Fishing report: Good spell of catches soon to end as cold front moves in

Estuary

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

Comments: Spotted seatrout, red drum, black drum and flounder have been active during the prolonged warm spell the Grand Strand has experienced for the last month or more. But the good times — air temperature-wise — will come to a crashing halt this weekend as a strong cold front roars through. Capt. Mark Dickson of Shallow-Minded Inshore Charters in Little River reports recent catches of trout at the Sunset Beach Bridge and Bonaparte Creek, with black drum hitting fresh cut shrimp around deep-water docks on the Intracoastal Waterway in the Little River area. Vudu shrimp have been producing trout for Dickson. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown reported a water temperature in the 63-64 degree range Thursday afternoon near South Island Ferry. Look for trout, reds, black drum, sheepshead and possibly flounder and tautog at area jetties.

Inshore

Look For: Sheepshead, black sea bass, black drum, whiting, croaker.

Comments: Signs of spring abounded near the beach at mid-week as the cold front was approaching. Steve Gann of the pier reported a large number of rays and skates made their way through plus small bonnethead sharks were caught by anglers. Whiting and croaker were the top catch off the pier this week, said Gann, who reported a water temperature of 60 degrees Thursday afternoon. The near-shore artificial reefs are producing good catches of sheepshead, black sea bass, weakfish and black drum, with flounder and tautog also available.

Offshore

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

Comments: Jeff Martini, owner/operator of Mid-Town Bistro in North Myrtle Beach, headed offshore aboard Dirty Martini early this week and had a productive afternoon fishing deep-water ledges for snowy grouper. “It was slow at first then after noon it fired up,” said Martini. Martini had designs on also trolling for wahoo, but declined when he found a water temperature of 67 degrees even 90 miles offshore where the crew was fishing. In depths of about 80 to 100 feet of water look for vermilion snapper, black sea bass, triggerfish, grunts, red porgy and amberjack. The annual Shallow-water Grouper Spawning Season Closure is in effect through April 30. Red snapper cannot be harvested and must be released in the South Atlantic region.

Freshwater

Look For: Crappie, bream, bass, catfish.

Comments: “They’re catching fish like crazy,” said Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. Catches of bream, crappie, bass and catfish have all been good. “I’ve seen limits of bream all week off crickets and worms, and they’ve been catching morgans,” said Stalvey. “I’ve seen a lot of nice catfish on eels, shad, herring and large shiners.” Bass action has been strong, too. “They’re tearing them up on crawfish looking baits,” said Stalvey. “They’ve been catching a lot on top-water (lures) like Bang-o-Lures, jerk baits and spinner baits.” Stalvey notes Cody Squires of Conway caught a 9-pound, 2-ounce bass on a crawfish lure last Saturday on the Little Pee Dee River and is having the fish mounted. “He wanted to look at it forever,” said Stalvey. The river levels are generally low. “The Waccamaw is really low,” said Stalvey. “The Little Pee Dee is falling out and they’re catching a lot of fish on it.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Fishing report: Good spell of catches soon to end as cold front moves in."