Charleston fishing report for second week of June

Multiple species are on fire at the jetties

The Charleston fishing report for the second week of June keeps the recent trend going. The bite is just as hot now as it’s been all spring, and Capt. James LaVanway of Reel Fish Finder Charters doesn’t expect it to slow down anytime soon.

“You can catch just about everything at the jetties right now. We’re catching a lot of redfish of all sizes, some nice black drum, and some flounder. Good-sized black sea bass, sheepshead, lots of sharks, and ladyfish are in the mix too,” LaVanway said.

Fishing the jetties is pretty straight forward, he said. He uses the anchoring feature on his trolling motor to keep his boat situated. And he usually prefers to stay parallel to the jetties. Live shrimp and menhaden, as well as freshly dead shrimp and menhaden get him through each fishing trip.

LaVanway said anglers shouldn’t worry about casting too much. He’ll make a couple of casts out the back of the boat. Then he’ll drop a couple of other baits straight down.

“Especially if you’re casting out the side of the boat. You don’t need to make a cast at all — just drop your bait straight down until it hits the bottom. The fish out here are all around. You’ll have plenty of them right at the boat. Making long casts with more than a couple of rods will just result in you getting tangled up,” he said.

Beef up your gear, don’t be stingy with bait

Anglers also need not be shy about using pretty big gear, or loading up their hooks with lots of bait, he said.

“Even when I’m targeting slot-sized fish, I often use 8/0 hooks and at least 50-pound line. There are always some huge fish at the jetties, and you just never know when you’re going to hook one of them,” he said.

LaVanway said depending on the weather and the tide, one side of the jetties will be better than the other.

“You want to fish on the side with the cleanest water. That changes as the tide, wind, and other factors change. The cleaner the water you can find, the more luck you’ll have,” he said.

If there is one thing he cautions against, it’s sitting in an unproductive spot for very long.

“When you’re not catching anything, just move. You can slide down 20 yards and you’ll be in the fish, or it might take a few moves before you start catching them. There’s always fish at the jetties so if you’re not catching any, just a slight move can make a big difference,” he said.

Charleston fishing report includes huge black drum

When targeting big fish like bull reds, LaVanway (843-697-2081) will often load up a hook with three or four whole shrimp.

“You’ll be surprised at how many slot-sized fish will eat that. And you’ll catch a lot of trophy-sized fish that way too,” he said.

For anglers that want to specifically target trophy black drum, LaVanway said they’ll find them slightly away from the jetty walls in the deepest holes they can find. Large pieces of cut bait or a few large shrimp on a hook will entice them into biting.

“You can catch black drum up to 40 pounds and bigger in these deep holes away from the jetties. You need to have a venting tool to vent them, and you want to get them back in the water as soon as possible. One or two quick photos, then vent them, then release them. These are trophy fish and we need to protect them,” he said.