“Every single inlet along the coast will hold tournament-quality fish,” said Capt. Robert Olsen of Knot@ Work Fishing Charters (843-442-7724 or www.knotatworkfishing. com ) in Charleston. Olsen has a reputation for king mackerel fishing, and he said anglers could get into the action if they fish in the correct locations.

“The fish around the inlets are in the mid-20-pound range, with some into the 30s,” Olsen said. “Smaller kings, known as snakes, can be found on any live bottom area in 50 to 60 feet of water or artificial reefs in these same depths. These are what I call “fun fish” because of their size and abundance. You can really have a ball when you get into them.”

The main technique for landing king mackerel is trolling live baits at about 1 or 2 knots.

“The most common live baits for king mackerel fishing are menhaden and finger mullet,” Olsen said. “The baits during August will be pretty big and it should be no problem finding them.

“If you fish out of the Charleston area, there are usually plenty of schools of bait in the harbor. If you can’t find any before leaving the harbor, look from Fort Sumter north to Breach Inlet.”

Even though you are fishing offshore, expensive tackle is not needed for king mackerel. Olsen’s outfit consists of medium-action spinning rods spooled with 20- to 25-pound-test monofilament line. He said you would want to spool your reels with a minimum of 250 yards of line.

“I prefer a rod with lots of eyelets and a sensitive tip,” Olsen said. “Most of my rods run about 6 1/2 to 7 feet long and have eight to 10 eyelets.”

The terminal tackle to complete the setup is not elaborate either. Olsen attaches a 16- to 24-inch leader of 40- to 50-pound wire to the main line with a 75-pound-test swivel. Continue the leader wire to rig two No. 4 treble hooks about 6 to 8 inches apart.

Besides starting in the right spot, Olsen said it is important to cover the entire water column.

“I run three baits on the surface and two down deeper,” Olsen said. “For the two deeper baits, I normally troll one bait about halfway down in the water column. So, if it’s 25 feet, set the bait to run at about 12 or 13 feet down. The other deep bait runs about 5 feet off the bottom on a downrigger.”

Olsen suggested that for anglers who don’t want to invest in a downrigger, using a No. 5 or 7 planer should be able to put the bait at the desired depth.

Olsen normally fishes around the Charleston jetties about one hour on either side of high tide. He might also push as far offshore as the first three sets of buoys or move south to the Old Minefield area. At low tide, he suggested anglers troll around the tide line, opting to stay on the side with the greener water.

WEAKFISH
Weakfish are one of those species of fish hiding right under the rod tips of anglers.

Many casual saltwater fishermen in South Carolina don’t even know weakfish exist. Even if they catch one accidentally, they may get close by calling it a trout, but that’s about as far as they get.