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Tight lines: lowcountry fishing

Stalking the shallows: Winter is the best time to chase huge schools of redfish on the flats

By Daniel Nussbaum

Matt Winter
The Post and Courier

“There they are,” Palmer whispered.

From his perch atop the poling platform of his

16-foot flats boat, my friend saw them first.

Working slowly through a maze of oyster bars and spartina grass off the Kiawah River, Palmer quietly poled the skiff onto the mudflat.

I soon noticed the rippled surface ahead of the boat.

We crept closer, and from the casting deck I could finally make out the dark, oblong shapes — BIG shapes, and LOTS of them. More than 50 redfish were milling around during low tide in water less than knee deep, basking in the sunlight on this clear January day.

I fired a cast to the right of the school and let my soft-plastic swimbait settle to the bottom. I twitched it once, and a nice fish split off from the school to investigate.

A week of light winds and crisp weather had left the water clear, and I could plainly see the fish’s gills flare and mouth open wide as it inhaled my lure. I set the hook and watched the red shake his head several times, trying to throw the lure.

Hooked well, he darted back toward the school, peeling off line. Suddenly the water in front of us erupted in a boil as the entire school spooked.

Palmer calmly poled us away from the school. As I fought a 10-pound redfish to the boat, we watched the dark shapes slowly fill back in on the flat.

We repeated this process many more times, stalking the school and sight-casting to beefy reds. In short order, we tallied a half-dozen redfish releases, and pulled hooks on several more.

This is what Lowcountry winter redfishing is all about.

Matt Winter
The Post and Courier

Lowcountry waterways clear up in the wintertime, offering sight-casting opportunities to anglers willing to bundle up a bit. Stephanie Kailor of Mount Pleasant shows off a fiesty young red drum caught on the flats.

Why reds school

In the summer and fall, redfish can be found just about anywhere in Lowcountry waters, from sandbars off the beach to tiny creeks snaking through the salt marsh.

Redfish, also known as red drum and spot-tail bass, spend the warmer months gorging on abundant shrimp, crabs and bait fish.

But in the cooler months, Lowcountry spot-tails go into survival mode, congregating in huge schools in the shallows, where it’s warm and safe. They seek sanctuary from one of the Lowcountry’s largest and most efficient saltwater predators: the bottlenose dolphin.

“Since the dolphin have to get to the redfish to eat them, the shallower the redfish stay, the better off they are,” explained Charlie Wenner, a biologist with the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

“Aggregating around the oyster bars ... around low tide provides additional protection, because dolphin don’t like swimming in shallow water over oyster bars, for obvious reasons.”

Predation by dolphins is a year-round issue for redfish, but the risk grows as the water cools.

One reason is that many smaller prey items that inhabit Lowcountry estuaries in the summer – mullet, menhaden and ladyfish, for example – head for warmer water in the fall. To make matters worse, shrimp boats typically don’t operate in the winter, so dolphins also lose the chance to feast on discarded by-catch.

By the time winter sets in, dolphin have fewer choices on the menu, so they set their sights on redfish.

Spot-tails are also at higher risk in the winter because, unlike the dolphin hunting them down, fish are cold-blooded. As the water cools, so does a redfish’s body temperature. The fish becomes sluggish. In unprotected deep water, a slow-moving red is easy pickings for a pod of hungry bottlenose dolphin.

Playing it safe, redfish begin to school up and seek the safety of the shallows in mid- to late October.

“The (water) temperature range when this happens is between 55 and 60 degrees,” Wenner said. “At lower than 55, I’d say they are really bunched up.”

For the redfish, winter is a period of low activity and low food consumption. As their body temperature cools, their metabolism slows, and they do not require much food.

“They don’t grow in length during the winter and may actually lose weight,” said Wenner. “If something stumbles along in front of them that they can eat, they’ll eat it, but rarely do you see them actively foraging in cold water.”

Winter redfish schools typically contain 50 to 100 fish, though schools can be even bigger at times. Reds usually group together by size.

Once they top the 30-inch mark, redfish typically leave the estuaries and head out to nearshore wrecks and reefs for the winter.

Where reds school

When scouting for good spots to fish, keep in mind that even a 10-pound redfish can swim in remarkably shallow water, just enough to cover its back at low tide. At high tide, the fish move from the flats into the marsh to forage and further evade dolphins.

Capt. John Irwin, a full-time fishing guide and redfish specialist, has made a living finding and stalking schools of winter redfish.

“In the winter, I look for large shallow areas that hold water at an extremely low tide,” Irwin said.

Irwin recommends looking for larger shallow bays and mud flats on nautical charts, then scouting out likely areas in person.

Finding fish on the flats is “basically just a process of elimination,” Irwin said. Concentrate on areas with lots of oyster bars and channels. Pay particular attention to spots where the pluff mud backs all the way to the marsh grass.

Irwin routinely fishes flats that fit this description along the Kiawah, Ashley, and Wando rivers. But he’s quick to point out that equally productive areas can be found anywhere along our coast.

Capt. Ben Floyd, a McClellanville native who grew up targeting spottails, focuses on the waters north of Isle of Palms in the winter.

“I like looking for large shallow bays with a black mud bottom,” Floyd said. “It seems to me that the water temperature is usually better for the fish in shallow water on top of mud.”

Floyd also finds winter reds schooling along the banks of the Intracoastal Waterway.

“Since the waterway isn’t dredged much to the north, the banks basically turn into shallow flats.”

Floyd suspects that the fish on the banks of the waterway are often easier to stalk and catch since they are more accustomed to boat traffic.

Matt Winter
The Post and Courier

Anglers stalking redfish often use boats outfitted with poling platforms. The extra height aids visibility on the flats.

I see you

Captains like Irwin are in the business of wowing their charter clients. And though big redfish are available year-round in Charleston, the winter fishery offers an exhilarating twist: seeing the fish first.

When the water temperatures dip below the 60-degree mark, many of the algae that cloud summertime water die off and the water becomes remarkably clear. During periods of light east winds, moderate tides and cool weather, the bottom is often visible in as much as 5 or 6 feet of water. Under those conditions, anglers can easily spot redfish milling around over the muddy bottom of the flats around low tide.

“Sight casting to schooling redfish and watching a big fish take your bait makes the fishing experience as exciting as possible,” Irwin said.

Of course, water clarity comes with a catch: The fish can see you, too, and they’re mighty skittish.

Accordingly, Irwin believes approaching a redfish school cautiously and methodically is one of the most important aspects of winter fishing.

“Stay quiet, stay stealthy, and stay back off them,” he said. “Back off the fish when you hook up so you don’t spook the entire school.”

When approaching a likely flat, Irwin typically takes to his platform and poles his skiff into range. Though trolling motors can be used to stalk fish, Irwin cautions against changing speeds frequently, as the change in pitch can spook the fish.

For Floyd, “being quiet is the biggest part of catching schooling fish.” Before approaching a school, Floyd will even take off his shoes and lay his rod on a sweatshirt on the bow to minimize noise. Any little clink or clank can spoil a stalk.

“We spotted a school on the flats one day, and I went to tie on a jighead,” he said. “I accidentally dropped the jig on the bow, and the entire flat erupted around me with fish.

“The fish were spooked, and they never came back that day.”

Nice and easy

When it comes to winter angling technique, a soft, quiet lure presentation is “98 percent of battle,” according to Irwin.

He opts for baits that don’t make a big splash when cast. Exude jerkbaits are his personal favorite because they are heavy enough to cast with spinning tackle but still land softly.

Irwin instructs his clients to cast toward the edges of the school rather than into the middle, to avoid spooking fish. He also “leads” the school by determining the direction it’s traveling and casting in front.

Once Irwin places his bait near the school, he keeps his rod tip up and as much line out of the water as possible.

“If the fish hit your line, you might still be able to catch a couple, but they won’t bite like when you got there.”

Irwin extends this careful, subdued approach to lure color.

“When the water clears in December, January and February, I like softer colors — dark greens, browns, and black,” he said. “Fish don’t react as much to these darker colors, and bright colors like the ‘electric chicken’ often spook fish in the winter.”

Likewise, Floyd fishes artificial lures slowly and carefully in the winter months.

“If I’m fishing an artificial, it needs to be something without a whole lot of action that moves slowly and sinks slowly,” Floyd said. “Everything’s metabolism slows in the winter, so everything moves slower, even the bait.”

Floyd’s winter lure of choice is a half-ounce gold Johnson spoon. His retrieve is slow and steady, “just fast enough to give it a little flash.” To entice sluggish fish with a bit of scent and color, Floyd often tips his spoons and jigs with a curly tail Berkley Gulp! Swimming Mullet.

Both Floyd and Irwin also scale down their terminal tackle in clear winter water.

“I fish braided line all other times of the year,” Floyd said. “But when the water clears, I switch to light monofilament line because the fish can’t see it, and I can cast it further.”

Irwin prefers braided line with a relatively light 12-pound test Gamma fluorocarbon leader, which becomes virtually invisible under water. He foregoes a swivel, tying his leader directly to the line using a triple surgeons knot.

“My hook-up ratio is just so much higher with 12 (pound test),” he said. “I really don’t lose many fish or break many fish off with the lighter leader.”

An avid fly fisherman, Irwin acknowledges that catching a redfish on the fly is typically more challenging than with conventional tackle. However, he thinks that in the winter, fly fishermen may have a slight edge.

“The nice thing about the fly rod is that you can lay the fly in there really softly,” Irwin said. “Some days, I feel like I can catch more fish on the fly rod than on soft plastics or even bait.”

Irwin opts for flies in muted tones, to avoid spooking finicky fish. Crab patterns, clousers, and copperheads will do the trick. Floyd’s best winter fly is a black wiggler pattern.

Warm days, active fish

Even though redfish eat little in the winter, they will turn on and feed actively when warm, sunny days give them an energy boost.

“Warm days in January when the temperature gets over 70 degrees really seem to get the fish going,” Irwin said.

Indeed, a rising tide on a warm, sunny afternoon can lead to some of year’s best redfishing. This is because at low tide, the sun heats up exposed mud on the flats. As the tide flows in, water rising over the mud heats up quickly, and redfish flock to these warmer pockets. Energized by warmth, reds will often root around in the mud for crabs, shrimp and minnows, often feeding so shallow their backs and tails are above the waterline.

Such a sight is not soon forgotten.

Once, while fishing a flat north of Isle of Palms on an overcast winter day, Floyd zeroed in on a huge school of more than 200 fish. The reds were sluggish, and he couldn’t get them to eat. As the clouds started to break, Floyd noticed a single beam of sunlight hitting the water’s surface. As the ray of light slowly moved over the flat, tails began to pop up as the redfish warmed up and began to feed.

“When the sunbeam moved across the shallow bay, it looked like dominoes, with all the tails popping up.”

Floyd and his party caught 10 energized reds that fine winter day.

Daniel Nussbaum, an avid inshore and offshore angler, is general manager of The Charleston Angler in Mount Pleasant