Hit the Georgetown jetties for hot summer bull redfish action
The Georgetown jetties out of Winyah Bay on the south end of South Carolina’s Grand Strand give up numerous species of fish throughout the year. But from summer to late fall, the hottest bite going is for bull redfish.
These fish — redfish that are anywhere from 3-years-old to 40-years-old — hit the jetties in big numbers as they move from their inshore breeding grounds and stage up to make a run offshore for the winter. They gorge themselves on baitfish as they wait for conditions to tell them it’s time to hit the open ocean.
Capt. Rod “Ponytail” Thomas fishes in numerous places throughout the year, going where the bite is the hottest. And this time of year, Winyah Bay is where you’ll find him.
“These jetties are just loaded with bull reds this time of year. It’s tough to think of a place in the Carolinas where such a large concentration of fish that are willing to bite throughout the day that is any better than these rocks,” said Thomas.
The toughest part of most days for Thomas (336-240-5649) is finding enough good, quality bait to last a full day of fishing here. He likes using large cut chunks of mullet. And what you’ll find in most bait stores is simply too small for his liking.
Big baits, big fish
“What I use for bait, the size eliminates catching the majority of undesireable species. We’ll catch an occasional shark and maybe even luck up into hooking a tarpon every now and then. But the majority of the bites we get on these large chunks of bait are bull redfish,” said Thomas.
He catches his own bait with a cast net in Winyah Bay’s inshore waters before heading out to the jetties. Then he points his Avenger bay boat toward the jetties and finds a good place to anchor down.
“On some days, the conditions might concentrate a great number of fish into a relatively small area out here. But on most days this time of year, as long as you’ve got fresh bait and enough weight to keep it on the bottom, you’re going to get bit regularly enough,” he said.
The Georgetown jetties are basically two walls of large piles of rocks that extend far into the ocean. On some days, the bite is better on one side of those walls than the other. On other days, it doesn’t seem to matter. Thomas lets the weather, wind and the tide determine where he tries first.
“Once you figure out how the current and wind is pushing the boat, you can toss out your anchor. I like to be a cast away from the jetty wall. These fish, on some days, will run tight to the jetties. But on other days, they’ll be a bit off of them. So anchoring a cast away, we can drop our baits right along the wall. And we can also cast out the other side of the boat, putting those baits away. Then we just see where the bites come from and concentrate on that direction,” he said.
On some trips, that means Thomas stays in the main channel between the North and South jetties. Other times, he anchors up outside the main channel.
Stout gear is required for bull redfish
When it comes to gear, Thomas goes heavy. Spinning reels in the 6500 to 7500 range are good, and he spools them with 60-pound braided line. At the business end is a very short, 100-pound leader with an 8/0 circle hook. A 3-ounce weight keeps the bait down.
Boat rods with medium-heavy and heavy ratings are standard. Catching 30 to 40 pound redfish is not uncommon. And considerably heavier ones sometimes bite as well.
These fish don’t come in especially easy, however, using gear any lighter would mean a much longer fight, which would be much worse on the fish.
“The quicker you can land them, the more strength they have when you release them. Using light gear would really stress them out and make them easy targets for sharks when you release them,” Thomas said.
Occasionally, a bull redfish will have trouble swimming away. But Thomas has a solution for that.
“It’s somewhat rare, but every so often, one of these fish will just go belly up as soon as you release them. I pull them back on board, lay them on their side, and put the hose of my raw water washdown in their mouth. Then I just run water until it starts foaming out of their gills and they start moving their gill plates. It really helps revive them and then you can slip them back in and they’re good to go. It’s the best way to release a worn-out fish. It works like a charm,” he said.
Healthy releases are important, Thomas said, because these bulls are the breeders that keep the entire inshore stock of slot-sized redfish in good shape.
“Some of these fish are as much as 40-years-old. So they’ve made the trek from offshore to inshore and back dozens of times.
“These are true trophy fish, and the last thing we want to do is kill them. It’s an honor for anglers to get the chance to catch them. Just to think about what these fish have seen in their lifetimes is amazing. Their population is healthy and we want to keep it that way,” he said.
Multiple rods, multiple hookups
Once Thomas is anchored up, he baits up six rods, casts them out, then puts the rods in rod holders.
“The more bait you have in the water, the better your chances of hooking up,” he said. “And when you’ve got multiple anglers on board, double- and triple-hookups are a lot of fun.
“On unusually slow days, having numerous rods out can mean the difference between a mediocre day and a good day. On other days it really doesn’t matter, because with even one rod out, you’re going to get bit.”
Thomas starts off with four rods facing the jetty. Their baits are fairly close to the jetty wall. He puts another two on the other side of the boat.
“It doesn’t take long for you to figure out where the hot bite is coming from that day. And on some days, they’re biting in every direction. We will see boats 100, 200 yards away from us and they’re into them just as thick as we are,” he said.
Don’t overlook artificials for bull redfish
Cut bait is definitely the go-to choice here. But Thomas said when the bite is especially strong, artificial lures fished under popping corks can add a little extra to a trip.
“This is a really popular tactic in North Carolina’s Pamlico Sound. But I don’t see many anglers using it in Winyah Bay yet. It’s a lot of fun catching them like this,” said Thomas.
He ties an 18- to 24-inch leader under a popping cork and finishes it off with a heavy jighead and a long soft plastic grub.
“Catching a bull redfish on the bottom is a lot of fun. And catching one on a popping cork just below the surface kicks it up a notch. It’s also good when you have anglers that prefer to be more active than just waiting on a bite,” he said.
Thomas said anglers need to work this rig very aggressively, making lots of noise and imparting a good deal of action to the lure.
“You need to pop it real hard, very aggresively. Make lots of noise and get that lure really moving. When a bull red hits this, it’s a bite you’ll never forget, and the start of fight you’ll never forget,” he said.
All summer long
This bite starts off and ends at slightly different times each year, but Thomas said it’s a sure-thing during the summer months.
“Some years, these fish gather here in late spring and leave in the early fall,” he said. “Other years, they show up a little later, early in the summer and stay until Thanksgiving,
“It’s generally very consistent throughout the summer and into at least the early fall.”
Owen Lupton rig
When fishing for bull redfish, Capt. Rod Thomas always uses an Owen Lupton rig, which is required during certain months in some parts of North Carolina. It is sometimes referred to as a Carolina Drum rig.
The rig consists of a swivel and a short (3 inches or less), heavy leader of mono or fluorocarbon finished with a circle hook. An egg weight is threaded onto that leader and either doesn’t slide at all or slides very little due to the short length of the leader.
This rig is known to drastically reduce the frequency with which redfish are deep-hooked.
“With long leaders, the fish will often swallow the bait (and hook) completely. But with this short Owen Lupton rig, the fish feels the weight almost immediately after taking the bait into its mouth. So it stops when it feels the weight and begins to swim off. The weight helps the circle hook embed itself into the corner of the mouth,” Thomas said.
While it’s not required in South Carolina, and only under certain circumstances in North Carolina, Thomas said he uses it any time he fishes for bull redfish, no matter where he is fishing.
“It’s a North Carolina thing. And it just isn’t popular in South Carolina yet, but it should be. It’s a great rig. It’s got a high hookup ratio and a very low deep-hooking ratio,” he said.
Anglers new to the rig often worry about losing fish that are scared off by the weight. But Thomas said if that happens at all, it’s too infrequently to notice. He also said he’d rather lose an occasional trophy fish than to catch, but gut hook, a single one.
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