Warm breezes, sunny skies, reasonable temperatures; everybody loves floating the creeks, inlets and bays around Beaufort and Hilton Head in June.
Cobia, speckled trout and spot-tail bass — aka redfish — are all actively feeding right now, but for those people who love the taste of flaky, white fillets, there is hardly a better piscatorial target than the feisty southern or summer flounder.
Overshadowed by its notoriety as a trophy bass and crappie lake — the once-belittled white perch even is beginning to draw a crowd — it’s no wonder the redear sunfish or shellcrackers in Shearon Harris Lake feel a bit left out.
While the wealth of aquatic vegetation at the 4,100-acre lake has been credited for the rise of its coveted population of larsgemouth bass, the grass has also helped shellcrackers become the dominant panfish.
Driving along US Highway 17, the transition from the rapidly developing areas of West Ashley, Johns Island and Ravenel to the open forest and marsh lands of the ACE Basin is dramatic. Thanks to a conservation-minded partnership effort, commuters on the Savannah Highway will have a new park to enjoy, and the Lowcountry will have 638 additional acres of protected open space.
June was once prime time for crankbait fishing at Tuckertown Lake, the 2,560-acre impoundment on the Yadkin River between High Rock and Badin lakes.
As summer arrives, South Carolinians begin to make their vacation plans. It’s a time when beachgoers start venturing into the warming waters, and many begin seeing jellyfish while they’re tossing their Frisbees. But for anglers, the arrival of the cannonball jellies, aka jelly balls, can only mean one thing — it’s time to target spadefish.
Sitting in a johnboat along a rock wall in Fripp Inlet, Billy Downer of Manning looked at John Long of Lady’s Island and explained, “I think it’s my rod. Maybe I can’t catch them because of my rod.”
As part of a year-long celebration the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources is hosting a Field Day on Saturday, June 4th at the James W. Webb Wildlife Center and Management Area near Garnett in Hampton County. The Webb Center was the first Wildlife Management Area (WMA) purchased by the State of South Carolina in 1941. Now, 75 years later, SCDNR provides quality public outdoor recreation opportunities on more than 1 million acres of land across the state in the WMA program.
Bobby Izard carries an arsenal of artificial lures with him when fishing for redbreast sunfish. While some anglers have their favorite lures that they stick to religiously, Izard thinks that’s a mistake.
The Johnson Beetle Spin is tough to beat when fishing for redbreast. Billy Garner of Ridgeville is a big fan of this lure, but he adds a little something to them this time of year: a live cricket.
South Carolina’s cobia numbers have been on a roller-coaster over the past 10 years after a relatively stable recreational harvest through the 1980s and 1990s.
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