12/17 pluff mud

Fished around low tide on a mud flat that was holding an impressive school of over 100 fish. I poled over them the first time and bumped them up, but realized what was going on and let them settle back down again. There were fish of all sizes in this school, many in the 30" range near the front of it. As I circled around, we found the school again and I picked one out of the group that turned out to be a nice little 26 inch red - caught on a spinning rod as I was on the platform poling the boat and couldn't break out the long rod.

After releasing that fish, I poled down the flat in search of any other fish that might be working the same area. Seeing no fish, I spun around and poled back over to where we had last seen the school. This time we found them before they knew we were there, and as they swam parrallel to the boat I was able to put another cast in front of them and pick up a second fish, this time about 30 inches.

We left the school alone after that and began poling on a different flat where the water was starting to rise to the grass line. We spotted a very nice red working in some very shallow water on the bank. It must have been only 2-3 inches deep where the fish was, and it was literally rolling around on the mud since it was too shallow for him to swim. Very cool sight, as an end to a good day on the water.

12/15 & 12/16 Charleston, SC

Went out Friday at noon with friend Dave Dalu in his Super Skiff and poked around on the incoming, looking for reds along the grass line. Saw a few moving thick into the grass, but they never came out to give us a shot. Picked up one little red on the fly, probably 17" long. Ate a rattle copperhead fly as I stripped it out of the grass.

Went out again Saturday morning to fish a mud flat that usually holds some really nice reds on it. Was disappointed when the forecasted 6 mph wind turned out to be 15-20 mph. Waves on the flat stirred up the mud pretty good, making visibility next to impossible, and poling through soft mud in 6 inches almost comical. Called the day early and came back to the house to do a little overdue maintenance work on the trailer and boat.

11/19 follow up

Went back out today for round two of the weekend. Had similar conditions as yesterday, but a little more wind. Lots of boats on the water today, seemed to all be fishing the same water, so I tried to find a spot to myself. Went to a good flat that is usually productive, only to find another boat already there. As I was leaving the area I noticed the other boat coming out as well, so I turned around and poled to the back side of the flat as the tide came in and covered the exposed mud. Water was clear, and saw just a few fish. Fed two from the poling platform, but pulled the hook out on the first one. Second fish made a long run and finally came into the boat at 30" and 11 lbs.

P.S. - How many times have you been poling a mud flat searching for redfish and come across a golf bag in the water ? Me neither. But if anyone losta set of Callaway irons and woods, I know where they are.

11/18 low water

Today was a great day, spent scouting out a new area during the low tide at mid day. I have been out quite a few times since my last report, but have had nothing worth mentioning. Been struggling with weather and muddy water. Today was different. Had a front come through a couple of days ago, cooling things down and leaving this morning glassy calm. I put in at mid morning and began scouting this new area during the last hour or so of the outgoing. It was super slick and good overhead light. I poled all around numerous oyster beds for a while before seeing my first fish, a lone crusing red - above the slot. Shortly after, I came upon a good mud flat with consistent depth and clear water. I noticed a dark area a little ahead of me and realized it was a pod of 12-15 big reds. I made a cast from the platform and got an eat as the group of fish moved by. After a bunch of good runs I had this large red at the boat, measured out to 32" and 13 lbs.

During the fight, the fish ran up on another group of fish on the other side of the flat, but I couldnt find them again after the release. I poled around or a while longer, but the wind picked up and limited my ability to see into the water. Took it in early to watch the Auburn/Alabama game with some friends, complete with oysters and bbq.

10/15 am low tide

Went back out this morning to scout out a different mud flat from yesterday morning. Wasnt disappointed. Was a chilly run to my spot, but started to warm up pretty good at about 9:30. Got to the flat at slack tide, and once it turned the fish became active. Fish were skinny again, feeding in just inches of water with their backs exposed. I was fishing with a friend this morning and we caught 4 between the two of us. I caught 3 from the poling platform, all of them smaller than yesterday, ranging from 21"-23". Then my friend put a cast into a small group of fish moving at us along the grass line. His fish went 28-29". All caught on artificial shrimp. Water is still a little muddy, but starting to clear up. Saw more grouped up fish today as well.

10/14 low water

Was meant to be this morning. Alarm was set by accident for PM, but I woke up anyway. Weather was cool and in the 50's, 5-10 mph winds. Fished solo on the incoming tide on a mud flat I've had some success at before. Poled for a while before seeing my first fish, but then it was steady for the next hour or so. Mud was soft and I was pushing the boat through it, so I figure the fish were in about 5-6 inches of water. Saw probably a dozen fish and had shots at 7-8 of them. Caught 4, totaling 107 inches. Fish caught from the platform while poling myself.

10/8/06 high water

Went back out this morning to the grass flats for the 7.2 ft high. Water came in early and flooded the flat quickly. Bucky and I got up and on the road before the sun came up. We found a few tailing at the first spot on the incoming and fed two that broke off. Water came up too high to see them tailing, so we waited for the tide to start ebbing. Found a few more once the water level dropped some, and picked one small fish up of about 21"-22".

10/7 in the grass

With the full moon being last night, this morning's tide was way up into the grass and more than plenty for the reds to move up onto the flats. A front pushed through the area during the evening, bringing strong winds and a drop in temperature. Fortunately, the winds had weakened from about 30+ mph down to 10-15 mph by sunrise this morning. Up at 5:45 and on the road by 6:00, to meet up with Craig Chapman and Mac Barnes from Alabama, visiting Charleston for the weekend. We were on active fish all morning and had some decent action, despite the wind gusts up in the 20 mph range. We could see many of these fish in the water, glowing like neon red torpedoes submerged slightly beneath the water's surface. We managed one good fish to the boat, after the fish followed the fly nearly 15 feet with repeated swipes. Measured out about 27 inches and healthy, and released for another day.Dr. Mac Barnes with a well earned Carolina red

10/4 flood tide

We had a big tide this evening with the approaching full moon, and I slipped the boat in the water for a quick after work trip. Met my friend Dave Dalu at the ramp and made a short run to some nearby flats, only having about an hour before it would be too dark to fish. The water was calm and way up in the grass, thanks to the 6.4 ft tide. It didnt take long before we were on fish, and I was on deck with my 6 wt rod. I picked up the first fish of the evening as we were poling down to the flat to another fish tailing hard about 50 yds away. This fish popped up high in the water, with its back and tail exposed as it cruised into the grass. I put the fly right in front of the fish and stripped it in front of him to get the eat. Good fight on the 6 wt, fish taped out around 24 inches.

After a quick photo and release, it was Dave's turn on the front, and the fish that we had been originally headed towards was still tailing now about 25 yds ahead of us. That fish, and a few others managed to tip up and then scoot on out before we could stick a fly in their mouths. It was getting dark fast and we had worked our way to the end of the flat. I turned the boat around and began to pole back over the same water, and we were able to find a few more fish tailing. The sun had long set by now, and we could only see the silhouettes of the redfish's tails, but they stood out nicely against the moonlit surface. It was almost too dark to see, but we found one more lone fish that was working very actively on the grass line, and Dave stuck it after a cast or two. Turned out to be a nice 26"-27" red, tagged by the DNR.

9/17 CHS

Yesterday I spent the majority of daylight hours on the water. I got up and fished the low tide in the morning, mostly for trout. It was slick calm on the harbor and a great ride all the way out to Ft. Sumter. I poled around a flat out there looking for pushing reds, but did not find any. Instead, we ran into a bunch of finger mullet and large shrimp, which we caught in the cast net and filled the livewell with. Once the tide started coming back in, we moved over to a now-submerged oyster bed at a creek mouth and caught a ton of medium sized trout.

In the afternoon, we put the boat in at about 4:30 and ran to a new area that I scouted out Friday afternoon. Just like Friday, the reds were coming onto the grass flats with the tide, and were tailing around in just inches of water. I managed to catch one smaller fish on my 6 wt, on a fly I tied Saturday night during the football games. I broke out the video camera as well and filmed a few other fish tailing around for their evening meal. The weather was nice and cool, and the calmest I can remember it being in a long time. The ride back to the boat ramp was very pleasant with the setting sun and glassy water. Not a bad way to end a good weekend. Was able to log 4 trips in 3 days, and look forward to getting out the next three as well if the weather lets me.

9/10/06 Tails

Went out again this morning for another big tide of nearly 6.7 feet. Conditions were just as good or better as yesterday morning, only an hour later. We poled up to the edge of the flat as the tide was just beginning to cover it with water and watched as the reds began to move into the submerged grass. It was still skinny, and the fish were crawling around again. Against my better judgement, I opted for the camera this morning rather than starting off throwing casts at the happy fish.I also shot some video footage of the 10 or so reds working the flat. I will be putting that into some edited work along with some additional footage and hopefully be posting that on the site soon.

Eventually, I couldn't take it any longer and picked up the fly rod. I cast at 3 fish before geeting one to eat, and after setting the hook I failed to keep tension on the line and the hook pulled as the fish was making its first run. Bucky cast at a few as well and got some good follows but no eats. We saw some more scattered fish throughout the morning, but the high sun and slack tide had them edgy and less active.

9/9/06 Charleston, SC flood tide

This morning was textbook. Bucky and I were up at 7:00, a Bojangles biscuit, and on the road to my favorite spot for big tailing reds. We were not disappointed. Today's tide was about 6.6 feet, enough to flood even the highest points of the marsh and provide us with plenty of time to search the flooded grass for reds rooting around for an early morning meal. We poled into an area just flooded by the incoming tide and were greeted by a family of otters swimming around. Just as they passed, we spotted the day's first tail. As we were poling towards it, a much larger fish surfaced at about 100 yds and at one oclock off the bow. This fish was in water so skinny it was literally crawling along as it looked for something to eat. It put on a show for us, flipping around, throwing water 3 feet in the air, and arching its back to expose its undulating rear dorsal fin. After watching and filming it for a few moments, Bucky put a cast out that landed not 8 inches from the fish's head. Without even a strip, the red ate the fly and was into the backing on Bucky's 6 wt reel. After an impressive fight, the fish was boatside and measured out at 30 inches and 11 lbs.

While Bucky was fighting the fish, I was watching the other 10-15 fish on the flat tail aggressively - trying to pick out which one I wanted to cast at as soon as the first fish was released. I hopped down from the platform and traded Bucky the push pole for his 6 wt rod, and kept my eyes steady on my targeted fish. After about 2 pushes, the boat was into position, and I made a cast well in front and beyond the slowly feeding fish. I waited until the fish nearly intersected my line and gave the fly a strip. This fish made a huge boil as he ate and took off in search of deeper water. I landed him shortly thereafter and taped him off at 28 inches.

Most of the tailing fish had scattered after picking two fish out of the group, and we had a few more unsuccessful shots at suspicious fish before poling off the flat and jumping on plane to another productive area. By now the tide had turned and the fish were beginning to follow the ebbing tide out of the grass. We found a few fish suspended in some thick spartina, but didn't see them in time for a good shot. I managed to spot one more tailer just before heading back to the ramp, and this fish was rooting around in some short grass not far from being dry. We had no difficulty following his path, but getting him to see a fly amidst all the grass stalks was a different story. He literally swam over Bucky's fly twice before coming head on to a Gulp crab I had flipped out on the spinning rod from the poling platform. We watched as he ate the sinking crab without missing a step - much like PacMan on the video game. I gave it a moment to let the circle hook do its trick, and then set into what turned out to be a nice 26 inch red.

All in all it was a great day - big tide, good sunlight, winds that for once managed to remain under 10 mph, and hungry fish. We brought 3 reds and a total of 84 inches into, and out of, the boat - released strong and healthy for another day.

9/5/06 Charleston, SC flood tide

Made it out tonight to fish the flood tide here in Charleston with my friend Dave Dalu. With the approaching full moon, the tide was big and way up into the Spartina grass that is normally high and dry. There was a steady breeze blowing and it was overcast, just enough to cool things down a bit and get the fish active and hungry. Upon coming off plane and poling onto the flat we were immediately welcomed by a group of 6 tailing reds, their fins and tails popping in and out of the water as they searched with their mouths in the grass and mud for shrimp, crabs, and other bait that used the thick cover for refuge. We got quite a few decent shots at some very hungry fish, and we able to make connections with 3 fish. Two fish made it to the boat, both in the 24-25 inch range. Interestingly they were both tagged by the South Carolina DNR and from their tag numbers, seemed to be from the same batch of fish. We fished until sunset, which was very pleasant as the amber glow shone through the lingering cloud cover. Another great night in the Carolina coastal lowcountry.

Dave w/ ~25" reda healthy blue-tipped tail Me with a 24" red, taken on a rootbeer copperhead pattern

8/19-8/26 Montana trout fishing

Headed out to Montana with my Dad and brother for the week last Saturday early morning from the Atlanta airport. Arrived in Bozeman, MT and drove down to West Yellowstone along the Gallatin River, where I was immediately submersed in trout country.

Checked into hotel and prepared for next morning's float on the Madison River, just down from Quake and Hebgen lakes. Woke up to a 33 degree morning, a welcome crisp in contrast to the 100+ heat indices I left behind in Charleston. Floated about 10 miles, mostly fishing hoppers and other terrestrials. Big fish of the day was a 17 inch brown that fell for a flying ant thrown tight on the bank.

Next day we headed into Yellowstone National Park and saw a few of the park's attractions before heading up the Lamar Valley and fishing the Soda Butte on the way to Cooke City.




On Tuesday we hiked into Slough Creek's second meadow. Lots of nice cutthroat eating terrestrials along the meadow's undercut banks. A good 4-5 mile hike in and out along some of Yellowstone's most beautiful scenery.
Wednesday we drove back across the park via some more of the major attractions. The plan was to be back in West for the night before another float on the Madison River the following day.

Thursday we floated the Madison again, this time a few miles lower than on Sunday. The fish were more active this day, with more and bigger fish coming up on hoppers and the occasional baetis during sporadic hatches.

On Friday, we got up and started working our way back up to Bozeman along Hwy 191 and the Gallatin River. We stopped every few miles to fish the river and were rewarded at each stop. The highlight was hitting a good stretch of dry fly water at lunch time just as some clouds came in and cooled things off enough for a heavy hatch, much to the enjoyment of ourselves as well as the feeding rainbow trout.

Saturday we were up at 4 am and at the airport for our flight back home. Great trip and great fishing, and back just in time to fish the last few good flood tides before the reds here begin their Fall/Winter patterns.

More pictures can be found in the Freshwater album of the photo gallery on the website. http://www.spottedtailproductions.com/gallery/

8/12-8/13 Late weekend report

Had some friends visiting this weekend, so wanted to get them on some fish. Got up Saturday morning and made it to the boat ramp just as the rain started. After seeing a tail from the ramp before even launching the boat, we decided to not let the rain deter us - despite the looming black clouds appearing to be headed our way. I started poling the flat and we were seeing a good number of tails amidst the rain drops on the flooded grass flat. Most fish would show themselves for a second or two and then disappear when we were in casting range. The water was too murky to see the fish unless its tail or fins were above the surface, or if it was making obvious pushes or boils in the water. Clouds came in and the wind picked up and created rolling waves on the flat, but we were still seeing fish so we stayed on. Ended up staying out for a good 3-4 hours before the tide started to drop and it was time to get back to the ramp. Didn't get any fish to the boat, but it was nice seeing so many tails and having the entire flat to ourselves.

Sunday, got up at daybreak and ran out into the harbor to a mud flat within spitting distance of where the Civil War began over a hundred years ago. Although the temperature was surpisingly cool, the wind was already kicking 25+ before the sun cleared the horizon. So we kicked around a little shell bank hoping it would be a little more pretected. Water was again murky, and we poled over a couple of fish in 6" of water that we had no idea were even there. Saw some fish waking in the skinny water of low tide, pushing a trail of popping shrimp ahead of them, but no decent shots. Eventually we ran back into some more protected water and waited on the tide to get into the grass, entertained by a few dolphin corraling and working some schools of menhaden and mullet into a tasty breakfast. Once the tide rose, we poled the edge of a grass flat and saw 10-15 reds with their tails and backs out of the water, but again were shut down. We did, however get out and wade to many of those fish, and as my friend stalked them with the fly rod, I captured some decent tailing footage with the video camera. I hope to post some of that footage on the site soon.

I've been trying to shift gears back to freshwater mode this week, as I will be traveling to Montana for 6 days starting August 19th. I look forward to fishing some lighter rods and big hoppers along the banks of some of the Yellowstone area's most pristine rivers and creeks - and hope to have a good report and some pictures to share upon my return.