Myrtle Beach area fishing report (April 23)

Estuary

▪ Look For | Flounder, red drum, spotted seatrout, black drum, sheepshead.

▪ Comments | Flounder fishing is excellent in areas such as Pawleys Island, Murrells Inlet and Cherry Grove, but keepers currently aren't too common. Capt. Patrick Kelly of Capt. Smiley Fishing Charters in Little River has worked Cherry Grove Inlet this week and has caught plenty of fish just under South Carolina's minimum size limit of 14 inches. “There's lots of 13-inch fish out there,” said Kelly. “That's the way it is this time of year.” Kelly has drifted live mud minnows and Berkeley Gulp's swimming minnow and croaker to catch his flounder. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service went on a fun flounder fishing trip in Pawleys Inlet on Thursday with similar results. McDonald and his fishing partner caught several flounder in the 13-inch range but no keepers while “dragging mud minnows.” Also look for red drum, spotted seatrout and black drum in local inlets.

Inshore

▪ Look For | Bluefish, Spanish mackerel, whiting, pompano, flounder, black sea bass, weakfish, sheepshead.

▪ Comments | Conditions are getting just right for the en masse arrival of Spanish mackerel for the summer. Schools of menhaden (pogeys) have shown up nicely along the beach this week, with some Spanish and bluefish being caught. Predictably, the water temperature has rebounded easily above the 65-degree mark, to a reading of 66.77 degrees at 2:45 p.m. Thursday at 2nd Ave. Pier. Along with Spanish and blues, Grand Strand piers are producing whiting, croaker and flounder, with pompano also a possibility. The near-shore reefs are holding black sea bass, sheepshead, weakfish and flounder, with Spanish and blues also in the vicinity.

Offshore

▪ Look For | Dolphin, blackfin tuna, wahoo, black sea bass, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, amberjack.

▪ Comments | Simply put, it's happening on the offshore waters. Plenty of boats have headed out on trolling trips with all three components of a Carolina Slam - dolphin, wahoo, blackfin tuna - being commonly caught. The Painkiller crew, including Dr. Jason Rosenberg and Capt. Jay Sconyers, came home to Murrells Inlet from their regular Wednesday trip with four wahoo, plus one bitten in half by a shark, eight dolphin, a blackfin tuna and an amberjack. Rosenberg noted the Painkiller was fishing the Winyah Scarp in 180-250 feet of water with a water temperature in the 72-74 degree range. Flying fish were plentiful. Bottom fishing continues to be excellent for black sea bass and vermilion snapper with triggerfish, porgy, grunts and amberjack also available. In one week, on May 1, the annual shallow-water Grouper Spawning Season Closure will be over and anglers can once again harvest grouper. Red snapper are off-limits indefinitely in the South Atlantic Region and must be released.

Freshwater

▪ Look For | Bream, bass, catfish, crappie.

▪ Comments | Bream fishing continues to be excellent, especially on the lower Waccamaw River, reports Rick's Bait and Tackle in Conway. Top areas are Bucksport and the Ricefields. Fish are hitting crickets under floats on throw lines in about 3-6 feet of water. Catfish action has continued to improve over the last week, hitting cut shad and eels. The Little Pee Dee River continues to be high, limiting bream action, but catfish action is good on the river.

Gregg Holshouser

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach area fishing report (April 23)."