Local fishing report (Aug. 27)

Estuary

Look For: Flounder, red drum, black drum, spotted seatrout, sheepshead.

Comments: Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters has been catching spotted seatrout, red drum, black drum and some sizable croakers this week in the Little River area. Kelly has mainly used live shrimp on popping corks to catch his fish, but has landed a few trout on top-water Mirrolures. Kelly, who noted a water temperature of 81-82 degrees, has fished numerous areas including the crossroads, Tilghman Dock, Tubbs Inlet and Little River Inlet. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown headed to North Inlet on a Thursday trip to catch eight reds, fishing live finger mullet on Carolina rigs. Several days earlier, McDonald also had good success with spotted seatrout. McDonald noted a water temperature of 83 degrees in all areas including North Inlet, Winyah Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway south of Georgetown. Sheepshead action is picking up at area jetties and tarpon are available in areas from Winyah Bay and south.

Inshore

Look For: Spanish mackerel, flounder, bluefish, whiting, pompano, black drum, croaker, spadefish, weakfish, sheepshead.

Comments: It’s a consensus, both Capt. Jeff Maples of Reel Salty Fishing Charters and Capt. Shannon Currie of Catch 1 Sport Fishing Charters report Spanish mackerel are currently the best bet in the inshore waters. Both captains have been catching Spanish by trolling spoons in the vicinity of the entrance to Murrells Inlet. Maples notes that sargassum, a floating seaweed typically found offshore, has been seen in the water as close as six miles from shore, and that Capt. Scott Witten of Ambush Sport Fishing caught a small dolphin at the Pawleys Reef, which is only about 3 miles off the beach. Kings have been landed from the Belky Bear area. Spanish are also the top option on Grand Strand piers, with Apache Pier reporting a few limits caught. Flounder catches have been decent, with whiting, blues, croaker and a few spots also caught on the piers this week. The surface ocean water temperature was 84.3 degrees Thursday at 4 p.m. at 2nd Ave. Pier in Myrtle Beach.

Offshore

Look For: Wahoo, blackfin tuna, dolphin, grouper, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy.

Comments: Wahoo catches have been excellent over the past week near and just inshore of the break. The 42-boat field in the inaugural Georgetown Wahoo Challenge weighed in 112 wahoo at Georgetown Landing Marina last Saturday. There have also been scattered catches of blackfin tuna and dolphin, with a few sailfish and blue marlin releases, for trolling boats. The deep-water bite for snowy grouper has been very good, with red porgy also on hand. In shallower water, in the 80-120 foot range, grouper action has also been good on ledges and other bottom spots. Also look for vermilion snapper, black sea bass, red porgy, triggerfish and amberjack on bottom-fishing trips. Red snapper are available but must be released indefinitely in the South Atlantic Region. Also, the recreational harvest of hogfish (hog snapper) closed as of Monday in the South Atlantic Region.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, catfish, bass, crappie.

Comments: Rainy weather has put a damper on the river fishing scene over the past week. “There are just a few going but they’re still catching bream and they’re going catfishing,” said Rick Woodward of Rick’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. “A couple of my old-timers caught their limit of bream.” Woodward says the Bucksport and Ricefields areas are the top area with bluegill the main species being caught by bream fishermen. Bream can be found in 2-4 feet of water, hitting crickets or red worms. Use cut eels or mullet to land catfish.

Gregg Holshouser

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 5:56 PM with the headline "Local fishing report (Aug. 27)."