Grand Strand Fishing Report: Spotted seatrout bite continues to highlight fishing action
Estuary
Look For: Spotted seatrout, black drum, red drum, flounder, sheepshead.
Comments: The action of spotted seatrout across the whole area, from the Santee Delta to Brunswick County, N.C., remains excellent just 10 days before winter arrives. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service caught a wide range of sizes of trout on his last two trips, both south of Georgetown, within the last week. On Saturday, McDonald produced an outstanding catch of 40-plus trout ranging from 18 inches up to 23 inches in length. But in the same vicinity on Tuesday, the trout were smaller, at or just under the 14-inch minimum size limit. On that trip, McDonald produced 14 trout along with 10 red drum. All fish on both trips were caught on soft plastic grubs, including Matrix, Bass Assassin and Zoom. “It didn’t seem to matter what color or type we threw,” McDonald said. Avid local kayak angler Rob Birchmeier has hit Murrells Inlet several days this week and has proven the trout bite remains excellent. Birchmeier has also found flounder, red drum and black drum active. Birchmeier also used soft plastic grubs, except the black drum were caught on fresh shrimp. The 4th annual Speckled Studs Tournament is set for Saturday out of the Murrells Inlet Fishing Charters location on the Marshwalk. The Captains Meeting will be held Friday at 5 p.m. with fishing set to begin Saturday at 7 a.m.
Inshore
Look For: Black sea bass, weakfish, flounder, whiting, croaker, black drum, sheepshead.
Comments: The water temperature is dipping toward the mid-50s in the near-shore waters of the Atlantic Ocean, which means activity is set to pick up on the artificial reefs and hard-bottom areas within 10-15 miles of the beach. Black sea bass are congregating on the structure, with the number of keepers above the 13-inch minimum size limit on the rise. A number of other species are available including weakfish, flounder, sheepshead, black drum and tautog. The water temperature remains in the mid-50s along the beach and there is still some activity in the surf, which isn’t always the case in mid-December. Both the Apache Pier and Cherry Grove Pier have reported decent catches of whiting along with under-slot size black drum. Calvin Dickerson of the Apache Pier also notes a few spotted seatrout have been landed.
Offshore
Look For: Wahoo, blackfin tuna, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, red porgy, black sea bass.
Comments: December is an excellent month for wahoo trolling in the offshore waters, and the Capt. Roger’s Wahoo Challenge is ongoing at Ocean Isle Fishing Center in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C. The challenge kicked off on Nov. 22 and concludes Jan. 3, 2020. Competing boats are allowed to fish two days during that stretch with the heaviest aggregate of four wahoo winning the event. Currently, Game Hawg sits atop the leaderboard with a four-wahoo aggregate of 177.8 pounds, including fish weighing from 40.6 to 54.3 pounds. Aside from the wahoo action, blackfin tuna and scattered dolphin are available for trolling boats. Bottom fishing is very good for amberjack, grouper, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, triggerfish, porgy, white grunts and red snapper, especially in depths of 90-120 feet. Red snapper have been commonly found in shallower water, even in depths of 55 feet, but cannot be harvested and must be released in the South Atlantic region.
Freshwater
Look For: Bream, crappie, bass, catfish.
Comments: Conditions are great on the rivers for some very late autumn action, but not many anglers are on the water. “Very, very few people have been,” said Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. Lead-lining worms on the bottom in 8-15 feet of water is the ticket for catching bream. For crappie, Stalvey suggests using minnows on a slip cork in 4-12 feet of water around structure, creek mouths and channels. Jigs and beetle spins will also produce crappie. With the water temperature into the lower to mid 50s, Stalvey suggests using “slow, finesse baits, finesse worms, small crawfish baits and small crankbaits.” Quality bass are being caught, though. The team of River and Timmy Squires won the Carolina Anglers Team Trail finals out of Bucksport Marina Saturday with a five-bass aggregate of 15.01 pounds. “Those are good fish for this time of year,” said Stalvey. Catfish are hitting live bream and cut eel.