# 52237: Subject: Shallow Saltwater Report, South Carolina

Submitted by Delta Guide Service (ip 24.88.84.56)

• Fished on 6/30/2004

• Report received: 7/15/04

Water Temperature: 83
Water Clarity: Good
Seas: Moderate
Weather: Hot
Fishing_for: red drum & sea trout
Boat: Hewes 18' flats boat
captain: Gene Dickson

Report:
South Carolina Shallow Saltwater Fishing Report 06-01-04 through 06-30-04

June started hot and stayed that way all month. It was also windy, but not so bad it really hurt the fishing. As is normally the case, the fishing was hot or cold. We had quite a few days with over 10 reds and one day with 23. However, most days we caught about 2 to 5 reds. We’ve also had quite a few sharks, some small, and some pretty big ones. A couple of good sized hammer heads, a bunch of bonnet heads, and several big sand sharks were caught on live bait at the jetties. We caught some reds, but only a couple of the 20 pound plus ones. Most were from 8 to 15 pounds. We’ve caught some on top water baits such as Zara Spooks and Zara Puppies. It seems that early in the morning and late afternoon produce best for the top water baits. We had one good day with a fly rodder, he caught 5 nice reds in the 4 to 7 pound size. The old favorite clouser was the fly that caught the fish that trip. We’re using a lot of live bait now such as mullet and menhaden and are fishing them on the bottom, and under rattle floats and both ways seem to work good. The reds have so much food available that it’s hard to find one that isn’t already full of shrimp or some other bait. The shrimp are about as big around as a pencil, so, they make a good meal, and they aren’t big enough to be really fast yet. The mullet minnows must have hatched late again this season because most of the ones we find are still small. Menhaden are easy to find one day, and vanish the next. We think it’s because we have frequent rain storms and they drop so much fresh water in a short period of time, it changes the salinity. At least that’s what we think. I mentioned in our last report that the sea trout numbers have been depressed again this year and that the weather patterns seem to be one of the problems. Since we can’t do anything about the weather, except complain, do you guys, who fish for them often, think we should do something about the bag limits and or size limits? It just seems to me that we should do something rather than sit back and do nothing. If you have some thoughts, pro or con, please send them to my email address.

Good fishing!

Gene Dickson Delta Guide Service http://www.deltaguideservice.com/index.html Georgetown, SC 843-546-3645

To add a remark to this report click here.