April 9

Morning surface water temperatures are about 68 degrees at the mouth of Port Royal Sound but in the 70s in the creeks. Water clarity varies.

The inshore fishing has been up-and-down this week in Hilton Head, and Captain Kai Williams with Awesome Adventure Charters (843-816-7475) reports that fish basically seem to be feeding in little windows and flurries.  But then the bite will get tough, and for hours you can be chasing your tail.  Captain Kai thinks that’s mostly to do with the bait supply, and once temperatures get more stable and more mullet arrive fish will feed more consistently. There just isn’t a lot to eat right now.

In the creeks they have found decent action for redfish on shell flats and mud flats at low tide. Most of the time they are fishing in 2-4 feet of water, and crabs have actually been the best bait right now. 

In the same vein, Captain Trent Malphrus with Palmetto Lagoon Charters (843-301-4634) reports that he is finding much better redfish action at low tide – and only picking up sporadic fish at high tide when the bait and reds are spread out in the grass. On low tide he is fishing fast with swim baits to search for fish, then slowing down and working them with a jig when he finds them. For anglers less adept at casting artificials you can also fish cut mullet chunks or free-line finger mullet. Again, the key to locating fish is to find the still somewhat-rare areas that have bait schools. 

Captain Trent has not picked up any trout, despite fishing some likely spots with good baits, and is not yet seeing any sharks on the mud flats. 

In the rivers and sounds over live bottom areas Captain Kai reports that they are finding bull red drum and mature black drum. They are in about 40 feet of water and eating blue crab very well.

 

March 27

Morning surface water temperatures are about 62 degrees at the mouth of Port Royal Sound and water clarity varies.

The inshore bite has really taken off this week as water temperatures punch into the low 60s, and Captain Trent Malphrus with Palmetto Lagoon Charters (843-301-4634) reports that it’s all about finding the finger mullet. The arrival of finger mullet has the redfish feeding well, and locating feeding fish is basically about locating the finger mullet and cleaner water. For that reason he is doing a lot of riding and looking, because when you find them the bite is pretty outstanding.  

The best action has generally come on lower tides, as when the water is out of the grass the bait has to group up for protection. You can either anchor chunks of cut mullet or cast swim baits for the fish. So far Captain Trent has not been able to fish with live finger mullet because they all have fish on them and so he has not wanted to throw a net!

After a week out of town Captain Kai Williams with Awesome Adventure Charters (843-816-7475) was back on the water the last two days, and he was reminded that when you leave in the spring then come back it can feel like you’ve never fished before. The fish move so much, and can be so hard to pattern, that you really have to stay on them!

Luckily he eventually found a reliable dock pattern, and at low tide docks in about 8 feet of water have been producing redfish with live and dead shrimp. 

Neither captain has been targeting trout but it’s coming...

March 20

Morning surface water temperatures are about 60-61 degrees at the mouth of Port Royal Sound and the water is still clear.   

Even though the early morning inshore bite on the incoming tide has been slow this week, Captain Trent Malphrus with Palmetto Lagoon Charters (843-301-4634) reports that afternoon fishing on the outgoing tide has made up for it. By now he is mostly seeing individual fish instead of big schools, and casting swimbaits has been effective. Casting chunks of mullet in sparse grass is also working very well on higher dropping tides. 

So far there doesn’t seem to be much bait around, and Captain Trent has not started targeting trout yet. 

March 12 

Morning surface water temperatures are about 58 degrees at the mouth of Port Royal Sound and the water is still pretty clear, especially considering the big full moon tides.   

Thankfully the inshore fishing hasn’t changed much for Captain Kai Williams with Awesome Adventure Charters (843-816-7475) this week, and he reports that they are still finding big schools of large redfish on the low tide river flats over shell bottom. Today they caught 10 big ones on the late dropping tide with Zman Diesel MinnowZ, and Captain Kai expects to be able to count on this pattern for a few more weeks. Even though warmer temperatures will eventually disperse these fish it won’t happen all at once after a few warm days, and of course there will be intermittent fronts and cloudy, rainy weather to keep temperatures from rising too fast.     

The trout have been less predictable recently, and despite having live shrimp and fishing choice spots in the mouths of creeks on the outgoing and incoming tides they have not had any action. It’s actually been a couple of weeks since Kai’s boat has caught a trout.

But not so with the black drum and sheepshead, and the live bottom he has been fishing in the deeper waters of the Port Royal Sound continues to be very productive. Fishing 50 feet down on light tackle with live shrimp and fiddler crabs a 27-inch black drum puts up a pretty awesome fight, and they are also pulling up a fair number of whiting.  There are also still a good number of sheepshead and black drum on the nearshore reefs, but between fuel prices and wind the fish in the sound are more enticing right now. 

February 27

Morning surface water temperatures are about 54-55 degrees at the mouth of Port Royal Sound and the water is still pretty clear but starting to get a little stained.   

It’s a familiar inshore bite for Captain Kai Williams with Awesome Adventure Charters (843-816-7475) this week, and he reports that his boat is still having a good time with redfish on the low tide flats on mid to low tides. They are biting relatively well on white soft plastics jerkbaits like Zman StreakZ fished on a ¼ ounce jighead. 

There are also plenty of fish on structure like docks, but with a limited lifespan to the flats fishing Captain Kai is trying to avoid that as long as possible. 

While Captain Trent Malphrus with Palmetto Lagoon Charters (843-301-4634) is also still taking advantages of the big schools of reds that you can sight-fish for on the flats, he is also noticing that the fish are getting spookier as the water warms. When you hook one the whole school will often break up and it can take a while for them to settle again. 

In contrast, he is now finding the most targetable fish to be the reds that are now once again hanging around isolated patches of grass on higher tides. All winter long, perhaps because of the lack of mullet around, they have been devoid of life, but even though there are still no mullet on them they are loaded up with glass minnows. Captain Trent is getting to watch the reds feed on the minnows, and they have been taking swimbaits. If anglers aren’t good at casting then they will also take chunks of cut mullet.

The best part is that, unlike the flats fish, these redfish are so comfortable in their surroundings that when you hook up others will actually follow the fish out!

Neither angler is fishing deep enough for trout, but when water temperatures hit about 60 they will come into focus again.

Finally, Captain Kai reports that he is still catching sheepshead and black drum

over live bottom areas in deeper sections of the Port Royal Sound. Fiddler crabs are hard to beat, even though clams, shrimp, oysters and more will work right now, and tide doesn’t make a huge difference as long as it's a slower tide. You could also target these fish at nearshore reefs, but if you don’t have to go offshore then why would you?

February 13

Morning surface water temperatures are about 55 in the main rivers around Hilton Head and the water is still extremely clear. 

Looking for something a little different, but with weather limiting his ability to get offshore, this week Captain Kai Williams with Awesome Adventure Charters (843-816-7475) has been fishing inshore for sheepshead and black drum. He has been targeting them over live bottom areas in deeper sections of the Port Royal Sound, and the fish are a mix of keepers and just under-sized fish. Fiddler crabs are hard to beat, even though clams, shrimp, oysters and more will work right now, and tide doesn’t make a huge difference as long as it's a slower tide. 

On the flats they are still having fun targeting the big schools of redfish, including on the fly as well as with jigs. While it can still be called sight-casting, there has been so much foggy to overcast weather this week that sometimes it is about casting with educated guesses rather than actually seeing the fish – until a school blows up on a bait. The low outgoing tide has been best, and on higher tide it’s been a lot trickier to locate them riding and looking in the grass. 

That’s almost the exact same report from Captain Trent Malphrus with Palmetto Lagoon Charters (843-301-4634), who advises that he is still on about the same patterns as last week with the tweak that in the warmer temperatures he isn’t having to work baits quite as slowly. Instead of having to bump or drag a swimbait across the bottom he can now use a more normal retrieve. Mullet chunks have also been working well.

Again, Captain Trent is not having much success fishing the isolated grass patches on higher tides like he usually does in the winter and so it’s been almost exclusively a low tide bite. 

Finally, Captain Kai reports that he is not targeting trout but did catch one out of a school of redfish – on a crappie jig of all things! (the fish were finicky one day, so he down-sized with some success). He will be back on them in March. 

February 7

Morning surface water temperatures are back to about 52 in the rivers around Hilton Head and the water is still extremely clear. 

Even before the snow the inshore bite had really slowed down in the Hilton Head area, and then it got to be truly tough fishing when temperatures plummeted, but Captain Trent Malphrus with Palmetto Lagoon Charters (843-301-4634) reports that the bite has finally normalized. The action for redfish has gotten better each day.

For now it’s been almost exclusively a low tide bite, and while most winters Captain Trent has success fishing isolated grass patches on higher water this season they have been dead. He suspects it’s because there don’t seem to be mullet around like normal.

But the low tide bite has been a lot of fun, and instead of mega-schools Trent has a bunch of schools mostly with 30 fish or less. Jumping around has been pleasant and successful.

Natural baits would probably work, but his boat has been having success with swimbaits on a very slow retrieve. Tick the bottom and even drag the bait a little for best results.

Trent has not seen any trout since the snow, but he has also only been fishing shallow water.

Finally, check out this sheepshead that Captain Trent caught out of a school of reds on the fly during the snow!  

And even though it's a little older, we couldn't resist this redfish photo! 

January 29

Morning surface water temperatures are back to about 46 in the creeks around Hilton Head and the water is unseasonably clear – for a season when it’s normally fairly clear anyway!       

This week Captain Kai Williams with Awesome Adventure Charters (843-816-7475) has fished a few times since the snow, and he reports that there are a couple of inshore patterns going right now.  

You can catch redfish in around ten feet of water around holes and docks, particularly on the outgoing tide. They are biting Gulp! shrimp on jigheads fished very slowly. 

But the really fun way to fish in the super, super clear water is to look for the big schools of fish on the river flats. When they locate them in the morning they haven’t been feeding, but if you give the water a little time to warm up by the afternoon the fish will eat baits that are worked very, very slowly. You need to cast just ahead of the fish and allow them to swim to the baits, and it’s almost necessary to “dead-stick” lures right now. But the rewards can be great, and yesterday afternoon Captain Kai was able to catch fish on the flats by working flies extremely slowly. 

Finally, Kai notes that he hasn’t seen any trout since the snow but will be looking for them. 

January 15

Morning surface water temperatures are down to about 46 in the creeks around Hilton Head. The water is getting very clear.   

It’s gotten so cold that Captain Kai Williams with Awesome Adventure Charters (843-816-7475) reports that he bought a heater for his clients, which has been a big hit, but the inshore fishing has somehow remained good even in the brisk conditions. It’s all about the redfish right now, and Captain Kai reports that he is catching them in a bunch of different locations. Some are coming at the mouths of small feeder creeks on dropping tides, some are coming over white oysters on mid-tides in either direction, and some are coming around mud flats and docks on lower water. He is exclusively using artificial lures except when they are anchoring around docks and he is using mud minnows. 

That’s similar to the report from Captain Trent Malphrus with Palmetto Lagoon Charters (843-301-4634), who is very surprised by how much fish were still moving around yesterday even in the intense cold. The pattern is still the same, and at low water Captain Trent’s boat is targeting large schools on the flats. Swim baits and Gulp! shrimp on a jig have been working well, and about the only modification he has had to make is having clients really slow down their retrieve. You can also catch schooled up fish on cut mullet. 

At high water the schools are staying together, and fish are holding in isolated grass patches and not moving as much or feeding as well as on lower water. When they are in this mood then casting mullet chunks in and around the grass has been the best way to approach them. 

While neither angler is pursuing trout in these cold conditions, Captain Kai points out that he hasn’t seen any dead trout and so he’s hopeful that temperatures have dropped slowly enough that they have been able to adapt. 

January 9

Morning surface water temperatures are about 53 in the creeks around Hilton Head and dropping. The water is getting very clear.   

This is fast becoming a favorite time of year to fish inshore for Captain Trent Malphrus with Palmetto Lagoon Charters(843-301-4634), who reports that the visual prospect of getting to watch large schools of redfish move in black clouds across the mud flats on low tide is incredible.  The fish are definitely acting differently as it gets really cold, and the reds are now allowing boats to get close to them without spooking as easily. Swim baits have been working best for Captain Trent, with a slow retrieve, and Gulp! shrimp on a jig have also been good.

At high water the schools are staying together, and fish are holding in isolated grass patches and not moving as much or feeding as well as on lower water.  When they are in this mood then casting mullet chunks in and around the grass has been the best way to approach them.

January 8

Morning surface water temperatures are around 54 in the creeks around Hilton Head, but dropping. The water is pretty clear even with the wind and some big tides recently. 

The inshore bite around Hilton Head has been better than expected recently for Captain Kai Williams with Awesome Adventure Charters (843-816-7475), and Captain Kai reports that they have been catching a fair number of big trout at the mouths of small creeks that pour into the Broad River on the dropping tide. While live shrimp would certainly work they have been having success with soft plastic shrimp under a popping cork. 

Unfortunately, with the coming cold snap Kai doesn’t expect to be able to lean on the trout as much and instead expects the redfish bite to see them through the next couple of weeks. Fortunately the action for reds has been very good, and so far they have been very aggressive. Huge wads of fish up to about 33 inches are schooled up on the flats, and they will take anything including a fly that gets put in front of them. While they will almost certainly get more lethargic, they should continue to bite.

They are also picking up some redfish dock fishing, throwing minnows or cut mullet around pilings. And there are also a fair number of good sheepshead still around deeper docks with 5-15 plus feet of water. These fish seem to move up and down with the temperatures but there is enough depth to hold them in the winter.