Grand Strand Fishing Report: Variety of catches increasing and some bigger fish appearing
Estuary
Look For: Spotted seatrout, flounder, red drum, black drum, sheepshead, bluefish, Spanish mackerel.
Comment: Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown found a solid bite of red drum on a Monday trip, producing nine fish on Bass Assassin and DOA soft plastic grubs. McDonald was fishing in the Winyah Bay area and noted all the fish were within South Carolina’s 15-23 inch slot limit including seven over 20 inches. McDonald observed a 68-degree water temperature. Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Fishing Charters has found some great black drum action this week fishing deeper pockets with cut shrimp in the Little River area. Ossman has used live shrimp on slip floats to catch spotted seatrout and reds plus a few bonus flounder. Ossman has also caught flounder on white Gulp shrimp and mud minnows, but most fish have been under South Carolina’s current 15-inch minimum size limit. “It’s only a matter of time before we get some bigger (flounder) to move in,” said Ossman. “Little River is the last place they move into (in the spring).” Ossman has also caught trout on mud minnows. Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions has continued to find very good trout fishing in Murrells Inlet while floating live shrimp at the jetties and in the creeks, with some very nice incidental catches. “We’ve caught some really nice Spanish floating shrimp and a few reds and black drum as a by-catch from trout fishing,” said Connolly. The thrill of the week for Connolly came while his customer got a bite fishing fresh dead shrimp on a Carolina rig at the jetties. “I thought it was a big stingray but then it came up 20 feet behind the boat and I said ‘Holy Cow!’ “ recalled Connolly. The fish was a huge black drum that Connolly released after estimating the weight at 40 pounds.
Inshore
Look For: Spanish mackerel, bluefish, king mackerel, weakfish, flounder, black drum, whiting, pompano.
Comments: Another week has passed since Spanish mackerel arrived, and there’s good news for anglers. “The Spanish have gotten bigger,” said Capt. Perrin Wood of Southern Saltwater Charters. Out of Murrells Inlet, Spanish have been found at Paradise Reef, along the beach and out to Belky Bear. Wood notes small kings under the 24-inch minimum size limit have also been caught at Belky Bear. “We’ve been catching some 18-20 inch kings at the Bear,” said Wood. “They’re out there. They could be as shallow as 60 feet, but I don’t think there’s any keeper kings until you get to 60-75 feet yet.” Wood has heard reports of menhaden showing up, which can only mean one thing. “Things are definitely starting to happen,” said Wood. The quality of Spanish being caught off the Apache Pier has improved this week, reports Lynn Galloway of the pier. “They’re catching a lot of Spanish mackerel, and they’re bigger than they were,” said Galloway, who noted anglers are also catching bluefish and whiting. A pompano weighing 1.95 pounds was landed and a bull red drum was caught and released from the pier. The Apache Pier is staging a one-day king mackerel tournament on May 22, with signup for the event opening at 10 a.m. on May 1. The ocean water temperature at the pier was 65 degrees Thursday morning.
Offshore
Look For: Wahoo, dolphin, blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna, king mackerel, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy, grunts, black sea bass.
Comments: Look for offshore trolling to kick into high gear after the current cold front gets out of here. Trolling boats have been catching plenty of blackfin tuna with a few wahoo, dolphin and yellowfin tuna mixed in. Dolphin have been found well offshore of the break, as Game Plan out of Georgetown Landing Marina loaded up with a great catch on Saturday. The dolphin numbers should increase dramatically in areas along the break such as the Winyah Scarp, Black Jack Hole and Georgetown Hole in the next few weeks. Of course billfish encounters including blue marlin, white marlin and sailfish will also pick up as the calendar turns into May. The annual shallow-water grouper spawning season closure continues through April with the season opening again in just a week, on May 1, in the South Atlantic Region. Capt. Justin Witten of Ambush Sport Fishing out of Murrells Inlet headed to an offshore bottom spot early this week and had a banner day. Witten’s crew landed a pair of cobia including the catch of the week, a 57.68-pounder, plus released a number of large grouper. The crew also put numerous vermilion snapper and triggerfish in the box.
Freshwater
Look For: Bream, bass, catfish, crappie.
Comments: Local river levels are in great shape with the Waccamaw at Conway making good tides, which bodes well for super springtime fishing. The caterpillar hatch is on and bream action is excellent with fish hitting crickets along with wax worms in 2-4 feet of water. Bass are bedding and a variety of lures will work including topwater, Texas rigged worms and spinnerbaits. Catfish action has been excellent on eels and live bream and crappie are taking minnows.