Local weekly fishing report

SALTWATER

Estuary

Look for | Red drum, spotted seatrout, black drum, sheepshead.

Comments | Estuary fishing heated up quickly right along with the weather over this past week, with trout and red drum hungry and ready to bite after being in a lethargic state during the cold spell. Both species have been ready to pounce on artificials such as Gulp shrimp and shad, topwater lures such as Mirrolures and gold spinnerbaits with a trailing grub. Work grass banks and flats for reds and drop-offs for trout. Anglers are encouraged to be conservative with the number of fish they harvest since there has been some mortality of both species. Catches of flounder have even been reported. Look for sheepshead at local jetties.

Inshore

Look for | Black sea bass, sheepshead, black drum, whiting.

Comments | The best bet continues to be for black sea bass in depths of 30-60 feet. Also look for sheepshead and black drum to be available on inshore bottom spots. Action continues to be slow on Grand Strand piers with only a few whiting, croakers and black drum available. Skates and dogfish continue to be the most prevalent species in the surf zone. The surface ocean water temperature was at 46.75 degrees late Thursday afternoon according to the Apache Pier Data Station.

Offshore

Look for | Wahoo, blackfin tuna, bluefin tuna, black sea bass, triggerfish, amberjack.

Comments | There have been some simply awesome weather days for offshore trolling over the past week and catches to match for anglers targeting wahoo at the break. A Marlin Quay boat, Satisfied, captained by Lance Garrison, brought in wahoo weighing 98.9 and 64.9 pounds while fishing in 72-degree, 550-foot deep water offshore of the Winyah Scarp on Wednesday. Michael Stone of Marlin Quay Marina surmised the large fish weighed over 100 pounds when it came out of the water. Ocean Isle Fishing Center reported a boat caught four wahoo weighing 45, 58, 70 and 75 pounds one week ago at the Blackjack Hole. On Saturday, Black Gold weighed an 86-inch, 300-pound bluefin tuna at Ocean Isle Fishing Center, the first bluefin of the December-January season to be brought in to the OIFC. The fish hit a large ballyhoo on a pink Ilander lure.

Freshwater

Look for | Bream, crappie, bass, catfish.

Comments | "It was a little slow last weekend, [but] it's almost like they turned on the light switch Monday and they started biting," said Jay Booth at Fisherman's Headquarters in Conway who noted fishing was especially good Monday through Wednesday at the confluence of the Little Pee Dee and Great Pee Dee rivers. Booth reports shellcracker and morgans have been taking nightcrawlers and red worms in 12-14 feet of water from Yauhannah to the confluence of the rivers plus catches have been good at Bucksport and Samworth. Richard Jordan and Ronnie Elvis of Conway landed a nice catch of bream and shellcracker Tuesday afternoon at the confluence while Jerry Nelson and Raymond Marlowe of Conway produced a good catch of morgans at Bucksport, also Tuesday. Booth called the crappie bite fair, with fish taking minnows in 10 feet of water. Booth has seen blue catfish in the 10-15 pound range landed on cut mullet and shiners. The bass bite has been fair on large shiners at Bucksport and Yauhannah. The water temperature had increased by 4-5 degrees since last week to 43 degrees at Yauhannah on Wednesday.

STATE FISHING

Santee Cooper System | Catfish: Fair to good. Captain Jim Glenn reports that cooling water temperatures have pushed large schools of baitfish into deep water. The best technique is to fish suspended cut baits in the middle of the bait schools or on the bottom beneath them. Depths be can up to 55 or 60 feet of water. Drifting or anchoring will both work but anchoring may be the preferred method, especially if it is windy, for staying on top of the fish. A variety of cut baits will catch fish. Largemouth bass: Slow. Captain Inky Davis reports that fishing in the cypress trees above the I-95 Bridge he has caught a few nice fish by fishing a Zoom plastic worm very slowly in five feet of water Bream: Slow. Captain David Hilton reports that bream have gone very deep and will be lethargic for the next month or two.

S.C. DNR