Inshore:

Have you walked the dog lately? And by that I mean the topwater bite is ON!! Early in the morning and late in the evening has been producing a great topwater for trout, and even some reds thrown in. Super Spook Jr’s and Ba-Donk-A-Donks have been great choices of late, with a mullet pattern being the most popular the past week or so. Trout are still being found in great numbers, and though a majority of the fish have been juveniles, reports of 20-50fish in a trip have been common using live shrimp, minnows, and DOA’s under a popping float. Reds have been a little sporatic, typical for summer, but are still being found under docks at low water and and along grass edges and shell rakes at high water. Spanish have been found in great numbers both in the harbor and just outside the inlets using #00 clarkspoons and casting jigs. Tarpon reports have begun to get a little more consistent as there has been numerous reports of anglers hooking up on the silver king around the jetties, north edisto inlet, and up in bulls bay.Always hard to beat a large mullet for the king!

Offshore:

Finally a long stretch of good weather has arrived and allowed our offshore anglers to slip out and get in on the bluewater action. Reports of 10-20 dolphin per trip have been common, with fish being found in good numbers as close as 120ft of water and out as deep as 1000ft of water. Sailfish have begun to show up in good numbers from as shallow as a couple being caught in 90ft of water, and the better concentrations out in 350-600ft. On the bottom side, large black sea bass have being easy pickings in 55-100ft of water and the grouper bite has been strong on live bottom around 90-120ft using cigar minnows and live pinfish.

Scott Hammond

Manager – Haddrell’s Point

843-573-3474

Inshore:

While a lot of NE wind has put a damper on much of the offshore fishing this past week, it certainly has not shut down the inshore bite! Trout continue to produce strong numbers of juvenile fish in the 11-13″ range, with some nice 18 and 20″ fish mixed in. DOA shrimp under a popping float, Super Spook Jr’s, Mirro-Lure 17MR’s, and live baits all are producing great numbers of fish. The best numbers of fish have been coming from creek mouths and oyster rakes in 3-5ft of water, but some of the bigger trout are being found on heavy structure in 5-10ft of water. Sheepshead have been fairly sporatic, but still keep hearing some decent reports of 3-6# fish around the jetties and bridges. Reds are still being found in that warm water pattern of locating them on structure around low water and along the grass edges at high water. Get out early in the morning for the reds and they have also been readily taking some topwater plugs…and if you have never seen a big red blow up on a topwater plug, then you have got to try it! The spanish mackerel have finally sown up inside the harbor in strong numbers this past week, prime example is that Thomas DeOgburn and Michael Johnson from the store here went out and caught near 30 spanish in about an hour using small casting jigs and #00 clarkspoons behind a 3/4oz trolling lead.

Offshore:

As mentioned in the above inshore report, an abnormal amount of NE wind has made it tough for many to get out on the big pond, but when the weather has allowed we are still hearing of solid reports of dolphin in as shallow as 120ft and as deep as 1200ft. Most encouraging from the offshore side has been a great bite with Blue Marlin, with most ranging in that 150-300# size class. The wahoo we have heard od lately have been found in shallow the past week, with the better numbers of the ‘hoos coming from 120-180ft of water. Bottom fishing in 70-110ft of water has been producing great numbers of LARGE black sea bass, plenty of vermillion snapper, and some great reports of grouper in the same depth range. cigar minnows, squid, and jigs will work extremely well for the sea bass and vermillions. For the grouper there is nothing more deadly right now than a live pinfish, but a butterfly style jig can also be productive.

Scott Hammond

Manager – Haddrell’s Point

843-573-3474

Inshore:

Snuck out yesterday afternoon myself with Thomas D from the shop here to try our hand at some more trout fishing once the rain let off a little. We were not expecting much with the great amount of rain that had fallen that morning, but we were pleasantly surprised when we were greeted by a decent bite! We were able to produce 15 trout, a few reds, and a flounder in just a few hours of fishing Had some decent size fish but nothing of “gator” status.     In other words, the inshore bite is still going strong. Trout continue to be found in decent numbers in 3-6ft of water fishing submerged shell rakes at high water, and bottom contours at low water levels. While live shrimp and minnows are always a good bait choice, the topwater bite has been very good using Super Spook Jr’s and Mirro-Lure top pups. When the topwater slows later in the day, this is the time to switch over to a suspending bait such as the Mirro-Lure 17MR or a SS series Ba-Donk-A-Donk. Reds are still in their “summer time” pattern of hanging around docks and structure around low water, and up along the grass edges on higher water levels. Live minnows and cut mullet are still old stand by baits, but again artificials such as a Gulp Jerkshad or a Zman PaddlerZ have been very productive as well. Flounder have shown up in good numbers fishing around creek mouths and inlets, and IMO dragging a mud minnow slowly along the bottom in these areas is as productive as you can get for the flatties!

Offshore:

though the weather has not been too cooperative the last week or so, there has been a couple of days the boats were able to slip out and take advantage of a still strong dolphin bite anywhere from 130ft out to 600ft. Blue marlin have shown in great numbers the past week or two, and we look forward to hearing some great reports back from the boats fishing the Bohicket Marina leg of the SC Governors Cup billfish tourney this weekend. Bottom fishing has been producing some VERY large black sea bass since they opened back up on June 1st. Better reports on the sea bass have been from 50-90ft of water using cigar minnows, squid, and larger curl tail jigs. Grouper have been caught in good numbers as well. Taking the time to catch some live pinfish or menhaden to drop down to the bottom can really increase your odds of tangling with a large grouper, but butterfly style jigs can also be very productive this time of year as well for them.

Scott Hammond

Manager – Haddrell’s Point

843-573-3474