The South Carolina Sportsman’s third annual fishing school was held Feb. 23 at Garrett Academy in North Charleston. Anglers from across the Palmetto State and beyond arrived around 8 a.m. to learn how to improve their fishing skills. Sponsors, magazine staff, charter captains and guides pooled their resources to provide a full day of information on the kind of proven fishing techniques that help saltwater anglers increase their chances for success.
Fourteen instructors conducted 36 1-hour classes on a Saturday when the seasons appeared trying to change from winter over to spring. Spring is a great time to break out your fishing tackle, or to be on the water when the baitfish return to the estuaries and when offshore species begin their northward migration.
Every angler attending the school received a T-shirt, a 1-year subscription to South Carolina Sportsman and a sample bag of saltwater tackle.
Captain John Lowder of Conway (www.niteranglercharters.com.) taught fishermen how to gig for flounder, a technique old-timers refer to as “graining.” Lowder showed a stainless-steel gigging spear, adding that the barbs could be filed for personal preference.
“Once you decide to stick the fish, you cannot release it, so you count on your barbs to be able to handle a flopping flounder,” he said.
Addressing the 14-inch minimum size limit for flounder, Lowder said to hold the 6-inch-wide gig over the fish and estimate the fish’s length.
The school stressed that all fishermen follow regulations and practice conservation when possible. In 2008, regulations changed to place the daily limit at 20 flounder per person per day, with a boat limit of 40 fish per day.
Lowder’s personal biggest flounder is a 32-inch fish that weighed slightly more than 13 pounds.
Capt. Chip Berry of Wilmington, N.C., the founder of MapsUnique ocean charts, gave revealing insight on ocean topography. He covered offshore topics such as Gulf stream current flow, depth changes, temperature breaks and the kind of knowledge that comes from a lifetime of bluewater fishing.
“When the gulf stream is following the Continental shelf along the Atlantic Bight in 500 to 600 feet of water, then that’s where the fishing is the best,” he said.
The Gulf stream is often diverted by underwater structure and splintered off into eddies of bluewater. They can be the key to finding fish, and Berry showed computer map images by Roff’s Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service, which provide the latest water temperature locations via satellite-image. Anglers attending the school were given a certificate for a free Roff’s oceanographic analysis chart to aid in planning their next offshore fishing trip.
Capt. Mark Phelps of ShoreThangCharters.com shared his fly-fishing expertise. He made sure everyone understood that weight-forward floating fly line is probably the easiest line to cast, since there is less water resistance when re-casting. Showing that fishing still excites him, Phelps spoke with fervor, saying, “Fly-fishing for sharks along the coast can be very fun, because sharks readily-charge and hit flies hard.”
When using the long rod for spot-tail bass in the grass, Phelps said that a long, accurate and fast cast will sometimes be required, but it mainly depends on the attitude of the fish. If fish are pressured, they get spooky, and shadows from false casts get them on the defensive. By contrast, if you get on a flat with more relaxed fish, you will get multiple casts, with it not being unheard-of to take a fish after as many as 10 tries.
A cooking demonstration conducted by Ty Conti, the magazine’s publisher, followed lunch. Conti, who co-authors the magazine’s recipe/cooking column, prepared Parmesan Encrusted Grouper.
First, he cut gag grouper filets into thick, 4-ounce pieces, running the filets through some flour and spices before coating them with breadcrumbs. An ample supply of butter coated his frying pan, but Conti said that health-conscious chefs could substitute olive oil.
After cooking the grouper, filets were removed. Conti added heavy cream, cheese and more butter to the skillet to make an Alfred sauce that was served over the grouper.
“Adding wine to your Alfred sauce is a matter of personal taste, but the dish itself goes well with either a red or white table wine at dinner,” said Conti, who welcomes reader recipes at Tycontizz@embarqmail.com
Capt. Todd Stamps of MyFish.com was prepared to divulge names when it came to his favorite baits for speckled trout. He likes the Bite-A-Bait lure in black and silver with a burgundy stripe, fishing it with no weight so it lands with no splash. He also mentioned Rapala’s new X-Rap Subwalk, and the Exude “funky chicken” worm rigged with a gold-spinner.
He stressed using a light rod because, “Trout are very soft-mouthed, like a crappie.” Stamps also covered the knots that work best for him, including the Snell, Albright and Uni-knots.
Capt. Adam Paul of GillzNFinz.com addressed billfishing and brought some of the tackle that he has battle-tested. He likes abalone-colored Cabo-Shaker rigs, saying they get the fish excited and that’s what it takes to draw a strike. He covered dredge rigs, squid chains and bumper-teasers as ways to fool billfish into thinking that bait schools were available for them to thrash.
After a marlin strikes, Paul said, “You feed him line after the strike and let him really take it before setting the hook hard a few times, driving the hook into their hard mouth.”
Other topics covered were knot-tying, inshore and offshore trolling, offshore bottom-fishing, trailers, working with wire, spadefish, redfish, cobia, hooks, kite fishing, chumming, sheepshead, surf fishing, travel tips, boating safety, king mackerel, bait rigging, marine electronics, and even how to throw a cast net.
Capt. Jerry Dilsaver, the magazine’s special-events coordinator and director of the school, gave away door prizes, capped by the grand prize, a trip for two to Jensen Beach, Fla., with Capt. Mark Nichols of DOA Lures. Mike Haggie of Little River was the winner.
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