Welcome to our Charleston, SC Fishing Home Page
Charleston is a historic city and the largest city of Charleston County. Situated on the Charleston Harbor fishermen and boaters have easy access to the harbor and offshore charters can head out to the Atlantic Ocean from here. For the freshwater anglers, you have the Santee Cooper Lakes a short drive down the road. This is a very unique fishing destination with great freshwater and saltwater fishing in one place.
The Santee Cooper Lakes anglers will target bass, catfish and panfish. For those of you looking to go saltwater fishing, there are so many species of fish to catch inshore or offshore. Fishing charters target redfish, sea trout, flounder, jack crevalle, spanish mackerel, spadefish, barracuda, ladyfish, cobia, tarpon, sharks, marlin, sailfish, dolphin, wahoo, tuna and others. The jetties are very popular here for a variety of fish.
The Fish of Charleston, SC
Learn more about the different fish and how to catch them on our Fish of Charleston, SC page.
Charleston, SC Fishing Calendar
Take a look at our Charleston, SC Fishing Calendar to see the average temperatures by month and what species are throughout the different fishing seasons.
Charleston, SC Boat Launches
Take a look at our Charleston, SC Boat Launches page to find a place to get your boat on the water.
Charleston, SC Inshore Fishing
Inshore, you have so many options here. Fish the backwater areas for redfish, trout, flounder and more or go out and fish the jetties for the same fish, plus sea bass, sheepsheads, sharks and more. This is a very good fishery inshore with so many options. Just be careful if you venture out to the jetties in a smaller boat. It can get rough in a hurry here. The jetties offer some protection, but it is still open water and big waves can form in a hurry.
Learn more on our Charleston, SC Inshore Fishing page.
Charleston, SC Nearshore Fishing
The jetties provide good fishing for sea bass, redfish, sharks, sheepshead and more. You can also run the beaches here to target a variety of fish nearshore. When fish are running the beaches in large numbers, you can find some boats chasing them. The type of fish can vary depending on the season, but some fish you may target nearshore are kingfish, cobia, sharks, Spanish Mackerel, tarpon and others.
Charleston, SC Deep Sea / Offshore Fishing
Anglers have access to some good offshore fishing here too. With the jetties here, a lot of anglers choose to stay closer and fish the jetties, but you can go offshore for some very good fishing too. The target species will vary depending on the seasons. Fishing charters will target grouper, snapper, cobia, king mackerel, permit, amberjack, barracuda, bonito, sharks and more.
Learn more on our Charleston, SC Deep Sea Fishing page.
Charleston, SC Shore Fishing
You have a lot of options for fishing here from shore whether it’s from the beaches or from the many shore spots such as fishing piers and bridges in the area. Anglers target a variety of fish. It really depends on the season and where you’re fishing from. From the beaches, you will most likely find whiting with some redfish, trout flounder, jack crevalle, bluefish, sharks and some Spanish mackerel mixed in too. Inshore, you will catch same species of fish, however, most anglers will see more redfish, flounder, sheepshead, flounder and jack crevalle. There are other fish here too.
Learn about the best spots to fish here from shore.
Visit the Santee Cooper Lakes
Lake Marion
Lake Marion is the largest lake in South Carolina, covering over 100,000 acres. It is one of the Santee Cooper Lakes and it is known for its excellent catfish fishery. The crappie fishing is also very good, but this lake really stands out for its catfish. Fish in the 10 to 20 pound range are common and there are many fishing guides that can take you out for some incredible fishing. Striped bass, largemouth bass and bluegill round out a good fishery.
Lake Moultrie
Lake Moultrie is the third largest lake in South Carolina and it covers over 60,000 acres. There is plenty of public access on the lake and it is very popular among fishermen. Lake Moultrie is one of the best lakes in the country for catfish. Catfish anglers flock to this lake and channel cats in the 10 to 20 pound range are very common here. There are some other species on the lake as well, but none get the attention that catfish do on Lake Moultrie. Other fish consist of striped bass, largemouth bass, crappie and bluegill.
