November 2024 Near Shore Charter
When you go on a charter you never know if you will catch fish. I have been on several where we caught very few fish but I still had fun. You will also learn a lot about how to fish our South Carolina waters. Bruce, Dean, Rich and I went out on 11/1/24.
And then there are those trips where you can’t reel in one fish before another one strikes.
That is what happened on our recent near shore trip with Drew Davis. Our first stop was fishing for trout where Skull Creek empties into the sound using live shrimp. The shrimp is allowed to drift freely in the riffs until a strike. The first lesson is you have to have live shrimp and apparently there is no place on the island to buy it. Charter captains catch/net theirs for the trip.
Next, we had to net menhaden (aka porgies) to go after redfish. Drew’s first cast netted plenty for the trip especially since we cut them for bait. I usually use mullet but menhaden is the way to go. We navigated back to the mouth of Skull creek and fished in the shallows casting next to the weeds. Within minutes we had three reds on and within another 45 minutes we had eight in the slot. Lessons: redfish will school and once you find a hot spot you can catch the limit. The water in these areas is very shallow and a trolling motor is essential and a good anchor is a must.
We then went after bull reds fishing on the bottom with menhaden about one mile off Dolphin Head at the sand bar. Watch the tides in this area as you can quickly become grounded. The best lesson I learned about bull reds is I never want to catch one again! Bruce managed to land one in the 45” range after about twenty minutes of fishing. This is exhausting work, hard on the arms and wrists and you can’t keep them.
If you want to go on, or setup a charter let us know at: hhpfish@hhpfishingclub.com. When a trip is planned you will be contacted by e-mail and sign-ups will be on a "first come" basis.
Pictures from the November Near Shore Charter
Pictures from the December Off Shore Charter
