Best Inshore Fishing
September! Yes, it’s finally here! We finally start getting relief from all the heat, football has started, AND THE BEST INSHORE FISHING is ahead of us! If you love to inshore fish than this report is for you!
Several things factor into why the fishing gets better as we get later in the year, but the main one is the heat, or lack of it. All summer we’ve talked about going early and getting on the bite early morning while it will be at its best. As we approach fall and temperatures start to drop our creek fishery can be great all day long, bearing we have good tides that day. Now don’t get me wrong, I still love a sunrise topwater bite for redfish and trout. I love seeing either a first of the incoming or a mid outgoing tide for that topwater bite. I feel like both tides give me a good opportunity at catching trout, redfish, and even flounder on topwater.
With water temps dropping it means mullet are on the move heavily, which is another key reason the topwater bite can be so good. Try a Heddon Super Spook Jr in silver mullet color!
Once you finish off the topwater bite mid-morning then you can start to focus on sinking or suspending plastics. One of the easiest ways to catch fish on an artificial lure is fishing a fake shrimp rigged three feet under a float. Casting that bait up along the grass edge and
“popping” the float will give the shrimp erratic action along with the sound of the float
“clacking” This entices a lot of trout and flounder to the bait. Keep in mind color of baits will matter immensely. This month the water can still be a little stained so I tend to go to a gold glitter or even a darker watermelon colored bait. If you caught the tide and clarity just right and the water is super clean, I may cross over to a white or translucent colored shrimp. DOA, Vudu, and Z-Man are all great soft plastic brands.
Another extremely universal bait that I love to fish is a Z-Man Paddlerz, which is a four-inch segmented bait that you can rig weedless. I pair it on a 3/16oz TexasEye jig head. This bait is extremely versatile in the fact that I can do a slow retrieve in skinny water with it, or when fishing slightly deeper in five to ten feet of water I can let it sink and slowly bounce it along the bottom, maintaining the weedless aspect of the bait. Again, color can make or break a fishing trip at times. When shopping at Haddrell’s for new baits I would really suggest getting a few different color options. The water clarity changes day to day as well as amongst the tide changes so you want to be prepared for where you end up.
Some of my favorite colors in this Z-Man bait are Pinfish, Redbone, and Pearl.
If you inshore fish and haven’t tried for a tarpon I’d suggest you do it this month for a
couple reasons! Once the water temp starts to get below eighty degrees these fish start to leave and secondly the mullet run happens. This occurs when temperatures start to drop and schools and acres of mullet come down the beach headed south. Tarpon, sharks, and bull redfish take the opportunity to hammer down on an easy meal! Find wads of mullet on the move and drift or anchor in their path. This requires heavier tackle such as reels spooled with fifty-pound braid and leader material in the eighty-pound line class with 8/0 – 9/0 hooks. In this case you’ll either want to throw large paddle tail baits at them or match the hatch and use live mullet!
If you want to learn more in depth about any of the above, please stop in the shop and chat with us! We are more than willing to help and would be excited to see you succeed this fall! You can also check out our helpful fishing videos on our website; haddrellspoint.com
Hope you had a great summer and tight lines!
Tight Lines
Capt Mike Able
Haddrell’s Point Tackle & Supply • Since 1983
843-881-3644 (Mt Pleasant)
843-573-3474 (West Ashley)
