Grand Strand Fishing Report: Fishing is still fruitful despite heat of the summer
Estuary
Look For: Flounder, black drum, red drum, spotted seatrout, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, bluefish.
Comments: The heat is on, and the water temperature in local estuaries reflects it. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown reported a water temperature of 87 degrees Wednesday in the middle of Winyah Bay, even in the main channel. The balmy water didn’t keep McDonald from producing some good action on trips Tuesday and Wednesday, especially with spotted seatrout. On Tuesday, McDonald’s clients landed eight trout, including six keepers, two flounder, a red drum and a ladyfish. On Wednesday, the number of trout caught was 13 to go with a flounder and a blacktip shark approaching the 100-pound range. All of McDonald’s fish, minus the shark, were caught on live finger mullet in the Winyah Bay vicinity. Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Charters reports the Little River jetties have been producing this week with bull red drum well over South Carolina’s 15-23 inch slot limit and trout available. “There’s some big reds around at the jetties hitting cut bait, and pogeys (menhaden) if you can find them,” said Ossman. “There’s been a good trout bite on the rocks with live shrimp.” Ossman noted finger mullet will also produce trout and reds, plus Ossman witnessed a fellow angler hook up with a tarpon. In the creeks, Ossman said small black drum and small trout are being caught. Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions has found action slow overall in the creeks of Murrells Inlet. “I’ve caught a few nice slot reds on live finger mullet and a few nice flounder, but for the most part it’s very slow,” said Connolly. “I’ve had to hit specific spots on specific tides to catch fish.”
Inshore
Look For: King mackerel, Spanish mackerel, cobia, tarpon, spadefish, whiting, pompano, flounder, black drum.
Comments: The sea conditions have regularly been very nice nearshore this week, which has enabled Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions to slip out to Paradise Reef (three miles east of Murrells Inlet) in his Key West skiff to target king mackerel and large Spanish mackerel. Connolly has used small ballyhoo on Organized Chaos jig heads (1/2 to one ounce) and slow-trolled at 2-4 knots to catch the kings. “The kings have been 10-12 pounds, nice fish, not little snakes,” said Connolly. “The Spanish have been 3-6 pounds. I’ve been free-lining live mullet, as big of finger mullet as I can find. I put in a little work trying to find good bait and it pays off.” Ossman of Fine Catch Charters has hit the Jim Caudle Reef, located three miles off Little River, and has had success with flounder, catching four keeper flounder (15-inch minimum) on one trip using finger mullet. It’s been a solid week of fishing on Apache Pier, with some quality fish being caught. Angler Frank Cook landed a 10.4-pound king mackerel on Wednesday. Anglers live-baiting have also caught a good number of large Spanish mackerel. Flounder action has been good, including numerous keepers, plus spadefish have made a nice showing. Cherry Grove Pier reports pompano, spadefish and whiting have been the main catch this week. Lynn Galloway of Apache Pier reported a water temperature of 85 degrees Thursday at midday.
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 first three days (July 10-12) of the red snapper mini-season are in the books and plenty of the species, known locally as genuines, hit the docks. The final day of the four-day season is on Friday. The limits are one red snapper per person per day with no size limit. The seas cooperated for the three days and excellent catches also including grouper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, black sea bass, porgy, and grunts came in. Trolling along the break has been hit or miss, with scattered catches of blackfin tuna, wahoo, dolphin and king mackerel. Further out, in depths to 1,000 feet, look for blue marlin and sailfish. Further in, at depths of 50-90 feet, look for a variety of sizes of king mackerel. For the final day of the red snapper season, anglers targeting snapper-grouper species will be required to have a descending device on board and readily available for use. Of course, after Friday, red snapper cannot be harvested and must be released until the next mini-season in South Atlantic waters.
Freshwater
Look For: Bream, bass, catfish, crappie.
Comments: With the Dog Days of Summer upon us along with the ever-present high water levels, there has been little angler action on the rivers this week. “Not much happening,” said Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. “It’s been few far and between. Fishing’s good, just not many people going.” Stalvey recommends fishing off the main river in 2-4 feet of water for bream, floating crickets or worms. The top areas for bream fishing are the Ricefields vicinity and the big Pee Dee, Stalvey says. Bass action has been solid but most fish have been small. “A lot of (bass) have been caught, just a lot of small fish,” said Stalvey. “Everything’s coming off top-water (lures).” Dalton Williams won the weekly bass tournament out of Conway Marina with a 2-pound, two-ounce fish. Eels, live bream and a variety of cut bait will work for catfish.