Edisto 40 Reef’s bottom-fishing great

Reef is 6.5 miles from North Edisto Sea Buoy

Anglers fishing out of marinas in South Carolina’s Lowcountry can make a day of it at the Edisto 40 reef. There’s a mixed bag of everything from black sea bass to gag grouper to spadefish. And, according to guide Buddy Bizzell, anglers should also keep a lookout for cobia.

“You’ll catch a lot of big, black sea bass here this time of year, but fishing on the bottom, you’ll also catch grouper, grunts and spadefish,” said Bizzell (803-603-2781). “And when you start reeling up a number of fish, cobia will often appear on the surface. It’s like they’re curious about why those other fish are going to the surface.”

Once at the surface themselves, cobia will hang around in the shade the boat produces. They’ll often quickly snatch a bait or lure thrown to them.

“They’re curious and don’t mind activity going on around them, but they are a little spooky, too. You don’t want to cast directly at them,” said Bizzell, who likes to collect some jelly balls before heading to the reef. He’ll string a few together and lower them down to the reef, then slowly reel them up, little by little, while putting cut bait on the bottom for the black sea bass, grouper and whatever else will bite.

In time, he’ll have the jelly balls just below the surface where he can see if spadefish are pecking at them. He’ll leave them in place even if no fish are around, and he’ll toss other pieces of cut jelly balls into the water.

Prepare to catch a mixed bag of species

“If the spadefish are there, they’ll show up under those jelly balls,” he said. “They’ll eat the strips I toss out. And then, we’ll put some of those strips on a hook. The spadefish will take it right away. And they’ll give anglers a fight they’ll never forget.”

If spadefish don’t show up, the black sea bass and other bottomfish will fill the time. Bizzell uses at least 30-pound line and enough weight to carry the bait down. He puts his cut bait on a No. 2 hook and prepares for anything.

And when those cobia show up, he drops a bait or lure within their eyesight and hopes for the best.

“Some days, they’ll just stare at it. Other days, they’ll follow it but never bite it. And then on some days, they’ll bite it as soon as they see it,” he said.

Bizzell said one option that works well is to cast a 1 1/2-ounce bucktail away from the cobia, then retrieve it until you see the fish notice it.

“When it notices that lure, open the bail and let the lure drop,” he said. “This mimics a baitfish swimming away scared, which is what the cobia would expect to see. Sometimes, that will trigger them to chase it down and devour it when they aren’t taking it otherwise.”

The Edisto 40 reef is approximately 6.5 miles from the North Edisto sea buoy. It consists of 1,200 tons of miscellaneous concrete.