Black Friday Beaufort Redfish Bonanza

11.29.13

I've been fishing a long time, but this trip to visit Hunter over Thanksgiving is in the epic category.

We drove down to Beaufort, SC early on Black Friday from Charleston.  It was cold, frost was on all the cars and rooftops so thick it looked like it had snowed.

We were meeting Hunter's buddies, Jeff and Brian.  They fish out of a 22' Nitro and know the area extremely well.

Brian said we were gonna try a stretch of bank that holds reds after the first cold spell.  We were to find out his was correct on that memory!

It was a stretch of hill that had 4 creeks running out of a island in the Broad River.

We hit the tides right as the bottom was falling out.  A brisk 15 minute run had me thinking I was happy I had on long johns and a jumpsuit.

We started banging the hill and started picking up reds and few trout.  The last creek was coming up, and when we arrived, the bite was on.

We caught many, many over slot reds with a bunch of double hook ups, 3 triple hook ups and an unbelievable quad hook up.

We figured we caught well over 40 over slot reds.

The fish were hitting all soft plastics rigged on a jig head.  Gulp shrimp, Gulp jerk bait, DOA shad, ZOOM Fat alberts were all getting smashed.

One of us would hook up and the rest would follow up with a cast behind the hooked fish and then hang on.

These fish in extremely shallow water put on quite a show as all the could do is swim sideways and pull like a freight train.

When the sun got up and the tide got low enough, we could see the tidal wave of fish running down the creek mouth.  The water would bow up as 20, 30, 50 fish schools would be cruising the oyster laden bank.

Hunter and I banged this double.  Hunter's fish had an odd spot up front.  These fish are more of a silver instead of gold like here on our coast.

Brian, Jeff and Hunter with one of the triples that came boat side in the morning.

Jeff caught a multi-spotted red.

Thanksgiving always have you thinking about family and friends.  This trip was a memory that will last forever for me, as it was shared with my son, Hunter, and his two good buddies and the great outdoors.

Another reason to give thanks on Thanksgiving!

The next post shows the quad hook up courtesy of Brian's Go Pro Hero Cam he had mounted on the T Top of his boat.  Hope you enjoy it!

Black Friday Sale 50% Off All Redfish

Good Evening Trip

11.23.13

Headed to the river before the big blow came in on Saturday evening.

The fish were biting again.

We stopped at Tropical Trader and picked up a few crabs with the idea of going under the bridge and trying to catch a big black drum.

But, as we headed up the river, the heavy incoming tide and the northeasterly winds were creating a dangerous chop of the old tin boat.  We swung it around and headed to the lee shore to get out of the wind.  It's always good to be very adaptable in the salt.

We hit the bar in front of Tradewinds and the reds were biting good on the swift tide.  They were banging a jighead tipped with gulp or a zoom fat albert.

Four came aboard and a big one broke off (as usual).

After that bite cooled we headed upriver to the bar that has been holding trout.  Sure enough on the first cast they proved they haven't moved as a nice keeper came aboard.

Four fish came to the boat as the sun set over the river.

I tried to get some to eat a topwater but they were just half hearted about it.  Maybe after this blow, next week I can get one to come eat off the top.  That will be gone soon with winter approaching.

3 Mile Hole and BSB

11.18.13

Water temp: 64 degrees

Nancy and I went out for a quick trip Monday afternoon as the wind died a little bit.

After clearing the sticks leaving Ochlockonee River we realized we could wander over to the hole off Shell Pt. reef.

We were't disappointed as cast after cast black sea bass came to the boat.  It's a lot of fun with light equipment.

We were hoping to catch a flounder or redfish, but I don't think anything has a chance out there with the bass covering up the rocks and eating everything that comes by.

We kept a few for dinner and headed over to the sand trout hole hoping to latch onto a bull red.  There were some monsters out there last weekend as some guys from Ohio came down and caught four over 41 inches long.

We didn't get any takers and headed back in about dark.

A nice evening on the water for mid November.

Wind, Low Tide, Cold

11.13.13

Here is a view from Mashes Sands this morning.
First cold snap of the year.
Anyone want to go offshore today?

http://youtu.be/9nKThoGeasg

Magic Act!

11.11.13

68 degree water temp

We wanted to go to K Tower again in the "1" foot waves promised by NOAA.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

We did finally work our way out around the barge at the 24 marker.

We were able to catch these:

And turn them into these:

YUMMY!!

And They Are Still There

11.10.13

Water Temp: 68 degrees

We wanted to go back and see if the trout were still on the bar where we left them, so we took the tin boat out Sunday for a couple of hours.

The tide was outgoing and on the last couple of hours of low tide.

I didn't have as much hope, as the fish were biting on the incoming tide last week.

But, we caught them real well.

Not as big as last week, but 11 came boat side.  All were in the 14" to 16" category and all went back into the water as we have enough at home to keep us in fish tacos for a while.

They were biting where the water was the swiftest coming across the bar.

I was catching them on a jig head tipped with a Wave Worm Tiki Shaddick in Chartreuse.  I had these in my bass box and was trying them in the pond.  The bass ate them, so I decided to try them on trout and they ate them up.

After using them for a while, I switched to a 3" Gulp Guppy in new penny and that finished off the day.  You can see the oyster bar in the background of the picture below.  That is how clear the water has become.

Nancy was catching them on the good ol' white gulp shrimp.

The fish are absolutely beautiful currently.  The water has cleared up and the fish are all regaining their natural colors.

Not bad for a couple hours of fishing.