Fishing Outlook

Cobia Main Event
The annual run of cobia in the Broad River/Port Royal Sound has begun, as reports of lings ranging from 30 to 80 pounds have been coming in. The action will be centered around the Beaufort area, but thats not the only place you''l find them. They should be fairly easy to find in the Georgia sounds and nearshore wrecks, and are moving their way up the Carolina coastline towards Charleston as we speak.

When fishing inshore for these big suckers, fishing on bottom in deep holes that run out into deeper channels is a good bet. Use live or fresh-dead menhaden or eels with a "fishfinder" (i.e. slipsinker) rig. However, if you want the action of sight fishing, search channel markers, bridge pilings, sea turtles, big rays, etc. If you see one, try casting a big tube or artificial worm (a 10 or 12 inch worm works great as an eel imitation), or also a bucktail jig. Try to anticipate where he's going when you make your cast, as you want to bring the bait a few feet in front of his nose.

Inshore Outlook
The tides aren't very big for the next few days, so the water will be a little sluggish and that tends to make inshore fish on the Low Country coast a little skittish. Your best bet will be to find a river inlet or slough that has some brisk current to keep the baitfish, and the predators, active. Sunday and Monday will bring some thunderstorms as a light front moves through, that the chance of storms increases again on Wednesday and Thursday. Fishin just before and after a storm comes through is usually hot, but be cautious when dealing with lightning.

Offshore Forecast
Winds and seas will remain quite moderate until late next week, though conditions will get rough in and around thunderstorms.
Steve Rashke of Bass Pro Savannah reported trolling the R6 tower on Thursday and landing 14 kings, including one 25 pounder. The water temperatures are just about reaching the point where the kingfish will really start to invade area waters.
Bottom fishing is still getting into high gear with quite a few more reports of big snapper and a few grouper coming in. As the weeks progress, expect more brown color to be added to the red hue of the bttom fishing reports.
The GulfStream wahoo action has been very hot lately, too, with several reports of trashed tackle due to these violent rig-choppers.