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No-fuss fishin’
Hit the beach for a relaxing but productive angling experience
BY ROB CARLI
Ron Walters, 50, doesn’t hit the beach on his weekends off to catch rays or ride waves. After more than 20 years of casting baits along the Lowcountry coastline, the low-maintenance aspect of surf fishing keeps bringing him back for more.
“I surf fish because it’s not really stressful, but you can still catch a lot of fish … and some big fish,” Walters says. “I try to go once a week.”
Walters, a 22-year set-up mechanic for Robert Bosch Corporation’s North Charleston plant, finds respite from the work week by frequenting Folly Beach, Edisto, and Hunting Island State Park outside Beaufort.
South Carolina offers anglers 187 miles coastline to choose a personal spot, according to the state Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism. The best part? No boat required.
Surf fishing is productive from late spring through summer, but these bait-rich fall months bring bull redfish, tarpon, and other game fish within casting range.
Walters, a three-year organizer of the former North Folly Surf Fishing Meet and Greet Tournament, catches his largest fish in the fall.
“The prime time for big spot-tails in the surf is the fall months, when the redfish begin moving back offshore for the winter,” he says. “In fact, the three biggest redfish I’ve ever caught, all over 40 inches, were in October and November.”
Walters was willing to share some of his tricks to land surf-cruising fish from the tiny whiting to massive, reel-spooling reds.
Find a beach with character
Anglers in the Charleston area can choose between Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island to the north and Folly Beach to the south. Edisto Island and Hunting Island are farther south, but still less than a two-hour drive.
Walters has his favorite beaches, and he’s not shy about sharing some of his most productive areas.
“One of my favorite spots is on the east end of Folly,” Walters says. “It’s all the way down in front of the old Coast Guard station, and there are some rocks there going into the ocean.”
He says that northeastern tip of Folly has all the key ingredients, “as well as seclusion from the homes, swimmers and sunbathers.”
Walters is also a regular at popular surf-fishing spots to the north.
“A lot of people like to go to Breech Inlet and right in front of Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s,” Walters says. “It’s easy to get to, and the water is calmer and good for flounder.”
Regardless of which beach he picks, Walters likes to scout the terrain at low tide for tell-tale undulations.
“I look for sloughs and troughs or any holes, because bait hangs out there,” Walters says. “Bigger fish, especially spottails, hang out in bigger holes.”
Walters has caught fish on flat surfaces, but advises anglers to concentrate on any area with a depth change.
“The more structure you have, it will be more active with smaller fish, and bigger fish too,” he says.
When to hit the surf
Water temperature is an important factor, Walters says, when targeting beach-cruising fish.
“Generally, when the water warms to 70 degrees in late spring the fish will start showing up in the surf, beginning with small whiting, blues and sharks,” Walters says. “As the water warms, the fish tend to get more plentiful and bigger, and will stay that way until the late fall.”
Unlike some of our favorite inshore spots along an oyster bank or marsh grass, surf fishing is less dependent on the tide cycle.
Walters says a tidal stage never determines whether he’ll head to the surf, but he does find more productive fishing on the tail-end of each tide.
“I prefer around low tide,” he says. “The last few hours of falling tide, and last few hours of incoming are good.”
The strength of a given tide can create a challenge for surf fishermen.
“The full moon creates strong current, and sometimes you can’t keep your line out there,” Walters 
