February 15

Morning surface water temperatures in the Beaufort area were 54-55 degrees this morning and, with minimal wind and a few days for the rain to clear, visibility is very good. 

It’s a strong winter bite for redfish, and Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) reports that fish are feeding well on the low tide river flats.  They are in large groups, and if so if you see one fish stay in the area and make long casts to avoid spooking the fish.  One way to locate fish is to look for bait movement, which usually signals that fish are in the area even if they are not chasing it.  

If you have to fish on higher stages of the tide then look for fish over white shells, or any oyster outcropping that the fish can get over and hunker down. In addition to giving them some structure to relate to, as well as attracting bait, dolphins don’t like to deal with the oysters and so they can be a safer place to hold. 

Sand eel patterns on the fly, and baits that look like sand eels on spinning tackle, are both excellent choices right now. 

Of course there are also still fish back in the smaller creeks, and Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters(843-962-3503) reports that they continue find 18-24 inch redfish loaded up on docks and other structure. They will take mud minnows, and the fish are in such thick schools that when you find them there are generally tons of fish in an area. The converse is that there are also more areas without fish. 

While neither guide has current information from this week about trout, reportedly the sheepshead fishing has been very good around deep inshore structure and at the nearshore reefs. Captain Pat has stockpiled the fiddler crabs on warm days and so more information will follow. 

While the catch has mostly been sting rays, the Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437) did have a trout caught this week.

January 31

Morning surface water temperatures around Beaufort were about 56 degrees this morning and visibility is good.   

They may not be traditional winter areas for redfish, but Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters (843-962-3503) reports that they continue find 18-24 inch redfish loaded up on docks and other structure back in the creeks. They will take mud minnows, and the fish are in such thick schools that when you find them you can generally catch as many as you want. 

On the other hand Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) reports that fishing in the rivers has been a little tricky with all the wind recently, and there have been days (like yesterday) where the wind comes out of nowhere and you just cannot locate the fish.  Captain Tuck notes that bait has generally been very, very sparse, and visibility is important because there are so many areas with no fish. 

While the bigger sheepshead have moved offshore to spawn, on a sunny day recently Captain Pat collected a bunch of fiddler crabs and fished the inshore docks. He found them loaded with 10-13 inch fish, but keepers were very rare. 

Neither captain has been on the trout despite fishing some likely spots, and Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437) reports no catches this week. 

January 24

Morning surface water temperatures around Beaufort are about 53 degrees this morning. 

With one of our guides down with the flu, and one fishing in Cuba, we have nothing new to report this week. We will do our best to be back with a full report next week. 

January 4

Morning surface water temperatures around Beaufort are about 53 degrees. The water has cleared quickly after recent rains and is extremely clear.

Trying something a little different yesterday, Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters (843-962-3503) headed out to the nearshore reefs with fiddler crabs and fresh dead shrimp and caught a bunch of nice 18-20 inch black drum. There were also plenty juvenile black sea bass and some sheepshead, but it seems that it’s a little early for the bigger spawning-sized sheeps to really get out on the reefs. They look for that bite to peak in a month or so.

Inshore the action is still very reliable for redfish, and the same inshore structure and docks continues to hold loads of fish. Having oyster beds around seems to really help and the fish will eat a variety of baits.

The trout bite has also been pretty steady, with fish holding in holes in the creeks in about 12 feet of water. While you could use other baits they are catching them with mud minnows on the bottom. The low to rising tide has been the best. 

No good reports from Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437) this week despite a little fishing activity, and Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) is guiding in Florida this week but will be back with a sight-fishing report soon. 

December 21

Morning surface water temperatures in the creeks around Beaufort are about 51 degrees. The water has cleared quickly after recent rains. 

It’s winter fishing for redfish, and Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) reports that the big picture is that the fishing is good. On low water they are feeding pretty well on the flats, although there is so little else for dolphins to eat that reds will get very skittish if dolphins are in the area. There are also times when the fish are holding a little deeper than normal if they can with these very cold mornings, as because when the tide comes in and the edges are very cold it can make the fish seek warmth a bit out from the banks. 

There are only a very few mullet still around, and they are seeing very little bait on the flats. The fish will still eat cut mullet but with flies and artificial lures they are having the best luck with darker lures that “assault” the fishes’ senses and trigger a reaction strike. 

There is again nothing to report from our captains with the trout this week. 

No news from Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437) this week with very little fishing activitiy. 

December 14

Morning surface water temperatures in the creeks around Beaufort are in the lower 50s. The water has cleared substantially and in most areas visibility is high. 

It’s winter fishing for redfish, and Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) reports that in the colder water fish are pretty schooled up and the quality of the bite ebbs and flows from day to day. One day the fish will be on fire, then the next the bite will pretty good, and then they will disappear. 

Redfish are still chasing shrimp in certain areas on the flats, and so it’s worth looking for the birds to locate them. When that happens you can actually throw topwater lures.  The rest of the baits they are using are subsurface baits in natural browns and tans in clear water but blacks and purples in dirtier water.  

Even though they are mainly targeting low water, especially with bait you can still catch some fish in the grass. However, the best bait pattern is to fish cut mullet on the dropping tide as the water starts to come out of the grass. As the fish leave the flood tide flats they are very condensed, and if you catch one or two it’s worth seeing if there are more in the area. 

There is nothing positive to report from our captains with the trout this week. 

Even with limited fishing activity on the Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437) trout, redfish, and whiting are all being caught. 

November 30

Morning surface water temperatures in the creeks around Beaufort are down to about 55 degrees, while ocean temperatures are several degrees warmer. The water has cleared substantially and visibility is high. 

It’s now a great time for sight-fishing for redfish, and Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) reports that even if the water gets churned up in an area one day there is so little algae that there is nothing to hold the sediment up – and as soon as the wind switches it clears again. His boat is mainly fishing low tide and looking for fish, and it is obvious that they have gotten into much bigger schools. For now the fish are very willing to eat but the only catch is that they are moving around a lot. This could be because water temperatures keep changing, but it could also be because dolphins come marauding through an area and push the fish out!

While Tuck has not fished higher water there are some reports of fish marauding in the grass. 

It’s also still a good time for fishing for spottails around structure, and Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters (843-962-3503) reports that as long as the water is not up in the grass he is still finding fish loaded up around docks with oyster beds. They continue to be grouped by size, with some docks holding 16-23 inch fish and others holding 23-33 inchers. 

The trout fishing is also coming on strong, and Captain Pat reports that on drop-offs in about 6 feet of water he has found a very strong bite. With the big full moon tides it has been a narrow window when the current is not too weak or too strong, but for 45 minutes to an hour the fishing has been really good and on good spots you can catch a fish on every cast. They have mainly been fishing mud minnows on the bottom, but the bite got so good that they even caught several on the fly with a sinking line!  

There has been virtually no fishing activity on the Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437) this week.

November 16

Morning surface water temperatures in the creeks around Beaufort are in the lower 60s, while ocean temperatures are around 64. The water has cleared substantially and visibility is high. 

By now the bulk of the redfish trips on the fly that Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) is running have switched over to low tide, and generally they are targeting big schools of redfish. They are on mud flats in the bigger bodies of water staying safe from dolphins. When you see gulls or other birds chasing shrimp then they will take topwater flies and they are absolutely creaming them!

Outside of the low tide flats fishing, the best bait fishing on the big water is generally coming when the water is dropping but oyster mounds are still covered.  They will take cut mullet under a popping cork, live shrimp and mud minnows fished just outside the oysters. Conversely, the smaller creeks are fishing better on the rising tide around newly covered mounds of oysters. This distinction makes sense because on the rising tide fish don’t mind going into the small creeks, but when the water is dropping they don’t want to get stuck up there. 

With cold, rainy weather there’s been very little fishing activity on the Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437) this week.

Trout report to follow after the holiday from Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters (843-962-3503), but even though he has not targeted them there is no reason to think the patterns from last week are not still working. 

November 9

Morning surface water temperatures in the creeks around Beaufort have fallen to around 62 degrees with the cold nights. Ocean temperatures are closer to 65 or 66. 

As expected the redfish bite is still strong, although Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) is standing by his prediction that tailing is pretty much done for the year. However, fish are still very hungry, especially on the back side of cold fronts (that remind them winter is coming), and once things warm a bit they get more active again. In contrast, during actual weather changes like the last cold front and this coming one they can be a little lethargic.

That is exactly consistent with what Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters (843-962-3503) is seeing, and he reports that the he continues to catch lots of spottails. While you can find them on the river flats or in bigger water, he continues to catch them in shallow deep holes back in the creeks that have trees or some other structure. He is also finding fish loaded on docks. They range from about 15-28 inches, but fish are grouped by sizes and one dock will have smaller fish in that range while another will have only over-slot fish.  The low-to-rising tide has been best and mud minnows on the bottom are working very well on jigheads. 

Captain Pat is also finding a rapidly improving trout bite, and all of a sudden some of his redfish holes are filling up with trout. They are also eating mud minnows although a variety of other baits would almost certainly work.

However, Pat continues to be impressed with the population of redfish in this area. 

As if to prove his point, the Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437) reports that it has been a really good bite for 22-25 inch redfish this week. Additionally, they are catching whiting and bull sharks. 

November 3

Morning surface water temperatures around Beaufort have been falling into the high 50s the last couple of nights, but rising into the mid-60s during the day. Clarity is down with big tides.

While Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters (843-962-3503) and  Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) weren’t on the water Wednesday or Thursday, Captain Tuck reports that he doesn’t expect the redfish bite to drop off very much – although it will change. He expects that tails will be less likely from here on, but reds should continue to eat well as long as the cold doesn’t linger too long. Additionally, look for the fish to begin to form tighter and larger schools – which conversely means there will be more areas without as many fish.  Don’t waste time on dead water hoping for singles.  

Additionally, there is little doubt that the trout fishing will pick up and Captain Pat reports that he looks for a really hot bite for the next month or more.

October 26

Morning surface water temperatures are around 68 degrees inshore around Beaufort.

There are still redfish tailing and eating fiddler crabs on high tide around Beaufort, but Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) reports that overall he can tell that feeding pattern is starting to fade. In the Harbor River it’s pretty far off, and in the Broad River it has also slowed down but not as much. While there are still plenty of fish getting up on the flats and trying to feed, perhaps in a sign that fiddler crabs are less abundant in the cooler conditions they aren’t putting their tails up to eat fiddler crabs as frequently.  

The upside to that is that because they aren’t gorging as much on high tide they will feed more around the rest of the tide cycle, and he is seeing lots of fish chasing shrimp around oyster mounds both inside the small creeks and on the bigger water outside of high tide. Consistent with that, Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters (843-962-3503) reports that he is finding a really solid bite for a number of species, but particularly redfish. They are ranging from 13 to 30 plus inches, and it seems like fish of similar sizes are grouped up together in different areas. Certain docks might hold a lot of smaller fish, while another spot might be holding mostly 23-30 inch fish. As far as bait they aren’t picky at all right now, and Captain Pat is catching them on everything from Gulp! to cut bait to live shrimp. 

It's also been a really good trout bite, and his boat is catching fish drifting live shrimp along grass lines at higher tides. On lower water they are catching them off drops in around 6 feet of water. The best bite requires tides and areas with some current. 

They are also picking up black drum and even sheepshead around docks.

It’s still an exciting time at the Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437), and they continue to catch tons of over-slot red drum out towards deeper water. It can’t last forever but this has been a good bite for several weeks now. 

October 13

Morning surface water temperatures are in the lower 70s inshore around Beaufort, and bait is still everywhere. Clarity was already low but the wind and rain of the last 24 hours won’t help. 

It’s been a good redfish bite around Beaufort, but Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) reports that with so much bait around it’s not unheard of to wander upon a school of fish that just isn’t eating – or to fish in an area where you are pretty sure there are fish, but they won’t bite. When that happens he advises moving on, because somewhere there is certain to be a group of hungry fish. Even though cooler water is better for fishing overall, their metabolism does start to slow.

Overall live shrimp on a popping cork are good, and they are also eating cut mullet very well. The best action he is seeing is coming on the incoming tide as fish move back into the smaller creeks to feed, and even though he would expect the same to be taking place at the mouths of creeks on the dropping tide when bait is being flushed out that has not been fishing as well. And flats fish seem to be a bit more “on edge”. 

The next couple of days Tuck will be fishing morning flood tides and he expects good tailing action. 

Interestingly, Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters (843-962-3503) also reports finding the best action on the low to rising tide, and he is catching fish on a bit of everything but mostly Gulp! baits. There are tons of pinfish in the areas he is fishing (as reported in Hilton Head), and so he is finding the best luck with something the bait stealers want less. He’s also getting cut off by small bluefish too often fishing finger mullet and mud minnows and losing a lot of bait. 

The trout fishing will continue to get better, but in the 4-foot range Tuck reports that both live shrimp and Gulp! are doing well around moving water. 

It’s still an exciting time at the Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437), and they continue to catch tons of over-slot red drum out towards deeper water. They are also picking up the occasional spotted seatrout and a few keeper flounder. 

October 6

Morning surface water temperatures are around 74 degrees inshore in Beaufort, and bait is still everywhere. 

Even as the king high tides recede into the rearview mirror, Captain Tuck Scott with Bay Street Outfitters (843-524-5250) reports that there should still be good tailing activity for redfish even on lower high tides throughout this month. Fish won’t be able to get up onto the highest flats, but there will still be plenty of places where you can find them.  To the point, on a trip Wednesday they had shots at about 20 fish that were making their way across white sand on the flats toward hunting areas.

 

At the other end of the tide cycle, Captain Patrick Kelly with Boogieman Fishing Charters (843-962-3503) reports that on the dropping tide he has been doing very well for 24-30 inch redfish in the creeks. He is fishing cut mullet against the grass and at the mouths of creeks where bait is being flushed out.

While Tuck is finally reporting that he thinks all the cobia have left the area – he hasn’t seen one or the conditions (turtles, jellyballs) that indicate their presence in the last couple of weeks – there have been tons of blacktip sharks around. They even had one that would not stop chasing a fly until it ate it this week! 

It’s still probably not peak conditions for trout, but Captain Pat reports that on the dropping tide when there is a lot of current he has been catching specks on artificial lures like Vudu Shrimp. They have been at the mouths of creeks near grass where there are oysters, and for right now it is very spot-specific. 

Finally, it’s been a really exciting week at the Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier (843-838-7437) where they are catching tons of over-slot red drum. They are further out towards the deeper water, and they are running up to the mid-20 pound range. But there are almost certainly even bigger ones swimming around!