Charleston SC - IFA Event

[Erick]

Went down on Friday for this weekends first event in the IFA in the Atlantic Division which was held in Charleston SC. I had been to Charleston on several occassions but never to fish. And I believe the fishing can be fantastic although right now conditions are a little tough as was the fishing. For those who miss an event like the Extreme Edge....I think the IFA did a great job. It had that same type of feel of being a big time tournament, well organized and run. The folks running it are great and I think this could be a good event for those who like fishing more "professional" type tournaments. They do have kinks to work out but I believe it could work in the long run. This particular event only had 18 anglers and I do hope to see it grow. I managed to finish in 6th Place in points after the first event in this particular division.

Met two good friends, Scott and Nathan down there on Friday. If you are in the area, I recommend Oyster Shooters and Low Country Boil at Shems. I had been there before to eat and it is good food. The Sweatwater 420 is a great beer brewed in Atlanta and the tap of course is rainbow trout, so it can't be all that bad.

Pre-fishing on Saturday in area called Paradise something....a guy at one of the launches that Scotty and Nathan checked out on the way down recommended that area since trout counted in this event. 12 of the 18 anglers in the event pre-fishing there on Saturday, so guess his recommendation was spot on...everyone knew about it. We managed to see some reds working along the shore and in between docks, think Scotty caught one on Saturday but the main purpose was to find trout since they have been all but non-existent in the area since Dec. I managed to catch 3 on Saturday, Scott got another...and I can't remember what Nathan caught that day. But it was a nice area, tidal flow on Sat was 4.5 feet and would be almost 6 feet on tournament day. But we accomplished what we set out to do, which was find an area with both reds and trout. Similar to Jax for those who have been there. Very muddy....

The tournament for the Kayak anglers is on Sunday after the main IFA event. I started of working some docks on one side of the "river" and could see on the marsh side lots of movement, so after the bugs got so bad that I couldnt stay where I was fishing, moved over hoping for less. By the way once I put on the Bullfrog sunscreen they seemed to stay away and once a little breeze started it got event better. When I moved over to the other shoreline, I could see nice water movement and then saw what I needed to see. Reds feeding with backs out of the water. It was just the first part of the incoming and the tide was pretty low still. Tried a few cast with a spinner bait with no luck and then moved to trusted Exude Dart in Golden Bream due to the Tannin stained water. First cast, fish on and it turned out to be a 28 inch red. This was by 8 am, and with a 27 inch max regardless of red size, that meant I could spend the rest of the morning fishing for trout. But there was to be no bites at all...until about 10:30 I had that tap of a trout and fish on. Got him boat side but because of where I put my net after taking photos of the red, I couldn't reach it. The trout wasnt big but I didnt want to lose him as he looked close to the minimum 14 inches for that area that was needed. I finally made one last reach for the net but in doing so I dropped my other arm giving slack in the line and the trout was gone. No other bites all day. Scott managed a couple of trout 14 and 17 +...and if you couldnt win multiple prizes in this event he would have gone away with largest trout and $200 check. Nathan got a small red so both got points in this event. Think we all had a good time, enjoyed the fishing even though it was certainly frustrating. Too lazy and tired to put up photos as the 3 1/2 hour trip to closer to 5 because of wrecks, traffic and slow downs coming home.

Oh the weigh in was from 1 to 3, and they were done judging by 3:15 and I was on the road by 3:17. Pretty efficient even with a small turnout. I did win two Hobie hats in the raffle which Scott graciously traded for his IFA Cooler he had won...knowing they were just going in the top of the closet. Congrats to the winners there, the sponsors and the folks at IFA.