Fly Fishing for Tailing Redfish in Hilton Head and Beaufort, SC
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With big tides brings new flats opportunities. Redfish will move into these shallow zones and look for crabs and shrimp. When redfish move onto these flats and get in shallow water you can see their tails or parts of their back out of water as they forage for fiddler crabs. Generally we are looking for the short spartina grass where pools of water can fill up. It’s a type of high ground that we can wade pretty easily.
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Watch out for the Tall Grass! |
Tall grass leads to softer mud, deeper water, and oysters. We do not recommend wading into this environment. You can fall into your hips in mud and get cut up by the oysters pretty bad. Which can lead to infections. Short grass (6” or so) normally indicates a hard bottom. It is recommended that you get to a high tide flat so that you can walk out when there is no water and see exactly what is meant by short versus tall grass. You will also need to keep an eye out for small creek channels (micro channels normally not on a map). This small creek may only be 2-3 feet wide and a couple of feet deep when there is no water, but with a big tide that puts 2 feet of water on a flat, the depth of that little creek is now 4-5 feet and can be quite the surprise.
Tides for Tailing Redfish |
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Tides. We are generally looking for a High Tide that is big enough to put at least a foot or so of water over this short spartina grass or sand. We will enter the flat about one and a half to two hours prior to the high tide. If you have not waded on a high tide flat it is recommended that you get there two hours prior to high tide so that you can walk around and orient yourself prior to any water being on the flat. The other benefit of getting there early is that you will be able to observe what part of the flat gets water first, as that will often be where the redfish enter the flat. You can generally fish for up to one and a half to two hours after the high tide. High tide fishing is normally on tides that are between 7.5’ and 8.3’ at the Savannah River Entrance. You can see this information in the appropriate tidelog, or on one of many smartphone applications. The one we use is The TideGraph. You will need to set your tide station to the Fort Pulaski, Savannah River Entrance, South Carolina.
Tides beyond 8.3’ can be fished, however due to the velocity of the water entering the flat and how quickly the water gets deep, it can be tough to find fish tailing. Normally on a really big tide (8.5-9’) you really only get about 20 minutes of fishing the incoming tide before the water is too deep and moving too fast. The water will be moving like a mountain river, and this will keep the fish from tailing as the current would push them around. If you're interested on exactly where you can catch tailing redfish check out our Maps Here . Or if your Looking for a guide to get you out feel free to reach out on our Contact Page |
