The happy coincidence of the fall mullet run and the movement of big, bull redfish out of their spawning areas has led to some great fishing on the outside edge of Bulls Bay.
Capt. Chris Wilson of FinAddict Charters in Charleston (843-224-7462) carried Adam Paul of GillznFinz.com and two other fishing buddies to the shoals outside Bulls Bay after Paul promised a shot at some huge redfish.
He kept his promise. Setting up at low tide in the mid-morning, the crew boated eight above-slot reds before heading back to Toler’s Cove Marina in the middle of the afternoon.
Paul, a former charterboat mate and captain who was brand manager for Sufix fishing lines before taking over the reins at GillznFinz three years ago, had stumbled on the big reds a half-dozen years ago. “We caught six fish that first day,” he said. “We had a 52-inch fish. The smallest was 28 pounds.”
Wednesday’s catch was eight bull reds. Three were between 46 and 50 inches long, two between 40 and 45 inches, and three more between 33 and 38 inches.
The fish hit live and cut finger mullet fished on a sliding “fish-finder” sinker rig and 6/0 circle hooks. All eight big reds were released alive.
“You set up early, at low tide, when there’s only six or eight inches of water on top of the sandbars, and the reds just push across the sandbar as the tide rises. Sometimes, only half their body is in the water,” Paul said.
The first sandbar produced a 24-pound, 46-inch redfish and a handful of sharks. Two or three more moves produced nothing but sharks, but a fourth move, to a sandbar with waves crashing over it, wound up locating the mother lode. In 45 minutes, the four fishermen boated the other seven reds, with one doubleheader — 46- and 36-inch fish on at the same time.
“When the tide starts coming in, it will push water over the sandbar, and the reds come running, eating the finger mullet,” Paul said. “You just hope when you hook up, you get them on your side of the deepwater. You hook them up on top and fight them in deep water.
“These fish have been in spawning and are heading back out to the reefs for the winter, and they’re voracious feeders after the spawn,” he said. “You’re toward the end of the mullet run when there aren’t as many sharks to compete, and the reds are here for the mullet.
“The bite lasts about a month. It usually starts about the middle of October — I think it was Oct. 17 the first time I caught ’em. It will last until about the middle of November, then the mullet will be gone and the reds will move out.”
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