Grand Strand Fishing Report: Kings were abundant near shore, offshore before weather hit

Estuary

Look For: Flounder, spotted seatrout, red drum, black drum, sheepshead, bluefish.

Comments: Clint and Shay Carpenter of Green Hill, N.C., a husband-wife fishing duo, had a quality outing with Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown earlier this week. The Carpenters caught a Carolina Slam consisting of nine spotted seatrout, five flounder and three red drum while fishing multiple areas of Winyah Bay. The duo offered plastic grubs on jig heads and cut shrimp on float rigs to catch the fish. The trout were in the 13-17 inch range, and one red drum was a nice 27-inch fish over South Carolina’s 15-23 inch slot limit. Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Fishing Charters has stayed in the ICW and creeks this week in the Little River vicinity because of the windy conditions. Ossman has been able to cast net some live shrimp in the creeks for bait. ”We’ve floated some live shrimp and found a lot of small trout,” said Ossman. “I’m sure there are some bigger ones around.” Ossman has also produced red drum and small flounder while floating the shrimp along with mud minnows, plus has found black drum in deeper holes using cut shrimp. Ossman suggests working structure such as docks and bridges, plus deeper oyster bars to find fish. Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions in Murrells Inlet has focused on an improving flounder bite this week, along with a few red drum and trout, using mud minnows with three presentations. Connolly has fished the mud minnows on a ½-ounce Organized Chaos jig head, a Carolina rig and a slip float. “It’s been 95 percent flounder,” said Connolly, who has found the flatfish in the creeks and at the jetties. Connolly notes most of the keeper flounder above the 15-inch minimum size limit have been about 16 inches with a few larger fish in the four-pound range landed.

Inshore

Look For: Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, bluefish, cobia, spadefish, weakfish, black sea bass, sheepshead, black drum, whiting, croaker, flounder.

Comments: Capt. Perrin Wood of Southern Saltwater in Murrells Inlet, along with multiple other boats, had a ball catching king mackerel at Belky Bear last Saturday. The kings were also prevalent on other bottom spots in 50-70 feet through Saturday, and then Tropical Storm Arthur came along to mess everything up. Starting Sunday, the wind has been up and has blown ever since, severely limiting any trips into the ocean. Expect the kings to be available again, and even near the beach when conditions calm back down. Wood has also noticed numerous turtles, including some leatherbacks, of late and knows cobia will be on the near-shore reefs and on bait along the beach soon. A water temperature approaching the mid 70s and plentiful cannonball jellyfish mean spadefish will be common, too, when conditions permit. Kings and spadefish were confirmed along the beach before the stiff winds arrived. Steve Gann of Cherry Grove Pier reports angler Chris Gore landed a 35-pound king mackerel off the pier last Saturday, the first reported king off a Grand Strand pier this spring. Gann also reported a few nice spadefish have been caught from the pier along with Spanish mackerel, whiting, croaker and bluefish. Gann also reports a highly unusual catch – an Atlantic sturgeon was caught and released from the pier. The Apache Pier reports catches of Spanish, blues, whiting, croaker, flounder and black drum, but no kings yet. The water temperature Wednesday afternoon at Cherry Grove Pier was 74 degrees.

Offshore

Look For: Dolphin, blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, king mackerel, bonito, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, red porgy, black sea bass.

Comments: Saturday also marked the last quality day weather-wise in the offshore waters, where anglers have been enjoying superb catches of yellowfin tuna, dolphin, blackfin tuna and wahoo. “Last Saturday it was still real good,” said Capt. Brant McMullan of Ocean Isle Fishing Center. “As of Saturday all the species were still in play. We’ve had a better (offshore trolling) season than I’ve seen in years with the addition of yellowfin. That changes the game.” McMullan is curious to see how long the excellent trolling action continues. “It’s a matter of how long the stream of fish is,” said McMullan. “Are we at the end of it? It will run out sooner or later.” Bottom fishing is excellent, again, when conditions permit. Grouper catches have been very good, namely for scamp and gag. Other species most commonly found on bottom-fishing trips include amberjack, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, triggerfish, red porgy and white grunts. Red snapper catches are as good as they’ve been in decades, but the species must be released indefinitely in the South Atlantic region.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, catfish, bass, crappie.

Comments: A superb spring of fishing action continues on local rivers. “It’s been absolutely amazing,” said Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. “The quality of the fish, the size of the fish. There’s a lot of healthy, nice fish being caught.” The rivers are a little high, and the Pee Dee River at Pee Dee is forecast to rise into moderate flood stage in the next several days, but for now fishing is fine. Crickets are clearly the best bet for bream, floated on a throw line in 1-4 feet of water. Worms will also work for bait for bream, as will beetle spins and popping bugs. Catfish catches have been very good with cut eel and live bream serving as preferred baits. Topwater lures such as buzz baits and Bang-O-Lure are working for bass. Angler Travis Spivey was the big winner in the Tuesday Big Bass tournament out of Conway Marina. Entry is $20 per angler, and Spivey weighed in a 2.8-pound bass to beat 61 other anglers and go home with $1,240. “That’s a stimulus check plus $40,” Stalvey, the event’s organizer, said with a laugh.

This story was originally published May 21, 2020 at 2:58 PM.