I’ve been wanting to wade for trout on the SC coast for quite a while. A buddy invited me down to his place to give it a shot. Not wanting to leave the boat unattended for too long and find ourselves high and dry or unable to get back to the boat because of tides, we decided he would stay in the boat and I would wade where possible. I knew the SC coast would present challenges unlike the Louisiana coast, but I felt confident it could be done. The first day, we caught 51 trout, but only kept 6 or 7 for dinner. The next day, I wanted to see if I could catch a limit of keepers wading and I did. We caught a total of 53 the second day and kept 10. All were caught on plastic, except for 13 or 14 that we caught on top water the second day. They weren’t as big as what I usually catch in Venice, but it was a ton of fun.
Sometimes when I’m bank fishing I’ll wade kind of deep to get some relief from standing. In the winter with boots and wadders it really helps because the little bit of floatation of air caught in the waders. You get the right ratio of air in waders and current and it feels crazy walking around.
I know all about the pluff mud. In the marshes of the Mississippi River Delta, there are places the mud is very similar. None of it is conducive to wading. Wading a beach made up of millions of sea shells ground up over eons is more problematic than wading a hard packed sandy beach. I much prefer the latter.
I’ll be wading again next week. I hope to have some photos to share. There are days when I come back with clean ice. I still enjoy those days, too.
Harold Wilcox
www.haroldshogwash.com
Harold Wilcox
www.haroldshogwash.com
Thank you. I’ve thought for years that the trout would be in the area. I was probably lucky to be there when they wanted to bite. I’ve always said the key to catching fish is to be there when they want to eat. No substitute for TOW…Time On Water.