The Fishing Report by Capt. Rawling

Brief Post

Capt. Rawling — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:09:00 GMT

Yesterday, I had a fly client and we ended up go out into the harbor and catching a bunch of Bluefish on the fly. It is cool to see that we have all these baits coming in and behind them are all our Migratory Species. The Cobia have going off in Beaufort on the Broad River and I have several buddies who have either caught them on reefs jigging Hogies...ect are have caught them on the Fly when it has been calm. I haven't made it down there yet but plan on going this Monday, which I am stoked about. The shrimp season has started off slow but I am sure with this water getting warmer they will be coming in soon. I really hope the Trout bite picks up. I here stories about guys killing the trout one day but when I went out and worked structure for them we only caught nine. Hopefully with the bait coming in they will start picking up as well, I believe. Captain Rawling Pratt-Thomas

Redfish Fever!

Capt. Rawling — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:58:00 GMT

The Redfish lately have been as steady as can be. We have been catching "Tailing Reds," with these moon tides up in the grass and yesterday was epic. We ended up catching 7 Tailers and probably saw 25. It was unusual to see that many in such a small area. The wind was out of the East and blowing 20knots and keeping the water up high so I could still pole my skiff in about 7 inches with 2 anglers on the bow. We caught the fish on Berkeley Gulps and Captain Mikes Spoons. We had one double hook up to start things off and it was awesome. We then had to wait till the water got out of the grass and the fish were exposed on the edges,with the water being really milshake mud colored we resorted to the half crab and caught 6 more reds. I went to a flat we call the Marquesas after that when the tide was way out and these fish would be gathered on a huge shell rake. When we arrived I poled in and the fish were showing their bellies in the air and you could just watch them floating and meandering in a very chill manner. A silver Captain's Mikes Spoon put an end to that quickly. Once we hooked up the fish moved down the bank but we landed and released a nice one. The wind then picked up and it was too rough to set up on that flat so we went back up and fished some structure and docks with pink grubs skipping them under oak tree branches kinda like Mangrove fishing. We pulled out 9 trout with two being 23 or so inches. It made my day. I hope that's a sign that the trout are moving back in with all this bait. Until next time,cheers! Captain Rawling Pratt-Thomas

Tailing Tides and Tarpon

Capt. Rawling — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:12:00 GMT

We have two weeks coming up that are all "Tailing Tides." So if you want to go after a Redfish feeding on his head in about a foot of water with his tail exposed finning giving you the ultimate sightcasting experience give me a call. We have been having great luck with the, "Tailing Fish," and have not had one day without some great opportunity or thrill. As far as Tarpon go, now is the time to go get one.The mullet run is going on right now and the Tarpon are feeding on the Mullet which are as big as a foot long. We boated one just the other day down at Edisto that weighed about 100lbs. It is a great rush and I would encourage anyone to go after them. Captain Rawling Pratt-Thomas

Last Couple Days

Capt. Rawling — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:07:00 GMT

The last 5 days I have fished for everything from Bonnethead sharks, Redfish, Tarpon, and Bull Reds. One day early in the week I had a charter and we focused on Redfish on the flats. We ended up catching 7 Redfish all on Live and cut finger mullet. It was a windless day and several of the larger schools we got on during the lower water spooked and just kept pushing out in front of the boat. It was a negative low tide due to the moon and made for hard fishing. We ended up catching 3 Bonnetheads towards the end of the fishing charter on Light Tackle rods which was alot of fun. The drags were screaming and making some serious, "Music." Fishing the next day we had totally different conditions and the wind was howling. We ended up catching 2 Reds on Spoons and one on a Gulp Shrimp and then 9 Reds on half crab. The next day was a1/2 Tarpon Charter and 1/2 Redfish charter. We ended up starting the day catching about a dozen Bonnetheads.Once we set up for Tarpon we saw several at the mouth of the creek pushing water but didn't hook up. We caught 6 Reds on floats with live finger mullet. It was a fun fishing charter. The next day I fished a 1/2 day Tarpon charter. We had 1 exciting hook up but he jumped off after about 20 minutes. We caught a bunch of big sharks as well. So, there are a variety of fish being targeted and the action has been great. Captain Rawling Pratt-Thomas

Fishing Report

Capt. Rawling — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:29:00 GMT

It's been a while since my last report and I apoligize. Alot has happened as far as fish being caught in different ways with a variety of artificial baits/lures. First and foremost is the topwater Redfish bite, it has been awesome. We have been using: rainbow colored "Top Dogs," and a variety of colored Zara Spooks all with rattles that bring the fish to the lure. Check out the gallery for pics of some of these Redfish caught on Topwater plugs. I have been using these plugs right when I initially start poling the flat. You can throw these plugs a mile and they are good at finding fish. Also, speaking of artificials it's hard to beat a DOA chartreuse grub head 1/4oz on a silver glitter grub or similar pattern. We have been working these when the flats have clear water on them rather than dirty water where I have been using a Captain Mike's pink/gold spoon. Those spoons are definately the most productive overall and they make very little splash when entering the water. As far as catching fish cut mullet has worked really well and live finger mullet also. The Menhaden seem to die to quickly.Today we actually caught a couple on half crabs since they were eating are baits so fast, we used them as bait. The Tailing Tides have provided adequate Fly Rod action and the notorious Crab fly-Gold/flashy have both been lethal. In the surf we have caught anywhere from 5-12 Redfish on each trip along with a handful of unstoppable sharks. In synopsis, baits and artificials have both been productive it's just choosing the right time to use them. No sign of the Trout but the Redfish are going off in the flats and the Bonnethead sharks as well. Captain Rawling Pratt-Thomas