Variety best describes the fishing this week.  It was like being in a Dr. Suess book (which aligns with my present reading level).  Redfish, Bluefish, Flatfish, Ladyfish and Speckled fish (Trout) were consistent catches.  Most of the fish were at the lower end of the slot limit with a few quality fish mixed in.  Live bait was the key.  Shrimp fished under an Equalizer float rig produced good action but mostly smaller fish.  Finger mullet under the same rig caught most of the larger fish.

Look for fish in the main rivers during the early stages of an incoming tide.  Marsh points, oyster bars or any irregular feature that breaks up the current is worth a cast or two.  Shallow areas (2-4 feet deep) with deeper water near by are especially productive.  Keep moving until you find cooperative fish. 

One day last week, my son told me he was tired of fishing.  This came as something of a shock to me since Elliott fishes pretty much every day.  After picking myself up off the floor, I learned he was not tired of fishing in general, but tired of always targeting Trout, Flounder and Redfish.  A change of species was in order, so we planned a trip for bonnet head sharks.  While bonnet heads are a smaller species of shark, they are plentiful and a great game fish. 

Our tackle for the great bonnet head adventure was 8 pound class bait casting gear.  Rigging was simple.  A short 20 pound leader threaded through a 1/4 ounce barrel sinker and tied to a 3/0 circle hook.  For bait we used pieces of a blue crab.  Rather than employ our normal run and gun search tactic (to much like fishing for Trout, Flounder and Redfish), we anchored near a shallow oyster bar at dead low tide and waited for a bonnet head to swim by.  Shortly after the tide turned, we spotted a bonnet head working its way towards us.  Elliott cast the crab 10 feet ahead of the cruising shark.  It slowly swam up to the bait and ate it.  I thought to myself, darn that was easy.  Right about then, the shark made a blistering run towards the anchor line and broke off.  Not the desired result, but it was fun while it lasted.  We re-rigged, had a cold drink and waited on the next shark to pass.  A couple of Redfish came within casting distance.  We lost our heads (as we were targeting sharks) and cast to them.  Shortly after releasing the Redfish, another bonnet head swam by the oyster bar.  Same routine, Elliott cast 10 feet of the shark which swam directly to the crab and ate it.  This time (rather than thinking darn that was easy), I pulled up the anchor.  Good thing, because the bonnet head took a couple of laps around the boat.  Shortly after releasing the shark, we saw lightening in the distance and decided to head home.  The great bonnet head adventure came to a close.  It was great fun and an excellent change of pace. 

Hot temperatures and minimal tides made fishing this week a bit challenging.  Weak tidal flow has not been creating the current seams which concentrate bait and attract predators.    Trout, Redfish and Flounder are in the rivers and creeks, but without the current seams they are not holding in the usual places.  Given the challenging conditions, I was a bit concerned when guiding fellow Daniel Island resident, Scott Lake.  My apprehensions were eased upon meeting Scott (who is a very nice guy) at the boat landing.  He was genuinely happy just to go fishing and catching fish would be a bonus.

Earlier in the week, moving from spot to spot was the key to catching decent numbers.   So the plan for the morning was to run and gun.  My first stop is usually a high confidence location.  One where I know we will catch a few fish and get the skunk off the boat.  Unfortunately, someone was fishing near the first location and we did not want to crowd them.  Plan B was a submerged shell bar off the Wando.  Pulling up, we spooked a Redfish off the top of the bar and watched it slowly swim into deeper water.  As the fish swam away, I caught a slight whiff of a skunk in the boat.  Holding the skiff off the shell bar with the trolling motor, we slowly bounced GULP swimming minnows down the ledge.  After working the area without any bites (and the smell of skunk ever increasing), I called last cast and began preparing the skiff to move.  Scott (being a good angler) made a cast to the deepest area of the creek.  As he set the hook on a Trout, the smell of skunk began to dissipate.  We decided to stay a bit longer.   It turned out that the fish were holding deeper than usual and somewhat off the structure.  After the cracking the code, we quickly added another 5 or 6 fish to our catch and release count.  Using the newly established pattern, we ran from spot to spot and picked at fish the rest of morning.  Scott caught an inshore slam, highlighted by 3 quality Redfish.   All in all, it was a fun and enjoyable morning.  And yes, catching fish was a bonus.