Inshore:

Man you have got to love the month of May! Air temps in the low to mid 80′s, water temps in the low 70′s, and an inshore bite that is off the charts good. Flounder have been showing up in good numbers and good sizes, with the better reports coming from rock piles and heavy structure in 4-10ft of water. Live minnows or a live mullet is the old stand by method of targeting some flatties but do not over look throwing a Zman Jerkshad or a Gulp! 3″shrimp. Trout have been around in good numbers, with many fish exceeding 22″. Live shrimp fished around shell rakes in 4-8ft of water is always productive, but if you want to go for a trout gator trout (over 24″) try fishing a little deeper with live mullet or a paddle tail grub in 10-15ft of water. Keep in mind the majority of the large trout right now are females and are full of roe, and every fish that you can release like that right now means many more trout in the future! Reds continue to be found a little bit of all over, from smaller “wolf packs” of 3-6 fish per school up on the shallow flats to slot sized fish hanging under docks at low tide. Live minnows and cut mullet are the natural baits of choice for this, but again a wide variety of artificials can also be used to target these fish. Spanish and bluefish have also begun to school around the jetties and castle pinckney early in the mornings, and a 3/4oz casting jig in silver is all you need for some of this fast paced action.

Offshore:

Any avid offshore fisherman will tell you that the month of May off of SC is the best time to get involved in a wide open bite, especially with dolphin. This year is simply just more proof of that. Reports in the past week have been very strong on numbers of dolphin in the 5-25 pound range, with fish being caught as shallow as 90ft and as deep as 1800ft. A decent wahoo bite remains as well in 130-250ft, and the past couple days have yielded numerous sightings and quite a few releases of Blue Marlin.

Scott Hammond
Manager – Haddrell’s Point Tackle – West Ashley
843-573-3474

Inshore:

Being the avid trout fisherman I am, now is the time of year that I look forward to most! Large “gator” trout are most abdundant in the spring time, and so far 2013 is proving no different. Though the month of May has always been my favorite time for big trout in 22″ plus range, April has already seen quite a nice run of quality fish well over 20″s. Target structure and feeder creeks with a good current flow in 4-8ft of water. Baits such as live shrimp and live menhaden are always a cant fail, but artificials such as the Trout Trick and Zman PaddlerZ can and will also produce many trout. The majority of our redfish have transitioned from large winter schools over to smaller pods of fish, but this means they are readily available to anglers fishing all kinds of habitat. From fishing under docks at low tide, to tailing redfish at high water up in the grass flats, the reds can be found almost anywhere. As always, live minnows and cut mullet are a sure bet but don’t over look artificial baits such as Gulp! Jerkshads, chatterbaits, and DOA shrimp. Bluefish have begun schooling up in the harbor and around the Charleston Jetties, a sure bet for fast action. A #00 clarkspoon or 1/2oz casting jig should be all you need to tangle with these saltwater pirahnas.

Offshore:

The past few weeks on the offshore side, when the wind would allow, yielded some great reports of wahoo and blackfin tuna. Well as of this past week, you can now add a solid Dolphin bite to the hoos and tuna as well. The handful of boats that were able to slip out the past 5 or 6 days with a weather window came back with typical reports of 5-15dolphin per boat, in addition to decent numbers of wahoo and blackfin thrown in the fish box with the dolphin as well. While the blackfin and wahoo have been targeted most in 140-250ft of water, some of the better dolphin reports were out a little deeper in the 400-600ft range….or wherever they were able to find a decent temp break.

Scott Hammond
Manager – Haddrell’s Point Tackle – West Ashley
843-573-3474

Inshore:

With water temps pushing up into the mid to upper 60′s this past week, the fish have been responding accordingly. Most consistent action has been on the spotted sea trout, with average reports of 15-20 fish per trip coming in regularly. More important than the numbers of trout being caught is the size we have been seeing. Great numbers of fish in the 20-22″ range have been common, and quite a few fish exceeding 24″s…officially putting you into that “gator trout” category. Creek mouths and shell rakes in 5-7ft of water have been most consistent on the trout, however many of the large breeder trout have also been found in 10-15ft of water near heavy structure. Live baits such as minnows and shrimp are a cant fail, but artificial baits including the 17MR MirroLures and Zman StreakZ have also been producing very well. Reds are in a bit of transition time of the year, meaning while many fish are still schooling up on the shallow flats, there is also some good action to be had fishing docks and rock piles. Cut mullet, live minnows, and Gulp! shrimp have been the baits of choice lately. Sheepshead are scattered about anywhere from inshore dock pilings to our nearshore reefs a few miles offshore, and while fiddler crabs are always a good bait choice for the sheeps, oysters and live shrimp can and will also produce for you as well.

Offshore:

If you are still putting together the odds and ends on your offshore boat right now, you are starting to miss some great action. Great reports of wahoo this week have been flooding in from the Georgetown Hole and SouthWest banks areas, as well as solid numbers of blackfin tuna. Common reports have been boats with 3-5 wahoo per trip and 3-15 blackfin tuna. Try to find a warm water eddy where you are fishing, and you will be in some great fishing. Pull small baits (sea witches and small chuggers) and cedar plugs for the blackfin, and larger lures with medium or large ballyhoo for the wahoo. While with it being spring the water and where to fish can change daily, best reports have been from 150-200ft of water. Many wahoo have been large, with countless wahoo being caught being over 50lbs and quite a few in the 60-75lb range.

Scott Hammond
Manager – Haddrell’s Point Tackle – West Ashley
843-573-3474

Inshore:

You know it has the potential to be a fantastic spring for fishing when you have friends and customers coming through the doors with pictures of 20 and 22″ trout in the middle of March! Yes the trout bite is going well, and while catch numbers have been around 10-15 fish a trip, the size has been great consider it is still March. Live shrimp or Trout Tricks fished in 5-8ft of water have been the ticket lately, especially around smaller creek mouths and slews. Reds continue to be found in good nnumbers on the shallow low tide flats, and have even heard a few rumors of fish being seen tailing up in the grass this early in the season. Cut mullet, live minnows, Zman PaddlerZ, and Live Target baits have been some of the more consistent baits. Sheepshead in the 2-6 pound range are still plentiful around bridges and rock piles using fiddlers and live shrimp. The nearshore reefs have started to take off with sheepshead and black drum reports, and again live fiddlers are almost impossible to beat on the reefs for bait.

Offshore:

WAAAAHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOO! Fire up the grill boys, the wahoo steaks are sitting in 150-250ft of water just waiting to be brought back home! Reports of 2 to 7 wahoo in a trip have flooded through the doors this past week and half, at least for those who braved a little wind and chill in the air to venture out. Also got a great report today in from the Georgetown Hole/Southwest Banks area of a very good mess of blackfin tuna in the 15-20# range being caught. Pull smaller baits waaayyyyy back off your riggers for best success with the blackfins while trolling, and dont hesitate to bring along a couple spinning outfits and topwater plugs….hard to beat the excitement of casting topwater into a busting school of blackfin tuna!

Scott Hammond
Manager – Haddrell’s Point Tackle – West Ashley
843-573-3474

Put some new life into that old favorite rod. This was a pair of matching surf rods that I restored for a customer.
I replaced the cork handles and all new guides with differnt colors on guides for him.

Steve Baysinger, Repair Shop Manager
Haddrell’s Point Tackle & Supply

885 Ben Sawyer Blvd. Mount Pleasant, SC 29464
1-800-881-5201 www.haddrellspoint.com