# Saltwater advice?



## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

I'll be in South Carolina near Murrell's Inlet for a week in early October. This will be my first real vacation in 8 or so years! I used to stay in this area as a kid and always fished from the piers and sme in the surf, this time I have different ideas. I'll be taking my kayak with me, a few fly rods (and conventional gear), and plan to fish both the surf zone and some of the inlet water. In the surf I'd imagine I won't be in the kayak as much, but I know there are a lot of fish near the breakers (pompano, croaker, whiting). I ordered a couple of saltwater fly pattern books I found on Amazon fairly cheap, and both seem great so far. Lots of patterns and great quality photos to go with each fly (several of which I'll be using in freshwater, too). I also just ordered some saltwater hooks to hopefully cover my needs, as well as some Wapsi saltwater popper bodies because...well...I have to make topwaters. It's what I do. 

Does anyone have any advice they'd like to share? Inlet or surf zone? I'm relatively new to the saltwater game, brand new in terms of fly rodding it, so I'm open for any info. I'm hoping to find some redfish (likely to be puppy drum from what I have read) in the inlets, as well as flounder and potentially seatrout. Surf species I have fished for quite a bit and expect pompano, croaker, whiting, and a few other species. What I'd really, really like is a shark on the fly!


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## steelheader007 (Apr 8, 2004)

pm sent..............


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## Andrew S (Jul 7, 2011)

Most saltwater fish, in my experience, like moving water. Now that I've fished for a lot of freshwater and saltwater species, I've come to think that what you learn fishing for freshwater fish applies pretty darn well to saltwater fish, and vice versa. So, if you're fishing those inlets, backwaters, etc. look for moving water, try swinging flies, dead drifting them, and everything else in between. Tides are important - incoming and outgoing means moving water, whereas the top and bottom of the tide can mean slack water and, usually, poor fishing.

Reading and fishing open surf is more complicated to explain, but keep in mind one basic thing: waves break as they come in and reach a sand bar. This means that if you see a wave come in, it breaks and then flattens out again, then breaks again...well, there's a trough in between those breaks, and fish like those troughs (and this includes the troughs that are almost right at your feet!). If a wave comes in and breaks all along its length, except in one spot, then odds are that that one spot is over a hole, and that can also concentrate fish. 

I don't know much about the fishing that far south, but for a lot of fish, high summer means low light fishing or night fishing. Consider getting up early, staying out late, or both. Mid-day is when you score points with the family.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Andrew S said:


> I don't know much about the fishing that far south, but for a lot of fish, high summer means low light fishing or night fishing. Consider getting up early, staying out late, or both. Mid-day is when you score points with the family.


I'm hoping that the weather will have cooled enough in October to allow some all day action. That's my hope, anyway!

Thanks for the input! Once I get started cranking out some flies, I'll post some pics. And yes, I'll be filming while I am down there, so hopefully I can get some decent footage to share, too.


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## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

I am also going to myrtle beach in a couple of weeks and am going to give the fly a try in the surf zone. I used to live down there but didnt fish much back then. I know the couple times I did go always did good for sea bass on the south side of jettys. I always used shrimp so I would think a shrimp fly could do some damage. A shark would be pretty awesome just be out of Horry county because inside Horry county you have to cut the line if you hook a shark or 500.00 fine. I think murrells inlet is outside of Horry county I dont remember.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

imalt said:


> I am also going to myrtle beach in a couple of weeks and am going to give the fly a try in the surf zone. I used to live down there but didnt fish much back then. I know the couple times I did go always did good for sea bass on the south side of jettys. I always used shrimp so I would think a shrimp fly could do some damage. A shark would be pretty awesome just be out of Horry county because inside Horry county you have to cut the line if you hook a shark or 500.00 fine. I think murrells inlet is outside of Horry county I dont remember.


I just checked, Murrell's Inlet is in Georgetown County...barely!

http://www.sciway.net/maps/cnty/georgetown.html


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## Andrew S (Jul 7, 2011)

TheCream said:


> I'm hoping that the weather will have cooled enough in October to allow some all day action. That's my hope, anyway!


Oh sorry! I missed that part about October. Should be gorgeous in October.


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## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

There is public boat launch in murrels inlet that goes into the waterway I cant remember the name but it is on the north side of murrels inlet. I would think it would be a good spot in the yak with the changing tides. I used to see small black tip sharks in there back when I would head out that way to the ocean with my jet ski. It would be bad ass to catch a shark out of the yak and on a fly.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Well, the county line bit is good in either way, because I forgot to mention that another area I wanted to try that I have read about is Huntington Beach State Park, which is definitely in Georgetown County. That may be where I have to try for the sharks, because I definitely want to do it. 

Were the black tips you saw back in the inlet a ways or near the jetty towards the ocean?


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## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

the black tips were about 75 yards off the boat ramp so back in the inlet. Huntington Beach state park has changed a lot since I lived there. They used to have some big gators in there so watch yourself. In the early morning the gators used to run across the dunes go out into the ocean for a few minutes then run back across. Never knew what they were doing but was pretty cool to see.


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## Steelhead Fever (Dec 31, 2009)

most of my saltwater experience is down south, but I will do my best

For the backwater, as mentioned, you want moving water, look for eddies, and spots where the water is ripping around a small point, and slack right next to it, also look where the water is pushing against, shore/rocks or something of that nature, for back in the backwaters, you want low tide, the end of outgoing, or the very beginning of incoming...

as for the beach, im not sure, but in Florida, there is always snook, its a wholeee different game up that way...but what andrew said is really good advice....


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

I learned some important lessons last night watching some shark week stuff on Discovery. When it comes to handling sharks:

1. No matter how tempting, keep your hands away from their mouths
2. Do not try to kiss a shark on the nose or mouth
3. When handling a shark, put down your beer


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## WhoolyBugger (Aug 25, 2008)

Everyone gave sound advise... 
Oct should be good for big stripers and chopper blues in the surf. Use a steel leader for the blues. Hook one of those bad boys and you will never forget it! The inlets and sound areas should provide good action if the surf is unfishable. Deep into the brackish canals can be great for bass too.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

You sure about striper in the surf? They are there but from what I've read they remain in the sweet water of the ACE basin?

I don't know because I don't fish for them there, but the migratory fish that return in the fall do not go that far south. 

The fish below NC do not migrate & as far as I know remain in the brackish river environment. Could be worth looking into a flats guide so you can target & sight fish for some cows in the backwater!


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## WhoolyBugger (Aug 25, 2008)

Fallen.. I just read the OP and I didn't realize he was talking about SC.. I was thinkin he was up in the Outer Banks area.. Which I hear is on fire during the fall..


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## Intracoastal (Sep 12, 2009)

I do my fair share of saltwater fishing/flyfishing every year, and I've fished the Murrell's inlet area before. I don't want to get your hopes up, but that area of the SC coast/greater Charleston lowcountry is known for having some of the highest concentrations of redfish. It is insane how many redfish they have. There is also a great number of speckled seatrout, sheepshead (the saltwater kind, not the FW Drum), and flounder. They sometimes get jack crevalle in the fall through winter months, too. In fact, you might find a lot of enormous redfish, since fall is the best time for them (october & november). The "bull" drum as they're called school up on the surf-side of inlets. 

If you see dolphin, especially aggressive ones, you might want hold off on fishing that area--they annihilate the redfish. I watched this go down and it wasn't pretty. Once the dolphin left, I caught a very tired and beat-up 30"er 

For patterns in the marsh, i would stick to crabby/shrimpy imitations, or simply clousers. While spoon flies, merkins, and craft fur shrimp all work, a brown- or olive-over-white clouser just plain looks like food. Brown over tan with gold flash is good, and copper flash is also good. Have a few brighter patterns too for dirtier water. Chartreuse is a must, and nuclear chicken works too.

A similar thing for the surf, but if you want smaller fish like whiting, you should keep it so a size 6 or even 8. They are actually pretty scrappy little fish, ideal on a #6 rod (just because the waves/wind). you must let your fly sit still for a second for whiting, as they hit right when the hook hits bottom. Then they will leave it alone, unless it has real meat attached to it. For seatrout in the surf or backcountry, a Schminnow (google this fly) is a good choice, and white is always fish-worthy. 

You might want some 3-6" mullet patterns with you for the big redfish. If you are fishing off/near a jetty (and those 2 at the inlet are great choices), that's probably what you should throw, unless some other fish catches your attention. 

And Andrew's advice is great for anywhere you fish in saltwater. Moving water is generally best. I want to add that in my experience, a falling tide is best (though people debate this), which is the time before the printed low-tide on a tide table, and in the SC marsh, the last 3 hours are when you should be fishing. This is when the shrimp and crabs and baitfish are pulled against their will out of creeks and off of flats into deeper water where gamefish await, mouths agape. In the surf, I like the earlier part of a falling tide, where the water is receding, but there's still a lot of it up on the sand for the fish to feel confident cruising close to shore. A quick anecdotal evidence--when i fish in Florida, I sometimes fish from piers that jut out from the beach, and give me a great birds-eye view of the fish below. At high tide in the summer, snook cruise up and down the first and second "troughs" as Andrew described, sometimes just chilling with their noses almost on dry land (i've spooked a few by walking up on them during this siesta). About 2 hours after the water has started to recede, the fish are nowhere to be found. They are still catchable, but they are in water too deep to be seen from above. Whatever the lesson is there, I'm sure you got the picture. 

Anyway, sorry to go on a crazy ramble. Feel free to pm me for other info. Best of luck...oh, and be sure to gently rinse or soak your reels in freshwater after each session in the brine! But DO NOT take the spool off!


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

Awesome info, thanks for sharing that.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Agreed, awesome info, and thanks for sharing, Intracoastal!

My order of saltwater hooks was delivered earlier today (man I love online UPS tracking), so tonight I will start tying for the salt!


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

Game on!










I got a couple of saltwater tying books last week, figured out what hooks/sizes I needed, and my hook order came in last night. Already have 2 standard saltwater poppers and 2 pencil poppers base coated and ready to be finished up tonight. I start with what I know.  Then I'll get crackin' on streamers and other flies.


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## fallen513 (Jan 5, 2010)

I recommend taking at least one GIGANTIC popper. 


No real reason other than it seems that a big fish would eat it. And I have some saltwater poppers & they are 10+ inches long!

Something like this :


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

fallen513 said:


> I recommend taking at least one GIGANTIC popper.
> 
> 
> No real reason other than it seems that a big fish would eat it. And I have some saltwater poppers & they are 10+ inches long!
> ...


A SuperSized version of Bob's Banger, I like it!


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## dblbrldave (Apr 16, 2004)

Was just down in lauderdale 2 weeks ago for family vac.
Fished the surf only. I am totally new to salt water fishing,
but i learned one very important thing that I do not think anyone touched on.

Leader / tippet size. 
I started with 10lb flouro and after breaking off 2 snook over 20lbs each,
went to local fly shop and was given 30lb flouro to use as at the end of the
leader and to attach the fly. then proceeded to catch one the next day and loose several others that threw the fly. main leader was only 10lb flouro
but I needed that 30lb so i did not get bit off. important lesson learned.

All fish took white deceiver with dark back, or peacock back.
All around high tide


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