# Feed up and frustrated with Folly!



## Jeremi (Jun 13, 2015)

I have fished at least twice a week on Folly from end to end since late July. Incoming tide, out going tide, high, low you name it. Fish all times of the day even all night. What do I have to show for it... Whiting and rays. 1 38" red and a few lot reds at the mouth of Folly River. I'm a very seasoned surf fisherman in the gulf. I can read the water find the troughs, cuts and holes. I always have a 12' or 10' Rod for distance. A 7' rod for up close. I've used shrimp, fish bites, finger mullet, cut mullet and whiting heads. Most whiting were caught on fish bites. I've never seen anyone catch a fish on Folly. Fished in the rain 2 hours before high tide and an hour after today. Two small whiting. What the hell is the problem??? Sorry about venting on here. Just very frustrated!!


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## The Skink (Mar 9, 2009)

last time I fished Folly was around 1990. we got tons of monster oysters. everything else is just a fog


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## lawless (Nov 17, 2012)

Haven't fished folly myself, too crowed.. I have fished mount pleasant pier, not very long but in the
Right spot for everything. Flounder, drum and its not far up fromthe water..
I would give that a try for a while.


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## Gary Carrier (Oct 11, 2012)

Things are a changing. Fish the surf every year in the fall at Myrtle. Lasts 3 years have been terrible. Last year, I fished from 7am to 11am at Apache. Pier was full. Saw two reds and a handful of hand fish caught. My take, the sharks are ruling the surf in South Carolina. All you need to do is watch the people fishing on the web cam at Cherry Grove and you will see what you experienced.


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## RjTheMetalhead (Dec 3, 2011)

Gary Carrier said:


> Things are a changing. Fish the surf every year in the fall at Myrtle. Lasts 3 years have been terrible. Last year, I fished from 7am to 11am at Apache. Pier was full. Saw two reds and a handful of hand fish caught. My take, the sharks are ruling the surf in South Carolina. All you need to do is watch the people fishing on the web cam at Cherry Grove and you will see what you experienced.


Seriously. Hush. I live HERE. I fish HERE. Almost every chance I get. Fishing is the same as it always is. Its all about luck. Good weather, good timing. 
If you have watched the pier cam at Cherry Grove you should have seen them deck quite a few king mackerel over the past few months. I think they have caught about 30+ this year. But sharks ate all the fish.

You fished one day at Apache for 4 hours and concluded that sharks ate all the fish????
I'm tired of your trolling posting **** like that, one of main reasons i haven't posted as much. I catch and see good fish all the time get caught but don't see need to post it because sharks ate all the fish.


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## pmcdaniel (Nov 13, 2013)

IMO the big storm has everything out of whack this season. Juvenile Black Drum seem to be everywhere. I've not seen one in many years of fishing from the pier or the surf off NC and SC, and this season they are almost an annoyance - you think you have a nice Spot or Pompano and here comes a 10 inch Blackie. 

I fished the bottom at Apache in early October and caught about what I expected to - Spots, Whiting, and Pompano. The Whiting and Pomps were all tiny except for one decent Whiting, but the Spots were pretty big. Among all the throwbacks and undersized Black Drum, I went home with a nice bucket of 10 good size Spot. I've seen slow days on the pier where you almost want to hook a Pinfish just so you pull something in, and this was definitely not one of those days.

As for bait, I almost always catch something worth keeping on bloodworms or fishbites bloodworms. Shrimp does okay if you just want to catch something, but it's just as likely to be a small whiting or pinfish. From your post I assume you are targeting Reds. Can't say I'm much assistance in that regard, but I know Folly has a lot of inshore water. It's very likely that the Reds are inshore when you are looking for them off the beach front. They seem to be catching plenty of them farther North, so they haven't vanished.


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## rabbitdog2 (Aug 20, 2011)

The black drum are always there this time of the year. Their worst than pin fish.


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## RjTheMetalhead (Dec 3, 2011)

I have caught short black drum every fall and winter every year of my fishing life. Its nothing new but the slot limits are working and more big blacks are growing into breeders which means more small black drum.


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## pmcdaniel (Nov 13, 2013)

I have to say most of my fall fishing has been around Oak Island, Holden Beach, and Ocean Isle, but I've made a few fall trips to MB. I've honestly never hooked one before this year, so I guess either the slot is working, or all of the fresh water has pushed them out of the inshore waters.


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

What do you want to catch is my first question.

Always can try a new spot.


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## The Skink (Mar 9, 2009)

For the most part I agree with RJ. Things have slowed down a bit since I started fishing here but I would attribute that to the insane growth of the area and the devastation that brings to the immediate area.Sand dunes are gone due to high rises, beach erosion due to high rises, pollution due to people, run off water, and stuff like that. I am by no means a tree hugger but I have seen alot of changes due to human incursion and none of it is good. I believe if everyone was forced to move back just 2 blocks off the beach that within a year we would see recovery of our shoreline. Like RJ said, the fish are still here, you just have to hunt a little more for them. Improvise, adapt and overcome. 

When I fished Folly Beach the pier didnt exist. we fished on the south end. we caught alot of fish. Folly Beach got a complete make over after Hugo hit and human incursion may be responsible for your lousy fishing trip. Again, let me state that it was a long time ago when I fished there but I have friends in Charleston that fish Folly Pier. They love the area and are very successful. maybe it has to do with the fact that some of us get to live along the coast and are more experienced with fishing techniques and locations.


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## MECrim (Jun 25, 2012)

Jeremi,

Try the very north end of folly by the lighthouse. work the groins up and down with FRESH mullet or shrimp. Hell, any of the groins east/north of the pier are good spots. If you are absolutely tired of folly, head on over to sullivans or IOP. Troughs, cuts, & holes are vital there, IMO, because its so flat and shallow. 

With the abundance of inshore waters in Charleston, switch things up. Find some feeder creeks, oyster rakes, and ambush spots and grab some trout. Redfish, trout, & flounder (for a little while longer until they head offshore) are plentiful in charleston. 

Search for Demetre Park (formerly Sunrise Park) on James Island. Its on the harbor with sand beaches and rock rip-raf lining the shore. Can "Surf" fish from there and have heard a lot of great reports coming from that park over the last 2-3 months. 

Hope that helps. 



-Mark


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## Jeremi (Jun 13, 2015)

Thank you Mark


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## gmc_n_TN (Jul 8, 2010)

Jeremi,

Fishing at Folly has been a little different this year. In May on Folly Pier it was Shark City, the farther out the Pier you went the larger they got. The whiting were in the 10 - 12 in range.

I went back for 3 days at the end of October and it was mostly small whiting and juvenile black drum. I only saw 2 Red Drum caught, which all of the locals thought was slow. One of the locals I see on the Pier each trip said that this had been a real slow year according to the records she keeps. She caught the largest Black Drum on the Pier this year. Randy and his wife caught 2 King Macks which were the first on the pier in 2 years. If you check CharlestonFishing.com there have been a few people catching Red Drum in the County Park on the South/West end. Mt Pleasant Pier and the surf on Sullivans Island/Isle of Palms have been producing more for the locals that are posting recently.

Keep Fishing

GMC


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## JFord56 (Feb 5, 2008)

Demetre Pk. has been the hot spot of late. slow most everywhere else around that area. 
seeing a lot of post on CF of bull reds in surf but mostly Edisto area


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