What you need to know about fishing

Fishing can be incredibly rewarding on Dewees Island, and it’s a great way to catch a meal. You need a South Carolina recreational Salt Water Fishing license, which you can get by calling 1-866-714-3611 or by going to DNR online and registering here. There are slightly different license prices for South Carolina and non SC residents.  Every angler over the age of 16 needs one, and if your kids are fishing, at least one adult with them should have a license.  Here is a link to SCDNR’s salt water fishing report page. If you just want to try your hand at fishing, you  can hire a kid for an island tour and info about how to catch bait, where to fish, what the rules are, and any other tips.  Text Emily at 843-801-2444 for more info.

The four main fish people try to catch from Dewees are Sea Trout, Red Drum (or Redfish or Spottail Bass), Sheepshead, and Flounder.  You may catch some others, like black drum, shad, or even an oyster toadfish.  Know the limits on what you can catch.  It can be disheartening to catch a 14 inch redfish, a 13 inch flounder, or a 26 inch whopper of a red drum and have to throw it back, but that’s the rule.  You want to release the fish as quickly as possible so it has the best chance for survival.  It is a Dewees Policy to only keep one meal’s worth of fish each day.  It is decidedly uncool to take any home in a cooler.

Besides some common commercial bait, like Berkley 5″ Gulp! Saltwater Jerkshad Watermelon, or Gulp! in other colors, you can catch shrimp or minnows to use.  To catch shrimp or finger mullet, you would use a cast net (must be at least 1/2 inch).  To catch minnows, you use a minnow trap baited with something smelly (a hot dog, a dead fish, even a piece of bread) and put it in a tidal creek, perpendicular to the tidal flow.  Be sure it is labeled and you tie the line on the minnow trap to a stake on shore.  (If you rent fishing gear from us, we’ll show you how and where to do this.)  You should check it twice a day to be sure that minnows aren’t food for raccoons or high and dry in the sun.  To catch Red drum, use a live minnow and run the hook through the head.  Flounder will also hit minnows.  (You could also catch an oyster toadfish, and you should watch its teeth when you release it.)

 

 

Some of our docks can get crowded, if you arrive and someone is fishing there first, please be courteous and introduce yourselves, and ask if they would prefer that you come back later.  There are plenty of fishing spots to share… one strategy might be to ask the existing anglers where they might recommend you try next.

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