Grand Strand Fishing Report: Offshore is still fruitful but flooding halts river action

Estuary

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

Comments: Rain from last week, headed by Tropical Storm Bertha, has local rivers well into flood stage, which has a direct impact on the water quality in most local estuaries. A very windy day on Wednesday also didn’t help the water clarity. Winyah Bay is the third-largest watershed on the East Coast, and takes the brunt of flood waters from the Waccamaw and Black rivers, among others. ”There’s a lot of water coming down,” said Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown. “Just dirty water.” McDonald was able to put his clients on a few fish on Sunday, using cut shrimp on a float, producing four red drum and a five-pound flounder. McDonald noted a water temperature of 77 degrees. Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters has found some red drum in the creeks, but it’s been a slow week. “Fishing was better early in week,” said Kelly. “The wind got up Wednesday and made it challenging. The water clarity is not real good right now.” Kelly noted spotted seatrout were caught early in the week at the Little River jetties, but then the wind kicked in. “There were some trout (caught) at the jetties early in the week, but it has been really rough out there. With the Waccamaw (River) flooded, it’s kind of messed up the water clarity in Little River.” Estuaries with little freshwater influx such as Cherry Grove and Murrells Inlet are the best bet until the flood waters recede.

Inshore

Look For: King mackerel, Spanish mackerel, cobia, spadefish, bluefish, whiting, pompano, flounder, black drum, weakfish.

Comments: The wind at midweek also churned up the ocean water near the beach, but there are still fish to be caught. Look for Spanish mackerel in the vicinity of inlet passes such as Little River and Murrells Inlet, around bait near the beach and near-shore artificial reefs. Cobia activity is ramping up, so be on the lookout for them showing up around the boat and have a live bait ready while fishing reefs within 20 miles or so of the beach. Spadefish action is very good on the reefs when conditions are relatively calm. It’s been a rough week thus far and doesn’t look much better for the weekend, but look for king mackerel on bottom spots and around reefs, particularly in depths of 50-60 feet. Wick Fisher of Cherry Grove Pier reports decent catches of whiting, blues and Spanish despite the less-than-perfect water conditions. Fisher also noted a few spotted seatrout were caught Wednesday and a “bunch” of spots on Monday. At Apache Pier, anglers have been landing Spanish, blues, whiting and spots. The ocean water temperature is 76 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: The latest day when calm sea conditions allowed boats to get offshore to chase mainly tuna and dolphin was Tuesday, and there was plenty of action to be found. Trey Jordan, Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey and crew aboard Jordan’s 29-foot Proline worked the Winyah Scarp vicinity and wound up with four dolphin, four blackfin tuna and a pair of king mackerel while trolling. The dolphin were in the 12-20 pound range while the kings were 12-15 pounds. Tuna were plentiful, but were not cooperating. “There were tuna everywhere but we couldn’t get them to bite,” said Stalvey. The crew made a quick stop in 100 feet of water for some bottom fishing and added amberjack, vermilion snapper, grey triggerfish and grunts to the box. Look for dolphin around weedlines or floating structure, as the potential is there to catch big numbers of the colorful gamefish. Billfish, particularly blue marlin and sailfish, are also in the trolling mix. Bottom fishing is also producing good catches of grouper along with red snapper. However, red snapper cannot be harvested and must be released in the South Atlantic region.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, bass, catfish, crappie.

Comments: Unfortunately, the flood waters have returned to local rivers, particularly the Pee Dee system and the Waccamaw. The Waccamaw was in moderate flood state at 13.3 feet at 9:15 a.m. Thursday in Conway. The Little Pee Dee at Galivants Ferry was at 10.51 feet, just below moderate flood state, Thursday at 11 a.m. The Pee Dee River at Pee Dee between Florence and Marion was in moderate flood stage at 25.99 feet Thursday at 11 a.m. Many area boat landings are closed, and boating or fishing is currently not recommended on the rivers. Boats that must be on the rivers should proceed with no wake in order to prevent damage to property along the waterways. Fishing has been at a standstill this week. “I haven’t gotten the first report,” said Stalvey. “A lot of people’s (property) is getting messed up with this high water, and (boats) pushing water into their yards. It’s going to take a good month to get (the rivers) back right.”

This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 3:03 PM.