Local fishing report (Nov. 5)
Estuary
Look For: Spotted seatrout, red drum, black drum, flounder, croaker, spots, whiting, sheepshead.
Comments: Right on cue in the first week of November, the spotted seatrout bite has picked up nicely in area estuaries. On the south end, Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown produced 31 trout, four undersized black drum and three bluefish Thursday while fishing in three areas - the Winyah Bay jetties, North Inlet and Winyah Bay. McDonald’s crew used artificial grubs to catch the trout, which were in the 13- to 18-inch range. McDonald noted a 68-69 degree water temperature. Up north, Capt. Patrick Kelly of Capt. Smiley Fishing Charters also had a superb day in the Little River area on Thursday. “Trout fishing is really good right now,” said Kelly. “We probably caught 50 trout but there were a lot of shorts. We had 15 keepers and caught some bluefish.” Kelly's crew used Berkeley Gulp shrimp on jig heads and Mirrolures to catch the trout. One of Kelly’s keepers was a 4.5-pound fish, and he produced a 6.5-pounder on Monday. The minimum size for spotted seatrout in South Carolina is 14 inches, with a 10-per person daily bag limit. Spots continue to be caught in Murrells Inlet and Cherry Grove, but catches are hit or miss and not as torrid as a few weeks ago.
Inshore
Look For: King mackerel, whiting, weakfish, flounder, bluefish, red drum, black drum, croaker, spadefish, sheepshead.
Comments: Bull reds continue to be the best bet in the near-shore waters, with the big spawners still being caught on hard-bottom areas not far off the beach. Most any live or cut bait will work including mullet, menhaden, whiting or bluefish. Anglers are encouraged to carefully release the reds which are invariably over South Carolina’s slot limit of 15-23 inches. There were some good runs of spots on Grand Strand piers last weekend, but catches have slowed this week, although rainy weather has kept many anglers at home. There are also scattered catches of whiting, black drum, bluefish, croaker, weakfish and flounder on the piers. Black sea bass, with a 13-inch minimum size limit, are moving to shallower bottom spots as winter inches closer. Also look for Spanish and king mackerel, weakfish and flounder on bottom spots. The ocean water temperature has remained steady over the past week, with a reading of 70 degrees Thursday at 4 p.m. at Springmaid Pier.
Offshore
Look For: Wahoo, blackfin tuna, dolphin, grouper, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, amberjack, triggerfish, porgy.
Comments: Trolling for wahoo continues to be the hot ticket offshore, with king mackerel and a few blackfin tuna mixed in also. The area trolling boats are working most is the Winyah Scarp. The crew of Painkiller, owned by Dr. Jason Rosenberg of Murrells Inlet, had a super trip on their normal Wednesday outing. On just a half-day trip, the crew went bottom fishing and came home with gag grouper, scamp, large triggerfish, vermilion snapper, porgy and white grunts. The crew also caught some very nice “genuine” red snapper. But as has long been the case, the species cannot be harvested and must be released indefinitely in the South Atlantic Region.
Freshwater
Look For: Bream, catfish, bass, crappie.
Comments: The latest round of rain brought an unwanted rise in the rivers this week. The Waccamaw River at Conway was back above flood stage at 11.42 feet as of Thursday at 9 a.m. Flood stage for the Waccamaw River is 11 feet. The Black River at Kingstree was also above its flood stage of 12 feet, at 12.17 feet Thursday at 9 a.m. Predictably, there aren't too many fishermen on the rivers. “Most people are going spot fishing in Murrells Inlet and Cherry Grove,” said Matt Woodward of Rick's Bait and Tackle in Conway. Woodward notes there have been some river anglers targeting crappie around brush and other structure in the rivers, using crappie minnows to catch them.
Gregg Holshouser
This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Local fishing report (Nov. 5)."