Grand Strand Fishing Report: Cold, wet weather making action off and on for weeks
Estuary
Look For: Spotted seatrout, black drum, red drum, flounder, sheepshead.
Comments: Rainy, cold and breezy. That’s never a good recipe for fishing, especially in the winter. The weather has been a broken record for at least the last two weeks with only a few decent days to get on the water, but Tuesday was one of those days. “Tuesday, got a good weather break,” said Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions in Murrells Inlet. “The temperature got up to 65 degrees and bumped the water temp up to the mid-50s.” Connolly and crew floated live shrimp in the creeks and had a good catch, and release, of a Carolina Slam. “We were nowhere but in the creeks,” said Connolly. “We caught 20 trout, released the bigger ones, and kept 10.” Connolly’s group caught six flounder in the 13-inch range, below the 15-inch minimum size limit, three black drum and one red drum. On Monday, Connolly and fishing partner Scott Kluska mainly fished the choppy Murrells Inlet jetties and had another very nice catch of sizable trout, plus a few reds and a keeper flounder, once again floating live shrimp. “There’s still definitely plenty of fish,” said Connolly. “They’re being picky on a day-to-day basis depending on water temperature and what the tides are doing.” Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters and Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Charters went out on a scouting trip by boat and foot on Tuesday in the back creeks of the Little River area. “We were just walking around and scouting some of the back, backwater holes,” said Ossman. “We saw some small flounder, a few reds and a bunch of fry. Whatever (the fry were), there’s going to be a healthy population of them. There were pools just full of them.” The duo caught four reds on popping corks on live shrimp in the ICW. Conditions haven’t been too conducive for fishing at the Little River jetties, but Ossman says the fish are there. “They’re catching a few trout off the jetties,” said Ossman. “I know there are some over 20-inch class fish are out there. It’s just a matter of finding the weather to get out there.”
Inshore
Look For: Black sea bass, sheepshead, black drum, whiting, croaker, flounder, tautog.
Comments: The Atlantic has been cold, nasty and unforgiving on virtually every day of the last few weeks, and very few anglers have ventured out of safe harbor. Sheepshead and black drum are known to congregate on nearshore artificial reefs within several miles of the beach in February. Fiddler crabs are a top bait, and chumming is a good idea. Also look for black sea bass, tautog and possibly flounder on the reefs. Look for a better concentration of keeper black sea bass (13 inch minimum) in depths of around 50 feet, with red snapper, which are off-limits and must be released, also a possibility. It’s been a quiet, even desolate, week along the beach, and a few small whiting are the most likely desirable catch off Grand Strand piers. The ocean water temperature Friday afternoon at Apache Pier was 50 degrees.
Offshore
Look For: Wahoo, blackfin tuna, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, red porgy, black sea bass.
Comments: Virtually no boats have been offshore, so all Capt. Brant McMullan of Ocean Isle Fishing Center could talk was late-winter trends. “Black sea bass is the main accessible winter-time species,” said McMullan. “In 60-100 feet, look for a water temperature in the upper 50s to low 60s. that’s the main game. Other than that you have to go to the edge of the break and some more bottom fish are out there, beeliners and triggers and some grunts.” As for trolling, February can be a good month for wahoo, but not currently. “Trolling is going to be very suspect right now because we’ve had so much west wind and it pushes the warm water offshore. If we ever get some decent 70-degree water over the ledges along the break in less than 200 feet of water, that’s what you want. It’s just a tough time, quiet time right now.” With the S.C. Wahoo Series continuing on into April, McMullan looks for specific conditions. “The best wahoo fishing I’ve ever seen was in February because the fish can get concentrated in a pocket, a warm water eddy of the Gulf Stream over the break,” said McMullan. “That’s an anomaly though.” McMullan has a suggestion for restless fishermen. “If you ever want to send your fishing reels to be serviced, you send them in February and March,” said McMullan. “Work on the boat now and go fishing in late March and April, that would be my advice.”
Freshwater
Look For: Crappie, bream, catfish, bass, shad.
Comments: With rain plentiful in the last few weeks, the river level readings are way up there and the Waccamaw at Conway, Little Pee Dee at Galivants Ferry, Pee Dee at Pee Dee and the Santee at Jamestown are all dancing the line between Moderate and Major Flood Stage. With the rivers overflowing their banks, there is more concern with flooding than fishing until the waters recede.