Fishing and feasting

For Thanksgiving week, I dedicated myself to fishing and feasting. Happy to report that I was successful in both endeavors. Now, my weight is up and my arm is sore (from excessive fishing). A small price to pay for new memories with friends and family.

Traditionally, my family has an evening meal on Thanksgiving (leaving me free to fish in the morning). This year, my father-in-law, Dick Artmeier, joined me for a short Thanksgiving morning trip. We launched the skiff into the last of the falling tide. The weather conditions were warm and breezy (quite nice for late November). Once underway, we made a short run to a shallow flat with an oyster lined channel. The water was gin clear and we could easily see two separate schools of Redfish milling about the channel. Dick cast a Z-Man StreakZ 3.75 on a 3/16th ounce jig a few feet ahead of the closest school. The entire school (of about 20 fish) ignored the lure. After a few more good lure presentations and no bites, we moved on to the next school. Unfortunately, the results were the same. Not a single bite. The Redfish were having nothing to do with our lures. While pondering our next move, I spotted a school of finger mullet a bit further up the channel. One cast of the net produced enough live bait for the rest of the morning. Thinking we were going to crush the Redfish (they almost always eat a finger mullet); we staked out the skiff and cast finger mullet on jigs to the passing schools. It was frustrating to watch 40 Redfish slowly swim right by our offerings. Clearly, these fish were not in a feeding mood. Admitting defeat, we moved on to another area.

Upon our arrival at the new flat, we spotted a single Redfish hanging around an oyster bar. Dick cast a finger mullet to the base of the oyster bar. We held our breath as the Redfish slowly approached Dick’s live bait. Suddenly, the fish shot forward and inhaled the bait. Dick was hooked up with a quality size Redfish. On light tackle, the fight was a good one but eventually the fish came to the skiff for a quick picture. After releasing the fish, we noticed a couple of more hanging around the bar. We repeated the process a few more times before the fish got wise to us. Rather than search out more fish, we decided to call it a day. It was a great way to begin Thanksgiving.

Contact Captain Greg Peralta at captgregp@gmail.com or call (843) 224-0099.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
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