FISHING OFFSHORE FROM CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, BEGINS EARLY IN THE MORNING. THE ALARM WENT OFF AT 2:35 AM

I stumbled around trying not to wake up the house and was able to get a cup of coffee brewing while I went downstairs and loaded the ice, rods, and bait in the boat. I brushed my teeth, drank a glass of water, and grabbed my coffee. I was pulling out of my driveway in Goose Creek, SC, at 2:55 AM, and we left the ramp about 4 AM. The harbor was a little choppy heading toward the jetties. Finally, we made it past the jetty entrance, and we made a slow turn toward the south and the ledge, which begins at 180 ft depth. I set the Garmin autopilot on a 1560 heading. It was slow going at first and was a little snotty heading out, but after we made our way for 15 miles from the jetties, things seemed to lay down.

We were cruising close to 26 knots and made our way past the ledge and out to 220ft. Not much life. Very few flying fish, which was a little discouraging. We set the riggers out and then set the spread. We were using mostly bubbler-type lures rigged with single hooked ballyhoo and 100 lb mono leader for the riggers. We were also pulling a natural cedar plug lure about 300 feet out on our centerline and had a Sea Witch and Island lure, also with ballyhoo, on the 2 flat lines. Our colors were hot pink, black and purple, and chartreuse; the pink Z-Man bubblers produced best, with black and purple coming in second.

Time 6:35 AM. We trolled for close to an hour without a hit. At this time, I was wondering if the skunk was going to stay on board. Then we saw the ocean come to life. We found a nice little rip with a 2oF temperature hike. There were small tunas, or Bonita, busting bait all around us and catching flying fish out of the air. That was kind of neat.

Time 7:45 AM, the action began. The long port rigger popped: it was pulling a hot pink bubbler. A nice fight, and the gaff swung it in the boat and into the bow fish box—about a 12lb’er. The skunk was gone! We lost the second fish at the boat—pulled hook. Then a nice 25lb bull was tossed into the box. We were somewhat busy for a couple of hours.

Then we had three rods begin to scream all at once, and there were only two of us on board. I got mine to the boat and put a gaff into him, and then in the box he went. I then picked up the second rod and also introduced her to the same outstanding accommodations after a short fight. The third was a large 30-40lb bull. We finally got him somewhat subdued, and then there was a shadow lurking below. We tried everything to get that fish in the boat, but the shadow hit the line with its fin and pop it. The shadow? A big Bull Shark. Well, the Dolphin that wanted nothing to do with us was now trying to get to the boat and hide. I tried to free gaff it without luck, and the Dolphin darted toward me and under the boat. Just missed...

Well, that was it. I grabbed the GoPro and caught the underwater carnage. The shark swung around and just grabbed the Dolphin by the tail and held it for a second or two. Then, with a lunging bite, the chase was over. One bite, and the Dolphin was chomped in half. He then swam away, swallowing his catch. The next bite, he consumed my lure as it was drifting downward to the abyss. I’m guessing that one gave him a little heartburn. After that, another bite or two, and it was over.

After the excitement, we put the lines back in and started trolling back toward the hill. That damn shark cost me $20: Lure, swivel, hook, and leader. We put another 15-20lb cow in the box about 20 minutes later, and I had the boat in neutral to clean and straighten up a little, then I put it in gear, and before I could stop, the starboard rod started screaming, and I knew what had happened. I caught the engine. Now what? Well, someone would probably have to get into the water, which was me, and knowing that there is a shark that could bite a 30-40lb Dolphin in half with one bite was hanging around somewhere, was very unnerving. Well, it wasn’t as bad as I feared, and I was able to let the swim platform ladder down, hugged the F250, then made 2 cuts, and we were able to pull all of the lines and leader free.

Now with all of that behind us, we made sure nothing was in the way, placed the boat in gear, and as we moved forward, the port rigger rod snapped from the clip and took off. I mean, screaming line off the reel. It dove straight down. My first thought was it was possibly a nice tuna. We were in 420 feet of water, and that fish was moving down. I began to add a lot of pressure and moved to the bow, and we began following the line. After 20 minutes, we made almost all of the line back, and we saw a dark shape. Maybe a Jewfish? A large Wahoo? Not sure. Then it saw the boat and did a screaming dive back to the depths. It finally stopped, and I was able to move it up just a little way, and it took back what I gained. The leader snapped. Damn! I would have at least like to have seen what that was. I now think it was a very large grouper. Possibly, a Jewfish. And yes, a Jewfish, not the politically correct Goliath Grouper. It’s been a Jewfish a hell of a lot longer than the other.

Oh well, we settled back down, set the spread back out, and moved, again, toward the hill. We were able to boat one last Dolphin, and we called it a day.

The weeds were scattered everywhere, making it a little frustrating to manage the baits. I’m guessing that Sunday was a much nicer weed day. They were beginning to come together and make uniform lines as we moved back toward home. I would have loved to head out again, but being 50 and tired, I knew there was no way that was going to happen.

Anyway, 7 nice Dolphin in the box and on ice: one pulled hook, and one stolen fish. We had 2 nice bulls around 25-30lbs, 3 cows in the 15+lb range, and 2 in the 10-12lb range. From what I heard on the radio, we did just a little better than the rest of the weekend fishing warriors. Not a bad day, and I’ll take it...

Grilled Dolphin topped with Grilled Caramelized Sweet Onions

Dolphin Run

Red Drum in the Saltmarsh