Grand Strand Fishing Report: Cool spell heats up action in local estuaries
Estuary
Look For: Flounder, spotted seatrtout, red drum, black drum, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, bluefish.
Comments: From Brunswick County, N.C., southward to the sprawling Winyah Bay vicinity, finger mullet are plentiful and currently the bait of choice. A deluge of rain early in the week followed by a cooler-than-normal stretch improved fishing for a few days after the doldrums of the Dog Days of Summer had set in. Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Fishing Charters in Little River has fished finger mullet on the bottom on jig heads on the grass line at high tide along the banks in the Little River vicinity to catch roaming redfish. “(Then) as the tide starts to drop we’ve been catching them in the main channels off the ICW banks and in creek mouths,” said Ossman. Go deep for spotted seatrout, Ossman said. “In a hole or ledge, they’re focusing on that deeper water,” said Ossman, who has drifted live shrimp on slip floats for trout. “They’re closer to the bottom. If the hole is 8 feet, I’m fishing 6-7 feet down and I’m catching flounder and black drum mixed in.” Ossman has also found some trout and larger reds, bordering on bull reds, at the Little River jetties. Wednesday morning on a falling tide, Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions found some solid action amid the cooler temperatures and misty conditions. Connolly’s crew put two keeper flounder, 16 and 18 inches, two slot reds measuring 19 and 21 inches, a 19-inch trout and a keeper black drum in the box to achieve a Murrells Inlet Grand Slam. Connolly used finger mullet to catch the flounder and trout and whole, fresh dead shrimp for the red and black drum. The catches were noticeably better on the heels of torrid weather late week, and Connolly feels the cool spell helped. “It absolutely had something to do with it,” said Connolly, who observed a water temperature in the upper 70s Wednesday morning. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service found a good bite of spotted seatrout in the Winyah Bay vicinity on the chilly, for August, Wednesday. McDonald noted a water temperature of 83 degrees and caught seven trout with five keepers on mullet fished on the bottom. “This is about the best trout bite I’ve been on in a month,” said McDonald. “We’re starting to get a few more shrimp coming back in (the bay) off the ocean and that’s having an effect in here. The heavy rain has flushed everything into the bay. They’ll go back into the rivers before long.” Where, exactly, was McDonald fishing? “Between the jetties and Conway,” the captain deadpanned.
Inshore
Look For: King mackerel, Spanish mackerel, flounder, spadefish, black sea bass, whiting, croaker, pompano.
Comments: Between bait for the inlet and the near-shore reefs, Ossman has been netting dozens and dozens of finger mullet from 3-7 inches. “My arms are about to fall off from the cast net,” said Ossman. “I like to have more baits than I need.” At the Jim Caudle Reef 3 miles south of Little River Inlet, Ossman has found large Spanish mackerel receptive, with a catch. “We’ve had some big Spanish up while live-lining mullet, but you seem to have to chum them up with finger mullet,” said Ossman. “You’ve got to get the Spanish to come to you.” Off Murrells Inlet, Connolly has found some king mackerel available on live bottom areas or artificial reefs from 3 to 15 miles offshore. “It’s a roller coaster just like every bite right now,” said Connolly. “One day you go out and catch a bunch and one day not catch any. When it’s good it’s good. All the kings are pretty big, but it’s been kind of random.” Connolly reports local angler Greg Coleman caught and released a sailfish at Belky Bear while king fishing. Bottom fishing in the same areas is producing some catches of flounder and mostly undersize black sea bass, plus spadefish are available. A variety of species of sharks are readily available. Action is a little slow from Grand Strand piers, which is typical of August. Scattered catches of whiting, croaker, flounder and black drum are reported from the Apache Pier. The ocean water temperature at the pier had dropped from 84 degrees earlier in the week to 82 on Thursday. Registration for the Ashley Turner Memorial King Mackerel Tournament will be held this Saturday at Apache Pier. Anglers must register in person. The tournament is set for Sept. 11.
Offshore
Look For: King mackerel, dolphin, blackfin tuna, yellowfin tuna, wahoo, sailfish, blue marlin, bonito, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, red porgy, black sea bass.
Comments: Capt. Shane Bashor of Side Kick Charters out of Crazy Sister Marina in Murrells Inlet has had successful trips at a couple different depths over the past week. First, on Saturday, Bashor was fishing in only 60 feet and produced a pair of king mackerel in the 10-15 pound range plus a mess of black sea bass and white grunts on the bottom. The trip-maker was a keeper gag grouper. “I thought that was pretty good for 60 feet in August,” said Bashor. On Monday, Bashor headed deeper, to 115 feet of water, and came home with a super catch of a variety of species. The crew landed five king mackerel up to 20 pounds and a stray dolphin in the 10-pound range. The catch of the day was a scamp grouper around 15 pounds to go with a bottom catch of about 20 vermilion snapper (beeliners) and several triggerfish, porgy and white grunt. As Bashor’s trips proved, good catches are possible in depths of 60-90 feet, but best action is on bottom spots in 110-120 feet. Trolling along the break can also produce blackfin and yellowfin tuna, bonito, barracuda and scattered sailfish.
Freshwater
Look For: Bream, catfish, bass, crappie.
Comments: An absolute deluge of rain hit the area on Monday, and there is a rise in the rivers but not enough to slow down the fishing, says Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. “We got a lot of water up the road but it isn’t going to affect (fishing) much,” said Stalvey. “It shouldn’t take long for it to flush out.” Stalvey reports bream action continues to be superb on the rivers in 2-4 feet of water. “Bream is phenomenal, on crickets mostly, worms a little bit,” said Stalvey. Bass action has been good, Stalvey says, especially on the Waccamaw, Pee Dee and Little Pee Dee rivers, with topwater catching the biggest fish and Texas-rigged worms also producing. “Work structure around the banks to find those fish staged up and ready to chew,” said Stalvey. Catfish catches are very good on eels, black salty minnows, live bream or cut mullet. “They are deep and shallow, literally everywhere from a foot-and-a-half to the deepest holes,” said Stalvey. “Every day is different, you’ve got to find out where they’re staged up at.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 1:12 PM.