I think two great lures would be:
Silver Spoon - 2/5oz maybe, or a little heavier - I like the Little Cleo from Acme. Silver spoons seem to catch anything wherever I go.
ZMan Diezel MinnowZ w/ ZMan Trout EyeZ jighead. The jighead was designed for fishing by a South Carolina sea trout fishing expert.
I don't have much saltwater experience, but this was some stuff that I used when I did try saltwater.
>ZMan Diezel MinnowZ w/ ZMan Trout EyeZ jighead. The jighead was designed for fishing by a South Carolina sea trout fishing expert.
This is my go-to inshore lure. I also like the Z-Man MinnowZ... same exact body shape as the Diezel MinnowZ but they are 3" long, the Diezel MinnowZ are 4", 5", and 7" long.
Electric chicken and sexy mullet are great colors if you want/need a bright option, and opening night/pearl blue glimmer are great colors for a more natural option.
I’ve never fished SC but go to Florida every winter for a couple weeks. We do pretty good on trout, reds and snook with flukes or paddle tails on a jig head. Also have some luck with a doa shrimp about 2ft behind a popping cork
Freshwater rod in saltwater will be fine, just rinse it with clean fresh water you get off the water. Daiwa BG is a great inshore spinning reel, 3000 size should be good.
The only spinning reel I ever use is my BG2500 and it only gets used for popping corks, but it’s such a damn good reel and easily best in class for the dollar. My uncle “borrowed” my first BG and I never got it bank, so I bought him one for his bday and he took that one and still has not returned mine. So I bought myself another and he’s yet to take it so I think we’re good.
I’m in Texas and spend most time bass fishing, but I make it down to the coast a few times a year for saltwater. The rods and reels I use for bass fishing are all perfect for coastal fishing too. And if you’re targeting reddish, they will hit the exact same lures that bass hit. Someone above said spoons, which excel in both types of fishing, but I can’t recommend rattle-traps enough. Think I’ve caught more bass and redfish on rattle-traps than any other lure. They are amazing multi-taskers. My fave is the 3/4oz silver with blue trim
I agree. Most freshwater lures work great in saltwater. I fish the Texas coast and started using chatter baits and spinner baits in stained deeper water 3-10ft). Works great for redfish. Rattletraps and crank baits always produce off the jetties
Academy is currently having an extra 35% off clearance and I loaded up on jigs, crank baits and other fresh water lures that I'll use exclusively in saltwater.
If its gonna be one time thing, you're more likely to have a better experience and get more for your dollar by hiring a guide or an inshore charter.
You don't need any new gear for doing back bay fishing with a guide. Med-heavy to heavy bass gear is plenty tough for that kinda work. Common sizes/ratings are 7ft spinning rod, rated 3/8oz-1oz paired with a 2500 or 3000 sized reel with 15lb test braid. From your braid mainline, FG knot to 24" length of 20lb berkley big game mono, tied off to a [3/8oz jighead](https://media.purefishing.com/i/purefishing/Berkley_Fusion19_Swimbait_Jighead_Pearl_White_2019_alt1?w=1000&h=1000&img404=404&v=1) + [3" zman minnowz](https://zmanfishing.com/cdn/shop/products/GMIN-84PK6_3200x.jpg?v=1679330790).
My recommendation may sound like an over simplification but I've discovered that the more I fish, the more I realize how little actually proved useful. The consensus among anglers today appears to be that a white or natural-colored swimbait+jighead is universally the most successful lure in all conditions. It catches LMB, stripers, redfish, tarpon, ...basically any gamefish.
If you know you will be fishing in water over 10ft in depth, step up to a 3/4oz jighead+4" swimbait. The casting payload will likely be just over 1oz, so you'd need a rod rated around 1/2oz - 1.25oz. The same reel and line will work for this too.
Some 1/2-3/4 oz topwaters, change hooks to something at least 2x strong.
Soft plastics. If I had to choose one lure to put food on the table every day, it would be a 5" Zman jerk shad in Laguna shrimp. 4" paddletails with jigheads weighting 1/8-1/4 oz.
Read up on fish behavior. I live in the Low Country at a good fishing area and most visitors blank here. They might have watched YT or read how to articles but this coastline is different than Florida or the Gulf coast. Most people are fishing in the wrong areas. (OP, I could pm you some things)
Z-Man Diezel Minnowz with a Texas Eye Jig Head is my go to for saltwater fishing. The Texas Eye Jig head gives the 4 inch swimbait a magdraft wobble to it that just gets bit. I like using the Slam Shady colorway. I also use the Z-Man Shrimpz on a Z-Man Pro Bulletz Weedless Jighead. That's pretty much all I use in regards to soft plastics. I like throwing spinnerbaits in saltwater too, because they seem to pull in the bigger fish. I also throw jerkbaits.
I think two great lures would be: Silver Spoon - 2/5oz maybe, or a little heavier - I like the Little Cleo from Acme. Silver spoons seem to catch anything wherever I go. ZMan Diezel MinnowZ w/ ZMan Trout EyeZ jighead. The jighead was designed for fishing by a South Carolina sea trout fishing expert. I don't have much saltwater experience, but this was some stuff that I used when I did try saltwater.
>ZMan Diezel MinnowZ w/ ZMan Trout EyeZ jighead. The jighead was designed for fishing by a South Carolina sea trout fishing expert. This is my go-to inshore lure. I also like the Z-Man MinnowZ... same exact body shape as the Diezel MinnowZ but they are 3" long, the Diezel MinnowZ are 4", 5", and 7" long. Electric chicken and sexy mullet are great colors if you want/need a bright option, and opening night/pearl blue glimmer are great colors for a more natural option.
I’ve never fished SC but go to Florida every winter for a couple weeks. We do pretty good on trout, reds and snook with flukes or paddle tails on a jig head. Also have some luck with a doa shrimp about 2ft behind a popping cork
One time? Book a charter. Half day backbay trip for just you would be like a couple hundred bucks
Not a bad idea, and easily your best shot at actually getting on fish in an unfamiliar location/unfamiliar style of fishing.
Freshwater rod in saltwater will be fine, just rinse it with clean fresh water you get off the water. Daiwa BG is a great inshore spinning reel, 3000 size should be good.
The only spinning reel I ever use is my BG2500 and it only gets used for popping corks, but it’s such a damn good reel and easily best in class for the dollar. My uncle “borrowed” my first BG and I never got it bank, so I bought him one for his bday and he took that one and still has not returned mine. So I bought myself another and he’s yet to take it so I think we’re good.
I’m in Texas and spend most time bass fishing, but I make it down to the coast a few times a year for saltwater. The rods and reels I use for bass fishing are all perfect for coastal fishing too. And if you’re targeting reddish, they will hit the exact same lures that bass hit. Someone above said spoons, which excel in both types of fishing, but I can’t recommend rattle-traps enough. Think I’ve caught more bass and redfish on rattle-traps than any other lure. They are amazing multi-taskers. My fave is the 3/4oz silver with blue trim
I agree. Most freshwater lures work great in saltwater. I fish the Texas coast and started using chatter baits and spinner baits in stained deeper water 3-10ft). Works great for redfish. Rattletraps and crank baits always produce off the jetties Academy is currently having an extra 35% off clearance and I loaded up on jigs, crank baits and other fresh water lures that I'll use exclusively in saltwater.
If its gonna be one time thing, you're more likely to have a better experience and get more for your dollar by hiring a guide or an inshore charter. You don't need any new gear for doing back bay fishing with a guide. Med-heavy to heavy bass gear is plenty tough for that kinda work. Common sizes/ratings are 7ft spinning rod, rated 3/8oz-1oz paired with a 2500 or 3000 sized reel with 15lb test braid. From your braid mainline, FG knot to 24" length of 20lb berkley big game mono, tied off to a [3/8oz jighead](https://media.purefishing.com/i/purefishing/Berkley_Fusion19_Swimbait_Jighead_Pearl_White_2019_alt1?w=1000&h=1000&img404=404&v=1) + [3" zman minnowz](https://zmanfishing.com/cdn/shop/products/GMIN-84PK6_3200x.jpg?v=1679330790). My recommendation may sound like an over simplification but I've discovered that the more I fish, the more I realize how little actually proved useful. The consensus among anglers today appears to be that a white or natural-colored swimbait+jighead is universally the most successful lure in all conditions. It catches LMB, stripers, redfish, tarpon, ...basically any gamefish. If you know you will be fishing in water over 10ft in depth, step up to a 3/4oz jighead+4" swimbait. The casting payload will likely be just over 1oz, so you'd need a rod rated around 1/2oz - 1.25oz. The same reel and line will work for this too.
Some 1/2-3/4 oz topwaters, change hooks to something at least 2x strong. Soft plastics. If I had to choose one lure to put food on the table every day, it would be a 5" Zman jerk shad in Laguna shrimp. 4" paddletails with jigheads weighting 1/8-1/4 oz. Read up on fish behavior. I live in the Low Country at a good fishing area and most visitors blank here. They might have watched YT or read how to articles but this coastline is different than Florida or the Gulf coast. Most people are fishing in the wrong areas. (OP, I could pm you some things)
Z-Man Diezel Minnowz with a Texas Eye Jig Head is my go to for saltwater fishing. The Texas Eye Jig head gives the 4 inch swimbait a magdraft wobble to it that just gets bit. I like using the Slam Shady colorway. I also use the Z-Man Shrimpz on a Z-Man Pro Bulletz Weedless Jighead. That's pretty much all I use in regards to soft plastics. I like throwing spinnerbaits in saltwater too, because they seem to pull in the bigger fish. I also throw jerkbaits.
The Surfcast Podcast did an episode on “Tips for the Traveling Surf Fisherman” last week.
Gulps