Two trips in a row and two nice Cobia. My Cobia Mojo is working great.  Looks like it will be a good Cobia season.  Even with the wind the Cobia bite is pretty good. Check out these two nice fish and lets get you one!

What a welcome, with the crazy weather this spring creek fishing for Redfish has been tough. I don’t think in my entire fishing career in Beaufort County I have had to fish so hard to catch Redfish.  Yesterday on my second Cobia trip of the year a triple header was a tremendous boost to my fishing mojo.  Cobia fishing inshore goes in cycles with not every year being good for Cobia fishing.  The past two seasons we have caught a few but not in the numbers that are possible.  Fishing yesterday was like the olden days, get to the spot, put out the chum, send a bait down and it was not long before a solid hook-up.  We netted the first fish kind of green and she put up quite a show on the side of the boat. We caught the second fish about 30 minutes later with a Whoopass Jig right beside the boat.  What a blast to see the fish behind the boat and drop the jig over and see the Cobia charge the bait.  Time to book your trip, if the early signs are correct, we should have another banner year.

Another mild winter and another frustrating time with the Redfish.  You would think with the clear water and mild temps the Redfish bite would be super, however, not the case most of the past month or so.  Times are a changing though, the water is still clear, the fish are still schooled up in huge schools and they are eating. Live minnows under a cork or free-lined along with the familiar Gulp Shrimp on a 1/4 jig bring some whopper Redfish to the line. Lots of fun to toss a live Mud Minnow in front of a school of several hundred fish and watch a 30″ Red go on the attack.  A few weeks left for this action, let’s go get them.  No worries though, the brown fish are just around the corner.

By all accounts if you did not make it out fishing during the month of October you missed the best inshore bite of Adults Red Drum that Hilton Head waters experienced for several years. The big boys and girls have moved offshore now but are in easy reach if the winds are light. The fishing can be outstanding sighting diving Gannets on bait with hundreds of hungry Red Drum holding below. A large jig dropped below the birds will produce an instant strike. No worries if you don’t like the big ones and venturing just offshore as on the inshore scene the creek Reds have started to school up on the flats. The Redfish are very aggressive and willing to take Gold Spoons, Whoopass Jigs, and of course Gulp Shrimp fished on a 1/4 ounce jig head. From now through March sight fishing the flats does not get any better anywhere, let’s go get them!

The Tarpon are here but most have lockjaw. Can’t put together the tide and the clients to fish for Tarpon. Plenty of time left though. Fishing the past several weeks has been tough with all the rain and then the wind. Now we have some big tides to contend with. No problem though, the running of the Bulls has started. Caught the first one of the season for us yesterday even though it was not the best tide situation. The Adult Reds will be around inshore for around the next 6 weeks. One spot is only about a mile from the dock, let’s go get them. You never know when some of those Silver fish might show with the Bull Redfish.

From the 1st picture below it looks like the watermelons are ripe. I have not hooked a Tarpon yet but I am seeing the large silver fish in their summer time haunts. The Redfish bite has been slow the past two weeks after coming on strong the middle of June.  However, if you are willing to keep trying spots some nice fish are willing bend the rod. Let’s go get some Gold, and if you are up to the challenge maybe a silver or two.

For a good while the Redfish were hard to find.  Times have changed, taking a break from Cobia fishing we searched the edges of the marsh grass for some slot Redfish.  Not everyplace produced but some old reliable spots produced plenty of action. Most of the Reds were over the slot but we did find some for the skillet. Mud minnows under a rattling cork fished way back in the grass in a foot or water or less  did the trick.  Cut Mullet and Gulp Shrimp also pleased the pallet of the frisky Reds.  The Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks are out in full force in the Cobia grounds making it extra hard to keep a bait down.  We did catch 2 nice Cobia this week but I did not get a picture.

I have only had a couple of trips to the Cobia grounds in the Broad River with no success yet, but May is the time of the year for the big brown bruisers to be on the prowl.  With the full moon this weekend this could be the best week of Cobia fishing for the year.  Redfish have been scarce the past month but they are finally settling into summer behavior patterns.  Also, on the flats are numerous large Lemon Sharks, might  be why the Redfish have been so spooky.  Let’s go get a Whopper, pick your target.

Are we having some great winter weather?  I don’t remember better weather for this time of year.  However, the Redfish I think are confused, they are not behaving like they normally do in the winter.  The fish are schooled up in large schools but not on the main river flats.  The Redfish are holding back  in the small feeder creeks that dump into the main rivers and sounds.  Easy to locate the schools once you know where to look but can be tough to catch because of the relatively warm weather harder to get close to and the fish move off faster once a fish is hooked.  If you don’t mind looking around some great sight fishing is available.  Schools of 20 to several hundred Redfish are swimming in the cool clear waters.  Gulp Shrimp rigged on a 1/4 ounce jig head is all you need  to bend a rod.  The long rod is also working with some expert boat handling with the fish eating small Clouser flies fished on the edges of oyster rakes.  Lots of good sight fishing days left this winter, let’s go get them.

The summer has flown by except for the heat.  Record heat days and for me as well a record number of large Redfish for the creeks. I have to admit the numbers of Redfish has not been great but the average size has been outstanding.  Many trips produced at least 1 Redfish over 30″.  Young Mike topped the bunch catching a Bonified Whopper 34″  the afternoon trip after we landed a thick 32″ Redfish on the morning outing.  The most pleasant surprise came near  the end of a morning trip that had been fairly slow when Sam landed a 10lb Tripletail that I spotted cruising the surface just off the grass line like a Cobia.  The fish nearly spooled the reel and jumped like a Tarpon.  Best eating I had all summer thanks to Sam sharing a nice fillet with me.

The good news is cooler weather is not far and with that comes the annual run of the Adult Reds in the rivers and sound.  Fish average near 40″ and can weigh over 30 lbs. You never know when a Tarpon might also snatch the bait and scream to the surface creating a monster hole in the ocean. More big fish pictures soon to follow.