Charleston pier fishing

[tboy]

My family is taking our summer trip kinda late. We are leaving tomorrow. I think we are going to the same place that scooby went a while ago.
I PM'd Counslrman, about pier fishing because my dad and I looked into going deep sea fishing and it would be too expensive. but Counslrman was VERY helpful about what to use and all. A BIG THANKS TO COUNSLRMAN FOR HELPING A NEW GUY TO SALT FISHING GET OFF TO A GOOD START!

If any of you have any more info about pier fishing around Charleston it would be much appreciated. I will post my luck/report when i return. thanks!

[Fletch_W]

I used to live there, but the only pier I fished on was the Pitt Street Bridge/Pier. FLounder, bluefish, redfish, seatrout, crabs, and shrimp if you have a cast net.

Directions from downtown:

Highway 17 to Mount Pleasant (over the Ravenel Bridge)

At the end of the bridge, take Coleman Blvd, not Hwy 17. I beleive it says "Sullivan's Island" on the exit sign.

Follow Coleman Blvd for a few miles and turn right on "Center Street". It's a residential neighborhood, and there's a bbq joint called "Mama's BBQ" on the corner, and it's really good stuff.

Once on Center Street, there are no street signs, only painted white posts at the intersections with the street names written vertically. You'll get to an intersection with Pitt Street. Turn left.

You will dead end at the "pier".

Use mapquest to familiarize yourself before-hand.

Do not go at low tide, it's just mud for several hundred yards in all directions. But when the tide is coming in, just starting to creep up onto the flats and into the grass, that's the time to fish it. High tide is hit and miss, and the outgoing tide will just catch you about 600 pounds of grass and debris.

Don't use a bobber.

Use whatever weight is neccessary to stay on the bottom, an ounce should be quite enough if you fish the right time I told you.

The baitfish and crabs are voracious, they will eat your bait up real fast, check your bait often. Don't leave your rod unattended with bait in the water, I've seen many a rod go bye-bye there.

On your way down Coleman, you'll see "Haddrell's Bait and Tackle" on the right, next to Ace Hardware. Tell them you want "Kahle Hooks" for the Pitt Street Bridge, and get some frozen shrimp. Don't bother with mud minnows, they'll swim under a rock and bury themselve, and tangle you up on oysters etc, I've had best luck on plain old frozen shrimp. Don't bother with live shrimp either, they'll be dead within an hour without a sophisticated recirculating system. If there are people out there cast-netting mullet and pinfish, and they offer you some for bait, take it. Pick up a copy of the regs, they are very tricky on sizes etc. DO NOT tell them "Fletch" sent you.

If you want to catch alot of blue crabs, get kite string, and a long handled net, and some chicken necks at the Piggly Wiggly on your left just before you get to Center Street. Toss it out, wait for it to pull, then retrieve it slowly, the crabs will hold on all the way to the surface before they let go, net them and toss them in the cooler, best to put them in a separate cooler from your beer, I heard this from someone else, I don't personally have any experience with sticking my hand into a cooler of blue crabs to grab a Miluakee's Best Light, honest.

Don't be afraid to put a small fish or crab on a hook and toss it back out.

Fish where you see the koreans and black folks fishing, that's the good spots.

There are no bathroom facilities here. You must improvise. And bring bug spray. And sunblock, there's no shade either.

No fishing license is required when you are fishing from land, unless the SC DNR has changed their regs in the last 2 years.

On your way back, pick up some of that bbq or stop at the Shem Creek Bar and Grill and sit out back, way back, on the creek. Their fried shrimp is excellent and so is their brunch. MApquest it. The directions are difficult in this kind of forum.

Good Luck!

[Fletch_W]

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/news/saltpiers.html

Updated August 6th.

I got your PM, but I think I'm too late to respond, so here goes in case you check in while on vacation.

Just use whatever rod and reel you would normally use for bass fishing, but not a baitcaster, you will probably be casting directly into the harbor breeze. Hook size: ask the guy at Haddrell's what size to get. I don't remember, I could point at it, but I don't remember the 2/0 5/0 whatever. My typical rig was a 7 foot spinning combo with 14 pound mono or 30 pound braided line. Braided is better but pricey. I thread an egg sinker onto the line and then an orange bead, then tie on a 20lb swivel, then 3 ft of a heavier duty mono or braided line to the bottom of the swivel, then the kahle hook. The bead protects your knots from the weight slinging around on the cast, and some say attract fish. It's basically a carolina slip rig, you can buy them pre-made if you don't want to fool with it all. The less stuff on your rig, the less crap it will catch on the bottom. I've had equal luck with 10 split shots on mono. And I've been out there with 5 rods all rigged up different with 3 different kinds of live bait and watched an 8 year old boy right next to me with a Zebco outfish me all day with frozen shrimp.

The only real thing to remember is that you need a 5 gallon bucket filled with fresh water to soak your reels in overnight when you are done, or they will never ever work again.

[Fishbreath]

http://www.dnr.sc.gov/news/saltpiers.html



The only real thing to remember is that you need a 5 gallon bucket filled with fresh water to soak your reels in overnight when you are done, or they will never ever work again.

ill second that. every year that we go to the keys deep sea fishing weve got to rinse of the rod and reels off good. (and i mean real good:yikes: ) but i know ya left today but good luck to ya

[Fletch_W]

not just real good, but reel good..... ha huh ha ha duh ha hee hee

I used to use the Penn Reel Lube quite often on my reels when I lived there, I found the tube in my trunk today changing my brake pads, I used it to lube the lug nuts, in a couple months I'll be sure to check back on how well it works.

[tboy]

so i'll try to keep on eye on what y'all say... i saw a guy catch a 3ft shark on a diff pier that is within walking distance of the hotle. his rod looked about like the one i brought.

I was gonna bring one of my bass rods, but my dad showed me his old salmon rod. it is a Abu garcia medium weight rod(that from memory so it may not be right). i need to respool it but other wise it will work. I am thinking of puting 17 or 20lb line on it. i brought a lot of the teardrop sinkers(the ones with the wire through the middle). and i also brought a TON of size 3(i think) catfish hooks(tru-turn brand). i will have to get the new line, orange beags, and frozen shrimp tomoro(and probably some other stuff that looks cool). this pier is across the river from the battleship you can sleep on(cant remember it's name). i think we will go to the place you suggested, not sure when but i will sometime while we are here(mom said so!).

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP! I WOULDN'T HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT OR HAVE THE VAGEST IDEA OF WHAT TO DO! THANKS!:cheers:

P.S. how was your first day of school landon?;)

[Fishbreath]

this pier is across the river from the battleship you can sleep on(cant remember it's name).

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP! I WOULDN'T HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT OR HAVE THE VAGEST IDEA OF WHAT TO DO! THANKS!:cheers:

P.S. how was your first day of school landon?;)

Cool. Seth the battleship you are refering to is the Carrier U.S.S. Yorktown. it was a heavily used carrier in the pacific during ww2. also if you can see if you can get your parents to take you to Fort Sumter. that is a cool place!

and with the school thing it was ok. i've got 2 honors classes, a couple im trying to have changed and just other graduation required classes.

catch a big ole bluefish for me:D

[Mulligan]

"On your way back, pick up some of that bbq or stop at the Shem Creek Bar and Grill and sit out back, way back, on the creek. Their fried shrimp is excellent and so is their brunch." Fletch

Gotta back Fletch up and say those are some great fried shrimp at Shem Creek. Was there last weekend. Also gotta say a Bloody Mary w/ some Oyster Bisque on the back porch at Vickery's makes for a good start to a Sunday.

Had a hard time finding live shrimp on the Carolina coast last week. Talked to a few locals and said they just have not been in the creeks this year. Any similar experiences?

[Fishbreath]

well havent seen ya post in a few days. so when ya get back on let me know how ya did on "walking the boards". any sharks::ke:

landon

[Fletch_W]

Careful in the surf.... two people attacked by sharks on Isle of Palms this week!

I've caught more sharks in Charleston than any other fish. Small ones, less than two feet mostly, but a few nicer ones. The little sharks that have faint white spots are called "Atlantic Sharpnose" and they are very abundant, hold it by the gills, any further back and it can bite you. The ones you might catch that look like hammerheads are actually called "Bonnetheads". They all have to be thrown back of course. You can't kill them legally.

There's also alot of stingray in the harbor area. Don't even try to handle it, even if a Korean wants you to real it in so he can keep it, just cut the line as soon as you know it's a stingray.

If you catch a fish with white and black bands and little feelers on his mouth, that's a juvenile black drum, and good eating when they are under 10 pounds.

If you have a problem with little nibblers, it's probably Pinfish, also known as Sailor's Choice. Put on a bream hook and little pieces of shrimp and you can catch them all day like bluegill, and they are also good to eat. But even better, if you can keep them alive in a bucket and carry them to the docks, you'll probably find an offshore fishermen who'll buy them off you for Grouper bait. Never take their first offer.... never. After he makes his first offer, start picking them up one by one and tossing them back in the water. If he asks you for a land and sell permit, tell him it's back at the office and then ask to see his fire extinguisher expiration card.

Also, since you've got a laptop, check out www.charlestonfishing.com and read the boards, but don't mention my name or they will ban you or give you bad info. You could also check out www.charlestonwired.com and go to the fishing section, also not a good idea to mention my name.

Also, if you are going to Ft. Sumter, make sure to go to Ft. Moultrie too, it's on Sullivan's Island, much history. Also, it's located where the harbor meets the ocean, and surf fishing around the red bouy can be very rewarding. You'll see the bouy, it's too far to cast, but get as close as you can on the beach, do not get in the water, you will be fined or killed, and sling it out there. It drops off to 60+ feet really quick and alot of big fish swim through there. Low tide is best, high tide is iffy, and moving tide is impossible to keep your bait on the bottom.

[tboy]

yesterday(Friday) we got up packed up and headed home it took like 6 hours to get back... I would of posted yesterday but i had football pic's.

Brief trip overview:
Well on the first day we were there we went to the beach(folly beach).

Second day we went to the aquarium for the whole day, lots of cool fish but you cant catch them! so they were like taunting me! they also have brook trout the size of my arm in a few tanks!!
Then the third day I finally got to go fishing!!! :cheers: My mom and I got up early and went to this pier that was within walking distance(also the place i saw the guy catch the 3-4 foot shark). I know absolutely nothing about sea fish but i know I caught 1 black sea bass about 11-12 inches, 1 sea trout about 12-14 inches, and 6-7 croakers(that's what a guy told me they were, and they sounded like bullfrogs when you held them.) We were at that pier about 3 hours and the tide was going out the whole time. later after we picked my dad up, we went to the pier you suggested. the little fish and pin fish were getting the best of me. i caught a lot of these things that looked like bream, they were all about 2-4 inches long. after a while mom was ready to go eat so i hurriedly used the rest of the shrimp and cought a few more lil bream looking things. I'll post some pic's of the sea bass and crokers later they were the only ones i got pic's of. thanks

[Fletch_W]

THose bream were pinfish. Should have used them for bait.

[Fishbreath]

yeah those suckers are great for bait. when i was down in the fl keys we went out for about an hour and a half to help one of my grandparents friends catch pinfish (he was a charter boat captain) it was raining and was very windy. we chumed them in and then used 2 little hooks with little bits of squid. even if we caught baby snapper it was funny because these warbirds were hanging around and if we threw one back there he'd dive and get it. that was fun:D

glad ya caught some

landon

oh yeah and call me if ya feel like it

[tboy]

ok so those were pin fish... i saw some lil things that resembled a alagator gar but were clear and i was guessing they were pin fish cuz they looked more like a pin... any way. it was fun fishing and hope to go agian sometime.. thanks for all the help!