Here we are, November 1st, and I am pretty excited.  This is by far my favorite month to fish.  We have been super busy here trying to meet demand which is a good problem to have, but we have fished less this year than we have in recent memory.  As I write, the water temperature is still a little warm (low 70’s) and this is keeping the fish from getting really fired up, which is what happens when the water gets near the mid 60’s.  Also, you will notice the water clearing up as the colder temps kill off the algae (as well as the gnats and mosquitoes).  Because the water is still warm, it is not yet time to really slow things down.  In fact, the trout are hitting topwater with much enthusiasm still.  We even saw a tailing redfish the other day.

If you can swing it, cash in a kitchen-pass, call in sick, whatever it takes to hit the water this month.  We have done well on pretty much all profiles and colors of Z-Man soft plastics and all of our jigs – which simply tells you that the fish are hungry!

One thing I’ve been pretty excited about is the release of our full line of Striper Eye jigs.  They are all built on a big hook – a 6/0 Mustad Ultrapoint.  We have 1/2 oz, 3/4 oz and 1 oz sizes.  We have done really well with them at the jetties with bull redfish and also with cobia and amberjack offshore.  We received word that our 1 oz heads in glow was hot for the local tarpon bite – but that was a semi well-kept secret.  I really can’t wait till the Z-Man packaged Striper Eyes get distributed around the country and folks see what they can do with Tarpon, Cobia, bridge Snook and big northeast Stripers.  On that latter note, we have seen a blooming of interest in the Virginia Beach are and also the New Jersey/Long Island areas – no doubt using them for those ocean going Stripers.

Anyway, I’ve been intrigued about using one rigged with a Z-Man 6″ SwimmerZ for trout.  They are a similar size to a topwater plug or larger suspending plug so why wouldn’t they work?  Last weekend I had a chance to throw one in a spot where we were consistently hooking trout.  I swam it steadily just above the bottom and got a tell tale “thump” and ended up catching a solid trout.  Not a true gator but a quality fish around 21 inches.  Big bait = big fish.  Like a suspending plug, I don’t think you will catch large numbers of trout on this big swimbait, but the ones you do catch will be quality fish.  And that’s really what gets us excited, isn’t it?

Full Lineup of Striper Eye Jigs

Upcoming Seminar

“Winter Tactics” at Palmetto State Armory – Summerville
366 E. 5th North Street
Summerville, SC 29483
November 15th, 7pm
Ralph Phillips, Daniel Nussbaum, and David Fladd

Local Retail Shop

Our retail space is officially ready and we encourage you to drop by.  Store hours are Tues and Thursday 2 pm – 6 pm.  We are located at 7341B Peppermill Parkway, North Charleston, SC 29418 (off of Ashley Phosphate Road).  We are the only place you can purchase bulk jigs at up to 40% off retail prices.  You can also order online and choose Local Pickup to avoid shipping and pick up at our shop at your convenience.  We also have a good selection of Z-Man lures and accessories at our shop.  Come on by we would love to see you.

 

Lots of changes underway here at Ralph Phillips Inshore!

First and foremost, we have consolidated our operations under one roof at a new site.  Our address is:

Ralph Phillips Inshore Productions, LLC
7341B Peppermill Parkway
North Charleston, SC 29418

This is off of Ashley Phosphate road near the Stokes Volkswagen dealership.  If you are in the area, drop by and we will show you around.  We are planning to have a small retail shop on-site to sell our products and also our limited inventory of Z-Man plastics.  Also, you will be able to come pick up your online order at the shop and avoid shipping charges.   More to come on this…

We are very excited to now offer our full lineup of Redfish Eye jigs!  These feature a 4/0 Mustad Ultrapoint hook (same hook type as our Trout Eye jigs) just bigger and stronger.  The hook eye is 30 deg to make them swim a little shallower and be a little better at weed shedding.  They are super strong and sharp.

We also have Trout Eye jigs now in 1/4 oz and 1/8 oz.

Lastly, one of the cool benefits of our partnership with Z-Man Fishing is access to new products.  We were the only place you could purchase the new Swimmin’ Trout Tricks online for a couple months, and we are also one of the few places you can buy the new EZ ShrimpZ online.  Both great products, and we also manufacture the weighted hooks for the EZ ShrimpZ.

Its Fall so the bite is about to rev up.  Who else is excited?

 

I’m proud to be the organizer of the Summerville Saltwater Angler’s annual Ashley River oyster reef building event.  We are now in our 5th year of this event, in association with the SCDNR’s SCORE team, led by Michael Hodges.  There is nothing we can do to aid the marine ecosystem than plant oyster substrate for building oyster reefs.  A single oyster will filter 50 gallons of water a day, and provide the base for the complex food chain that leads up to our desired game fish.  Thanks to the club’s conservation oriented membership of women, men and children of all ages, we have now planted an estimated 25,000 lbs of oyster shell over approx 200 yards of river bank along the Ashley.  Our first year’s reef now has large clusters of blades and is growing every year.

I’d encourage any group (fishing clubs, church groups, boy scouts, families) to simply contact Michael Hodges (HodgesM@dnr.sc.gov) if you are interested in making your own reef or participating in one of their reef builds that are open to the public.  The hard working group at SCORE does all the hard work, and all you need is a crew of approx 12-15 people to help transfer and plant the oyster bags. It’s a small payback for all the enjoyment we get out of our waterways.

Till next year!  – Dave

SSWA Ashley River Oyster Planting – 5th Year from RalphPhillipsInshore on Vimeo.

I hate it, but its been a few weeks since I’ve been on the water – and a long time since I’ve gone on a solo trip.  So, I needed this, some “me” time.  When I go on these trips I always try to learn something new, like new tactics or new locations.  Today, I did both, and had some pretty neat findings.

Starting off, I hit a couple historically good topwater spots and, not even a splash.  So, I didn’t stay long after making a few fan casts in “usual” hot-spots it was pretty clear that A. The fish weren’t there, or B. The fish were negative.  Either way, in the pre-dawn you only have precious minutes to spare before that big fireball in the sky burns us off the water, so off I went in search of something different.  The plan was to try for redfish on top of flooded oyster rakes.

Got to my spot and within the first few casts I hook a decent trout, 16″ or so.  Cast over the oyster rake and had a redfish pounce and….miss the plug.  He only gave one attempt, I could not get it to come back for more.  A redfish has a hard time connecting with a topwater plug, since their mouth is more on the bottom of their face, they have to raise up and belly flop the plug, or roll on their side to get it.  If you have heard to not set the hook on a topwater strike, a redfish topwater strike is even more important that you simply wait to feel the fish before moving the plug – even then, they will still often miss it unless they are very aggressively feeding.  This is very hard to do because their “take” is kind of like someone threw a kitchen sink in the water.

 

Well, I made a circle around an island and went 0 for 4 on topwater redfish strikes…  There were some crazy takes too:  One came out of the flooded grass and raised his whole back out of the water and plunged the plug down – and missed.  Another came out of the water completely in a somersault – and missed.  That’s topwater redfishing…    Anyway, I got my revenge when a very nice trout nailed the plug in very shallow water, a good 20 incher.

So, by now the sun was up pretty good and the water temp is currently 88F and the air temp is over 90.  The fish are gonna be deep.  I went to a spot where the water peels off a bank over a dropoff down to 15 feet or so.  I threw a 1/4 oz TroutEye jig and a BadShad Diesel MinnowZ into the mixing current and let it drop and sweep with the tide.  A telltale *tick* of a trout came up the line and a nice trout hit the deck.  A few more casts and another nice 19 inch trout.  You have to be patient and let the lure make it down to the bottom.

A little later I was working some docks and watching my sounder as I often do.  I noticed some telltale fish marks as shown below.  These were a good 15 to 20 feet off the end of the dock in much deeper water.  Again, around 12-16 ft deep.  I backed off and threw a jig upcurrent and let it fall to the bottom and hopped it down through the strike zone.  I was rewarded with a solid Thump.  After putting as much pressure on it as I dared to I was able to get it out to deeper water and away from the structure.  I got the redfish, estimated at 30-32″ to the boat and halfway in the net when it popped out and made another run and popped my 12lb mono leader.  Unfortunately, no “after” pic of the redfish to go with the sounder pic.

Deep jigging inshore has intrigued me for a while now.  No one else that I know does it.  I have had some success in other areas doing this, and I can tell you it’s very fun to “sight fish” using your sounder, then drop down and feel the very aggressive Thump of the fish you saw on your screen.

Give it a try!  – Dave

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We now have 1/4 oz TroutEye jigs that will help you get down to these deeper fish in the summer.  Check em out at our Online Store

We just put together this promotional video for our 1 oz Striper Eye Jigs, available now on our online store.  Enjoy!

Striper Eye – Predators Strike the Eye! from RalphPhillipsInshore on Vimeo.

Ralph and I fished the Southern Redfish Cup last Saturday. We’ve just been too busy recently to even pre-fish – at all. We had hoped to introduce our new Redfish Eyes at this event, but as things happen, they are just simply not ready yet. Instead we provided Trout Eyes to the participants.

All we had to go on was prior years notes and just to go on what we know, which is to fish brackish water. The last time we fished this tournament was a couple years ago and we managed a very respectable 5th place. But that was in February when we have them pretty well patterned.  At the time, that was my first “big time” tournament and Ralph had some very good advice which resonated with me, and we kept to this time. Don’t take it too seriously, it’s just a tournament, have fun and go fishing. I have held on to that bit of advice in every tournament I have fished in since, and I believe it makes a big difference. Another Ralph-ism is “what is on your mind, goes down your line”, which if you think about it, is closely related.

So, off we went with a rough game plan. The two spots that I had done marginally on redfish (and I say that honestly – redfishing for both of us has sucked recently) were not barren, but no hookups. So, we put our heads together and went into patterning and problem solving mode.

Another thing that we have happen often when fishing together is that one or the other will get on a hot streak. We never taunt or even say anything, because that monkey will jump off one back and on to another within a day, I’ve seen it happen countless times. Well, this day I had a pretty hot hand, and had a very good day for catching, with 4 nice flounder, a few good trout and I also was able to put 3 slot reds in the well albeit marginal size (between 18 – 20″). Ralph was for the moment being snake bit, but I told him “I’m just waiting on you to upgrade us, it only takes one fish” (the latter part is my favorite saying).

I had a 24″ red and a freight train burn my thumb and break off, and even a 24″ striper in the mean time. We went back to hit a spot that we had to bypass earlier due to another boat fishing it, and it wasn’t long before Ralph says “Fish on”. I net it and put it on the ruler, pinch tail, and its a perfect 23.0. A perfect tournament fish. It also had a recreational (yellow) tag in it. We cull the smallest and nothing much more the rest of the day.

After a wet ride back to Shem Creek, we were early and 3rd to weigh in. We had 9.78 lbs and Ralph’s 4.32 lb red held on throughout the day to be Big Fish and the $1000 winner. We ended up 4th place with a very nice team paycheck of $1,100.

Here is the coolest part…That big fish, was tagged by none other than David Fladd (me) on Nov 19, 2015 at 21.25″. Turns out, there is a CASH value to tag and release… I relayed to story to Robert Wiggers at the SC DNR, and sent him some pics. He is going to use the pics and story at his presentations and also on the tagging website. That fish was released yet again in Shem Creek, very stressed out due to being out of the water – as all the fish were (that’s another topic), and I hope it survives and will live a long life, free from the slot limit.

All of our fish were caught on Trout Eye jig heads.  The first leg of the tour in Georgetown was won (overall, and big fish) on Trout Eye jigs by Ashley Lowder and we managed 4th and big fish on them.  That’s over $10,000 in tournament winnings on our jigheads.  Pretty cool.  I’m pretty sure at least one of the three fish for the winners was on a Trout Eye as well…

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In other news, Haddrell’s Point Tackle (both locations) now have 1/8 oz Trout Eye jigs in stock!  Pick them up next time your in the shop.

Ralph and I spent a day offshore with one of Charleston’s best guides, Captain John Irwin (Fly Right Charters) for the purpose of testing one of our new products, the Striper Eye (TM) jighead.  Like all our jigs, the Striper Eye is built on the amazing Mustad Ultrapoint hook, in a 6/0 size.  Striper Eye jigs will be available in 1/2 oz, 3/4 oz and 1 oz sizes, and like Trout Eye jigs, they will work on all species of fish, in this case, larger and meaner fish!

Our mission was to seek out Cobia and maybe a grown Amberjack or two, to test the effectiveness of the jig and also put the hook to a good test.  In both cases, the Striper Eye passed with flying colors, as can be seen below.

Our first stop was a reef in 60 ft of water.  There were a handful of boats there and not much life or activity going on.  We did manage one AJ about 15 lbs, but no brown fish to be seen, so we pushed out to a reef in deeper water.

On the way, we found a floating palmetto tree and when we pulled up it was covered in schooly dolphin…in just 65 ft of water!  We quickly stepped down some of our offerings to catch them, and just managed one before the school disappeared.  But shortly after arriving, we saw a grown tiger shark, approximately 12 ft long.  John had told us earlier that he had been catching cobia off the backs of larger sharks and sure enough, there was a Cobe on this one.  I made a quick cast with the Striper Eye and one or two twitches and he slammed it.  Fish on!  A few quick pics and we put him back, as he was on the smaller side of what we were looking for.

At the next reef, in approximately 90 feet, we found what we were looking for – a few grown Amberjack slammed the Striper Eyes, rigged with a perfect matching plastic, the Z-Man 8″ Mag SwimZ – basically an oversized paddle tail made with ElaZtech material.  Super tough, with great action.

It wasn’t long before a Cobia came up to the boat to investigate.  John pitched the Striper Eye at him and he turned and inhaled it instantly.  Off to the races and a nice brownie close to 40 inches hit the deck.

A few more Amberjack rounded out the very successful first test of the new, and soon to be available, Striper Eye jighead

 

Check back in the coming weeks at StriperEye.com for the new jigs to be available!

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We are one of the few places where you can purchase the brand new Z-Man Swimmin’ Trout Tricks online.  We have several colors in stock, including the hot new color Festivus!  Pick some up at our Store, they pair really well with our new 1/8 oz Trout Eye jigs.

 

 

Had a really good day fishing the SSWA May tourney with Rich – a Summerville Saltwater Anglers member from Aiken.

I made an early roll of the dice trying a topwater spot at somewhat less than ideal tide (hindsight is 20/20) and rolled snake eyes. What made it worse was hearing about a strong TW bite by some friends who fished other spots that morning. Oh well, the spot I went to is risk/reward and it could also have also paid off big for us.

Made a few more stops with not very much showing and decided to make a move to a good spot that would be firing when we got there – I hoped.

Arrived to find a boat with two guys anchored in the middle of the stretch. Funny thing is I knew they were anchored right on top of the fish.

No worries, we started fishing a portion of the bank and it wasn’t long before Rich’s drag is pulling and a big(!) trout flashes. He fought it like a pro and it was hooked well enough. A beauty 21″ trout and his personal best for SC by a few inches 🙂

I picked up a decent flounder on the “Fladd-shad” MinnowZ (OK, Pearl but I’m renaming it!). The boat was still there watching their corks sit motionless so we made another pass of the upper stretch. We probably put 4 fish in the boat before they pulled anchor and left.

So we continued down the bank and yep, caught redfish right under where their boat was. Rich had twin 18″ reds and I had two at 26.5 and 28.5.

By the time we left this bank we had several flounder, several redfish and two 20-21″ trout. That was fun, and ended up doing very well in the tournament.

After the winds picked up the bite shut off. I think we only had 1 trout and a few bluefish after.

Funny story. We were fishing a spot I scouted a few years ago but hadn’t returned to in a while. Rich broke off on some wood and was retying a jig. He threw it in the water while getting situated and said “argh, I snagged a branch I just retied!” So I spin the boat around to get it and he Yanks the line and up comes a 1.5 lb largemouth bass that hit the bare Trout Eye jig !! That was funny 🙂

Well we had a lot of fun and did well in the tourney and it was great to see everyone on the water and at weigh in. The weigh ins are getting better and better!

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In other news, we are preparing to release a slew of new products after much hard work.  First to be released will be a line of Trout Eye jigs, all on 2/0 Mustad UltraPoint hooks – the best hook on the market. We have two new weights at 1/8 oz and 1/4 oz and new retail packaging.  Here is a sample of the new packaging and a preview of the two sizes along side “the original TE” 3/16 oz jig.

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Lastly, we are in week 3 of 4 of our May Giveaways.  To enter, just purchase a minimum of $25 on our online store.  Multiples of $25 get extra entries.  Each winner has received over $30 in free stuff so far.  Week 3s winner will be the first in the world to receive a sampling of our new TE sizes.  Good luck, and congrats to week 1 winner Leland Lively and week 2 winner Alex Rosen!

 

 

The past few years of warm winters in Charleston are really starting to show in the size of trout we now have in our waters.  Right now, we have a trophy fishery here, which is unusual since we relatively often have cold water kills.  We have been really excited that many of these big ones have been caught on Trout Eye jigs.  There is no better testament to their effectiveness than catch pics.  They simply work.

This past Saturday I fished the Summerville Saltwater Anglers April tournament with Ray Philyaw (SSWA President – and my great friend and neighbor), and another neighbor boy, Josh – a senior at FDHS and soon to be Gamecock.  The morning weather was kinda breezy and front-y and the bite was pretty slow.  We found a few small male trout here and there.  High tide was right around 11 AM and about that time the weather started to clear up.  We were running and gunning and at slack I just decided to run a bank I have not fished in over a year, often passing it by to fish more obvious and popular spots.  I picked up an undersize flounder and Josh a lower slot trout.  A little further down I cast to the edge of the grass and I got a solid thump.  It was only 1.5 ft deep so I thought it was a good flounder.  When it flashed I froze….big trout!  I was babying it for fear of tearing the jig out of its mouth, but it was hooked solidly thank God.  After a tailwalk headshake and some drag pulling runs Ray expertly netted it and we collectively freaked out.  She taped out at 24.3″ and 5.44 lbs.  Guess what I caught it on?  Yep – the same Gold Trout Eye and Pearl MinnowZ that has been working so well for me.  Needless to say, it made my year.

The bite continued to be strong the rest of the day, with the eventual winning flounder 2.2 lbs.  Ray ended the day with a 21″ gator of his own.  Josh caught a heartbreaker red, that was just 1/8″ overslot.  Would definitely have been the winner!   We had the usual great time at weigh in and had lots of laughs.  Many great fish were weighed on Saturday.

People will ask, did you release it?  The answer is no, and it did pain me to kill it.  I keep a personal upper slot on trout of 20″, but tournaments leave you conflicted.  Last time this happened I floated the idea of a big fish clause, where in special cases you could submit a pic of the fish on a ruler with a witness and then release it.  It didn’t fly then, but we are going to reopen the matter.  Our club is conservation oriented and it will probably pass with the proper safeguards in the rules.  I hope it does.

Later I saw another huge trout caught in Charleston by a charter captain caught that day. There are some “gollywhoppers” out there. (as Bob Sanders used to say.  Hope you get a chance to tangle with one.

On reflection, with all the fishing pressure in Charleston, most of the obvious “spots” are overfished.  We have seen spots we used to fish and always do well get discovered and now there are simply no fish there.  I’m starting to think that the less pressured spots are going to be where the good fish are found in the future.  Its kind of obvious in hindsight, but its easy to rush from spot to spot where you have caught fish in the past, and pass by other less obvious – but still productive – spots.  I know that I will be doing more of this in the coming year, but scouting around is my favorite thing to do anyway  🙂  Tight Lines, – Dave