Clear water has meant good fishing for speckled trout in the Charleston area this past week. The only part of the deal that isn’t easy is finding the clear water.
Capt. Rawling Pratt-Thomas of Charleston Inshore Fishing Charters said that trout bite has been very good this week, as long as you can find clear, moving water. And that has meant fishing in Charleston Harbor the last two hours of the incoming tide and first two hours of the outgoing tide.
“The water coming in from the rivers has been stained; you’ve got the last two hours of the tide coming in and first two of the tide going out,” said Pratt-Thomas (843-834-1061). “The rest of the time, it looks like a chocolate milkshake.”
Pratt-Thomas has had most of his success fishing live shrimp, either on a split-shot rig or under a Lowcountry Lightning cork – but deeper than usual.
“We’ve been fishing them five or six feet deep – sometimes eight feet deep,” he said. “They’re been right on the edge of the dropoff into the creek channel.”
Most of the trout he’s been catching have been between 15 and 16 inches long, with an occasional 17- or 18-inch fish showing up. They’ve been holding around oyster rocks or any sharp bend in as grassline along the marsh edge.
“We’ve been just pitching that float and shrimp in there and seeing what happens,” Pratt-Thomas said.
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