncharterfishing.com or email him at  captain@charlestoncharterfishing.com.

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