Hilton Head Redfish by Dave Spendiff

I just finished a long weekend trip to the Savannah, GA area to visit two of my sons. I went fishing with my son Garth and his youngest son Carson on Saturday with a fair day of catching – both Garth and I had our Bay Slam by catching a flounder, redfish & sea trout. On Sunday, we left a bit later so that we arrived at “Black Man’s Cove” 2 hours before dead low tide. My son named this location out of respect of the two old men that arrived at the end of this creek he was in to get out of a howling wind. They arrived in two trucks and fished from the bank – my son had a long lunchtime conversation on that day and other encounters with them, at this location.

They were not there on this Sunday to witness my son’s first cast with a “mud dog” (Killie) 24 inches below a cork and hooked through the lips on a small 02 circle hook. It hit the water and disappeared below the water almost instantly. The rod was slowly raised, reel engaged and POP, the line parts – but more about that later. As the tide flowed out, the catching became more intense with 80 redfish and two very small flounder boated for the last 2 hours of the outgoing and 1st hour of the incoming. All fish were caught in a really small area. Absolutely insane fishing with 4 triple simultaneous landings and 6 doubles. We ran out of 3 dozen mud dogs, 1 dozen frozen shrimp, and 16 finger mullet cast netted in desperation. The mullet were live-lined and also as cut bait. The redfish sizes ranged between the fish shown in the second photo and were caught on light, “freshwater” rods with small 2000 sized reels. An absolute thrill!

On our way out of the cove/creek my son spotted the cork from his first cast break off and with a little trolling motor finesse, my grandson was able to grab the cork – the fish still hooked up! Took 3+ hours to boat that first hooked red! The last picture is an oyster bar that is at the heart of redfish and trout fishing and navigation in the southeast bays.

 

 

 

Posted in Member Reports
Membership Form

Fishing Facts

Of the fifty United States, thirty-eight have a striped-bass record. New Jersey has the largest striped-bass record—a 78-pound 8·ounce whopper that was caught in 1982. The state with the smallest striped-bass record is Iowa. That landlocked striper weighed only 9 pounds 4 ounces and was caught in 1983.
There’s something fishy about beer these days. Fish Tail Ale is popular as ever, and New Jersey’s Flying Fish Brewery is one of the state’s largest specialty breweries. There’s also Washington’s Wild Salmon Organic Pale Ale, Florida’s Land Shark beer, Delaware’s Dogfish Head beer, and two versions of Stingray beer—a lighter version from the Cayman Islands and a dark beer from Canada.
The triangle fly is probably the most unusual of saltwater flies. It’s one of the few, if not only, flies tied to a treble hook. It’s also barely a fly at all, because hardly any material is used. It is complete after tying the two straw pearl twinkle flashes and the tiny tuft of natural squirrel, leaving an entire hook fully exposed. Incredibly this barebacked treble fly is a knockout when it comes to sea trout.

Read More