Capt. Rod Thomas is catching the big redfish he’s supposed to be catching in mid-August, but not where he’s supposed to be catching them.
Thomas, who operates Capt. Ponytail’s Guide Service out of Georgetown, said that instead of being all over the Winyah Bay jetties, the majority of reds are being caught in the area around and behind North Inlet, including the extensive marshes around Jones Creek that connect the North Inlet area to Winyah Bay.
“July was a pretty rotten month for fishing up here, but the fish moved in around North Inlet two or three weeks ago. The jetties have been dead,” said Thomas (336-240-5649). “Now the fishing’s picking up, and the people are getting ready to leave.”
Thomas said he’s been picking up plenty of nice redfish, plus a few speckled trout and some big flounder, fishing a Carolina rig with live menhaden or finger mullet along the marsh banks and around the mouths of creeks and cuts. The exception has been that some of his better redfish have come on fresh cut bait.
“I had a 16-pounder (this past Wednesday), and we’ve caught a few more big ones,” Thomas said. “I think we didn’t have enough water in July, and a lot of fish moved well up in the rivers, but we’ve had a little more water moving in lately, and that salt-fresh line has moved back out toward the beach.”
Thomas said he’s run into a fairly good topwater bite early in the mornings over the past week to 10 days, with both redfish and trout hitting a Top Puppy, the smaller version of MirOLure’s Top Dog.
“But it’s pretty much been just standard marsh fishing,” he said.
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