Charleston Fishing Report — Week of September 17, 2026: Tarpon Last Call, Bull Reds at the Jetties, Flood-Tide Redfish in the Spartina

Charleston fishing report for the week of September 17, 2026. The Lowcountry is in its best month, and this week has delivered. The tarpon that summered off the beaches are feeding hard on the mullet run before they leave, the bull reds have settled onto the jetties, and the moderate tides this week still gave the flood-tide anglers a few afternoons in the grass.

What’s Hitting

This week on the water it is tarpon on the mullet run. Fish from 60 to well over 100 pounds are rolling on the bait pods along Folly Beach, the Isle of Palms, and off the harbor mouth, and they have been eating at first light before the sun gets on the water. Bull redfish are stacked at the Charleston jetties and along the harbor channel edges on the moving tide, with fish from 30 to 45 inches coming steadily on cut bait. Slot redfish are tailing in the spartina on the flood tides and schooling on the low-tide flats. Speckled trout have turned on in the creeks and along the grass edges as the water cools. Flounder are on the creek mouths and the inlet edges, and Spanish mackerel and bluefish are along the beaches.

Where to Find Them

Tarpon are on the mullet pods along the beaches and at the harbor mouth, so cover ground from Folly north to Dewees and look for rolling fish and birds. Bull reds are on the tips of both jetties and the channel edges inside the harbor, best on the last of the falling tide. Flood-tide reds are in the spartina flats around Kiawah, Seabrook, the Wando, and the Copahee Sound on the afternoon high tides. Trout are in the creeks off the Wando, the Stono, and the Ashley, and along the grass edges on the moving water.

Tides & Conditions

Moderate tides this week between the moons, which has meant fewer true flood tides than last week but still enough afternoon water to get into the grass on the highest days. The morning outgoing has been the best jetty window. Water is in the upper 70s to low 80s and clearing, with light north and east winds most mornings and a fishable surf.

Tackle & Tactics

For tarpon, a live mullet or menhaden on a 7/0 circle hook under a float or free-lined behind the school, on 80-pound fluorocarbon and a heavy spinning outfit with 50-pound braid. Bull reds want a cut mullet, menhaden, or a blue crab half on a 7/0 circle hook with a fish-finder rig. Flood-tide reds want a weedless gold spoon, a soft plastic crab, or a crab-pattern fly on an 8-weight. Trout want a live shrimp under a popping cork or a soft plastic on a jig head along the grass edges. Flounder want a live mud minnow or a Gulp on a jig head worked along the bottom.

Local Intel This Week

The Wappoo Cut ramp, the Remley’s Point ramp in Mount Pleasant, the Shem Creek ramp, and the Folly River ramp are the main public launches for the harbor, the jetties, and the beaches. Shore anglers are catching bull reds and flounder from the Folly Beach pier and the Sullivan’s Island jetty area, and trout and reds from the Pitt Street bridge. Fish are concentrating along the beaches around the mullet pods and at the jetties on the falling tide. Bull reds over the slot must be released; check current SCDNR regulations and seasons before keeping fish.

This Week’s Tip

For late-season tarpon on the mullet run, fish the first hour of light and leave the topwater in the box. A live mullet drifted behind the bait pod on a float gets eaten by fish that will ignore everything else, and the circle hook does the work if you simply reel tight rather than swinging.

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