Beaufort SC Spring Fishing
Capt. Charlie Beadon
May 3, 2013
Beaufort - Saltwater Fishing Report
Spring is finally here and with the exception of a possible late cold front we should be moving out of our winter fishing patterns and into our summer patterns. With longer days and raising temperatures the fishing should be firing up on both our inshore and offshore waters. By mid month look for the water temperature to start to hover around 70 degrees and with the warming water there will be plenty of hungry redfish, speckled sea trout and flounder around looking for something to eat. Moreover, by mid April we should see the first of our cobia start to arrive so lets get ready for some red hot action this month!
Inshore Fishing:
This is a great time of the year to be an inshore fisherman. The water is still relatively clear so sight fishing is a strong possibility while at the same time the redfish are eating more aggressively plus the trout and flounder are starting to move back into the grass to feed. Need I say more? For the most part I will start to concentrate most of my fishing efforts around the oyster bars and grass edges and especially concentrate on fishy looking areas where there is a lot of moving water...these fish are looking to feed-up right now and the best place to find food is in areas where bait fish are being swept through with the moving current. This is a great time of the year to play around with different types of lures and flies and if you are looking for an explosive bite try working a topwater bait such as a zara spook or gurgler near the grass edges. I have have such explosive surface bites during April that I nearly fell out of the boat!
Nearshore and Wreck Fishing:
The nearshore and wreck fish should only continue to get better and better as we move through April. This is one of my favorite months to catch sheepshead and they will be staging up on both the nearshore wrecks and around inshore docks and pilings. If you are looking to catch sheepshead a live fiddler crab on a sharp 2/0 hook is hard to beat. We will also be looking for the arrival of the cobia. These are migratory fish that start to come into our waters around mid April and stay though about July. These are large powerful fish with a veracious appetite and if you plan to tangle with a cobia I would recommend that you beef up your gear to 20-30 pound class spinning and conventional rods. We also catch a good number of cobia on the fly rod, for this I generally use a 10 wt for smaller fish and a 12 wt for larger fish. April is an excellent time of the year to enjoy the outdoors so lets take advantage of the weather and head out fishing!
For more information on these topics visit the following links:
http://www.beaufortsportfishing.com
http://www.beaufortsportfishing.com/beaufort-fishing-charters-beaufort-fishing-guides-beaufort-south-carolina
http://www.beaufortsportfishing.com/fly-fishing-guide-fly-fishing-charters-in-beaufort-sc
Target Species:
redfish, trout, cobia
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