Fishing For the Weather
By Capt. Geoff Bennett | Contributing Writer
While the weather has been abnormally hot, it hasn’t slowed the fishing down. Anglers can try fishing early in the morning where they can find fish blitzing bait on the surface as well as calmer winds that allow them to sight fish on the flats. Alternatively, evenings also offer cooler temperatures and a chance to chase tailing redfish on big flood tides.
Fishing for redfish has been great. The large schools of redfish have now broken up but you can still find pods of ten to twenty fish especially on the flats. Putting a scent trail in the water and an easy meal in front of redfish is a tactic bound for success. We usually put cracked blue crab or live mullet on the bottom with enough weight to hold it stationary. Use circle hooks in size 3/0 combined with a heavy test line and hold on!
The trout bite continues to improve. We’ve started catching a healthy number of midsize trout whereas before we were only finding a few big trout that were ready to breed. Fishing mud minnows on jigheads can be quite effective and lets you get your bait in front of trout in deeper pockets. I use 1/8 oz. jigheads. You can use heavier jigheads but make sure their size is not significantly bigger than the bait.
Spanish mackerel are plentiful and can be best found at first light. If you find schools of fish busting bait on the surface, throw reflective casting jigs and reel them quickly through the school. Move your boat slowly around the school; running through a pod of fish will put them down. Alternatively, if you know fish are present but not up top, try trolling Clark Spoons at different depths and different speeds.
July and August will bring a number of significant high tides in the evening. This produces very exciting fishing as anglers can see the backs and tails of redfish as they put their noses in the mud to forage for crabs. As a result, these tides are called “tailing tides”. Sight casting to these redfish and getting one to eat is a true rush. Although you may spend a long time stalking a fish and positioning yourself for just the right cast, landing that hard-earned redfish is very rewarding. See you on the water!
Captain Geoff Bennett operates Charleston Charter Fishing providing light tackle and fly fishing charters. For more info, call 843-324-3332 or visit www.charlestoncharterfishing.com or email captain@charlestoncharterfishing.com.
