Crazy Evening Flats Fishing

Just got back a few days ago from my most recent trip down to Charleston.  I'm leaving to head back to Jackson in a matter of days so I when Kenny called me late Friday night to get in one last day or two of redfish fishing, I didn't think twice (it didn't hurt that ol' Kenny's Berfday was Sunday and we partied hard, happy berf sooooooooooon!).

I left NC early on Saturday morning and got to Chuck-town around 1 and headed straight out onto the water with Kinnison and his older brother Robert.  The tide was shaping up to be best for fishing around 5ish so we had plenty of time to slam beers on the boat.  This time around we focused on the waters of Kiawa Island and the many flats surrounding that area.  After doing some exploration in a creek adjacent to a $ Kiawa Golf course we headed to a productive flat.  As the water flowed in we all hopped out of the boat and waded to what looked like great water.  Kinnison's buddy Trent was in another boat within sight of us and was posted up on a decent flat as well.  After seeing one fish tailing and not having much of a shot at him I could hear Trent in the distance hooked up with a nice red.  Bastard.  As it turned out, the tide wasn't quite as big as predicted, not nearly enough water ever made it into our flat and the fishing suffered.  Luck was not on our side, but  thats how it goes sometimes; we barged up with Trent and hung out until we had to head back.


The next day we fished the afternoon/evening tide again and I have to say, it's great to finally be able to fish these "gentlemen's tides."  Most of the best tides I've fished typically involve hungover, bleary-eyed skiff rides out to the flats so it's refreshing to get out for an afternoon trip now that the tides are later.

The decision was made to hit up the Wando again as some of the flats in that area can retain tide water for quite some time.  We motored straight to a familiar creek, anchored the skiff and hopped out to wade the vast system of relatively hard bottom grass flats.  After waiting for for the tide to bring in enough water, the fish tails started popping up.  While the first part of the tide proved to be challenging, with reds feeding skittishly and infrequently almost like they knew we were close by, fishing had to get hot soon.  Kenny had some decent shots but no takers and soon we realized that our best option was to explore and find more productive water.


We searched the expansive flats for awhile and finally settled on a great looking flat perfectly located beside a deep feeder creek that would hopefully allow fish to stay in the area feeding longer due to the convenient entry and exit point.  We couldn't have chosen better, and sure enough, while other flats had receding water and fleeing fish, our spot had plenty of water and happy fish all over.  The tails started wagging and the fish started foraging hard.  


The fishing got crazy good really fast.  The shots we had at some fish were simply stupid.  I had fish tailing happily two rod lengths away at times.  On one occasion I was stripping leader to keep up with the red chasing my fly; needless to say, the hookset was not the best handshake I've ever had.  All told, I ended up hooking three reds in a matter of one hour and Kinnison landed a nice redfish just as we started losing the light.


As the day turned to evening, the sunset brought a fiery glow to the flat and per usual, the fishing instantly turned off just as abruptly as it had started.  Stay posted for the video edit from this trip and the many others that I had so far this season down in Charleston; It should be done soon.


This marked the best evening of redfishing I've ever had and was one of the most fun trips I've had down in the SC flats.  I won't be able to return until the fall as I'm now preparing for the loooong trip back out west.  Fishing has been great in Jackson and I look forward to getting back to some familiar waters and fishing with clients.  This season should stack up to be an epic one!  If you haven't already booked with myself or Jack Dennis Flyfishing Trips you can reach me at weldonjones@gmail.com or give Bruce a call at 307-690-0910.





I'll be west soon.