Dang #trouttrick red trick Jack trick flounder trick. Nothing else needed

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No Tin Boat, But Seacraft Fishing Fine

9.10.16

Sold the tin boat which was a fish catching machine.  What a great time we had in it while it graced the back of the ol' Ford pick up.

But, it was time to move on with the way we fish here, and we can't devote enough time to both of the rigs.

So with that in mind, we converted the Seacraft to a more versatile machine with the removal of the T Top and the addition of a Motor Guide XI5 trolling motor.

We have been out a couple of times and got after the fish pretty well yesterday.

Chasing a tarpon has been the emphasis.  Not many people  here in the low country get fired up about them.

But I do.  I heard there was a decent bite right around the corner.

The first trip saw a couple of swirls, but nothing but a big shark that Nancy caught, came boat side.

Yesterday we tried again and I found a school working the shoreline, but couldn't get a hook up as I threw the Wicad, Hogy and D.O.A. Swimming Mullett.

I had planned to do some more inshore chasing, so we headed down to our trout fishing hole towards the Broad River and we weren't let down on the slack low tide.

The trout hole has become a redfish hole, and they have grown from the puppy reds to the bigger keeper reds.  Although I caught 5 keepers, they barely were big enough to bring home so back they went.

15" is the SC legal fish.  Several were caught at 15 1/2"

Jacks got into the picture too as the fight is hard to resist

It was late morning and I wanted to bag a flounder for dinner, so we slid over to our favorite flounder point and we weren't disappointed as I got one flattie to the boat and lost another one.

I can't praise the new Motor Guide enough.  The anchor feature keeps us from tossing the anchor out every stop.

Just press the button and it sits there making adjustments even in the SC tides we have here.

Two times out and fished with it for hours and the batteries remain well charged.  Hopefully the technology is tough enough for the salt water environment.

But, it is one of the best fishing tools I have ever used.  It follows closely behind the Lowrance HDS and the Trout Trick, which all these fish were caught on.

Dozens and Dozens of Fish

8.11.16

88 degree water temp

We wanted to give it a try on a very gentle tide today.  A small reprieve in the temps was granted as rain and thunderstorms were churning to the north of us and the clouds kept it very comfortable for August.

We started at our red hole after gathering a little bait for Nancy.

I was paralleling the deep bank with the Walmart Special and a nice keeper trout decided it was time for breakfast.

We quit trying to get a redfish to come aboard after Nancy landed a two foot long gar.

We headed to our trout hole down near the Broad River.

The fish were there as we landed at least 30 fish.  Nancy was catching trout out of the back of the boat  on a tourist rig while I was hammering puppy drum over and over again in the front of the boat on a trout trick.

As the tide bottomed out we eased over to our flounder drop on the Broad and managed to coax a keeper flounder to the boat.

We headed in as the rain began to fall.  As Nancy was backing the trailer in, a Dolphin came up beside me three times begging for anything I would give him.  After I finally told him to go away, he did a triple gainer back flip and swam away pissed off.

Nothing Really To Report

7.25.16

Water Temp.  89

Should been something happening, but just two little sharks offered today.

The Seacraft is running well as we made the jaunt down to the bridge.  Wanted to bump into a tarpon, but stopped along the way looking....nothing to be seen.

As the tide switched to incoming, a school of jack crevalle started tearing it up, but I was unprepared to toss a bait into the frenzy.  And then..it was gone.

Nice morning, but hotter than hades cleaning the boat.

Great Day On The Water....Finally

7.18.16

Water Temp.  88 degrees

We decided to get the boat in the water.  I wanted to keep the two stroke running.  I have been real negative on going out in this miserable SC heat.

The water was so black and nasty the last few times we dropped the boats in the water, but the water had cleared and I figured if we got up early maybe we could catch a fish, but at least the carbon would be blown out of the ol' mere on the tin boat.

I have been wanting to fish a large island in the Broad River on an incoming tide, the high tide was scheduled for around nine.  So, when we hit the water at 6:30 AM I figured we would hit it right.

And we did.

About the fifth cast on a Walmart special that Doug had given me, I flushed some bait out of some weeds.  The next cast a 17" trout decided he wanted the Walmart special and surprised the heck out of me.

Nancy then got it the action when a 14" flounder grabbed her tourist rig with a gulp shrimp dangling on a jig head.

I was watching an otter play in the submerged grass and enjoying the morning, when I saw something large swimming up the other side of the island.

Low and behold it was a BIG manatee with her babies.  They swam right across the bow of the boat.

This video quickly shows them.  I came home and checked to see if they are a common sight in SC.  The SCDNR has a form to fill out if you did indeed see one.  So, while not rare, we were happy to be a part of something that a lot of folks don't see here in the low country.

After settling down from the manatee siting, I flipped the trout trick to the edge of the grass near the spot Nancy caught her flounder and felt the familiar thump.

A nice 16" flounder came aboard.

We followed the incoming tide up to our home.

Nancy picked up a few small trout at our trout hole, and I had one eat the Walmart special there too.

Our next stop was a new oyster bed we wanted to check out.  While we didn't get any bites, we were entertained by some quail that were talking on the island that Clarendon plantation owns.  I haven't heard the call of "bob white" since we left the farm in Georgia.  

We wanted to fish the redfish hole at high tide and were greeted by a huge alligator guarding the creek just past the hole.

While we we're watching him cruise back and forth, I managed a puppy drum and a pretty 19" trout taken on a trout trick.

We had one more high tide trout hole to try near the old railroad crossing, but all we could manage was a puppy drum.

So, with the sweat rolling and the F 35's making their practice runs we decided to get off the water at 10:30.

It was one of the more enjoyable 4 hours I have had since the heat wave began here in Beaufort.

Hot Hot Hot

6.14.16
Water temp 84-88 degrees

The water and air temp was scorching.

The pluff mud has been covered with a green algae.

The water is now the color of coffee and cream.

So, we started out knowing that this day was not gonna be so hot:-)

We did mange 4 small trout, surprisingly.  I think they wanted to get in the cooler filled with ice.

Hmmmm.  Now what?

They're Back.....

81 degree water temp.

....Sharks that is.

We took the Seacraft out for some old fashioned soak your bait fishing and tried a couple of places we had got wind of.

Not much happening except for the shark bite.

We got three to the boat. lost three hooks and two 6 oz. weights in the process.

It's fun to get your line straightened until you realize you gotta get one of these guys off the hook.

We headed to our trout drop with a couple of hours from an enormous high tide and were surprised there were some trout still there.

We brought 6 trout to the boat with one being a keeper.

Nancy also graced us with a ray.

Nice.