Grand Strand Fishing Report: Yellowfin tuna, wahoo show up offshore
Estuary
Look For: Spotted seatrout, red drum, black drum, flounder, sheepshead.
Comments: The flooding on local rivers is having an adverse effect on many estuaries. “It’s super muddy,” said Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters in Little River before heading out Thursday morning. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service headed across murky Winyah Bay to fish North Inlet and managed to catch red drum despite not-so-great conditions. “(The water) was black at North Inlet right after a rain,” said McDonald. “A lot of run-off water in there. That will shut (the fish) down. Winyah Bay has got so much (dirty water) going through it. You may be able to catch some fish at the jetties but nothing’s happening in the bay.” The bite was very different on back-to-back days in Murrells Inlet for Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions. On Tuesday, Connolly and crew found a super bite of spotted seatrout at the jetties and wound up keeping nine trout and a black drum. “We fished exclusively at the rocks and all the fish were studs,” said Connolly. “I don’t think we caught anything under 20 inches.” On Wednesday, Connolly returned to the jetties, but the trout weren’t there. After over an hour with no bites, Connolly moved to the back creeks of the inlet and found a decent bite, producing several trout, three small flounder and a black drum. Connolly noted water temperature readings of 49 degrees at the jetties, 54 in the creeks and 57 at dead low tide (in the creeks).
Inshore
Look For: Black sea bass, sheepshead, black drum, whiting, croaker, flounder, tautog, bluefish.
Comments: Capt. Jeff Maples of Reel Salty Fishing Charters headed out on a “prospecting” trip out of Murrells Inlet on Wednesday, checking out the 10-Mile Reef and the Goldfinch Reef. The 10-Mile Reef is located 9.5 nautical miles east-southeast of the jetties in 45 feet of water while the Goldfinch Reef is 20 nautical miles southeast in 60 feet. Fishing with fiddler crabs and squid, Maples was hoping to find sheepshead and expected to find black sea bass. “We caught black sea bass constantly,” said Maples. “Most were 12 3/4-inch fish (just below the 13-inch minimum size limit).” Maples also caught, somewhat surprisingly, bluefish. “It wasn’t little dinky blues,” said Maples. “They were 9-15 inches.” Maples was left unsure whether the sheepshead were there. “There were too many bass and blues,” said Maples. “You couldn’t get your line down and set before you’d have a fish on.” Maples noted a water temperature of 57 degrees from the inlet to the 10-Mile Reef but was surprised with a cooler reading of 55 degrees at the Goldfinch. With the bluefish showing up, Maples expects to see a species of tuna, a bonito, that shows up in the nearshore usually in March. “They get mixed in with the blues,” said Maples. “If we get some of that southwest wind blowing to warm that water up, they’ll be here in two weeks.” Calvin Dickerson of Apache Pier reports black drum were caught on the pier Wednesday, but the main catch has been small whiting and croaker. “There are a few different fish here and there, but the good fishing is coming,” said Dickerson. The ocean water temperature was at 50 degrees Thursday morning, up one degree from a day earlier.
Offshore
Look For: Wahoo, blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy, black sea bass, grunts.
Comments: Dr. Jason Rosenberg and Capt. Jay Sconyers took advantage of a weather window of opportunity Wednesday to head out to the Winyah Scarp for some trolling action aboard Rosenberg’s Contender, Painkiller. A quick one-hour run at 50 mph on a calm ocean had the crew fishing quickly, around 8 a.m. Trolling ballyhoo on pink and blue skirts with a water temperature of 68 degrees produced a great catch of three blackfin tuna, a wahoo and, the catch of the day, a 35-pound yellowfin tuna. “It’s great to see their return,” Rosenberg said of the yellowfin. They also lost a wahoo in the 70-pound range just out of reach of the gaff and caught several barracuda and bonito. Rosenberg notes numerous sea turtles were spotted at the surface. Spring can’t be too far away. Jeff Martini of Mid-Town Bistro in North Myrtle Beach and his crew went deep-dropping aboard Dirty Martini on Wednesday some 90 miles out of Little River and in 800 feet of water. The bite of snowy grouper was excellent, and the crew wound up with 15 plus a bonus golden tilefish. One of the snowy grouper was a 41-pounder, well above the South Carolina state record of 35 pounds, 12 ounces but the fish was caught on an electric reel which disqualifies it from state-record consideration. Bottom fishing in depths of 90-120 feet is producing a variety of species including black sea bass, grouper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy and grunts. The annual shallow-water spawning season closure is in effect and continues through April. Red snapper are also commonly caught as shallow as 50 feet and deeper but are closed to harvest in the South Atlantic Region and must be released.
Freshwater
Look For: Crappie, bream, bass, catfish, shad.
Comments: The river levels on the Waccamaw at Conway, Little Pee Dee at Galivants Ferry, Pee Dee at Pee Dee and the Santee at Jamestown are all in Moderate or Major Flood Stage. With the rivers overflowing their banks, there is more concern with flooding than fishing until the waters recede. There is a temporary no-wake zone in effect from Enterprise Landing at Socastee northward to the Fantasy Harbor Fixed Bridge along the Waccamaw and the Intracoastal Waterway.
