![]() Hooking up in this shallow water condition can make for an exciting first run as the Redfish tries to get to deeper water. Often they will charge the fly because they are already in a feeding mood. Throwing the fly just past the tailing Redfish and waiting until the tail goes down is the best way to get the fly seen. These “tailing” opportunities are coveted by saltwater fly fisherman. On lower tides the Redfish’s tail will stick up out of the water as the root through the bottom in search of worms, crabs, shrimp, and baitfish. These fish will get up on the flats and feed. Running the skiff 35mph with a 45 degree air temperature isn’t that much fun, but when you start combing the flat and see your first school, things warm right back up.The Charlotte Harbor estuary provides some amazing grass flat fishing for Redfish. I mostly fish 4-6 hour days in the winter because you want to fish two hours before and two hours after low tide for the optimal action. I mostly fish local clients in the winter because of the unpredictable weather but I also have a lot of people who come for a tune-up a few days before a bonefish trip, because the fishing is so similar. I’m not a numbers guy, but when you can see a fish come out of a school of 100 to eat your fly, it’s pretty damn fun. Good winter weather can produce some of the best days of the entire year. If it’s blowing 20-25 I’m not fishing, which seems to happen more in the winter months. Weather is a huge factor in the winter and seems to keep me off the water more than on. You want to go with a 9-11ft Flourocarbon leader between 10-12lb test for the clear water, lighter presentations, and to keep from spooking the big schools when leading them on the cast. I’ve even had days where small Gotchas and Crazy Charlies worked great in the technical creeks. Some examples of patterns are the Kwan Shrimp, Raz Ma Taz, EP Everglades, LC Shrimp, and various other custom winter redfish patterns. Small eyes and hooks create a lighter presentation, which is the key on a calm winter day, when making a presentation to 100 redfish. I’m going with a lot of smaller, natural color flies. My fly selection gets a lot more technical during the winter months. During the winter months I change my tactics, looking for and focusing more on darker shadows moving, flashing/rolling fish, and small swirls where the fish are floating, or creating mud clouds while feeding. The down side is, it can be hard to find the fish sometimes because you won’t see them busting bait, tailing, or pushing water as often. One good thing about this is that the redfish have fewer chances to feed, so presenting the fly and getting an eat is almost automatic. Like I mentioned above, there are not a lot of baitfish and shrimp around during the winter months. The redfish naturally feel more comfortable cruising the flats in numbers, when threatened by feeding dolphin. The dolphin also take advantage of the clear water and large schools during low tide, since there are not as many mullet or other bait fish for them to feed on. ![]() Redfish school up in high numbers during the winter time to stay safe from dolphin, which are their number one predator. It’s as close to bone fishing that you can get and an absolute blast watching 5 or 6 different fish chase the fly. Clear winter skies make it easier to see these large schools as far as 50-100 yards from the boat, as they cruise down the mud flats in 8-10 inches of water. Colder water and less rain provides gin clear water on the mud flats, and small creeks. In the winter, water clarity is the best it gets all year. During the low tides from mid December until the end of March, fishing can be some of the most visual of the year as large schools of 20-200 Redfish cruise the shallow water mud flats. The fiddlers go down in the winter which takes away the opportunity for tailing fish on the flood tides. One thing that’s special about the winter is the low tide fishery, which is mainly what we are fishing. When the bright green spartina grass starts to fade to brown and the water temperature dips below 65 degrees you know winter fishing has arrived here on the coast of South Carolina. One of the many great things about the Lowcountry is that it is a year round fishery for Redfish. There are not many fisheries that have a winter time season, due to migratory fish, cold temps, snow, and ice. By Owen Plair What makes the winter fishing for redfish so special? ![]()
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