Grand Strand Fishing Report: Both Spanish and king mackerel are available close to shore
Estuary
Look For: Flounder, black drum, red drum, spotted seatrout, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, bluefish.
Comments: The finger mullet in local estuaries have grown up and are currently prime baits, particularly for flounder and red drum. “The finger mullet are perfect size, 2-4 inches, in the creeks,” said Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Charters in Little River. Flounder action is excellent just across the state line in North Carolina, where the flatfish are currently off-limits and must be released. “We’re catching a ton of flounder,” said Ossman. “I’ve thrown some monster fish over 20 inches back. We haven’t done that great for them in South Carolina.” Ossman has also found trout and black drum receptive. “We’ve done good on some trout floating live shrimp down shell banks in 5 feet of water on a rising tide,” said Ossman, who has caught red drum on both finger mullet and shrimp and black drum on shrimp. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service was in the midst of a super trip in the Winyah Bay vicinity Thursday morning, as his crew had caught 10 red drum and a keeper flounder on finger mullet by 10:30 a.m. On a Wednesday morning trip, McDonald produced eight reds, two flounder and a trout. McDonald observed a water temperature of 83 degrees and noted the water in the bay is still dirty from high water in the rivers. Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions has also used finger mullet to catch flounder in Murrells Inlet this week - in the creeks, at the jetties and also at Paradise Reef located three miles east of the inlet. Connolly has also produced black drum on fresh dead shrimp.
Inshore
Look For: King mackerel, Spanish mackerel, cobia, spadefish, whiting, pompano, flounder, black drum.
Comments: From the beach on out, the mackerel bite has been excellent this week for both Spanish and kings. “We’ve had a lot of really stable weather which is good,” said Capt. Brant McMullan of Ocean Isle Fishing Center. “The water’s cleaning up a lot. There are a lot of Spanish around from 20-40 feet and kings are excellent in the 50-70 foot-range. Menhaden are fairly plentiful along the beaches.” Ossman certainly noticed greatly improved water clarity on an artificial reef four miles off Little River. “I could see down about 30 feet, I could see the wreck and it was in 35-40 feet of water,” said Ossman. “I guess we’ve been having a south wind blowing that clean water in with better vis.” Ossman has seen kings, Spanish, cobia, spadefish and flounder on the near-shore reefs. Connolly and Alex Hrycak of Marlin Quay Marina both boated kings in the 30-pound range on Tuesday from Paradise Reef, plus some sizable Spanish. Connolly slow-trolled dead cigar minnows to catch his king and live-lined finger mullet to nab the Spanish. Spanish and kings have also been caught in the vicinity of pods of menhaden along the beach. On Wednesday, a pair of kings were landed from the Cherry Grove Pier and a tarpon was hooked and broke off at the pilings. Flounder, including some solid keepers, pompano, black drum, spadefish, whiting and ribbonfish have also been landed from the Cherry Grove Pier. Good numbers of Spanish have been caught from the Apache Pier this week along with black drum, sheepshead and flounder. The ocean water temperature was 80 degrees Thursday at Apache Pier.
Offshore
Look For: Blackfin tuna, wahoo, king mackerel, dolphin, sailfish, blue marlin, bonito, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, red porgy, black sea bass.
Comments: The Dog Days of Summer appear to have set in well offshore, reports McMullan, and his charter boats have been staying inshore of the Gulf Stream. “We haven’t been going to the stream, it’s been kind of dead out there,” said McMullan. The king mackerel action had been superb in 50-70 feet, plus cobia are to be found. “We’re still seeing a lot of cobia, they’ve definitely been pushing through.” As the water warms well into the 80s, dolphin are typically mixed in with kings in that 50-70 foot range, but not at this point. “I’d call (dolphin) non-existent,” said McMullan. “We’ve not caught them while king fishing. We did catch a sailfish in 50 feet of water while king fishing.” There has been solid action for sailfish with some blue marlin around well offshore. Bottom fishing is excellent in depths of 90-120 feet. “Vermilion snapper are very good in 90-120 feet, they’re the summer staple, and there’s scattered grouper in the summertime,” said McMullan. Other reef species available include amberjack, red porgy, grey triggerfish, white grunts, black sea bass and red snapper. Of course, red snapper are off-limits and must be released, but the 2020 mini-season for the species is fast-approaching. The four-day mini season is set for July 10-12 and July 17. The limits for the four days of fishing are one red snapper per person per day with no size limit.
Freshwater
Look For: Bream, bass, catfish, crappie.
Comments: The rivers remain high – both the Waccamaw at Conway and Little Pee Dee at Galivants Ferry are just below Minor Flood Stage – but plenty of quality fish are being caught. “The water’s high, rivers are high, but that doesn’t need to discourage anyone from going because the fish are there,” said Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. Bream fishing has been particularly good as summertime has set in, with crickets under floats producing fish. “I’d go in the creeks and coves off the main river, find a bank and search for some fish about 2-4 feet deep,” said Stalvey. Stalvey notes bass are cruising the tree line along the river banks for small bream and entering the creeks looking for crawfish. Colin Drew won the Tuesday bass tournament out of Conway Marina, weighing in a 2.4-pound bass to win $500. The field of 25 anglers fished despite a steady downpour. Catfish are available basically in all areas, shallow and deep, and are hitting cut eel and live bream among other baits.