Lowcountry Saltwater Fishing Report - 1/7/2014

Fishing Report for the Coastal Lowcountry of South Carolina:

Michael Wolf of Savanna CCA with a winter redfish

Charleston Inshore: Scott Hammond at Haddrell's Point West forecasts that these record cold nights will drop the water temps in the harbor down into the lower 50's. It's too soon to tell if this is a bad thing though, since it may motivate the redfish to school up on shallow tidal flats where they offer easier access for anglers armed with mud minnows and Gulp shrimp. Sheepshead are turning on with the recent arrival of the 'arctic vortex' and anglers can always bundle up like a Polar Bear in order to access them. Fiddlers have been luring the sheepies from 2 to 10-pounds to bite and the flood of good reports underscores that deep-water structure is the place to be. Trout reports have tapered off just a bit lately, but decent numbers of specks were being found in 6 to 10-feet of water while working finesse baits such as Trout Tricks, Zman Streakz and the always faithful live shrimp fished under a slip float. For the latest in seminar information visit the Internet at Haddrell's Point.

Beaufort Inshore: Craig Lupton at Buck, Bass and Beyond reports that the trout bite has slowed up a bit  due to cold rains and arctic temps, but there are still some smaller specks biting, but maybe a few less keepers. Try fishing the usual live baits, jigs and shrimp imitations around some docks especially the ones that reach out into the deeper water. Start shallow and work near the grass and fish all the way to the floating docks. Another technique is to put a white buck tail jig with a live minnow or mullet strip, and pitch it to each and every piling letting the bait free fall to the bottom then work it slowly back to the boat. This is also a great way to catch flounder. The Trout Trick with an 1/8th oz. round head jig is deadly pitched under docks letting it sink; then lift and repeat all the way back to the boat. Black Drum are biting good using cut bait on a Carolina rig in the deeper holes and near structure, and the sheepshead bite has been excellent lately. Use fiddler crabs on a light wire long shank J hook with as little weight as you can afford or go with a small live shrimp fished on the same rig. Fish any submerged trees, pilings, seawalls and floating docks which are covered with crustaceans. Some people scrape some barnacles off of the structure they're fishing to chum the fish up also a bag full of crushed oysters works well. Redfish are on the mud flats schooled up and soft plastics like a Zman Paddlerz, Zman holographic shrimp and Gulp shrimp in natural colors work well. Rig them on a 1/16th oz. Owner twistlock hook, which is perfect for a stealthy presentation, which is key to flats fishing success when the red drum are schooled up. Boat positioning is keyand you have to stay clear of the school but within casting distance. Determine which direction the fish are heading and present your bait ahead of the school. Cast, leave bait in position and wait until the fish are close, then twitch the bait. If that does not attract a bite start swimming the bait back to the boat. For more store info visit Buck, Bass N Beyond.

Nearshore: The near shore wrecks and reefs are still producing black sea bass, weakfish, flounder and sheepshead.. Use mud minnows on Carolina rigs for the flounder, weakfish and sea bass. Usually the sea bass will eat anything and everything before you can get near any other fish.

Offshore Report: Scott relays that solid bottom fishing reports keep coming in when the wind will lay down. The colder weather is the best part of the report since it decreases the distance needed to run to get on some quality fish. From 60 to 90-feet of water anglers are finding beeliners, black sea bass and triggerfish and they are scarfing down squid, cigar minnows, and an assortment of jigs too. Only a few boats are offshore these days but high-speed trolling reveals that the wahoo are still out there hanging around in water 150 to 300-feet deep. Some blackfin tuna are mixed in, and some anglers like to try kite fishing when targeting these tuna.

To view past Lowcountry Saltwater Fishing Reports click here.