South Carolina Redfishing, Fly and Sightfishing, SC Redfish

Fishing friend and guide Jay Nelson and I collaborated for the below photo spread and writing in The Drake Magazine about SC flyfishing for redfish.

South Carolina Sight-Fishing

It is said that Marquis De Lafayette, a French supporter of the American Revolution, saw the South Carolina coast for the first time and called it D’aborde Dieu – “the borderland of God.”  I’m not sure of South Carolina’s 344,500 acres of Lowcountry saltwater estuaries is in fact God’s Country, but I do know that sight-fishing the flood-tide spartina grass for redfish is what put our marshes on the map.

Fishing tailers on spartina flats is the most exciting way to pursue a Carolina red, and great fishing can still be found at winter low tide, when it’s all about clear water and large schools without much to eat – which makes a fly look pretty tasty.

Whether waddling through grass on a high tide or belly-crawling among the mud and oysters at low, it’s funny to see where these fish sometimes go.  You learn to appreciate a red’s sense of adventure when one tails so hard that it actually flips over.

No two cats are the same – some flies are taken with a gentle kiss and others with an exploding strike.  This variety amuses coastal anglers from Virginia to Texas.  But for me, nothing beats the thrill of the chase along South Carolina’s D’aborde Dieu. 

-Perry Peace