Grand Strand Fishing Report: Trout, wahoo providing hot December action
Estuary
Look For: Spotted seatrout, black drum, red drum, flounder, sheepshead.
Comments: Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters in Little River was 1 1/2 hours into a charter trip at midday Thursday and had already caught approximately 20 spotted seatrout. “There’s a bunch of fish but a lot of small ones,” said Kelly. “We’ve got two keepers in the boat. I’ll move around and find (more keepers).” On a Saturday trip, Kelly produced plenty of keepers. “Saturday we really whacked them, a good mix of keeper trout and black drum,” said Kelly. “The trout bite has been fantastic.” Kelly has used live shrimp, Vudu shrimp, DOA shrimp and Z-Man Trout Trick. Kelly notes red drum are schooled up in their winter pattern, and observed a water temperature of 56.6 degrees Thursday. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown has ventured south of town to find a very good trout bite. A cold spell had dropped the water temperature to the lower 50s, even the upper 40s, before last weekend’s warm weather gave it a boost. “It was 52-53, but it had warmed up to 58 (on a Wednesday trip),” said McDonald. The captain produced 21 trout and six red drum on the trip. “We floated shrimp and didn’t do as good,” said McDonald. “We started throwing the plastic and the lower the tide got the better the bite got.” McDonald noted the trout were in the 13-18 inch range and the reds ranged from 15-28 inches. Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions has caught plenty of trout in Murrells Inlet but has had to work for it. “It’s really not that great of a bite,” said Connolly. “They’re kind of spread out. Sometimes I’ll have to hit 7-8 spots to find something consistent. Then we usually put a hurting on them.” Floating live shrimp, Connolly has also produced some black drum and short flounder. “it seems like when you find a bite, all the species are there hitting something.” Connolly and O-Fish-Al Expeditions is hosting the 6th annual Speckled Studs Trout Tournament, a live-release tournament, out of Marlin Quay Marina on Dec. 18. The Captains Meeting is on Dec. 17, 5-7 p.m., with fishing on Dec. 18, 6:30 a.m.-4 p.m. The tournament is a fundraiser for the Student Angler League Tournament Trail (SALTT). For more information, call 843-241-7022.
Inshore
Look For: Black sea bass, bluefish, weakfish, flounder, black drum, whiting, croaker, pompano, spots.
Comments: By December larger, keeper black sea bass typically begin moving into shallower water and take up residence on artificial reefs and bottom spots in depths of 30 feet and beyond. Finding keepers over the 13-inch minimum size limit can still be tough on the shallower spots, and fishing in depths of 50-90 feet is more likely to produce keepers. The nearshore artificial reefs such as Jim Caudle out of Little River and Paradise out of Murrells Inlet are holding plenty of black sea bass but, again, keepers can be scarce. Also look for weakfish, flounder and tautog on the reefs, with some bluefish still around. Capt. Rob Birchmeier of Pawleys Island Beach to Creek Guide Service has had success fishing with fresh cut shrimp in the surf. Birchmeier has produced black drum, whiting, blowfish, spots, bluefish and pompano. “There are tons of fish, finding the size (can be tough),” said Birchmeier. “It’s good fishing, fun fishing.”
Offshore
Look For: Wahoo, blackfin tuna, king mackerel, grouper, vermilion snapper, red porgy, black sea bass, white grunts, grey triggerfish, amberjack.
Comments: With a cold front closing in on Monday, the Fish Meister Fishing Team headed out of Little River and made a run to the Winyah Scarp for some wahoo trolling action. The timing was right for Trask Cunningham, Rodney Myers, Joey Rogers and Russell Spatholt. “We timed it up right and they bit before the front came through,” said Cunningham. The crew went with the high-speed trolling method and the lures were well-received by wahoo, as they landed eight out of 11 bites with the fish all weighing between 42 and 48 pounds. “That’s a pretty good class of fish for the Scarp for this time of year,” said Cunningham. “It was 76-degree water, calm in the morning and then picked up when the front came through around 2 p.m., and that shut the bite down.” The catch put the team currently in second place in the Capt. Roger Wahoo Challenge out of Ocean Isle Fishing Center. The tournament format is an aggregate of four heaviest wahoo, with Game Hawg in first place with 170.95 pounds followed by Fish Meister with 165.25 and Fuelin Good third with 150.3 pounds. General Manager David Black of Georgetown Landing Marina reports catches of blackfin tuna with a few wahoo have been good on the south end as Reel Therapy produced about 20 blackfin, two kings and one wahoo on a recent trip. “Bottom fishing has been fairly good too,” said Black. “Lots of red snapper being released and we had a good catch of black sea bass in 60-90 feet.” Black reports Game Plan had a cobia, numerous large vermilion snapper (beeliners) and released numerous red snapper on a bottom fishing trip.
Freshwater
Look For: Bream, crappie, catfish, bass.
Comments: After so many months of high water levels on local rivers, anglers are enjoying a stretch of average and even low water levels. “It’s been low to normal, and it’s been good to see it like this instead of high as I don’t know what,” said Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. “Fishing’s been phenomenal.” Bream are hitting red worms fished on the bottom in 4-15 feet of water. “Nice, nice bream,” said Stalvey. Late autumn and winter offer the best crappie fishing of the calendar year. “Crappie fishing has been amazing on minnows under a float from 2 to 6 feet deep,” said Stalvey. “Beetle spins and jigs have been working but the minnows are flying out the door.” Bass action is good on crankbaits and spinnerbaits with fish holding in creeks, ditch mouths and around structure. Catfish, mainly blues in the 5-15 pound range, have been hitting eels and large shiners.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 1:59 PM.