Lowcountry Saltwater Fishing Report - 4/29/2014

Fishing Report for the Coastal Lowcountry of South Carolina:

James Cawley with a nice mahi from April 27 
fishing with Knot @ Work Charters 

Inshore Report: Craig at Buck, Bass and Beyond shares that the water temps dropped dramatically two weeks ago due to all of the rain and cold temps but has climbed back up to close to 70 now. However these extreme tides and rain have also taken away the great water clarity which helps with our sight fishing which really hurt the redfish bite. No recent reports on trout, but keep trying live mud minnows under corks along grass edges and around oyster banks as well as D.O.A. shrimp in all the same places. I'm hearing reports of some nice catches of whiting being caught on cut shrimp and squid off of the local piers. The sharks and rays have moved in too.Try using cut mullet on a Carolina rig just about anywhere you can get to the saltwater.The Cobia ARE HERE!! Just not in huge numbers yet. I've heard a few have been caught in the Broad River in the usual places. There are many techniques to use, the most popular is bottom fishing with cut baits or live Greenback Herring or Menhaden if you can find and catch them.If you choose to bottom fish the key is to chum, chum and chum some more!!! Keep a bag on the surface and one on the bottom, shaking them and stirring them up often is important. Keep fresh chum out all the time. If the sharks invade your spread move to another spot. Also make sure you have lines in the water an hour and a half before and after the tide switch! If sight fishing cobia is what you want to do, start early and cover a lot of water. Have a couple of rods rigged and ready to cast. Try using live American eels, jigs with large soft plastics like the Hogy 5-inch flounder, or a Gulp jerk bait or swimming mullet. Cruise the rips and channel markers looking for wakes and fins. If you see a fish approach cautiously making sure to get ahead of the fish. Cast farther than the target reeling the bait quickly getting the attention of the cobia, getting him to chase it. Stop reeling and let the bait dive as if trying to escape. If the fish is hot and the presentation is right it will dive straight down and will hit your bait on the drop, which gives an added sensation of having played the cobia well, before the BIG fish fight even begins. For more store information visit the Internet at Buck, Bass and Beyond.

Offshore Report: Craig is hearing thatthe bite is excellent, with several large Wahoo being caught as well as blackfin tuna and lots of dolphin. The triple ledge and south hole seem to produce consistently. For dolphin look for some floating debris or grass. Reports say most are on the smaller side but there are a few bigger ones mixed in. Try trolling small to medium ballyhoo with blue / white and green / yellow skirts .Remember to keep a small casting rod rigged and ready to cast to the schooling dolphin. I like small 1/4 oz. jigs with soft plastics, rattletraps,  Paul Brown's soft dine suspending jerk bait or a Zoom soft plastic jerkbait on an Owner Twist Lock hook or Gamakatsu weighted flutter hook. And of course the Amberjack bite is phenomenal but if you are trying to catch something to eat then who cares but for an awesome rod bending time you can't beat them. The bottom fishing has been great, with reports of really nice Vermillion Sanpper, Triggerfish, Porgies and Black Sea Bass. A great customer of ours has been catching some huge Grouper and can't wait for keeper season to open. He uses a custom jig that we sell here at Buck, Bass and Beyond called the Gator Man Jig - so come and get it!

To view past Lowcountry Saltwater Fishing Reports click here.