04-26-2007, 06:26 PM
Many people will tell you that learning to fish the inlets takes many years of trial and error. Learning the tides, knowing what creeks you can go in and when you can go in them. Learning the holes and what fish are where. Learning where the submerged oyster beds and sand bars are. There are many factors that play a role in being successful in the creeks of inlets. Any joe blow can take a john boat out and catch pinfish and spots fishing on the bottom. But, learning how to target specific species, like redfish and trout, take a certain level of mastery.
Flounder fishing is pretty basic, and is usually centered around the same tactics as targeting them along reef structure or in open water. I've found the in comming and high tides to be the best for flounder, as well as the other species of fish in the creeks. The most effective way to target Flounder is to set up a drift with the in comming tide. Use a carolina rig with a Kahle or wide bend hook. Live mud minnows are readily availible at most tackle stores, but when the mullet start to run, they are equally as good, not to mention free VIA a couple tosses from a cast net. Other excellent baits for flounder are small pinfish, whiting, or croakers. I actually prefer the last three mentioned over mullet or mud minnows. Bull red drum also find small pinfish to be quite tastey. [cool] The most difficult task when drifting for flounder is determining a bite from a snag. LOL, sometimes it's hard to tell when you're drifting over oyster beds. Make sure and use as light an egg sinker as you can. I like nothing over a 1 oz if I can help it. Alot of times i'll use a 1/2 oz. Steel leader isn't necessary for flounder as thier teeth are gapped so far appart, they can't bite you off. Thier teeth are long and pointy, not stuby and serrated like, say a blue fish. You can also still fish for flounder, and though effective at times, doesn't produce the numbers that drifting does. YOu may find yourself having to still fish during a dead tide. This is no biggie. I head strait for the deepest hole I can find. Along with flounder, you may find black drum, red drum, and speckled trout. If you try a hole, make sure and bring some live shrimp. When I fish a hole, i'll usually put out a few different lines just to see what's hanging around. I'll put a live shrimp out on a popping bobber, usually about 2 or 3' deep. Next, i'll put a live minnow on a carolina rig out on the bottom. Then, I might bait up a standard two hook drop rig and toss it out on the bottom. Once you find out what's there(there's almost always something in a hole), change everything else up to match, or just rig up your extra poles and leave the oddballs out just in case.
Some anglers sight cast for red drum, but that's something that isn't done very often around here. I know alot of anglers along the florida and La coast do alot of sight casting for big reds.
Spots make a big fall run here in SC, and they are alot of fun to catch, as well as a prized target species for those with a taste for fish and a smaller boat. It's easy to find them. Just look for all the boats huddled up in a creek mouth, LOL, anchor off right in the middle of them. It's not uncommon to see a couple anglers arrive at the dock with a couple 5 gallon buckets full of spots, caugth in just a couple of hours. The most common used bait for these little fellas is bloodworms. However, there is a new synthetic bait out now that works better than any other bait i've ever seen. The only problem is that it's like 7 bucks for a tiny little pack. I'll pay for it, but I like to catch fish more than I like to save money. [cool]
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Flounder fishing is pretty basic, and is usually centered around the same tactics as targeting them along reef structure or in open water. I've found the in comming and high tides to be the best for flounder, as well as the other species of fish in the creeks. The most effective way to target Flounder is to set up a drift with the in comming tide. Use a carolina rig with a Kahle or wide bend hook. Live mud minnows are readily availible at most tackle stores, but when the mullet start to run, they are equally as good, not to mention free VIA a couple tosses from a cast net. Other excellent baits for flounder are small pinfish, whiting, or croakers. I actually prefer the last three mentioned over mullet or mud minnows. Bull red drum also find small pinfish to be quite tastey. [cool] The most difficult task when drifting for flounder is determining a bite from a snag. LOL, sometimes it's hard to tell when you're drifting over oyster beds. Make sure and use as light an egg sinker as you can. I like nothing over a 1 oz if I can help it. Alot of times i'll use a 1/2 oz. Steel leader isn't necessary for flounder as thier teeth are gapped so far appart, they can't bite you off. Thier teeth are long and pointy, not stuby and serrated like, say a blue fish. You can also still fish for flounder, and though effective at times, doesn't produce the numbers that drifting does. YOu may find yourself having to still fish during a dead tide. This is no biggie. I head strait for the deepest hole I can find. Along with flounder, you may find black drum, red drum, and speckled trout. If you try a hole, make sure and bring some live shrimp. When I fish a hole, i'll usually put out a few different lines just to see what's hanging around. I'll put a live shrimp out on a popping bobber, usually about 2 or 3' deep. Next, i'll put a live minnow on a carolina rig out on the bottom. Then, I might bait up a standard two hook drop rig and toss it out on the bottom. Once you find out what's there(there's almost always something in a hole), change everything else up to match, or just rig up your extra poles and leave the oddballs out just in case.
Some anglers sight cast for red drum, but that's something that isn't done very often around here. I know alot of anglers along the florida and La coast do alot of sight casting for big reds.
Spots make a big fall run here in SC, and they are alot of fun to catch, as well as a prized target species for those with a taste for fish and a smaller boat. It's easy to find them. Just look for all the boats huddled up in a creek mouth, LOL, anchor off right in the middle of them. It's not uncommon to see a couple anglers arrive at the dock with a couple 5 gallon buckets full of spots, caugth in just a couple of hours. The most common used bait for these little fellas is bloodworms. However, there is a new synthetic bait out now that works better than any other bait i've ever seen. The only problem is that it's like 7 bucks for a tiny little pack. I'll pay for it, but I like to catch fish more than I like to save money. [cool]
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