Bushwackin' the Beaufort Blueways

The Sands boat ramp at the Town of Port Royal is just one of many stops along the Beaufort Blueways Kayak Trail that stretches for 6.2-miles between Beaufort and historic Port Royal. Jean Ribaut recognized this estuary as a perfect settlement in 1562 and established a French colony on Parris Island, thus naming the entire area Port Royal. Using a kayak to fish along this paddling trail is a popular diversion for saltwater fisherman, so for more information including GPS waypoints visit the Internet at www.beaufortblueways.info.

The Beaufort Blueways Kayak Trail includes a stop at Fort Frederick; a fort built by the British around 1730 and thought to protect the port from the Spanish that were located just south at nearby Saint Augustine. Today the tabby ruins are in the care of the SCDNR Heritage Preserve program and are thought to be the oldest tabby structure in the state. Good trout fishing can often be found along riprap like old structure in the water associated with historic forts.

The Beaufort River is lined with miles of spartina grass, creek mouths, oyster banks, shell points and other native habitat that holds gamefish in the area. Checking the tide charts before kayak fishing the Blueways trail and keeping an eye on the weather should be all the prep work needed to enjoy some quality fishing time on the water.

Captain Danny Rourk is the Chairman of the Lowcountry Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association, based in Beaufort. When speaking of fly-fishing for trout Rourk said, “A fly that looks like a glass minnow will work well when the specks are in shallow water, but fly-fishing for redfish is much more popular and productive.”

Other public landings that are a part of the Beaufort Blueways Kayak Trail are the Lady’s Island Public Landing, the downtown Beaufort Public Landing, Wallace Landing and the Penn Center Dock, which is the termination of the Beaufort Blueways’ Penn Center Trail. The Penn Center destination offers anglers a chance to get out of their kayak for a moment to tour the Penn Center, a National Historic Landmark since 1974, and its Museum of black history. One planning note should be that the Penn Center dock is not accessible at dead low tide, so visits should be timed out for two hours on either side of low tide, and on up to the time of high tide.

Visit and explore Beaufort to see why Field and Stream Magazine named the area one of the “Top 20 Fishing Towns in America” – in their February 2008 edition.