Joe and Todd.
Johnny.
on the 17th hole at Osprey. A little boy rode by on his bike and
asked, “Did that fish jump out of the water?” His family took a
photo (below).
Meeting Joe Buongiorno and Todd Laudun at Canvasback
Pond was an adventure from the first moment. All they have
to do is pull into the parking lot adjacent to the pond and the
resident alligators (and there are LOTS of them) immediately
begin making their way to the fishing dock. The gators hear
the cars and know bait will soon be landing in their territory.
They constantly grab the lines hoping for a quick snack. Joe
and Todd were full of hope and energy on the day in June
when I met them. The alligators were biting. The fish not so
much. What they did land was an enormous blue crab.
The pair observed that fishing early in the 2018 season had
been particularly slow, no surprise because of the extreme
cold that prevailed in Lowcountry waters in early months of
the year. The cold winter resulted in the fifth-worst die-off of
fish and shellfish in the area since the 1950s. After January’s
freak snowstorm and three weeks of unusually cold water
temperatures, the South Carolina Department of Natural
Resources noted a 98 percent decline in white shrimp. As
a result, the Department delayed the start of the shrimping
season until the middle of June, about a month later than
usual. If the shrimp do not move through the waters, the fish
that feed on them will not be there either.
Scott and Marcia.
42
Roland.
Marcia.
Todd and Joe pointed out to me that many people who love
to fish plan their annual vacations around fishing at Kiawah
because it is an excellent choice for many reasons. There are
numerous places where the fishing is excellent, and Kiawah
enjoys the presence of an impressive list of available species.
Like all the people I met, these two are primarily catch-and-
release aficionados but have also really enjoyed tasting some
of their prizes. Spotted trout are a great favorite.
Joe and Todd are particularly careful to enjoy their
endeavors responsibly. They do not ever leave debris from
cleaning anywhere around the docks, nor do they ever put any
of it back into the ponds. When I asked them to tell me the
best and worst of their fishing experiences, Joe had the perfect
answers. “One of my favorite experiences on Kiawah is fishing
from the kayak dock on Cinder Creek in the Preserve just
before sunset. The sunlight that is cast across the gazebo and
the marsh grass is unbelievable, particularly in the fall when
the grass turns yellow, orange, and purple. When you see that,
you know there is a God! Worst experience fishing? N/A.”
I met Roland Hoffman, Charlie Dunn, and Rich Warner
at the Ocean Course for an experience like no other. Roland
was surfcasting in the Atlantic, Rich was fly fishing in one
of the tide pools, and Charlie was casting with a spinning
reel a few yards away from Rich. While I wandered among
them, I was distracted for a while by a kitesurfer who was
Charlie.
Naturally Kiawah