September can be a great month for fishing in the Lowcountry. After Labor Day, many people put their boats away and begin to focus on other weekend activities, making the waterways a little quieter and easier to fish. The fish also seem to notice the change of season, becoming more active with the shorter days and milder temperatures.
Inshore, the fishing will be on fire. The trout and redfish bite should be as good as any time of year. The redfish will be tailing on the flats at high tide and can also be caught in the rivers and creeks. Another fun alternative is to find some navigable creeks at low tide, where you can find hungry redfish herding pods of bait in really shallow water. The trout will be in their normal areas and will readily hit a top-water plug in the early morning and evening hours. Both of these species will hit a variety of live bait and artificial lures. Flounder fishing will be very good, and one of my favorite things to do this time of year is to fish the pockets formed along the marsh lines around high tide. Flounder love a little cutout in the grass where they can lay and ambush smaller fish as they move in and out of the grass. Sheepshead fishing will be very good around the jetties and any inshore structure you can find. There will still be plenty of sharks around, and the tarpon bite should remain pretty steady as well.
Nearshore, the king mackerel bite should be good over areas of live bottom from 45 to 130 feet of water and around the shipping channel. Look for Spanish mackerel around these areas as well, especially near the reefs and shipping channel. Spadefish will likely be around the reefs as well as some black sea bass and amberjack out over some of the deeper reefs.
Offshore, the sailfish should still be going strong, and there will be a steady wahoo bite as well. Some dolphin will be around also, and many times it is just a case of being in the right place at the right time. Finding hard water temperature breaks will generally be your friend when trolling for pelagic. Bottom fishing will be very good, as large black sea bass, grouper, triggerfish and a variety of other bottom dwellers can be found during the month.
Andy Pickett
CharlestonFishing.com
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