Inshore Fishing - June 23rd

Took the Cuda out to Mount Pleasant, and launched at the public boat ramp on Shem Creek.  Today our small group was going to fish a place the locals call "Crab Bank".  It is located directly out of Shem Creek...

The public boat ramp at Shem Creek is small, and we got there later in the morning and the parking lot was full.  There were vehicles with boat trailers parked everywhere.  If I was by myself, I would have just left...I could not dump my gear out and leave it while trying to drive around looking for a place to park - all my stuff would have been gone when I got back.  Fortunately, someone stayed with the yaks and gear while a couple of us parked vehicles.

Finally found a parking space in a shopping center down the road from the ramp.

Got in the water, and headed toward the Charleston Harbor.  The place we were fishing was right out of the mouth of Shem Creek.

Lots of boat traffic...the water coming out of the creek was choppy with boat wakes and the chop coming out of the harbor.

Got out there and started casting artificials.  Was going to switch up my normal bait rotation and start with the Saltwater Assassin "Chicken on a Chain" curly-tailed jig.  My buddy yelled over at me and said there were a lot of bluefish out here...he was right.  They decimated my artificials.  I could tell when one would hit...they would swipe the bait during the retrieve and I couldn't hook one to save my life.  When I got the jig back to the yak, it was bit in-half.  After this happened about three times, it was time to switch to the Z-Man stuff.

The Z-Man jigs really held up to the bluefish - they were a lot more durable and I stuck with them for the remainder of the trip.

I finally broke my flounder drought - caught a 13" flounder on a Z-Man Streakz Curly Tail lure!  Unfortunately I could not photo my accomplishment - it was then that I realized that I forgot to bring my camera.

Bottom-rigged some mud minnows, and then started catching stingrays.  After I lost two circle hooks to the rays, I put that rod away!  Stuck with the plastics for the rest of the day.  Got some bites but couldn't get a red or trout that trip...oh well!  Still happy to finally get a flat-fish in the Cuda.