Border Reds

Calabash and Little River are good places to find winter puppy drum, but be sure to have proper licenses.

“See where that oyster rock trails down into this pool?” said Capt. Mark Dickson, pointing at the jutting pile of exposed oysters about 40 feet away.

“Cast to it and let your bait roll down and sit on the bottom for a little bit. This water is cold, but I’m pretty sure there are some fish here.

“Your shrimp tumbling down the edge of the oyster rock should get one’s attention and if it lays there for a few seconds, sort of like it’s stunned, one will probably go over and pick it up.”

While Dickson’s directions were precise, the cast wasn’t. The gloves, even though fingerless, weren’t natural and with the handicap of them and the heavy coat the cast fell a little short.

As the ring created by the 1/8-ounce jig head and Gulp shrimp landing on the water spread across the solitary creek, Dickson was coaching.

“That’s not perfect, but it’s probably close enough,” he said. “Let it sink and sit there a minute. I’ve been catching fish in this creek for a few weeks and don’t think anything has happened to make them move. Mr. Redfish should come calling pretty soon.”

This was the first cast of the day and anticipation was running high. Dickson (Shallow Minded Inshore Charters, 843-280-7099, www.fishmyrtlebeach.com) has an excellent success rate with winter redfish in the Calabash/Little River area and his optimism was contagious. Seconds seemed like hours, but shortly a fish struck.

The pickup was a solid thump that resonated up the braided line. The little spinning reel whirred as the fleeing fish spun the spool while taking line against the drag down the small creek. Dickson grinned widely.

“He’ll probably stay in this pool,” Dickson said. “So just keep him hooked and wear him out.”

After a few spirited runs in the cold water, the feisty red stopped but began rolling and refused to quit. Eventually he expended his energy and was led to the net. Dickson bent over and removed the jighead from the fish’s mouth.

“Do you want a picture of this one?” he said. “He isn’t particularly large, and if you’re not going to take his picture, I’m not going to handle him any more.”

When I shook my head that I wouldn’t take a picture of this fish, Dickson eased him back into the water. The spunky red shot into the depths of the pool. Dickson laughed and thanked the fish for splashing him as it rushed off.

“We’re fortunate that these fish stay in here most of the winter,” Dickson said. “If it gets real cold, they’ll be hard to find, but in mild winters like we’ve had the past few, they usually warm up enough around low tide to bite for a while.

“If we get a few sunny days in a row, they sometimes even turn on at the jetties. When it happens out there during the winter, it affects all the fish and we often get a trout bite.

“Folks used to think our fishing played out sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas and didn’t come back until the spring. Now, it’s surprising some days just how many folks chase reds and trout during the winter.

“I’m surely not complaining about it.”

Dickson is on the water regularly, even when not fishing for hire. He said once he finds a school of fish, they rarely move unless harassed. And he enjoys just being out and looking.

He works the last couple of hours of the falling tide and the first few hours of the rising tide and explores creeks that have a few inches of water at low tide. This time helps him find pools that hold fish but are where many fishermen don’t venture.

While he uses a combination of his Triton Bay Boat and a small technical poling skiff for complete access, Dickson occasionally leads willing clients to redfish so far back in the marsh even the ultra-shallow 5-inch draft of the technical skiff won’t always get across the bars.

When clients are willing, they can hike to fish that only see lures a couple of times a month. We did for a while this day and were rewarded with several scrappy reds.

Dickson said the Sunset Beach Bridge typically is a winter hot spot, but with the ongoing construction of the new bridge, the Sunset span hadn’t been as reliable as in past years.

He checks out the creeks off the (Intracoastal) Waterway and even little coves along the Waterway. Water that warms to comfortable temperatures during the day and food are all redfish are looking for during the winter. When he finds these conditions, he usually discovers nearby redfish.

Dickson fishes a mixture of live baits and soft plastics for winter drum. As long as shrimp and mullet minnows are available, they’re excellent baits. However, after Thanksgiving the primary live-bait option is mud minnows.

Dickson often tempts slow-moving winter fish into biting by putting two mud minnows on the same hook, a light jig head. He also uses Carolina rigs.

Something about mud minnow struggles against a light jighead hook is irresistible to cold drum.

Another trick he employs is to use fresh-frozen shrimp. He gathers shrimp each fall and freezes them in water in a small container. He leaves the heads attached, hooks these shrimp in the tail and casts them to the base of an oyster rock or shell bank. He lets the shrimpsit while fan-casting a grub from his boat.

“If we get a winter day with bright sunshine and warm enough the fiddler crabs come out, there isn’t a better bait,” Dickson said. “I use a Carolina rig with an Eagle Claw series 42 hook in Size 4 and cast them to the bases of oyster rocks and shell banks, like with the shrimp.

“If I’ve done my homework and am where the fish are, it’s just a matter of getting them turned on — and that rarely takes more than a few minutes with live fiddler crabs in the winter.”

For soft plastics, Dickson prefers Berkley Gulp and other scented baits. He said the attraction of the scent should not be underestimated. In clear water he prefers green colors, like the natural shrimp. When the water is darker or dirtier he switches to motor oil and new penny colors. The key to success with these lures is fishing them slowly, allowing scent to work through the water and entice the fish to bite. He often pauses to a dead-stick (no movement) lures.

Redfish, plus occasional trout bite in the waters near the N.C./S.C. border during winter.

The key to finding them is spending time on the water and being willing to get off the beaten path. Once an angler locates puppy drum, having the patience to get them excited enough to bite in the cooler water becomes a major key to a successful trip.