I spent the past few weeks fishing in the Florida Keys. While the fishing in Florida was great, it is good to be home. After being away for a couple of weeks, I normally take a few days to re-pattern the fish before scheduling a charter. Not this time!

Prior to leaving for the Keys, I committed to fishing with Daniel Island resident Bobby Manutes and his son Paul on the day of my return (silly me). Not optimal, but the only date available on our collective calendars. No preparation, scouting or pre-fishing. We just got on the skiff and went fishing.

Largemouth Bass: Fair, casting, spinnerbaits, plastic worms and lizards along docks and structure in shallow water. Catfish: Very good. During the day bigger fish seem to be keying on the sides of hills and underwater humps in 18 to 24 feet of water, although they may be shallower at times. Best catches are coming using cut mullet and herring. Crappie: Fair. Look for structure in 20 to 25 feet of water and fish minnows vertically. Bream and shellcracker: Very good. Most shellcracker have already backed off onto deeper water. Fish 1-5 feet for bluegills and 8 to 10 feet for shellcracker.

Hot temperatures and minimal tides made fishing this week a bit challenging. Weak tidal flow has not been creating the current seams that 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 worries were eased upon meeting Scott (who is a very nice guy) at the boat landing. He was genuinely happy just to go fishing. Getting skunked (not catching any fish) would be slightly embarrassing for me but not a concern to Scott. Catching fish would be a bonus.

Summer is settling in. Fishing very early in the morning or late in the afternoon is a good way to beat the crowds and the heat. Dawn patrol this week was good for trout on the falling tide. Most of the trout were holding on steep banks or submerged ledges in 10 to 15 feet of water. Finding good tidal flow was critical to finding biting fish and four-inch GULP swimming minnows on lead head jigs produced some good catches. Friends that were fishing mud minnows on lead head jigs in the same area put up better numbers. Many of the trout were just short of the 14-inch slot limit, but there were enough larger fish to keep things interesting.

The wind finally let up, but unfortunately so did the tides. For most of this week, the tides have been averaging in the 4-foot range. This is 1 to 2 feet below normal. Slower and lower tides make for challenging fishing.

The fish-attracting current seams that form over submerged structure and marsh run outs have been weak or non-existent. Trout and flounder have been spotty. You can catch a few here and there, but large concentrations have been tough to find. Redfish on the flats have been pretty consistent. Finding them has been no problem. Getting them to hit an artificial lure is a different story.