Head to the Jetties

It’s tough to ignore the weather when fishing along the Carolina coastlines in July. But that doesn’t mean the fishing is bad.

Many different species are in play this month for inshore and offshore anglers, but the heat can certainly take its toll on anglers, as well as on the fish.

It goes without saying that starting your fishing trip as early as possible is important. However, you don’t have to call it quits at lunchtime. You can still find plenty of fish willing to bite, even in the heat of the day, as long as you’re fishing in the right places.

Rock jetties

One of the best bets for anglers fishing for a mixed bag is to head to the nearest jetties. These areas hold fish all the time, and they are constantly scanning the area for food, regardless of the time of year, time of day, or the temperature.

Capt. James LaVanway of Reel Fish Finder Charters in Charleston said one thing you can always count on is that a lot of fish will be located at any jetties. He spends plenty of time at the jetties outside of Charleston Harbor.

“Structure always holds fish, of numerous species. And to the fish, a jetty is nothing but a very large structure,” he said.

Redfish, speckled trout, sheepshead, black drum and flounder are among the more popular species LaVanway and his anglers catch at the jetties.

But just because fish are always located there, that doesn’t mean they are always easy to catch.

“It’s just like fishing anywhere else. You want to get hooks in the water as early as possible, and you also want to make sure you’re set up and fishing as the tides change,” he said.

When asked which tide offers the best fishing, LaVanway said it changes daily. But one thing is almost always certain: the strongest bite occurs when the tide is moving in one direction or another.

“You’ll get a lull almost every time the tide is full and the water stops moving, and you’ll get the same lull at dead low tide,” he said. “Some days, the incoming tide is better, and other days, the outgoing tide is better. But as long as it’s moving, we are usually catching some fish.”

The best case scenario in LaVanway’s eyes is having one of those moving tides coincide with daybreak.

Bait it up

“I usually throw the cast net a few times to catch bait, which is often a mixture of shrimp and other baitfish,” he said. “And we fish them on Carolina rigs. We anchor down next to the jetty and cast all around, with some baits close to the rocks, some a few feet farther out, and some on the other side of the boat.”

He said it’s not at all uncommon for four anglers to catch four different species within a few minutes of each other.

“Redfish, speckled trout, flounder, black drum, sheepshead…they all run around in similar spots, and they all eat the same things,” he said. “I’d be hard pressed to target just one species specifically.”

LaVanway (843-697-2081) said it’s best to cast out, let the bait settle, and then put rods in rod holders.

“If you’re holding the rod and setting the hook at the fist sign of a bite, you’re going to lose a lot of fish and waste a lot of bait,” he said. “Leave the rods in the rod holders, and plenty of the little nibbles will eventually turn into strong bites that double the rod over. That’s when you know they’re hooked.”

Drum it up

Despite LaVanway’s insistence that it’s tough to target one species specifically when fishing at the jetties, he does have a knack for catching large black drum away from, but near, the jetties.

“When one of my clients wants to catch a really big black drum, I’ll cruise away from the jetties toward the beach and watch my depthfinder. When I see a deep hole, I’ll put a couple of baits down there,” he said.

His anglers have hooked into some epic battles in these deep holes. They’ve caught their share of 25+ pound black drum, with some considerably larger than that.