Best day this season on the Wando (so far) ;)

The Mrs. and I got out this Weds evening on a nice incoming tide before this latest storm (been a bunch of them lately huh…) rolled in on us and gully-washed the whole low country yet again… Fortunately we had a great few hours of fishing.

All artificial was used as is the norm for us. Baits were Z-man paddlerz in “opening night and new penny” on 3/16 eye strike trout eye jigs, DOA paddle tails “rootbeer chart and new penny” on the same jig, Vudu 3" shrimp in gold, a gold Johnson spoon, and old school Rebel Pop-R for you bass guys in chrome/blue as the trout were schooling on glass minnows and tearing topwater up.

We caught the slam within the first hour and managed several more of each for the afternoon. Wind was blowing hard (typical right…) and it made looking at them tough so we were blind casting in some areas that have been holding fish steadily for the past Month or so and hit the motherlode. Never had the boat in more than 2’ of water the whole time other than to run to a few spots.

She caught her new PB Red shown in this picture and it gave her a solid fight with 2 solid runs that put the Stradic Ci4+ 2500 to the test along with the Daiway J-Braid 8x and Sunline Sniper FC 14# leader but the rig held up and she boated it.

It’s really fun to fish with her and help her develop her skills as she has really taken the time to watch & learn and as such has come a long way in casting accuracy, quieter presentations, and managing fish once hooked up. I’m a lucky guy.

Hope everyone is well, safe, and able to get a line wet now that the ramps are back open. Stay safe everyone and tight lines.


Chuck D Pathfinder 2300 HPS Yamaha 250 SHO

Thanks for the information. Headed out tomorrow hoping for the same !


22 robalo

You bet, catch em up and match the bait size as always. Share how it went when you get time. Tight lines!


Chuck D Pathfinder 2300 HPS Yamaha 250 SHO

Hey man I was out there Wends as well but I think I might have caught the incoming tide too late. What time were you guys out?

I went with a buddy on Wednesday too. Fished the falling tide from 11am to 3pm. Pretty much same baits as you and bought my first live bait of the season…SLOW. I caught a few on Saturday on the falling so hit the same spots but not a bite. After a couple of hours of getting skunked we went to a flat and eventually saw a gold flash, then another and another in about 1’ of water. Threw the artificials in there with no takers then let a mud minnow sit for a few minutes and FINALLY got a bite. Nice 25"er tagged and released and that was it for the day. Really had high hopes for the day after catching a few last Saturday, just didn’t happen for us.

We hit the upper Wando about 4 pm and pulled the boat out at 7:45 pm.


Chuck D Pathfinder 2300 HPS Yamaha 250 SHO

Got ya, I got up there around 530 and got out at 8:00. I think I should have been up that way a like right around 4 instead of 530ish

Hey Chuck D, how are you rigging your shrimp?? Under a cork or none. Weighted or not? I have tried weighted shrimp under a cord a few years ago and never had any real luck but I would like to try again. I watch a C.A.Richardson video and he was using a 1/10 NedLockZ to weight ZMan shrimp using a popping cork. I was thinking it would fall slower after the pop? I Would like your opinion or any others on this before going out and buying the wrong stuff as I do a lot. LOL

Thanks, Larry


01 Scout 177 w/ 150 hpdi

We throw em a few different ways. First, fall rate for me in this scenario is’t important as I’m in less than 2’ of water and targeting fish that are “looking down” so I want bottom contact.

First option is a Vudu which comes stock pre rigged with a weight and a hook like the DOA and some other soft plastics. All I do is add a lil pro cure shrimp scent and tie right to the hook with my floro leader. I use a San Diego jam knot or improved clinch knot. I’m not a loop knot fan, too weak in my opinion but they do give more action admittedly.

Our Second shrimp rig is a new penny (or other color) Gulp 3”. And for that I use an eye strike trout eye with the hook exposed or the weedless version both in 3/16 oz. That way I can keep contact with the bottom and have fewer snags and drag less trash back to the boat than with an exposed hook as it tends to do when fishing that shallow or in the grass.

Lastly, I have thrown the Vudu and DOA shrimp under a cork with various leader lengths but I only use the cork in certain situations. That’s usually when I have a new angler with me as the cork gives the bite away to the angler and they don’t have to rely on their feel like the other rigs require to detect a bite and also avoids deep or gut hooked fish and since I’m 99% catch n release I want to avoid that.

The cork is good on windy days and really dirty water also to help them find it which is why it was created. It’s a good tool in the right scenario but isn’t my go to.

Here is what they look like rigged, hope it helps. Tight lines!


Chuck D Pathfinder 2300 HPS Yamaha 250 SHO

Hey Chuck thanks for your follow up and pictures of how you rig the shrimp. That weedless rig is a great ideal and something I will try. You must prefer the Vudu over the other brands that are pre weighted-any reason why? I agree that in a windy day the cork can be a good tool when it is harder to keep a tight line.
Thanks, Larry


01 Scout 177 w/ 150 hpdi

Sure thing, hope it helps. I’m a fan of the Vudu shrimp even though they are pricey for a few reasons; to me the bait looks 100% real so I have confidence in it in cold clear water as well as tanic warmer water, it has great action due to how it’s made with the fabric that’s woven in to the tail (which also makes it super durable), the weight and hook are good quality and the right size for the baits size. I find although it’s not actually weedless it doesn’t snag very much as the hook is up out of the baits back and the weight keeps it upright.

That way when it does hang up a few “bowstring” snaps usually gets it loose and your back in business. Haven’t thrown a DOA shrimp since using Vudu but do like the DOA paddle tails and soft plastic jerk baits plenty.

The weedless eye strike jig head is another great creation from Dave and Ralph. It’s the go to for my wife as she likes to fish the gulp shrimp in a bottom contact manner and drag the bait on the flats which she boats plenty of flounder doing as well.

It’s a very effective way to fish and we don’t lose too many other than at the jetties which eat everything! Tight lines!


Chuck D Pathfinder 2300 HPS Yamaha 250 SHO

Great stuff as usual Chuck!
Something about when the water is near 70 that really makes the reds fight like fish much larger than they are. I feel like if a redfish could pick its ideal water temp it would be 70-75F.

Ralph and I fished Saturday and started up river and the water got dirtier and dirtier due to the fresh water runoff, so we headed back to the harbor and found a few quality fish. Ralph had a 31.5" red, I got a few nice trout to 19" and 1 spanish mack that hit boatside. That was a welcome surprise. Midday was a complete @#% show - I vow to never fish another Saturday unless I have zero choice.


________________________ 1966 13' Boston Whaler "Flatty" 2018 Sportsman Masters 207 www.eyestrikefishing.com #predatorsstriketheeye

10-4 & I hear you Dave. We for some unknown reason (I’m still wondering what I was thinking) on Saturday decided to roll out to the jetties and we got POUNDED in wind driven waves and boat chop the whole way out (we caught nothing once we arrived on that outgoing tide which was as brown as chocolate milk from the runoff and that current was ROLLING).

After about an hour of poking around inside and outside of the South jetty getting nothing but our feelings hurt we said screw this and headed back inshore to the Wando only to take another class A beating the whole way back until we got to the 41 bridge running in total slop/boat chop against the current. 1/2 of tank gas later, a sore back, hurt feelings, and in utter amazement after watching boat after boat FULL of people running WOT I all but swore off fishing on the weekends (at least here). I may try my luck up the ICW N or Seawee just to see if I can get away from boat traffic if I opt to go at all on a weekend but question if I will be able to get a spot to park my tow vehicle & trailer based on what the Remly’s lot looked like when we cruised by it…

Totally agree; Saturday’s are darn near off limits right now unless a guy wants to go anchor up in some hole somewhere and just chill out on the boat, soak bait, and get some sun. For now, on the weekends I’m of the mindset that I have to all but forget catching fish in the washing machine that are these 3 rivers and the harbor. Once the wind lays down and the waves subside a little I’ll push off to Capers or some of the other nearshore spots I’ve found but suspect I’ll be met with dozens of boats already there too.

Everyone has cabin fever so I get it but goodness it’s tough to get bit in the midst of a total s#*t show. Thankfully we can go on the weekday evenings every now and then and have good trips when we do. Great to hear you and Ralph went out and got on em!


Chuck D Pathfinder 2300 HPS Yamaha 250 SHO

Great report Chuck. Appreciate all the information. Like you, I cut my teeth fishing for bass and am learning these types of patterns for inland game fish.

You mentioned that you may trailer to Awendaw…

I was out Wednesday the 22nd - right after the launches were reopened on the previous Friday. Put in at Garris Landing and we only saw two other boats fishing.
There were maybe a dozen trucks/trailers in the lot.

Fishing was slow but we managed three trout and a nice flounder. Two of the trout came off of a popping cork with a mud minnow. One with a soft plastic. The flounder was on structure so I was fishing weedless with a 3/16 bullet weight and throwing the three inch z-man in “ the deal”.

Tide at Price Creek tomorrow is about 9:00am so my friend from this forum, Awendaw Angler, and I will try fishing the incoming with soft plastics and maybe throw a popping cork as the tide slows.

Throwing a cork is not the most fun for me but these guys I fish with catch enough fish that I guess I’ll have to give in and rig something up.

Really like the look of the rig you had pictured.

Anyway, I’ll post a report.

Thanks again, Kerry Browning.

10-4 Kerry, thanks for the update. I love fishing up that way (upper ICW) and need to make it a habit of going that way even more. We have a young puppy and it’s tough to get away for hours at a time with all of his craziness and he’s not so great in the boat (yet) so we tend to stick a little closer to home.

Yep, that ol popping cork has proven its worth down in these waters for many years and along the coasts that have estuaries for decades so it’s a tried and true way to fish. Can’t knock it if it works but like I said it’s just not my go to but I’m darn sure not above using one if that’s all that’ll work on any given trip.

Look forward to reading how your next trip went. Good luck & tight lines!


Chuck D Pathfinder 2300 HPS Yamaha 250 SHO

Great report with nice pic of the spottail.

Hey Chuck, what size Z-Man paddlerZ are you throwing 4" or 5"? Sorry about keep asking questions but you have a lot more experience than I and I am constantly buy the wrong size baits. Hope you don’t mind.
Thanks for all your help, Larry


01 Scout 177 w/ 150 hpdi

No problem I use a couple of Zman swim baits depending on what I see in the water bait size wise.

I’ll use the 4" Paddlerz if they’ll go for a bigger profile. Alternatively we throw the 3" Minnowz this time of year due to the bait / forage being so small. Both go on a Trout Eye jig head in 3/16 regardless. The DOA paddle tail is 3" that I use and that color is either “new penny” or “rootbeer chartreuse”

Best colors for me from zMan thus far are “Opening Night” and “Bad Shad” but they have so many color options that several others look good but these look the best to my eyes in the water. A lot of time, you just can’t go wrong with plain white.

Hope it helps, tight lines!


Chuck D Pathfinder 2300 HPS Yamaha 250 SHO