OutdoorSC.com

After writing hundreds of columns touting the wonders of the Lowcountry, I hope you won't think of me as a turncoat when I say that my visit to the mountains of North Carolina this past week has me drooling for a shanty in that area. I don't mean a year-round residence, maybe just July and August when the temperatures here have the trees chasing the dogs. I do love the Lowcountry but when I start changing my sweat-drenched shirt four times a day, it really gets old.

If you spent time on your boat in recent days, you were more likely battening down hatches than preparing to reel in the big one. Tropical Storm Fay drew plenty of focus and literally put a damper on outdoor pursuits.Fortunately, we seem to have been spared the storm's major fury, but the ensuing rains, high winds and rough waters kept everyone close to dock and shoreline.Take heart, fellow anglers -- with the passing comes a reprieve and with it opportunity and better fishing ahead.

When Blufftonian Jimmy McIntire told me he was heading to Venice, La., to participate in a king mackerel tournament, it got me thinking about all the years I fished in kingfish tournaments. A whole lot has changed since my days doing the tournament circuit but I still get that little nagging voice in my head saying, "Go, my son." But usually, the little voice on the other side of my head slaps me silly and reminds me of how taxing these tournaments are on your body and your checkbook, and that's that.

At this point in the season, the reports I'm receiving are unanimous -- spottail bass are the most consistent and plentiful fish in the area.Call them spottails, redfish, reds or channel bass, the species is undeniably the most sought-after fish of late. Perhaps it is their abundance or their fighting ability or maybe it is their excellent flavor that makes them so popular. Whatever the reason, fishing has been good and anglers are content in their pursuit.Tarpon are in the area, too, but numbers are reduced.

We all have strengths and weaknesses, and my weakness is math. Back in grade school, when the word "math" popped up, sweat would start popping from every pore on my body. And it seemed that I had the weirdest math teachers from the get-go, so I was pretty much doomed. To this day, every once in a while I can't avoid math -- and this is one of those times.

My introduction to saltwater fly fishing came later than most ... and too soon for others.Although my skills are nowhere close to a professional's, I do consider myself at least good. But I may never be as good as a young individual one-sixth my age: Mac Viljac, a fifth grader at Hilton Head Christian Academy. Mac celebrated his 10th birthday with a trip July 23 to the Calibogue Sound for some fishing with his father, Thomas, and the owner of Off the Hook Charters, Brian Vaughn.

I'm back from yet another back surgery, and even though I have been Rip van Winkle-ing it for the past couple of weeks, I have dutifully kept my ear to the water (which isn't very easy when you are laying face up) on what the word is on the fishing scene. I know I missed some real scorchers, but that's just two less weeks of hot weather I'll have to deal with this year. For as long as I can remember, these two or three weeks or so have always been hot as a firecracker. On the fishing scene, some pretty strange stuff has been going on.

It was a victory spurred on by individuals who share a unique trait -- common sense.Tossing other interests off the table, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives agreed on passage of the "Clean Boating Act of 2008," which restores a 35-year-old permit exemption for recreational boaters. Originally designed to curtail industrial polluters, the permit would have subjected recreational boats to the same maintenance and operation procedures as those of large sea-going vessels and commercial ships.

So many Lowcountry residents hail from other parts of the country, where the closest thing to saltwater is Epsom salts and water that you soak your feet in. Depending on what area you came from, I would be willing to wager that during your entire angling life, freshwater pond or stream fishing made up 99.9 percent of your fishing days. Am I right?Now, after working your fingers to the bone, you have moved to the sunny South to live out your dream of snowless winters and quite possibly, to do as much fishing as your wife will allow. Am I right again?

As we approach mid-summer, fishermen face oppressive heat and humidity that will force them to work a bit harder to find fish.These are uneasy times, particularly when life on the water tends to radiate discomfort. There is no real escape, only a somewhat mix of a happy medium to the period, and so we launch our boats and spend more time running than actually fishing. Gas prices have shortened many trips.