Grand Strand Fishing Report: Offshore trip in mild conditions produced wahoo and tuna

Estuary

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

Comments: The uncanny run of spring-like weather is due to come to a screeching halt, with a few cold fronts in the works for Friday and again late in the weekend. Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Fishing Charters in Little River noted water temperatures around 58 degrees on a high tide and 62 at low tide on Thursday. “I’m sure (the fish) are confused with the water temperature,” said Ossman. “(The water temperature is) more like the end of April. When the water temperature starts moving up, that’s not a good sign for (catching trout now). But if we have another mild winter, it should be an awesome spring and fall this year for trout.” Still, on his Thursday trip, Ossman caught several keeper spotted seatrout in the 17- to 18-inch range on DOA shrimp and Z-Man Trout Trick, along with numerous smaller trout that were released. Ossman has also found red drum schooled up and active. “There are some real big schools of reds on the waterway and in the creeks,” said Ossman. With live shrimp hard to come by, Ossman has also caught trout on live mud minnows. Prolific kayak angler Rob Birchmeier hit Murrells Inlet and Pawleys early in the week and also reported a water temperature of 62 degrees, with a slower trout bite. “It was so different than four days ago,” Birchmeier said Tuesday. “The trout bite slowed down. It’s like somebody threw a switch. I don’t know if they’re going into a different transition or they’re staging different.” Birchmeier also has found red drum, black drum and even a few flounder available.

Inshore

Look For: Black sea bass, sheepshead, weakfish, flounder, whiting, croaker, black drum, tautog.

Comments: Black sea bass and sheepshead are the two main species to target on near-shore artificial reefs and live-bottom areas in winter. “Within five to 10 miles, there are keeper (black) sea bass this time of year, and there’s some nice sheepshead out there,” said Ossman. Black drum, weakfish, flounder and red drum, along with tautog, are also possibly available but mainly on spots within three miles of the beach. Minimum sizes and slot limits to keep in mind are 13 inches for black sea bass, 14-27 inches for black drum, 15 inches for flounder and 15-23 inches for red drum. Weakfish have a 12-inch minimum size limit but a one-fish-per-person daily bag limit. Norma Madaras of the Apache Pier reports pier anglers have caught mainly whiting and croaker this week along with a few sheepshead and undersized black drum ahead of the cold fronts. The air temperature was 72 degrees with a surface water temperature of 57 degrees at 3 p.m. Thursday at Apache Pier.

Offshore

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

Comments: Dr. Jason Rosenberg, Capt. Jay Sconyers of Aces Up Fishing, Jimmy Kaminski, and Birchmeier found favorable conditions to head offshore for the latest edition of Wednesday Fishing with Friends aboard Rosenberg’s 32-foot Contender, Painkiller. The crew worked the Winyah Scarp during a whirlwind trip, using the high-speed trolling method to target mainly wahoo. They wound up with two sizable wahoo in very limited fishing time, as the entire trip took less than six hours. One large barracuda was caught and released, and they also missed two fish. One blackfin tuna was caught and released via a jig. Black sea bass and grunts are available in depths of 50 feet and beyond, but in the 90-120 foot range, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy, grunts, grouper and red snapper are also in the mix. Two closures are in effect however. The annual shallow-water grouper spawning season closure went into effect on Jan. 1, and continues through the month of April. Also, red snapper are closed to harvest in the South Atlantic Region and must be released.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, crappie, bass, catfish.

Comments: There is very little angler activity on local rivers, but the place to be is on the Waccamaw near Conway and the Waccamaw/Intracoastal Waterway from Bucksport and Socastee on south to Winyah Bay. Both the Little Pee Dee and Great Pee Dee rivers are in Minor Flood Stage but the Waccamaw has dropped significantly this week, to 8.7 feet and still falling Thursday at 3:15 p.m. at Conway. Look for bream on the bottom in 8-15 feet of water hitting worms. Crappie minnows are the best bait for crappie, but jigs and beetle spins will also catch fish in 4-12 feet of water on structure. Use finesse worms, small crawfish baits and small crankbaits for bass. Eels and live bream are the top baits for catfish.

This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 6:40 PM.