Kiawah to Edisto Island Fishing Report For January – Capt John Ward

With the water temperature stable and holding in the mid to low 50’s , water has been starting to clear up nice.

On light wind and normal tide days the visibility has cleared up to around 4 feet , making for some good sight fishing opportunities.

The bull reds have moved farther offshore and our year round resident smaller redfish have begun to bunch up in their larger winter time schools.

They are hanging on the shallow flats for warmth and protection from bottle nose dolphins.

The reds have been aggressive on the warmer days and we have been doing better with artificial baits.

We have been switching to smaller and lighter color soft plastics along with fluoro carbon leaders to increase our numbers of bites.

The reds have been aggressive on the warmer days and we have been doing better with artificial baits.

The spotted sea trout are also bunched up and have been holding in large groups near edges and ledges mostly in 8-15 foot of water, slower retrieve has been the key to get the most strikes.

Locating the schools of trout as been key, because they have been staying in certain areas for 1-2 hours at a time and can produce a strike on almost every cast once you find the fish.

The inshore sheepshead bite has been on fire and can be found around structure such as: dock pilings , rock walls, and any submerged structure.

Best baits have been: fiddlers, live shrimp and oysters on small sharp short shank hooks.

Most of our legal size flounder have started moving offshore, we are still catching a few fish while fishing for trout and redfish.

The inshore sheepshead bite has been on fire and can be found around structure

The majority of them inshore have been smaller than 18”.

Out at the nearshore reefs, the bull redfish bite has started to slow down with most of the fish moving out to 90’ of water range.

Flounder have been hanging on the edge of structure in 30-50’ of water and we have seen some good numbers bouncing jigs along the bottom.

On top or near structure large numbers of sea bass and sheepshead with a few weakfish and bluefish are still around.

Find your weather window and get out on the water there is still some action to be had. Get out on the water and enjoy the outdoors without the warmer water crowds.

Give us a call at 843-693-2460 or look us up on the web at www.affinitycharters.com

One of our captains can help get you out for an enjoyable day on the water.

Tight lines and remember take a kid fishing.

Captain John Ward / Affinity Charters

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