Brackish water is productive for redfish in March
Spring brings anglers and outdoor lovers out of hiding. And when the warm breezes roll in, nothing beats cashing in on great fishing along the Carolina coast.
The spring bite is unique, featuring both freshwater and saltwater options. And in some cases, the action is great along the freshwater/saltwater dividing line. In the waters around Georgetown, S.C., the spring redfish bite can be a real page-turner and one not to miss.
Redfish, aka spot-tailed bass or puppy drum, are the Southeast’s most-popular inshore gamefish for many reasons. For one, they are good on the dinner table. For another, these bronzed beauties are one of the most-exhilarating fish to chase on hook and line. And redfish are extremely tolerant of freshwater, which enables them to venture upstream into brackish-water lairs sometimes dozens of miles from the ocean.
But it takes the right estuary system to provide the habitat and adequate food resources to enable these fish to become brackish-water bandits, traveling miles from their saltwater roots. One of these unique ecosystems surrounds Georgetown.
The Georgetown estuary system is unique. But it’s still similar to a few other systems along the coast of the Carolinas, featuring a massive amount of river-fed water. The Cape Fear, Neuse, Broad, Savannah and Cooper rivers provide unique opportunities in these types of brackish-water fisheries for redfish.
Find the sweet spot and you’ll catch plenty of redfish
Jordan Pate of Carolina Guide Service, a veteran inshore guide in the Georgetown area, is known for catching big tarpon, gator speckled trout and all the bronzed beauties a man can ask for.
Pate loves to target redfish upstream from the freshwater/saltwater dividing line in Georgetown County.
“It’s a real dynamic fishery. Reds are very tolerant of freshwater, and it can take you anywhere from several miles below the US 17 bridge to over a dozen miles above,” Pate said. “The fish move up and down the river based on the salinity and the amount of freshwater flowing downriver. There is a sweet spot in salinity, but we don’t always know where that is on any given day.”
With millions of gallons of water coming downstream each day, a change in velocity and volume can shift and move the bait and reds to different areas. Essentially, redfish are following the bait. So they will be in places where it is best suited for baitfish to live.
Pate emphasizes that fish are typically in the same reaches of the rivers, just above the freshwater/saltwater dividing line. But they can move well upstream and can fall downstream closer to the ocean with major changes in salinity due to the lack of rain in the watershed or flood conditions.
Even slight changes can make big differences for redfish
During normal conditions, a slight change in flow can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
“My favorite time is when we get an inch or two of nearby rainfall, where you get localized runoff,” Pate said. “Every little creek and ditch start streaming into the river, firing the redfish up. It makes them congregate more, and we will have some ‘lights-out’ days when you catch it right.”
The Lowcountry habitat is one of Pate’s favorite characteristics of these lower river reaches. They are lined with living and dead cypress trees, docks, riprap and historic rice trunks — ditches cut into rice fields with dikes that could be opened or closed to flood or drain the fields. The lower Georgetown area was historically famous for rice production, and the remnant rice fields are still quite abundant, creating a unique habitat feature that congregates baitfish and reds.
“I bounce around from creek mouths, rice field trunks, cypress trees, drains and anything that will hold bait,” he said. “When I find a consistent pattern that is holding fish, I find more of the same and target those areas. But it can change when the bait moves around or the salinity changes with water flow.”
Low tide can be unbeatable for reds this time of year
Even though these areas typically contain brackish water, they are in areas directly affected by the tides. And the fishing opportunities will shift as they rise and fall. Pate likes the lower half of the tide to target reds in the rivers.
“Basically, I stay away from high water. I fish on both sides of the low tide, and I shift to different banks, depending on the wind direction,” he said.
The Georgetown area is made up of four major rivers — the Waccamaw, Pee Dee, Black and Sampit — with the Waccamaw being the biggest and one of Pate’s favorite places to target brackish-water redfish. But wind direction can make a huge difference in where he decides to fish.
“The wind can make for poor conditions in certain areas,” he said. “I prefer a north wind on a falling tide and a south wind on a rising tide. I basically fish areas the wind doesn’t make difficult to fish.”
An unfavorable wind will make fishing conditions rough by discoloring the water and making unstable conditions, unfavorable for fishing.
It’s easy to pick lures for redfish in brackish waters, and bass fisherman are right at home in these waters, because flashy lures that produce a lot of vibration are excellent choices. Pate prefers gold spoons, spinnerbaits, Chatterbaits, and weedless soft plastics.
“Chatterbaits and spinnerbaits are nasty in the river,” he said. “They put off a great deal of vibration, and the fish will pounce all over them. But they are often holding tight to structure, and something you can fish around structure is a necessity.”
DESTINATION INFORMATION
HOW TO GET THERE — The brackish waters around Georgetown, S.C., are accessible from several public boat ramps in the area, including the South Island Ferry southeast of Georgetown on South Island Road, and two public boat ramps at the mouth of the Sampit River and near downtown Georgetown. Redfish frequent the boneyards from the US 17 bridges to 4 to 6 miles upstream to as many as 12 miles up stream, depending on salinity and recent rainfall within the river basin’s watershed.
WHEN TO GO — Redfish will inhabit the Waccamaw, Pee Dee, Black, and Sampit Rivers most of the year, but the spring fishing is the best when water temperatures reach the mid 60s.
BEST TECHNIQUES — Braided line is necessary in these environments. Spinning or baitcasting tackle with 7-foot, medium- to medium-heavy action rods are perfect. Gold spoons, spinnerbaits, Chatterbaits, and weedless soft plastics are all good options for river fishing for redfish. Fan-cast on all sides of the structure at different speeds; be prepared to cast multiple lures at the same structure. Concentrate fishing around areas with horizontal and vertical structure, clear water, moving water, and abundant bait.
FISHING INFO/GUIDES — Jordan Pate, Carolina Guide Service, 843-814-7900, www.carolinaguideservice.com. See also Guides & Charters in Classifieds.
ACCOMMODATIONS — Georgetown Area Visitors Center, www.visitgeorgetown.com).
MAPS — Navionics, 800-848-5896; www.navionics.com; Capt. Seagull’s Nautical Charts, 888-473-4855, www.captainsegullcharts.com; Delorme’s S.C. Atlas and Gazetteer, 800-561-5105, (www.delorme.com.
A striped bonus
Targeting redfish in the coastal rivers around Georgetown, S.C., can be fabulous; one of the unique aspects of the fishery is the presence of striped bass.
Stripers are anadromous fish, well known in landlocked reservoirs and in coastal waters along the eastern seaboard. Wild, sea-run striper fisheries are more common from North Carolina north to Canada, but South Carolina is lucky to have a sea-run population that utilizes the Waccamaw and Pee Dee river systems, and the brackish waters around Georgetown provide all the right stuff to accommodate a striper-feeding frenzy.
Guide Jordan Pate doesn’t necessarily target stripers in the spring, but he sure will catch some in the Waccamaw and Pee Dee while fishing for reds.
“There can be a good striper bite in the Waccamaw and adjoining rivers in the spring” Pate said. “They can be a blast, especially when you aren’t expecting them.
Stripers feed on the same things as redfish and other gamefish, and that makes every redfish lure and bait option ideal to put a hurting on sea-run stripers. They often travel in groups, which can make catching several of them a real possibility when one fish shows up on the end of the line.
“We always seem to catch several stripers at a time. It’s always an exciting bonus, and we know there are more in the area,” Pate said.
In the spring, stripers are generally traveling towards the spawning grounds and in a feeding mode. They can travel in large groups and slash through pods of bait, creating a circus act on the surface. Any baitfish imitation that vibrates or flashes can bring these fish into the picture.
While stripers will generally be found in the same habitats as redfish, they are more typically found around places with moving water that creates pinch points. Major creek mouths, ditch mouths and riprap in deeper water with lots of current and current seams are often the best places to find stripers waiting for a tasty meal to pass by.
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