Weekly fishing report: Estuaries offer plenty of options in Hurricane Matthew's wake

Estuary

Look For: Spotted seatrout, red drum, black drum, flounder, sheepshead.

Comments: It’s October and the fish don’t care whether water levels are high and a hurricane just ravaged the Carolina coast. Estuary areas, from Georgetown to Brunswick County, N.C., are producing good catches of spotted seatrout, red drum and black drum plus flounder. Trout will hit a variety of baits including live shrimp, plastic grubs and top-water lures such as Mirrolures. Live or cut mullet are a good choice for red drum, although shrimp, grubs and gold spoons will catch fish too. Live or cut shrimp are the top choice for black drum while live mullet or mud minnows will land flounder. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown had a successful trip to North Inlet on Thursday, producing 13 trout to four pounds and several red drum. McDonald headed south of Georgetown on Wednesday and produced six black drum, five reds and 30 trout. Winyah Bay is the recipient of all the flood waters that are devastating inland areas, and it shows. “It is black,” McDonald said of the bay water. “We’ve got a lot of freshwater, cold water coming down. I’ve been catching fish in the bay (immediately after the storm) but the only thing I caught (Wednesday) was Arkansas blue catfish (on cut shrimp) up against the grass.” McDonald noted a bay water temperature of 70 degrees. Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters produced an outstanding catch of reds, black drum and trout on Wednesday in the Little River area. Area jetties are producing numerous species including trout, black drum, red drum, sheepshead and flounder. Oh, and yes, it’s time for the spot armada to invade local inlets such as Murrells Inlet and Cherry Grove – the spots are here!

Inshore

Look For: King mackerel, Spanish mackerel, redfish, weakfish, black sea bass, bluefish, whiting, croaker, flounder, spots.

Comments: Catches of king mackerel have been good this week, with fish being found from schools of bait near the beach to intermediate bottom spots 10-20 miles offshore such as Belky Bear and The Jungle. Bottom spots within five miles of the beach are holding good numbers of bull red drum, which should be caught quickly and released carefully. The same bottom spots are also producing weakfish, black sea bass, bull whiting and flounder. The Grand Strand piers that remain open post-Matthew are producing Spanish mackerel, bluefish, whiting, weakfish, black drum, flounder and, yes, spots.

Offshore

Look For: Wahoo, dolphin, blackfin tuna, grouper, black sea bass, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy, grunts.

Comments: Superb wahoo fishing is on in offshore areas such as Georgetown Hole, Winyah Scarp and Black Jack Hole including a hog 76.5-pounder caught Tuesday by Danny Carey of Careyon Charters during Martini’s Hook-a-Hoo Rodeo. Trolling is also producing dolphin, blackfin tuna and king mackerel. Bottom fishing is producing very good catches of grouper, especially scamp, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, porgy, triggerfish and grunts.

Red snapper are off-limits in the South Atlantic region and must be released.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, crappie, catfish, bass.

Comments: With all-time record flooding occurring on the Waccamaw and other area rivers, anglers are advised to stay off the water until the flood waters recede.

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Weekly fishing report: Estuaries offer plenty of options in Hurricane Matthew's wake."