SmallwaterFishing

Smallwater Fishing in Kentucky

Motorboats aren't required for great fishing! SmallwaterFishing.com started in 2009 as a collection of notes and pictures about various locations to access fishing sites in Kentucky, primarily on foot or in a kayak. The research began well before that, though, as the owner of the site, John Kirkland, has been fishing the waters of Kentucky and beyond his entire life.

The location pages are broken out between Lakes/Ponds, Creeks/Rivers, and a separate tab for the Elkhorn. Location pages are intended to give anglers a general sense of places they might try. Most include information about where to park, how to access, general observations about fishing conditions and sometimes, reports on trips. The Blog section features reports about recent fishing trips and updates to the site.

The site is intended to operate like what you might hear at a local bait shop or talking to someone casually--general information about places to go fishing. The site is not intended to be a definitive guide to all fishing destinations. Check official sources regarding laws, regulations and rules--this isn't an "official" source of anything. Nothing is for sale, here. Just information about where you might try to cast a line in Kentucky. Good luck, and contact me with any questions or if you have a report on a location you want to share! -JK

South Carolina

Charleston, SC

September 6-12, 2009

I spent a week’s vacation based at Isle of Palms, a beach community 15 minutes outside of Charleston, South Carolina. I was lucky to have the use of a pier that was part of the complex I stayed at. Also nearby were various public-access points to the water, and the vast expanse of saltwater creeks and marshes between the barrier islands and the mainland. My goal was to spend some time fishing each day I was there—and I did. Weather had been forecasted as scattered thunderstorms and mid 80s all week; but all I saw was clear, breezy, and warm weather everyday.

There are numerous resources for finding information on fishing Coastal South Carolina. It is easy to logon to charlestonfishing.com and cruise to various fishing forums, covering offshore, inshore, surf/pier, kayak, and other types of fishing, crabbing, shrimping, and bait gathering. The site is an excellent starting place for someone unfamiliar with the area to understand the various species and methods of fishing. I won’t attempt to explain all the possibilities or how-to’s involved—that might take an encyclopedia-sized volume to cover. What I can do is relate how a land-locked Kentuckian can experience some great fishing on a budget in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

Breech Inlet, Isle of Palms, SC

A bridge connects Sullivans Island to Isle of Palms, and under that bridge is Breech Inlet. The tidal current is very fast here (swimming is prohibited). There is a parking area on the Sullivan’s Island side, and a path to a beach and jetties. A person can fish from the beach or the bridge, and there are usually anywhere form a handful to dozens of people fishing the stretch in nice weather. Fish, dolphins, and the occasional manatee move through the passage, following the tides, searching for food and shelter in the marsh grass and oyster beds.

I fished Breech one afternoon for about two hours. I didn’t catch much (one small whiting), but I noticed others reeling in spadefish, rays, and other species. I did see a rather large, dark-colored shark jump almost completely out of the water while attacking a fish on the surface. Locals report that this is a good spot to catch sea trout and redfish (red drum/spottail bass), along with tarpon, sharks, and sheepshead. It is easy to access, easy to find, and easy to park at Breech Inlet.

Isle of Palms, SC

by John Kirkland

Guests of Sea Cabins condominiums, located next door to the Isle of Palms Beach Park, have access to a private pier. We stayed at Sea Cabins, and I took full advantage of that access. September fishing there can be exciting, and when shoals of finger mullet breeze past the pier, a variety of species can be caught in the shallow water. Trout, redfish, bluefish, and plenty of sharks pound the baitfish. Dolphin pods come close as well–concentrating the various species close to shore.

In the middle of the week I was there, I was out at around 5 PM. I caught a six inch whiting on shrimp, hooked him live, through the tail, and cast him out on a wire leader, one ounce weight, and 30 lb test on a 7 foot pole. This method had caught a decent bluefish and a very small shark the day before, but I was hunting for the redfish (spottail bass) that had been cruising the shallows recently.

Suddenly, the reel began moving. I picked up the rig, and began to reel a bit–then the line started screaming off the reel! 90 yards of line peeled off in a few seconds, while I held on tight, ready to start reeling at the first break. The fish stopped, and I tried to reel–might as well have been hooked to an anchor. The fish took of again briefly, then I figured out how to use the pier to my advantage.

By walking backwards, slowly, I was able to slowly pull the fish toward me. Then I would quickly reel in the slack as I walked back to the end of the pier. This slow, labored dance went on for about 15 minutes. I figured it was a shark, but I wasn’t sure, and I had become anxious to see what was on the line.

Finally, as I reeled the fish in close to the end of the pier, a long, narrow fin/tail/something appeared near the surface. I wasn’t sure what that thing was, but a moment later the body of a black tip shark, wrapped up in the line, came to the surface–before making another short run. The shark was clearly too big to land on the pier, so I began pulling him around the end, and down the side, slowly, trying to get him toward the beach.

By now, everyone who had been taking a leisurely stroll on the beach had stopped to see what the guy on the pier was battling. About fifty people waited a the water’s edge at the base of the pier, video cameras and cell phones snapping pictures. There was excitement, and exclamations about never swimming in the water again.

I wasn’t sure how I was actually going to land this shark; I figured I would tie off the pole on the pier, then run down to the beach and pull him in by hand. A guy standing below appeared ready to grab the fish and help. Just as I got the shark in ankle-deep water, he gave one last twist, threw the hook, an took off. I was kind of glad, in a way, that he got away. Because he got so close, we were able to get a good read on his length and girth–approximately 4 feet in body length, and close to 6 feet overall with the long tail. Later research on similar black tip catches suggest that he weighed between 60 and 70 pounds, and he felt every ounce of that to me.

This was clearly the largest fish I have ever battled, and I’ll never forget it. I caught other fish on the pier that week, and even chartered a boat to fish the salt marshes, but nothing came close to my shark experience on the pier.

Mount Pleasant, SC

Palmetto Islands County Park, Mt. Pleasant, SC

9/7/2011

The morning started out with hard rain, but the forecast showed clearing in the afternoon. We decided to try to get out to Palmetto Islands County Park, located north of Long Point Road between 526 and 17 in Mount Pleasant. The park lies in tidal marshes and creeks, and features fishing docks, kayak launches, and winding trails through the marshes and pine forest.

The rain cleared after lunch, and we headed to the park. A small entry fee was collected at the entrance, and we wove through the gravel roads to park at the trail head you take to get to the fishing spots.

The walk takes about ten minutes, on level-ish ground and boardwalks, with thousands of tiny fiddler crabs scampering underfoot. I didn’t notice anything that would stop a wheelchair, necessarily, but getting there does require a bit of a hike.

Being midweek, there were very few others in the area. I saw one fisherman, with a very nice fishing cart, floating bait under a cork rig on one creek. He was the only other person fishing that day.

We were there so my wife could try crabbing with a hand line and dip net, using chicken necks for bait. My plan was to fish while she caught the crabs. Of course, neither of us had ever done any crabbing, so this was all new. I rigged the hand line and dropped it next the floating dock we were on, and handed it to my wife. Instantly, pecking and picking could be felt. Then tugging. She slowly raised the line up, and I tried to use the dip net to capture–a blue crab quickly swam away before I could get the net on him. This coordination would prove trickier than we had imagined. Several more attempts: nothing in the net. Then I took the line, and she took the net. Pecking, then hard, heavy tugging–raise the line–“Dip fast!”– and she got one in the net. Not a blue crab, unfortunately, but an ugly toadfish! We laughed, and threw him back.

She continued to try crabbing, and I rigged a shrimp on a single drop rig, and tossed the line toward the edge of the channel (we were on, I believe, Harris Creek). On the first cast, a hard, bait cleaning hit. Second cast, I hooked a fish, landed it, and it turned out to be another toadfish (pictured). These are voracious little bottom feeders, with a serious chomp and sharp little teeth made for slicing and ripping (they look eerily like small human teeth). I unhooked and tossed him back, and managed to catch only a pinfish (small bait thief) after that.

We didn’t manage to leave with anything for dinner, but it was a good time. My wife is not much for fishing, but she enjoyed crabbing for a while.