Grand Strand Fishing Report: Ocean catches slowing, but freshwater continues to be hot
Estuary
Look For: Flounder, spotted seatrtout, red drum, black drum, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, bluefish.
Comments: Although plenty of flounder are being caught, keeper flounder have been scarce in local estuaries thanks to the new 16-inch minimum size limit in South Carolina waters and a flounder closure in North Carolina waters. Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions in Murrells Inlet has noticed a gap in the size of the flounder he’s been catching. “The flounder bite in the inlet has been pretty good but it’s hard to catch keepers,” said Connolly. “All the fish are either 14-15 inches and the keepers are 17 1/2 to 20 inches. With (the minimum size) being 16, I think it’s going to bridge that gap. Hopefully we’ll start getting more of those 16-17 inchers.” Connolly has been catching flounder on the last half of the incoming tide, first of the fall on finger mullet and “peanut pogeys” (small menhaden). Connolly has also found some black drum and red drum. “The red (drum) bite was decent a week or two ago, now all of a sudden they can’t be found,” said Connolly. “I’ve caught a few black drum burning through a bunch of live or dead shrimp on the bottom.” Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown targeted flounder on a recent trip in North Inlet and caught 11 on mullet minnows including six that measured over 15 inches, the old minimum size limit. None of the 11 reached the new 16-inch threshold for a keeper. On Thursday, McDonald produced seven spotted seatrout and two red drum. “Two (of the trout) were good keepers and the rest were about 10 inches long,” said McDonald. One of the reds was within the 15-23 inch slot limit. McDonald was using plastic grubs on jig heads and floated menhaden. Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters in Little River produced a 19 1/2- and 18-inch flounder on Thursday but he was fishing across the state line in North Carolina waters and had to release both fish. Kelly has produced scattered catches of black drum, spotted seatrout and red drum along with Atlantic sharpnose and bonnethead sharks. “This week has been some of the toughest fishing we’ve seen this summer,” said Kelly. “The water temps (in the low 80s) have really slowed things down. It seems like in the afternoon the bite has been better. You get your feelings hurt one trip and catch ‘em up the next.” Capt. Rob Birchmeier of Pawleys Island Beach to Creek Guide Service and Black River Outdoors has had success via kayak on the south end of the Grand Strand. On Friday morning, Birchmeier put Greg Lippincott on a variety of bites including red drum, flounder and bonnethead sharks. Lippincott got towed around by a 28 ½-inch redfish before releasing it, plus caught a half-dozen flounder and released a pair of bonnetheads. Lippincott hooked up with the redfish on a Z-man plastic grub on a flood tide in the Spartina grass. The flounder were caught on Z-man grubs, mud minnows and finger mullet while the sharks nailed cut bait.
Inshore
Look For: King mackerel, Spanish mackerel, flounder, spadefish, black sea bass, whiting, pompano.
Comments: Spanish and king mackerel are available from the beach to bottom spots in 55-60 feet of water, but the fish are scattered. Connolly and Capt. Perrin Woods of Southern Saltwater Charters hit the Belky Bear vicinity, located 13-14 miles east-northeast of Murrells Inlet, on Thursday. They slow-trolled live menhaden but the bite was slow, as Woods produced a king mackerel and a Spanish mackerel, while Connolly landed a nice Spanish mackerel. The good news is there is bait on the beach. “There are big pogeys on the beach and hopefully it will keep getting better,” said Connolly. Aside from mackerel, near-shore artificial reefs such as Paradise Reef off Murrells Inlet and Jim Caudle Reef off Little River Inlet are also holding flounder, spadefish, black sea bass and a variety of species of sharks. Angler Doug Jones landed a 25.25-pound king from the Apache Pier Friday. Apache Pier has had a solid bite of flounder this week along with scattered catches of Spanish and whiting. Pompano and spadefish along with sharks are also on hand in the surf zone.
Offshore
Look For: Dolphin, blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, king mackerel, sailfish, blue marlin, bonito, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, red porgy, black sea bass.
Comments: The crew of Glazed out of Murrells Inlet made quite a splash on Thursday, the opening day of the Edisto Invitational Billfish Tournament, the season finale of the 2021 South Carolina Governor’s Cup Billfishing Series. After a six-hour battle, angler Wilson Springs III subdued a keeper blue marlin that measured 117.25 inches and weighed 505 pounds just before midnight at the docks at Edisto Marina. Fishing in the tournament was to continue through Saturday. Capt. Danny Carey of Careyon Charters hit a bottom spot in 80 feet of water out of Murrells Inlet on Thursday and found a great bite of gag grouper, along with amberjack, red snapper and barracuda, using live menhaden. The catch of the day was the grouper as Carey’s crew caught 15, kept three and released the rest including six that were tagged. “You drop that live bait down it’s like putting cotton candy in a kid’s hand,” said Carey. The crew caught about a dozen red snapper ranging from 15 to 26 inches in length, but of course released them all due to the closure for the species in the South Atlantic Region. “There are plenty of red snapper out there,” said Carey, emphasizing the word plenty.
Freshwater
Look For: Bream, bass, catfish, crappie
Comments: The Dog Days of Summer are arriving, but the fishing isn’t slowing down on local rivers. “Fishing’s been hot, it’s been unbelievable still,” said Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. Stalvey says bream are hitting crickets and worms in 2-4 feet of water, but also beetle spins and popping bugs. “All the creeks are doing phenomenal,” said Stalvey, “and the lily pads and trees that hang over the water providing some shade (are good spots to find bream). They’re stacked up trying to get out of the sun.” Catfish activity has been very good. “The eels have been flying out the door,” said Stalvey. “They’ve been catching mostly flatheads and blues, with a few channels mixed in.” Large black salty minnows and live bream are also top baits for big catfish. Bass are hitting topwater baits such as buzz baits and Texas-style rigged worms. “The quality of fish has been unbelievable,” said Stalvey of the bass action.