Outdoors: Historic rainfall to leave long-term changes to Winyah Bay, veteran captain says

Unprecedented.

That is Capt. Mike McDonald’s take on the devastating rains that fell on Horry and Georgetown counties and across the state of South Carolina from Oct. 1 through Oct. 5.

The 69-year-old McDonald was born and raised in Georgetown and for all of his nearly 70 years on earth he has lived in there, near the shores of Winyah Bay.

Winyah Bay is considered the third-largest watershed on the East Coast, and the majority of the rain that fell during the five-day stretch – upwards of 20 inches across much of the coastal plain and into the midlands – will flow through the Waccamaw, Black and Pee Dee rivers into the bay on its way to the Atlantic Ocean.

“I’ve not seen a rain event like this,” McDonald said, “and I don’t know anybody who has.”

The heavy flow of freshwater through the bay into the Atlantic will continue for weeks, and for how long is anybody’s guess, McDonald says. The veteran captain, who operates Gul-R-Boy Guide Service, expects changes in the topography of the bay.

“There’s no way to predict how long this thing will last, we’ve never had anything like this,” McDonald said. “It may take a month before the Black River gets back within its banks.

“One thing is for certain, when it’s done, Winyah Bay will be changed. The topography of it will have changed. There are islands that won’t be there because (the flood water) is running at a fast pace.”

Prior to the storm, 73 percent of South Carolina was abnormally dry. Thanks to the deluge, only 4 percent of the state was abnormally dry on Oct. 6, according to WPDE-TV Meteorologist Ed Piotrowski.

During the prolonged dry conditions before the storm, area rivers were very low and saltwater had moved well upriver from the bay’s freshwater-saltwater dividing line – the U.S. Hwy. 17 bridge just north of Georgetown. Many saltwater species of fish had moved well up the rivers too.

McDonald thinks, in short, the flood waters will concentrate the fish in Winyah Bay, especially the lower bay.

“People have been catching fish up the rivers, damn near the Yauhannah Bridge (up the Pee Dee River on Hwy. 701),” McDonald said. “This is going to push it all down here. You’ve got spottails that were born and raised north of (the Hwy. 17 bridge) that have never been down here. They are here now.”

Despite the dingy, dark, muddy freshwater, red drum (spottails) and trout have already been caught by anglers who have ventured out on the bay. McDonald is not surprised.

“They’re catching fish and they’re gonna catch fish,” McDonald said. “A week after (Hurricane) Hugo I got out there, caught menhaden (in a castnet) and anchored on the end of the north jetty. The water was just as black as you’d see at Wacca Wache (Marina) with no salt whatsoever. I caught 52 spottails.”

Salinity Levels

Dean Cain, a biologist for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources from the Samworth Wildlife Management Area office, conducted salinity testing on Thursday in Winyah Bay and out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Starting at the freshwater-saltwater dividing line – the aforementioned U.S. Hwy. 17 Bridge – Cain took water samples down through the bay and well out into the ocean.

“From Belle Isle (Marina) and up there is hardly any salt at all,” Cain said.

The first appreciable saltwater Cain found was near the Georgetown Lighthouse at the lower end of the bay, where he noted five parts per thousand of saltwater mainly on the bottom. Normal saltwater is about 35 parts per thousand, Cain said.

“It was really about 12 miles offshore where I started picking up salinities between 20 and 30 parts per thousand,” Cain said.

He continued to the City of Richmond wreck.

“A half-mile offshore of the Richmond was where the plume (of freshwater) ended, about 18 miles off the beach,” Cain said.

King Tournaments

The flooding disaster came right in the middle of prime fall fishing for king mackerel, but the tournaments will go on. Following are the details:

▪ The Fall Brawl King Classic is underway at Ocean Isle Fishing Center in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., with boats able to fish one day, Saturday or Sunday. Visit www.OIFC.com, call 910-575-3474 for more information or just head out to the docks this weekend to check out the weigh-ins of the Southern Kingfish Association-sanctioned event.

▪ The inaugural Marlin Quay Marina King Mackerel Shoot Out will be held Oct. 17 out of the marina in Murrells Inlet. Visit www.marlinquaymarina.com or call 843-651-4444 for more information.

▪ The 2015 U.S. Open King Mackerel Tournament out of Southport Marina in Southport, N.C., was postponed and will now be held Oct. 30-31. For more information, visit www.usopenkmt.com or call 910-457-5787.

This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Outdoors: Historic rainfall to leave long-term changes to Winyah Bay, veteran captain says."