Hilton Head Fishing with Fishin' Coach

The summer has flown by except for the heat.  Record heat days and for me as well a record number of large Redfish for the creeks. I have to admit the numbers of Redfish has not been great but the average size has been outstanding.  Many trips produced at least 1 Redfish over 30″.  Young Mike topped the bunch catching a Bonified Whopper 34″  the afternoon trip after we landed a thick 32″ Redfish on the morning outing.  The most pleasant surprise came near  the end of a morning trip that had been fairly slow when Sam landed a 10lb Tripletail that I spotted cruising the surface just off the grass line like a Cobia.  The fish nearly spooled the reel and jumped like a Tarpon.  Best eating I had all summer thanks to Sam sharing a nice fillet with me.

The good news is cooler weather is not far and with that comes the annual run of the Adult Reds in the rivers and sound.  Fish average near 40″ and can weigh over 30 lbs. You never know when a Tarpon might also snatch the bait and scream to the surface creating a monster hole in the ocean. More big fish pictures soon to follow.

If you are looking for Redfish now with the hot weather and very warm water temps get off the flats and fish deep.  During the past couple of weeks we have been finding the Redfish holding in 5 to 12 feet of water.  Areas around oyster bed points with deep drop offs and back in creeks with deep water bends that have some structure in the water like docks or fallen trees.  The bait of choice has been large Mud Minnows fished under a slip cork so the depth can be adjusted according to the fishing area. The Redfish are eating on both the mid outgoing and the low to mid incoming tides.

My Angler of the Week Miss Madeline showed the guys how to handle some bonified Whopper Redfish pulling 3 over30″ from the depths around a familiar dock.

Tarpon have been spotted feeding on Mullet so look for some pictures to come.