‘Excellent for January’: This week’s Grand Strand fishing report shows good signs

Estuary

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

Comments: “It’s actually been pretty excellent for January,” said Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters in Little River. “The Little River jetties are on fire with big trout and good keeper size trout as well. Mixed in with the trout are some nice 25-28-inch (red drum).” Kelly has also produced spotted seatrout in the tidal creeks in the Little River vicinity and reds on the shallow flats. “On our last trip we caught a bunch of keeper black drum,” Kelly said. “There’s a lot of action out there.” Shrimp is clearly the best bet bait-wise, live and cut. “Live shrimp is definitely the ticket, the trout prefer live shrimp,” said Kelly. “Don’t waste live shrimp on your black drum spots, they’re going to bite fresh cut shrimp.” Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions in Murrells Inlet has found decent action for trout and reds. “It’s not fast and furious, but there’s moments of glory,” said Connolly. “We’ve caught some nice trout – we haven’t caught many small ones. The reds are only biting at very opportune times. It’s been hard to figure them out.” Connolly has been catching his fish on live shrimp on slip-float rigs. Both Kelly and Connolly have observed water temperatures ranging from 48-52 degrees. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown had decent success in North Inlet on a recent trip, catching seven trout and two reds on a variety of plastic grubs.

Inshore

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

Comments: Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Fishing Charters had a little bottom spot in 50 feet of water he wanted to try early this week, and boy is the captain glad he did. Ossman and three fellow anglers worked a ledge and found a variety of species holding on the spot, eager to hit cut squid, cigar minnows and fresh cut bait. “It was just a random ledge,” said Ossman. The crew landed a four-angler limit of black sea bass, but also caught about a dozen grouper and numerous red snapper. As a bonus, Ossman caught and released a bull red drum that measured about 50 inches. Red snapper, of course, cannot be harvested in the South Atlantic Region and must be released. “They’re highly endangered,” joked Ossman. “We tripled up twice on red snapper.” The annual shallow-water grouper spawning season closure is in effect and continues through April, so the grouper were released also. In the middle of winter, Ossman notes bottom fishing is the best option. “If you get out there on some good bottom, you can definitely do some damage,” said Ossman. “There was a lot of bait and we saw a lot of birds working. There was a lot of action.” The near-shore artificial reefs are holding black sea bass, with sheepshead, black drum and tautog also a possibility. The water temperature at Apache Pier remains in the lower 50s, with a reading of 52 Friday afternoon. That is warm enough for small croaker, whiting, black drum and perch to remain active. “They’ve been catching them, but everything’s been small,” said Bob Cutshaw of Apache Pier.

Offshore

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

Comments: Bottom fishing is the best bet in the dead of winter, and anglers just may not have to go quite so far to find quality fish. Bottom spots past depths of 50 feet are sure to hold black sea bass and anglers may also find grouper and red snapper in residence on those spots. Further out, in depths of 90-120 feet, a variety of species are available including grouper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy and grunts. The annual shallow-water grouper spawning season closure is in effect and continues through the month of April. Species included in the closure are gag grouper, black grouper, red grouper, scamp, red hind, rock hind, yellowmouth grouper, yellowfin grouper, graysby, and coney. Also, red snapper are closed to harvest in the South Atlantic Region and must be released. Trolling action can be productive for wahoo and blackfin tuna.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, crappie, catfish, bass.

Comments: Area rivers including the Waccamaw, Little Pee Dee and Santee are all in the lower levels of Minor Flood Stage, which is not the best of news for fishermen, but there is one silver lining. “At least they are falling, so that’s a good thing,” said Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. While there is plenty of water to sort through on the rivers, Stalvey reports some anglers have had success for crappie and bream. “Those that have been going are doing good with crappie and bream,” said Stalvey. “Crappie are around structure like tree tops and creek mouths, and bream are in deep holes. They’re stacked up, huddled up, trying to stay warm.” Stalvey notes anglers have also had success with catfish on cut eel.

This story was originally published January 24, 2021 at 1:08 AM.