A rewarding day of fishing off Murrells Inlet as conservation made for a win-win trip

The time was 6:15 a.m. Saturday and Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions eased his Key West 230 Bay Reef out of the basin at Marlin Quay Marina into the main creek of Murrells Inlet.

Connolly, along with Mike Kachman of Pawleys Island and myself, were bundled up in the dim pre-dawn light, as the MarshWalk Mafia Inshore Slam Tournament, staged by Murrells Inlet Fishing Charters (MIFC) on the west side of the inlet, was greeted by easily the coldest day of the autumn.

The temperature was in the upper 30s with a stiff northeast wind gusting to 20 mph-plus, providing a wind chill below freezing.

The wind chill got much colder a few minutes later when tournament director Jason Burton of MIFC counted down to a shotgun start over VHS radio at 6:30 a.m.

When Burton’s count reached zero, the field of 15 boats zoomed away from the starting point adjacent to the Murrells Inlet MarshWalk in a race to get to a favored fishing spot within the little inlet to start the day.

Connolly opened up the Yamaha 250, reaching speeds of 45-50 mph, racing through the main creek to be the first to reach his preferred spot along the inlet’s jetties.

Connolly had said he was not going to risk life or limb to get there at the shotgun start, but he did, and in the end it proved worth it.

Connolly deployed his Minn Kota Ulterra trolling motor at just the right spot and distance from the jetties and hit the anchor button on the remote to hold the boat in place in the face of the rising tide coming in from the Atlantic Ocean. Conditions were dicey, with the nor’easter rolling choppy 2-foot waves across the mouth of the inlet.

The annual tournament features a live release format, with each boat allowed to weigh in, then release alive, trout, red drum and flounder. At the end of the day, the fishing team with the heaviest aggregate of one of each of the three species would be declared the winner, although weighing in one of all three is not required.

Connolly’s plan was to target large, gator spotted seatrout and shoot for a red drum on the upper end of South Carolina’s 15-23 inch slot limit.

With a livewell loaded with sizable live shrimp, we began drifting the shrimp with the current on on adjustable float rigs adjacent to the rocks.

The bite picked up after a slow start, and we started netting trout approaching the 20-inch threshold.

Around 10 a.m., I was the angler on a trout in the size range we were looking for, easily over 20 inches and definitely in the 4-pound range.

After a quick check by Connolly on a digital scale showed it weighed well over 4 pounds, the female was gently placed in the livewell and put on constant observation, per the live-release format.

Soon, Kachman, a kayak fishing guide for Black River Outdoors and a member of Team Eyestrike, was the angler on a 16-inch redfish which was placed in the livewell. A while later, the trout wasn’t doing so well, and another frantic run across the inlet to the weigh-in site at MIFC was in order.

Fifteen minutes later, around 11 a.m., we weighed and successfully released the 4 1/2-pound trout and the 16-inch redfish. A solid start but there was plenty of time to upgrade.

Knowing there was a nice class of trout and some redfish on hand at that spot, Connolly returned as the tide was beginning to fall.

As the water began really rolling out of the inlet, the bite of gator trout hit another level, plus redfish just over the slot began to inhale the shrimp.

First, Connolly hooked into a fish that was obviously a trout, and a good one. After a tense 10-minute battle, the trout was netted and placed in the live well.

Several redfish just over the 15-23 inch slot, most measuring 24-25 inches, were released and our fingers were crossed for one a little smaller. Kachman hit paydirt with a 22-incher that was added to the live well.

Then it was decision time. Stay at the same spot and try to upgrade the trout or head into the creeks to try to catch an elusive keeper flounder over the new 16-inch minimum size?

The decision was to go weigh in the trout and the redfish, which were clearly upgrades, and head for the creeks in search of a keeper flounder.

The verdict at the scales was a 4.74-pound trout and a 3.82-pound redfish for a total of 8.56 pounds, and we felt good about our chances.

On the north side of the inlet, with the tide approaching dead low, Kachman worked a ¼-ounce Trout Eye jig head with a Z-Man Minnowz Glitter Done grub and caught numerous flounder in the 12-14 inch range as the 3 p.m. weigh-in deadline loomed closer.

Connolly and I drifted shrimp near the bottom and caught a handful of flounder, plus plenty more trout, but a keeper flounder was not to be found.

A few hours later at the tournament’s casual awards ceremony at MIFC on the Marsh Walk, Team Marlin Quay was the overall winner with the 8.56-aggregate, plus claimed first-place trout (4.74 pounds) and second place redfish (3.82 pounds).

Team On The Fly weighed in all three species, claiming second place overall with a 6.68-pound aggregate, finished second in flounder (1.62 pounds), third in trout (3.07 pounds) and third in redfish (1.99 pounds).

Pelagic Chaser was third overall and weighed in the largest redfish, a 4.69-pounder.

Lyin King caught the largest flounder, a 3.80-pounder. Uno Mas weighed in the second largest trout, a 4.59-pounder.

The Southern Anglers Radio Show team weighed in the largest black drum to win that special category with a 2.66-pounder.

Only two keeper flounder over the 16-inch minimum size limit were weighed in.

In all, it was a rewarding day on the water with South Carolina’s awesome late autumn action on full display.

But the greatest reward was releasing the largest fish caught, the biggest spawners, to allow them to continue adding to the incredible fishery we have along the South Carolina coast.

Kudos to Capt. Jason Burton and Murrells Inlet Fishing Charters for the live-release format.

This story was originally published November 27, 2021 at 8:00 AM.