Wintertime In Charleston - Winter Redfish - "The Sportsman Experience" - Episode 2
This week on "The Sportsman Experience" Jim is taking his good buddy Alex from Sportsman Boats out on the All-New Masters 247 to target some inshore schools of redfish. Charleston, SC is known for big schools of redfish in the winter months so with a little luck they should be able to keep the lines tight and have a great time.
After a fantastic Episode 1 release of our all-new series "The Sportsman Experience," we've gone live with Episode 2. The premiere of episode one brought great reviews from viewers and everyone was waiting for the next to premiere.
This week we released Episode 2 and it's a Charleston staple. People travel to Charleston, South Carolina from all over to get a taste of what Lowcountry redfishing is like. The fishery here is a prime locations for the red drum also known as redfish. It all starts with the odd smelling mud called pluff mud, while most find it to be a terrible smell, most locals recognize it as the smell of the lowcountry. This mud is home to a giant population of fiddler crabs which are like candy to redfish. They're easy to spot on a mud flat at low tide when the water drops out of the spartina grass. If you look for little holes in the mud you'll start to notice all the tiny fiddler crabs running around, at the sight of your shadow off they'll go back into their holes. Anglers, especially those with a fly rod in hand, look for the tailing redfish. A tailing redfish is just a redfishing rooting around in the mud snacking on the fiddler crabs. Casting at tailing redfish is best done during a flood tide when the water is way up in the grass and the redfish can get into those areas where the fiddler crabs live.
Another great thing about Charleston's ecosystem is the amount of oysters around. While they'll do some damage to the bottom of your boat or your foot, if you're brave enough to wade in the mud barefoot. They're a great place for bait fish and shrimp to hide along with those candy like fiddler crabs. This is why when you see a nice large oyster bar you're likely to see some redfish pushing around the surface eating.
Now, during the winter months your odds of catching redfish get even higher if you can find good shallow water with good food sources around. A great example being oysters or even docks with lots of growth on them. During the winter when water temps drop the redfish like to school up in areas where there's good protection and lots of food. Some days you can go out and see schools of 20+ fish hanging out and it's nearly impossible with the right bait to not get a bite. This is why in this episode of The Sportsman Experience Jim is taking Alex to fish a few shallow water structures around the Charleston area. They're looking for big schools in some hot zones that Jim has had plenty of luck in.
They're fishing out of the Masters 247 Bay Boat, the reason for using this boat is it offers the comfort of a larger boat while still retaining a shallow draft. This boat combined with power poles and a nice trolling motor can allow them to move into shallow areas easily and quietly in order to get to these fish.
If you're looking for a great way to learn new fishing tactics, see some cool locations, and some awesome fishing we'd recommend checking out this series. We are releasing new episodes every month with short extended scenes throughout. We look forward to hearing your feedback and we'd also love to see your fishing pictures and hear your stories. You can submit them to our Photo Contest and even have a chance to win $100 to our online store if you're photos is voted the best photo of the month.