Growing up in Charleston as a kid, the Edisto River holds a great deal of nostalgia for me. As the temps change, my mind wanders to memories of my past.
Some of my first saltwater fish came from the North Edisto, there are so many nooks and crannies. The same is true for the Edisto River.
This weekend I have found myself thinking about High School all those years ago. During the Spring and Summer, there is a sort of “Rite of Passage” that happens to a lot of people, both young and old, on the freshwater Edisto.
As the weather changes from what winter always is, and the water temps steadily increase to shorts and t-shirts, I remember all those years ago floating the Edisto with friends and fishing during the day.
Kids will always be kids. We do stupid things when we were young,
realizing years later that we should have been maimed, cut, or even not have survived. Obviously, we never tried this alone.
This was always a group endeavor. We would gather supplies for the float including snacks, bait, fishing poles, and drinks.
The good thing about the Edisto is that there are many spots to put in that are a few miles of each other. We would always use Good Hope Landing or Givhans State Park. Now, in order to do this, you need to know your end.
The easiest thing to do is park a car at that point so you can make your drive back to your start point. Our cooler always had its own float, and we would just tie up to it.
A piece of advice now as an adult, know the water level. If it is running high, it has more strength and flow. When I was younger, we never thought about checking.
Now this can be as leisurely as you make it. If you want a quick 2 mile trip you can do that too, we never did.
We would plan to stop on a bank somewhere (it changed trip to trip) to cook up some fresh catfish or bass that we caught after floating for a while.
Spring brings a lot of freshwater spawning, and there are many fish to catch and eat. We would consume many bream, catfish, and my favorite spring fish, Redbreast.
You get a group of 5 or 6 guys and girls and this turns into a helluva on the fly fish fry. Obviously, the fun begins when you realize there is nothing between your tail and the water and you hear the splash from some of those big gators getting in the water.
I have included a quick listing of entry points onto the Edisto and their miles upstream below.
Edisto River, main stem
RM-119 – Upstream end of Edisto (at confluence of North and South Forks,
near Branchville)
RM-114 — Zig Zag Landing (end of Road 434 off Hwy 61 near Farrell
Crossroads)
RM-105 — Hwy 21 (private landing at Hwy 21, Sandy Island Bridge)
RM-91 — GP Landing (private dirt ramp off Road 695, Edisto River Rd)
RM-83 — Colleton State Park (at Hwy 15 bridge)
RM-83 — Weeks Landing (at Hwy 15 bridge, near Canadys & Colleton State Park)
RM-74 — Stokes Bridge (private ramp at Road 21/29 bridge)
RM-66 — Mars Old Field Landing (off Hwy 61, west of Givhans Ferry State
Park)
RM-60 — Givhans Ferry State Park (at Hwy 61 bridge)
RM-57 — Messervy Landing (off Road 162, below Givhans Ferry State Park)
RM-53 — Good Hope Landing (off Road 91 east of Cottageville)
RM-50 — Long Creek Landing (off Road 91 just above Hwy 17-A, east of
Cottageville)
RM-49 — Jellico’s Landing (private landing at Hwy 17-A bridge)
RM-48 — Sullivan’s Ferry Landing (just below Hwy 17-A, west bank of river)
RM-43 — Lowndes Landing (Lowndes Landing Rd, SE of Cottageville)
RM-40 — Martin’s Landing (off Road 38, north of Parkers Ferry)
RM-31 — West Bank Landing (off Road 30, two miles south of
Jacksonboro/Hwy 17)
RM-29 — Penny Creek (landing is 2.5 miles up creek, east from Edisto R;
at end of Road 1448)
RM-25 — Willtown Bluff Landing (end of Road 55, west of Adams Run)
RM-0 –- End at Atlantic Ocean at Edisto Beach
Kyle Comen / South Side Bait and Tackle
SouthsideBaitandTackle.com
(843) 203-6561
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