Splendor in the Grass: Tailing Redfish on the Carolina Coast

When it comes to inshore fishing, few areas rival South Carolina’s Lowcountry, where red drum (redfish), speckled trout, sheepshead, black drum, flounder, tarpon and other favorites thrive. Georgetown, located at the confluence of the Great Pee Dee, Waccamaw, Black and Sampit rivers, which combine to form the headwaters of the Winyah Bay estuary, is the epicenter of many angling opportunities.

Georgetown is South Carolina’s third oldest city and within an hour’s drive of both Myrtle Beach and Charleston. It has a population of only 9,000 but boasts a number of unique shops, award-winning restaurants, waterfront parks and 200-year-old historic homes to go along with the many gifts afforded by Mother Nature.

FLOOD TIDE BOUNTY

From May through October, the higher incoming tides during the new- and full-moon periods flood expanses of usually dry spartina grass flats, creating fertile hunting grounds for gamefish. Quick to take advantage of the situation, redfish can frequently be found tailing in the grass as they root for crabs and other tasty morsels.

Poling a shallow-draft skiff or wading amid the spartina and looking for tails breaking the surface is as exciting as sight-fishing gets, but reds are far from the only fish cashing in on the forage bounty. Black drum and sheepshead follow suit, while trout and flounder lurk along grass edges to feast on shrimp and various baitfish moving in and out with the tides.

OTHER SALTY OPTIONS

“The confluence of the Waccamaw River and Great Pee Dee River at the U.S. Highway 17 Bridge is where the salt and inland waters diverge for fishing license purposes,” says Capt. Greg Holmes of Fish Skinny Charters and Guide Service, who focuses his efforts in Mud Bay, the Channel Islands and the marsh complexes near North Inlet. The bays are brackish until they connect to the saltwater marshes leading to North Inlet. If you continue southeast, you will go past the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center Heritage Preserve on South Island. Both North Island and South Island have really fishy rock jetties.”

Holmes fishes lures and live bait, keying on oyster beds, creek mouths and marsh points. At the inlet he fishes the jetties, but he often gives some docks a try, anchoring his boat and deploying live menhaden under a popping cork or on a bottom rig. The guide warns that, while the grass flats and marshes can be fished from a flats skiff or paddle craft, you need a big, center-console boat to safely navigate waters in and around the inlet, which can get nasty when it’s windy.

For sheepshead and black drum, Holmes hits the jetties and other hard structure. He catches flounder in the clearer waters of the main channel and stained waters in inland areas. And he casts topwaters and jigs for speckled trout and redfish along the North Inlet marshes. “Especially during the first hour of daylight, there can be great action for reds and trout in the brown water, generally at the top of the rising tide. I also sight-fish for redfish when it’s not too windy and the tide covers the grass. The speckled trout bite fires up just before a full moon and it dies as the moon wanes.”

As the tide falls, Holmes resorts to soaking menhaden in the grass with a heavy-action, 7-foot rod and a 3000-series spinning reel spooled with 40-pound braided line and a 40-pound fluorocarbon leader. “You have to use heavier lines to win the fight with a big redfish if he heads into that jungle,” he says. “The trick is to fish edges and ledges as the fish leave the grass during the falling tide.”

BIGGER GAME

Although Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service also catches the same species in the same places as Holmes, his true calling is targeting bull reds, which can top 40 pounds, and the massive tarpon that come into Winyah Bay from June through August and sometimes hang around until September. The big redfish, which he calls “channel bass,” also arrive in the summer, with steady action continuing into October. McDonald fishes live and cut baits on bottom rigs and float rigs, primarily along the deeper channels.

He says that tarpon show up at the same places every year, and he looks for signs like fish leaping, feeding or flashing on the surface before anchoring his boat and setting out two float rigs and two bottom rigs. “I mostly use menhaden and croakers, but go with mullet when it’s all I can get,” says McDonald, adding that he prefers live bait because it is the surest way to get hookups. If I don’t spot any tarpon but see the baitfish are congregating in an area that has traditionally paid off for me, I start setting lines out,” says McDonald. “When baitfish are hanging out in a certain place, usually the tarpon aren’t all that far away.”

GETTING FRESH

The Santee Cooper lakes, Marion and Moultrie, offer world-class freshwater fishing a short drive from Georgetown. Anglers can book guided trips or launch their own boats at many recreational boating access areas and commercial fish camps.

Fishing for bass is extremely popular and fruitful in the Santee Cooper lakes, as largemouths ranging from decent to trophy-size are consistently caught around all types of cover, including boat docks, laydowns, riprap banks, shoals, drop-offs and flats.

Effective lures and tactics span the gamut, with crankbaits, topwaters, spinnerbaits, jigs, soft plastics and other baits drawing strikes at different locations and times of year.

The catfishing in the lakes is also superb, with anglers hauling in big blues by the cooler full. Drift-fishing, especially on the mussel beds and in standing timber, is particularly effective.

Crappies are abundant, as well. Fishing live minnows on float rigs is the most popular strategy, but anglers also catch plenty of the tasty panfish by trolling, drifting or casting tiny soft plastics and jigs.

Striped bass fishing made Santee Cooper famous, and the lakes have fish attractors and plenty of natural cover that continue to produce solid catches in terms of both numbers and size. Slow-trolling or drifting live baits remain the best bets, but like largemouths, Santee Cooper stripers can be caught on a variety of artificials, including topwaters, spoons, jigs, crankbaits, swimbaits and others.

There’s no shortage of striper guides who know productive areas by heart, but DIY anglers are welcome to take a stab at the many linesiders that often churn the surface as they maul schooling baitfish at the crack of dawn.

TRIP PLANNER

Aside from the incredible fishing, Georgetown, S.C., has many beautiful and fun places to check out, such as Huntington Beach State Park, Brookgreen Gardens and Litchfield Beach.

If you need a place to stay, you won’t go wrong booking a room at the Hampton Inn Georgetown-Marina or Oceanfront Litchfield Inn. For casual waterfront dining, head to Wahoo’s Fish House or the Claw House, both at Murrells Inlet.

Should you want to sample the freshwater angling options at the Santee Cooper, Black’s Camp at Lake Moultrie offers accommodations, dining, fish-cleaning services, tackle, a boat launch and hosts of fishing guides (blackscamp.com).

Speaking of guides, you could also try Bob’s Guide Service Encore (bobsguideserviceencore.com) or Capt. Corey Casey (coreycaseyfishingandguideservice.com) for striper or catfish trips (Casey guides for largemouths too). For inshore charters, Capt. Greg Holmes of Fish Skinny Charters (fishskinnycharters.com) and Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service (gulrboy.net) are two of the area’s top choices.

For travel information, more lodging and dining establishments and other outdoor sporting opportunities, including golf, visit discovergeorgetownsc.com.

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• This article was featured in the August 2025 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe.

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