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Keeping Your Options Open
One thing I’ve learned over the years when fishing inshore is to keep your options open. If you are dead set on a particular technique and do not adapt your strategy, you may have a long day without any action. Last week Tim and I took my 6 year old son out for a half-day inshore adventure. We had planned on a minnow trap full of minnows and some great trout and redfish action. The morning we left the dock we had 2 mudminnows and a couple of crabs. Having been down this road before Tim thought to bring some frozen mullet he had in his freezer and a variety of rigs and lures. We put some cut mullet down on the bottom and began to fish the point we had chosen with a grub, one top-water Mirro-Lure, and a float with crab.
Read the article HERE

Free Fishing Days In South Carolina On June 9-10
All South Carolina residents may fish for free without a license. For more information about licensing check the DNR website HERE.

100,000 TROUT STOCKED IN MOUNTAIN STREAMS
The S.C. Department of Natural Resources recently completed stocking more than 100,000 fingerling trout in about 40 mountain streams in northern Oconee, Pickens and Greenville counties. The S.C. Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) stocks more than 400,000 trout annually to support trout fishing in streams, lakes and two cold tailwaters (waters below a dam).
Most anglers are familiar with the popular put-take trout fisheries where catchable trout are routinely stocked in spring and fall to support an immediate angling opportunity. A lesser known fact; however, is the DNR's stocking of more than 100,000 fingerling trout in the headwater reaches of about 40 mountain streams in northern Oconee, Pickens and Greenville counties each year. All of the more than 400,000 trout stocked in South Carolina waters each year are reared at the Walhalla State Fish Hatchery north of Walhalla. For more information on trout stocking in Upstate streams, call the Clemson DNR office at (864) 654-6346.

DNR Stocks Striped And Hybrid Bass Into Lakes Hartwell And Thurmond
     The S.C. Department of Natural Resources recently completed the stocking of 652,450 hatchery raised striped bass and 271,057 hybrid bass fingerlings into Lakes Hartwell and Thurmond.
These stockings by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) complemented an additional 305,0000 striped bass and 224,000 hybrid bass stocked by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources on the Georgia shores of these lakes.
Both lakes are dependent on annual stockings of striped and hybrid bass fry to maintain the popular recreational sport fisheries.
The Savannah lakes provide some of the best coolwater striper habitat in the state, and predictably grow some of the largest stripers. The current state record striped bass weighed 59 pounds 8 ounces and was hoisted from Lake Hartwell in 2002. Biologists estimate the sport fisheries in Lakes Hartwell and Russell support more than one half million angler trips each year. Fishing for striped and hybrid bass is a major component of the sport fisheries on these lakes. Angler surveys estimate Lake Hartwell and Thurmond anglers expend about $10 million annually in direct expenditures and equipment purchases to fish these lakes.
    Striped and hybrid bass fry for the Hartwell and Thurmond stockings were produced at the DNR's Jack Bayless Fish Hatchery in St.
Stephens. The fry were grown out to 1- to 2-inch fingerlings prior to being stocked in the lakes. Funding for the Jack Bayless Fish Hatchery and the hybrid and striped bass stockings comes from license fees and Sport Fish Restoration Funds, which are derived from a federal excise tax on selected fishing gear and motorboat fuel.
For information on DNR's freshwater fish stocking program, call
(803) 734-3933 in Columbia. Check the DNR Web site for South Carolina freshwater fish regulations HERE.
     The DNR Freshwater Fisheries Section annually stocks from seven to 10 million fish in state waters, including striped and hybrid bass, largemouth and smallmouth bass, channel and blue catfish, bluegill, redbreast, red ear sunfish (shellcracker), and rainbow, brook, and brown trout. Anglers in South Carolina spend almost $742 million to fish each year, making the sport, with economic multipliers factored in, a billion dollar business in the Palmetto State.
     Stripers are fast growing and long-lived and sometimes reach weights of more than 40 pounds in the Savannah lakes system. Maturity occurs at about 2 years of age for male stripers and at 4 years of age for females. They can reach a size of 10 to 12 inches the first year.
     There is no disputing the striper is a superstar among freshwater fishes. Live shad and herring are excellent baits for catching big stripers. Other popular baits include white or yellow bucktail jigs, spoons, deep running crankbaits and a spinner with plastic worm rig.
     Popping plugs are best when stripers are schooling at the surface.

Tropical Storm Barry put a slow down on last weeks fishing, arriving just in time for the weekend and packing high winds and lots of rain. The fishing offshore was going strong prior to the weather and should still be red hot. The sailfish bite is getting more consistent each day as the water warms up. The tuna were a little more consistent and the dolphin and wahoo bite is really good. Closer to shore the king mackerel bite is turning on and the menhaden are schooled up around the harbor, in the rivers, and out along the beaches. Just look for the diving pelicans to find your bait. The spadefish are out over the artificial reefs and there are also some really nice catches of black sea bass and trigger fish around the reefs and areas of live bottom.
Inshore the flounder are picking up and the redfish and trout bite is really good. Spanish mackerel are in the inlets and around the harbor and can be great fun on light tackle. The waterways are extremely crowded on the weekends so take you time and look out for the other guy.

Tight lines…
Andy Pickett
CharlestonFishing.Com