Rich27028
Well-known member
you bet - a lot of us fish salt water-
i see a lot of tin boats on the intracoastle--
i see a lot of tin boats on the intracoastle--
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Loggerhead Mike
Well-known member
Wish I could say I did. Super jelious of yall
Rich27028
Well-known member
Mike - Go streight east - Ocean iles beach - you can put boat in right under the causway on ocean iles or go south about 5 miles and put in under the sunset bridge - both are NC state wildlife ramps -
stay at night at the ocean iles causeway motel- the units are small condelets - in the off season the price is right -- or rent a house for a week on the iland - we always use Cook reality tyheir office is right beside the motel--
also - if you decide to go - il give ya some good spots to fish --
might even pull my boat down and fish my self - for the week end --
stay at night at the ocean iles causeway motel- the units are small condelets - in the off season the price is right -- or rent a house for a week on the iland - we always use Cook reality tyheir office is right beside the motel--
also - if you decide to go - il give ya some good spots to fish --
might even pull my boat down and fish my self - for the week end --
PSG-1
Well-known member
I have fished as far west as Watauga Lake, TN, and Gatlinburg, TN.....and I have to say, I kinda suck at freshwater fishing. :LOL2:
But, when it comes to saltwater fishing, I can hang right there with the best of them, I've got close to 30 years on the water. I'm quite familiar with the area Rich27028 is referring to, as I used to live in Cherry Grove Beach, SC, and I fished every little inlet, as far north as Lockwood Folly Inlet. I used to even fish an inlet known as "Mad Inlet" which is between Sunset Beach, and Bird Island at Little River. It was a very shallow overwash at high tide when I was a kid, it went into an area called 'dead backwater' and you could often wear out the flounder in that area.... now, Mad Inlet is no longer an inlet, just an expanse of beach. Like note C on the nautical chart says "subject to continual change"
Anyhow, just down the ICW from Sunset Beach is Little River Inlet. The jetties there are very productive, at least, they were when I fished that area growing up. You can find sheepshead, black drum, spot tail bass, trout, flounder, and at the right time of the year, spanish mackerel.
Right now, this time of the year, the bait fish are moving out of the creeks, so, you really don't need live bait, if you're targeting trout or spot tail bass, you should be able to catch them using a DOA shrimp, or a gulp new penny shrimp rigged on a 1/4 oz pink or orange jig head. Also, green grubs with firetails work good, they can be spade-tails, curl-tails, or even the little button-tails like the old mann's swimmin' grub.
Also, the mirro-lure in the 808 pattern, and the #24 pattern (blue top, silver sides, white belly, looks like a mullet minnow) are very effective at taking trout.
You can slow troll these lures around the jetties, or, you can anchor and cast. Most of us around here like to slow troll.
If you want black drum or sheepshead, you need a 20 foot bream buster, a 5 gallon bucket, a machete, and some fiddler crabs. You can buy fiddlers at the bait shop, or, you can catch your own, using a 3 foot cast net. Go out at low tide to the mud flats, and look for pods of fiddler crabs moving around. Herd them toward water, (they will go to the edge, but generally won't go into the water) and cast the net over them. Do this a couple of times, and you'll have more than enough bait.
Next, go to some pilings, and use your machete to scrape barnacles into a 5 gallon bucket. You want the barnacles closer to the low water mark, most of these are live, and nice and stinky, this is what sheepshead like.
Move to the outside end of a jetty on a falling tide, around the last couple of hours of falling....and set TWO anchors, one from the bow, and one from the stern, and take all the slack out that you can. This keeps the boat swinging, which is important, because the bite of a sheepshead is delicate, the boat needs to be steady. Also, you should do this on a calm day, for the same reasons. You cannot catch sheepshead in 3-4 foot seas, I've tried it, and it doesn't work.
Anyhow, once you have set your anchors and you are parallel with the jetty, start tossing out handfuls of the crushed barnacles between your boat and the rocks.
Rig up the bream buster with a #6 Owner Mutu Light Circle Hook, and one or two tiny split shot, just enough to sink the bait. Put a fiddler crab on there, and toss toward the rocks, then, try to keep the bait as still as possible, and wait for a hit.
If you're using the bream buster and circle hooks, you won't even have to snatch it to set the hook, just lift the rod tip, and the fish will set the hook, and 90% of the time, it will be in the corner of the mouth, which is about the only place you can hook a sheepshead, if you ever look inside their mouth, their pharyngeal teeth in their throat, looks like a cobblestone road.
While fishing for sheepshead, you can also catch black drum, tautog, and once in a while, you'll also land a spot tail bass, as they also eat fiddlers. We caught a 30 pound spot tail bass one day while fishing for sheepshead.
A few notes of caution about fishing jetties. First off, never cut your engine off, unless and until you are securely anchored. Do not haul up an anchor until your engine is running. Right now, there's the remains of a 25 foot center console boat upside down on the north jetty of Murrells Inlet, where somebody didn't follow that procedure. He was also out in too rough of conditions.
NEVER fish the windward side of the rocks, unless it's a light and variable wind. Also, when trolling, while you want to be kinda close to the rocks to catch fish, never get closer than 1X the length of your vessel from the rocks. You'll note that on the ocean side, there is a surge that will push you toward the rocks, then pulls you away from them. You'll have to gauge the amount of surge, and stay in the middle of that range, to be safe. Watch your depth finder, too, as sometimes, there will be a stray rock that sticks up, but again, most of these will be right next to the main structure of the jetty.
I should also note that as far as the 2 anchors....make sure you have a fender or a poly ball you can put on the rear anchor line. This way, when it's time to haul up, you untie the rear line and drop it, then go pick up the bow anchor. Then you go back and pick up the stern anchor. Do not try to haul in the front or rear anchor in any other fashion, unless you have a LOT of line where you can let it out far enough to be on top of an anchor. Attempting to do so can swamp the stern, or at the least, it will wear you out, that is, if the anchor has a good hold.
Hope this info helps.
But, when it comes to saltwater fishing, I can hang right there with the best of them, I've got close to 30 years on the water. I'm quite familiar with the area Rich27028 is referring to, as I used to live in Cherry Grove Beach, SC, and I fished every little inlet, as far north as Lockwood Folly Inlet. I used to even fish an inlet known as "Mad Inlet" which is between Sunset Beach, and Bird Island at Little River. It was a very shallow overwash at high tide when I was a kid, it went into an area called 'dead backwater' and you could often wear out the flounder in that area.... now, Mad Inlet is no longer an inlet, just an expanse of beach. Like note C on the nautical chart says "subject to continual change"
Anyhow, just down the ICW from Sunset Beach is Little River Inlet. The jetties there are very productive, at least, they were when I fished that area growing up. You can find sheepshead, black drum, spot tail bass, trout, flounder, and at the right time of the year, spanish mackerel.
Right now, this time of the year, the bait fish are moving out of the creeks, so, you really don't need live bait, if you're targeting trout or spot tail bass, you should be able to catch them using a DOA shrimp, or a gulp new penny shrimp rigged on a 1/4 oz pink or orange jig head. Also, green grubs with firetails work good, they can be spade-tails, curl-tails, or even the little button-tails like the old mann's swimmin' grub.
Also, the mirro-lure in the 808 pattern, and the #24 pattern (blue top, silver sides, white belly, looks like a mullet minnow) are very effective at taking trout.
You can slow troll these lures around the jetties, or, you can anchor and cast. Most of us around here like to slow troll.
If you want black drum or sheepshead, you need a 20 foot bream buster, a 5 gallon bucket, a machete, and some fiddler crabs. You can buy fiddlers at the bait shop, or, you can catch your own, using a 3 foot cast net. Go out at low tide to the mud flats, and look for pods of fiddler crabs moving around. Herd them toward water, (they will go to the edge, but generally won't go into the water) and cast the net over them. Do this a couple of times, and you'll have more than enough bait.
Next, go to some pilings, and use your machete to scrape barnacles into a 5 gallon bucket. You want the barnacles closer to the low water mark, most of these are live, and nice and stinky, this is what sheepshead like.
Move to the outside end of a jetty on a falling tide, around the last couple of hours of falling....and set TWO anchors, one from the bow, and one from the stern, and take all the slack out that you can. This keeps the boat swinging, which is important, because the bite of a sheepshead is delicate, the boat needs to be steady. Also, you should do this on a calm day, for the same reasons. You cannot catch sheepshead in 3-4 foot seas, I've tried it, and it doesn't work.
Anyhow, once you have set your anchors and you are parallel with the jetty, start tossing out handfuls of the crushed barnacles between your boat and the rocks.
Rig up the bream buster with a #6 Owner Mutu Light Circle Hook, and one or two tiny split shot, just enough to sink the bait. Put a fiddler crab on there, and toss toward the rocks, then, try to keep the bait as still as possible, and wait for a hit.
If you're using the bream buster and circle hooks, you won't even have to snatch it to set the hook, just lift the rod tip, and the fish will set the hook, and 90% of the time, it will be in the corner of the mouth, which is about the only place you can hook a sheepshead, if you ever look inside their mouth, their pharyngeal teeth in their throat, looks like a cobblestone road.
While fishing for sheepshead, you can also catch black drum, tautog, and once in a while, you'll also land a spot tail bass, as they also eat fiddlers. We caught a 30 pound spot tail bass one day while fishing for sheepshead.
A few notes of caution about fishing jetties. First off, never cut your engine off, unless and until you are securely anchored. Do not haul up an anchor until your engine is running. Right now, there's the remains of a 25 foot center console boat upside down on the north jetty of Murrells Inlet, where somebody didn't follow that procedure. He was also out in too rough of conditions.
NEVER fish the windward side of the rocks, unless it's a light and variable wind. Also, when trolling, while you want to be kinda close to the rocks to catch fish, never get closer than 1X the length of your vessel from the rocks. You'll note that on the ocean side, there is a surge that will push you toward the rocks, then pulls you away from them. You'll have to gauge the amount of surge, and stay in the middle of that range, to be safe. Watch your depth finder, too, as sometimes, there will be a stray rock that sticks up, but again, most of these will be right next to the main structure of the jetty.
I should also note that as far as the 2 anchors....make sure you have a fender or a poly ball you can put on the rear anchor line. This way, when it's time to haul up, you untie the rear line and drop it, then go pick up the bow anchor. Then you go back and pick up the stern anchor. Do not try to haul in the front or rear anchor in any other fashion, unless you have a LOT of line where you can let it out far enough to be on top of an anchor. Attempting to do so can swamp the stern, or at the least, it will wear you out, that is, if the anchor has a good hold.
Hope this info helps.
Rich27028
Well-known member
that is the beast post i think i have ever read- lots of good info right there --you the man
for me the only thing about running down to little river jettys - is you need a sc lic- which means out of state lic-- as i have a NC lifetime lic i just fish north of the sc state line --
for me the only thing about running down to little river jettys - is you need a sc lic- which means out of state lic-- as i have a NC lifetime lic i just fish north of the sc state line --
PSG-1
Well-known member
True, the jetties at Little River are over the state line, in SC, so, you would need a non-resident license to go there. I think a 7 day non-resident license from SCDNR is about 5 dollars, or something like that. When I lived in Cherry Grove, no license was required to fish saltwater, nor were there any size limits. Of course, back then they also thought the ocean was an endless resource, as well as a magical garbage dump that would make anything ever dumped into it, disappear forever....and we now know those 2 ideas were insane.
Anyhow, along the ICW, and in the marshes around Sunset Beach, etc, you should look for trout right now in the 10-16 foot depths, the 62 degree water has them moving in and out of deeper holes, on warmer days they may move out of the holes, and onto flats.
You should try anywhere there is a point, with a current rip, pull up in the grass about 2 hours before high tide, cast your lure up-current, then let it bump along the bottom, sweeping with the current while slowly reeling and twitching the rod. This works best with grubs and DOA shrimp, and right about now is the time of the year to try this method. I've used this method and caught a limit of trout (10) in 45 minutes at one of my favorite holes, and I have repeated those results quite a few times over the years.
Good luck with it! 8)
Anyhow, along the ICW, and in the marshes around Sunset Beach, etc, you should look for trout right now in the 10-16 foot depths, the 62 degree water has them moving in and out of deeper holes, on warmer days they may move out of the holes, and onto flats.
You should try anywhere there is a point, with a current rip, pull up in the grass about 2 hours before high tide, cast your lure up-current, then let it bump along the bottom, sweeping with the current while slowly reeling and twitching the rod. This works best with grubs and DOA shrimp, and right about now is the time of the year to try this method. I've used this method and caught a limit of trout (10) in 45 minutes at one of my favorite holes, and I have repeated those results quite a few times over the years.
Good luck with it! 8)
pm tech
New member
If it is possible I would also like a saltwater fishing area. I recently moved to Fl and would like to learn from some of these Tin Pros. I have learned allot just reading posts. Thanks to everyone who posts and replys
bigwave
Well-known member
Your backyard is a great place to fish inshore. Boca Grand is one of the best tarpon spots on the gulf coast of Florida. Just to the south of you is everglades city..... absolutely one of the best spots in Florida......snook,bonefish,trout,grouper,snapper,sharks,reds,you name it. Then you have the swamp....good bass fishing too.....I fish a wreck just west of boca grand in 800' for snowies and yellow edge. Some of the biggest black grouper come from the 145' depth just to the west of you. You can have the Keys......your area is just as good.
Loggerhead Mike
Well-known member
Rich27028 said:
Thanks bud I really appreciate it. I'm taking the boat down to Florida in the spring for our first real salt trip in 10 years.
My next vacation may not be soon, but it will be on the nc coast. Never seen the ocean north of Florida
Rich27028
Well-known member
Mike - wife and i used to live in Fla. [ Pompano beach] its to crowded for me - we fished the glades a lot - caught a lot of bass from locksahatchie --
let me know when your comeing east - i live only 1 1/2 miles from I40 in Mocksville -
let me know when your comeing east - i live only 1 1/2 miles from I40 in Mocksville -
PSG-1
Well-known member
Rich27028 said:
I've probably driven past your area several times, on the way to the mountains of NC, I used to take 220 to I-40, then on to 421, up to Boone and Banner Elk. Or sometimes I'd run 220 to 64, then to 601, and up to 421.
PSG-1
Well-known member
Glad to see we've actually got a saltwater fishing forum on here now! =D> Outstanding!
simbelle
Well-known member
I love the intracoastal waterway down here on the treasure coast of Florida. Fish Mosquito Lagoon to Ft. Pierce. Ft Pierce is the best inshore saltwater fishing in Florida, IMHO. People brag about the big Reds in the Mosquito Logoon, but for diversity and real plentiful big Snook Ft. Pierce gets my vote!
JIMMYTHEFISH
Active member
Hey Cali...Where is all the West Coast at? Before my Jon Boat I fished bays and inshore with Kayaks. Now with my 14 ft Jon I still love the Saltwater. I cant launch all over the place like I used to. But I really like putting the paddle down so I can keep my hands on the rod. I mostly fish Mission Bay and Sand Diego Bay. Great Bass'n and Halibut. ANy other Jon Boats in the Cali Salt?
JIMMYTHEFISH
Active member
JIMMYTHEFISH
Active member
Gators5220
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I lived in Vero Beach and Big Pine (in the keys) in my opinion both have awesome fishing, but I'd give the nod to Big Pine over Vero. The snapper fishing there was crazy, had a few holes you could def catch your limit in mutton snapper if you could get through the yellowtails that is!
colescoconutz
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Gators5220
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Old Mr. Sharpen yanking them up!
