Local fishing report (May 7)

Estuary

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

▪ Comments | The big three are all available in area estuaries – flounder, red drum and spotted seatrout. Top flounder inlets are Cherry Grove, Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Inlet and Tubbs Inlet (N.C.). The vicinity of Georgetown’s Winyah Bay and the Little River area are top spots to find spotted seatrout and redfish. One a Wednesday trip, Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown found red drum cooperative in the Santee River area in southern Georgetown County. McDonald noted a water temperature reading of 71 degrees Wednesday at South Island Ferry. “We’ve got a lot of freshwater coming down (Winyah Bay),” McDonald said. Look for flounder, trout, reds, black drum and sheepshead at area jetties.

Inshore

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

▪ Comments | The ocean water temperature hit 70 degrees this week and the calendar reads May. In other words, prime spring fishing is here. The surface temperature was 70.19 degrees Thursday at 5:45 p.m. at 2nd Ave. Pier in Myrtle Beach. Early in the week when sea conditions were superb, there were excellent catches of king mackerel and large Spanish on bottom spots and artificial reefs within 12 miles of the beach. The same spots are holding black sea bass, weakfish and flounder. After the weekend blow subsides and the weather warms up next week, look for spadefish to be found on those spots. Once again, when conditions were great early in the week, Grand Strand piers were producing good catches of whiting and Spanish. Also look for pompano, croaker and flounder off the piers. Cherry Grove Pier also reports black drum caught this week. The annual Spring Pier King Mackerel Tournament, held on public fishing piers along the Grand Strand, is set for next weekend, May 16-17.

Offshore

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

▪ Comments | This weekend looks like a blowout due to that pesky low pressure spinning off the Southeast coast, but earlier in the week when seas were nice, fishing was excellent. Simply put, the next several weeks are prime time to get offshore and catch your own Carolina Slam of dolphin, blackfin tuna and wahoo. Dolphin and tuna are especially plentiful. A few sample catches: OIFC.com reports the Retriever landed 10 dolphin, three wahoo and a tuna while the Underdog out of Murrells Inlet put 14 blackfin, six dolphin, two wahoo and a king mackerel on the dock on Tuesday. The Underdog’s big wahoo was a whopping 80.4 pounds. Grouper are once again fair game on bottom fishing trips, and there have been some real “freight trains” caught this week. Catches of black sea bass, vermilion snapper and porgy have also been excellent, with triggerfish, amberjack and grunts also available. Red snapper are also on hand in good numbers but the species is off-limits indefinitely in the South Atlantic Region and must be released.

Freshwater

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

▪ Comments | There may be a rise in the rivers after this weekend’s rains, but for now action is good along the banks for a variety of bream. Use crickets on throw lines under floats in 2-4 feet of water to catch a mess. The lower Waccamaw from Bucksport to the Ricefields are good areas to find bream. Catfish are hitting cut shad and eels.

Gregg Holshouser

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Local fishing report (May 7)."