Grand Strand Fishing Report: Action still off and on, but signs are good as spring nears

Estuary

Look For: Red drum, black drum, spotted seatrout, flounder, sheepshead.

Comments: The river levels have improved but the water flowing into Winyah Bay still leaves plenty to be desired. “It’s still nasty water,” said Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service. “The water coming down the Pee Dee and the Waccamaw, it’s muddy but it is 59 degrees. It was 52 a couple weeks ago.” On Tuesday, with a front coming through with falling temperatures, McDonald managed to produce seven red drum on mud minnows, fishing in the bay and North Inlet. “They (mud minnows) were the only thing we caught anything on,” said McDonald. On Sunday, McDonald and crew caught 12 red drum on cut shrimp and Berkeley Gulp baits. Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Charters hit the back creeks in the Little River area earlier this week. “I was surprised to see, not redfish, but there were a bunch of trout in there,” said Ossman. “Probably a lot of female trout in there breeding. I saw eight or nine swim by the boat and they were big fish.” Anglers are encouraged to release trout measuring over 20 inches, which are the prolific spawners. Ossman caught trout on mud minnows presented on jig heads on the bottom. In another hole, Ossman found redfish and black drum and caught them on cut shrimp. “They’re still in that winter-time mode but they’re about to break loose and move around,” said Ossman. Capt. Curtis Smith of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters has also caught trout, redfish and black drum in the creeks using live shrimp and mud minnows. Area jetties are still holding trout, but, except for a few nice days, windy conditions have kept most anglers away from the rocks in the last few weeks.

Inshore

Look For: Black drum, sheepshead, whiting, croaker, red drum, bluefish.

Comments: Capt. Jay Sconyers of Aces Up Fishing produced a pending state record tautog and some nice sheepshead on a recent trip to the near-shore artificial reefs, and says there is still good action to be found. “The black drum are still out there,” said Sconyers. “Sheepshead, after this next moon cycle, they should be moving back inshore to areas like the jetties.” Sconyers hit a spot 18 miles offshore on Saturday and produced nine keeper black sea bass (13-inch minimum size limit) along with white grunts and saucer-eye porgy. “We had to go through 150 black sea bass to get the nine keepers,” said Sconyers, only half-joking. “(Black sea bass) are starting to move offshore as the water gets warmer.” The weather trend lately has been chilly and breezy for mid-March, but with Spring officially arriving Saturday, look for bluefish to be showing up in the next two weeks with Spanish mackerel soon to follow. Calvin Dickerson of Apache Pier reports good catches of whiting this week, with one angler landing 20 on Thursday. Croaker and a few red drum have also been caught off the pier. The ocean water temperature was 56 degrees Thursday morning.

Offshore

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

Comments: Ed Keelin of Georgetown Landing Marina reports catches of wahoo, blackfin tuna and a few yellowfin tuna mixed in on days when boats can get offshore for some trolling action. “There seems to be a few yellowfin tuna around this spring already,” said Keelin. “The bite seemed to be a little up and down last week but things are warming up and the action is starting to pick up.” Keelin noted Big Kahuna broke off a blue marlin on Sunday. Sconyers recommends heading to 70-85 feet of water for black sea bass, to “get real good keepers. You can catch red snapper until you’re blue in the face but you have to throw them back,” said Sconyers. For best bottom-fishing action, Sconyers says to head to 120 feet of water to land black sea bass, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy, amberjack and grouper. Red snapper must be released in the South Atlantic Region indefinitely. The shallow-water grouper spawning season closure continues through April, with grouper season opening up on May 1.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, crappie, catfish, bass.

Comments: The river levels are in the best shape in months, with the Waccamaw, Little Pee Dee, Pee Dee and Black all out of flood stage just in time for spring’s arrival on Saturday. Springtime is prime time for bream fishing on worms or crickets. Bream are in spawning mode and, as the water continues to warm, they will be moving to shallower water. Currently look for bream anywhere from 2 to 8 feet of water, and floating crickets or lead-lining worms should produce fish. Crappie are taking minnows around structure such as fallen trees and brush, and in creek mouths. Bass are in pre-spawn mode, with crawfish imitation lures a good bet. Catfish are hitting cut eel and shad.

This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 2:02 PM.