Area fishing report (April 30)
Estuary
Look For | Flounder, red drum, spotted seatrout, black drum, sheepshead.
Comments | Cool, rainy weather has dropped the water temperature back down to the mid-60s, but a warm-up is in store to get fishing action back in gear for the weekend. Flounder are the best bet in local estuaries, especially Pawleys Island, Murrells Inlet, Cherry Grove and Tubbs Inlet. Also look for spotted seatrout, red drum and black drum. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown has worked hard to find fish on three trips this week and has had success despite less-than-favorable conditions. “This rapid changing weather has just about shut these fish down,” McDonald said. “It’s muddy in the bay and the ICW is muddy all the way down to McClellanville. I can’t find any decent water.” Still, McDonald produced 16 trout on Monday, eight trout and eight reds on Tuesday and 12 black drum and two reds on Thursday. “I've used everything from mud minnows to [cut] shrimp to plastic grubs and I've caught fish on all of them.” McDonald noted the water temperature in Winyah Bay started off at 70 degrees on Monday but had dipped to 64 as of Thursday morning.
Inshore
Look For | Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, bluefish, whiting, pompano, flounder, black sea bass, weakfish, sheepshead.
Comments | Spanish mackerel have made a good showing on the beach this week with good catches reported from piers on the south end of the Grand Strand. Use straw rigs or Gotcha plugs to catch the mackerel along with bluefish. Early May marks the arrival of king mackerel along the beach and near-shore waters, and the weekend forecast looks good for them to show up. On the bottom, whiting action has been very good with croaker and pompano also available off the piers. The near-shore artificial reefs are holding weakfish and flounder, but look for spadefish to make the scene for the summer soon. Spanish mackerel, king mackerel and bluefish are roaming around the reefs. The ocean water temperature remains in the mid-60s, with a reading of 65.90 degrees Thursday at 6 p.m. at 2nd Ave. Pier in Myrtle Beach.
Offshore
Look For | Dolphin, blackfin tuna, wahoo, grouper, black sea bass, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, amberjack.
Comments | When you can get offshore, get out there. Now that May has arrived, there is plenty of action for all three components of a Carolina Slam including dolphin, blackfin tuna and wahoo. Capt. Brant McMullan of Ocean Isle (N.C.) Fishing Center slipped out to the Steeples on Wednesday and found very good numbers of blackfin tuna active. The crew also boated five dolphin along with a few wahoo. The good news on the bottom fishing scene is that as of Friday (May 1), the annual shallow-water Grouper Spawning Season Closure was over and anglers can once again harvest grouper. Along with grouper, very good catches of black sea bass, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy, grunts and amberjack have been brought in. Red snapper are off-limits indefinitely in the South Atlantic Region and must be released.
Freshwater
Look For | Bream, bass, catfish, crappie.
Comments | Local angler Jamie Dunn reports good catches of bream on the Waccamaw River/ICW from Socastee to Bucksport. Dunn has floated crickets on “throw lines” to the bank and has been catching bream as shallow as two feet of water. With a rise in the rivers, anglers are advised to work the lower end of the Waccamaw where the river is making tides. Look for catfish hitting cut shad and eels.
By Gregg Holshouser, For The Sun News
This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Area fishing report (April 30)."