Low Country Redfish
I had been casting the mottled brown shrimp imitator for the better part of an hour
with only one half-hearted take to show for my efforts. Maybe it was time to shift
gears. The fly had certainly been seen by fish. Plumes of mud and shadow shapes
betrayed their presence as they moved away from the slowly poled skiff.
It was low tide and these South Carolina redfish were inactive, holed up, waiting
for high tide to provide them access to the vast grass flats. Once the grass flats
are flooded the redfish go “on the feed” seeking out crabs and other tasty morsels.
It would seem logical to target them at high tide while they are more active, but
the dense thicket of grass is impenetrable to anglers. On most days the fish must
be stalked at low tide while they are confined to the relatively open mud flats.
Capt. George was receptive to my proposal to try something new. Reaching into my
box of
Crystal Spinners I pulled out a
CS-500T. This is a spinner
that was designed to be rigged weedless and fished over lily pads for largemouth
bass and chain pickerel in freshwater lakes and ponds. This may be a saltwater marsh,
but fish have similar tastes. The weedless feature would be ideal for the shallow
mud flats; slipping over shell bars and through the edges of marsh grass.
It took only a minute to stow the fly rod and rig a medium-light spinning rod with
the
CS-500T. A minute after that we realized we made the right choice. A
push of water indicated a group of fish in the shallows near a small creek mouth.
The Crystal Spinner was launched in that direction. A wake coming from eight feet
away charged the lure. Somehow the fish evaded the hook. No matter, there were plenty
of redfish and now I was confident in my lure. Over the next couple of hours many
other fish reacted in a similar fashion. The action was very good, but I was unable
to land a fish over about 3 pounds. The tide was steadily rising. Soon the fish
would be up in the high grass, unreachable to anglers. Capt. George said there was
one more spot we could fish. It was the highest ground, therefore the last to flood.
After navigating through a maze-like series of creeks and passes we arrived at a
small grass island in the middle of a large mud flat.
I began running the
CS-500T along the edge of the island, probing pockets
in the grass. On the fifth or sixth cast it appeared, like a copper submarine, dwarfing
the fish we had seen earlier. The redfish raced past the boat with the
Crystal Spinner
hooked firmly in its mouth. I feared that it would head into the dense grass, but
it merely passed through the edge of the grass before heading for open water. With
the rod tip held high the line slipped free of the grass and the open water fight
was on. After a few more powerful, but successively shorter runs the fish was at
boatside. The Boga Grip read just shy of 10 pounds.
In the months since this trip Capt. George has found the
CS-500T to be a
valuable tool for wading to feeding redfish in the hard bottom flats of shorter
spartina grass. This is different in that it is done at high tide. In fact, only
the highest tides flood these flats to a fishable level. The
CS-500T is the
perfect lure for these conditions. It is weedless. It lands with little sound. Most
importantly, redfish love it!
The redfish is a terrific gamefish and provides exciting site fishing opportunities
similar to those associated with bonefish. If this sounds like fun, pick up some
Crystal Spinners and find some redfish. If you are in the Myrtle Beach to
Charleston, SC area, look up Capt. George Gallager. He is a guide with the knowledge
to put you on the fish.