Local fishing report (Feb. 19, 2016)

Estuary

Look For: Spotted seatrout, red drum, flounder, black drum, tautog, sheepshead

Comments: Capt. Mark Dickson of Shallow-Minded Inshore Charters in Little River took advantage of the pretty weather and found red drum receptive on Wednesday. Fishing off Bonaparte Creek, Dickson caught seven redfish and a 17-plus inch flounder, but no spotted seatrout. “We were trout fishing and the reds were in the trout spot,” Dickson said. Dickson noted a water temperature of 48-49 degrees and said “the water is dirty everywhere.” Capt. Jason Burton of Fly Girl Charters went out on a scouting mission in Murrells Inlet this week and was pleased with the numbers of red drum, trout and flounder he saw in the inlet – in the dead of winter, no less – which bodes well for the upcoming spring fishing season.

Inshore

Look For: Black sea bass, sheepshead, black drum, tautog, silver perch, whiting, croaker

Comments: Capt. Jay Sconyers of Aces Up Fishing in Murrells Inlet and Capt. Englis Glover of Reelin’ Up The Coast headed to the near-shore reefs on Wednesday armed with fiddler crabs for bait. Using 1/0 hooks on jigs and Carolina rigs, they caught numerous black sea bass ranging in size from six inches to just under the 13-inch minimum size limit on the fiddler crabs. However, they did catch a handful of what they were after – sheepshead and black drum. The three sheepshead and two black drum harvested weighed in the 3- to 5-pound range. Plenty of bait-stealing was going on, and Sconyers figures small sheepshead – nicknamed “convicts” –were the culprit. “I don't think the bigger ones have moved out there yet,” said Sconyers. “The water temperature was 49 degrees, the coldest I've seen it all year.” With water temperature in the upper 40s along the beach, little is happening in the surf zone. On Grand Strand piers, only a few silver perch, dogfish and skates have been landed this week, although whiting and croaker are also a possibility. The ocean water temperature was 49.3 degrees at Springmaid Pier Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

Offshore

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

Comments: Sea conditions haven’t been very conducive for offshore fishing in the last few weeks. But if conditions permit, wahoo and blackfin tuna are roaming the vicinity of the break and the western edge of the Gulf Stream. Bottom fishing is very good when conditions permit. Look for black sea bass, vermilion snapper, red porgy and gray triggerfish along with amberjack. Black sea bass are particularly plentiful but head to depths of 60 feet and beyond to find fish easily bigger than the 13-inch minimum size limit. The annual Shallow-Water Grouper Spawning Season Closure is in effect and lasts through April 30. Red snapper must also be released indefinitely in the South Atlantic region.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, catfish, bass, crappie

Comments: “There’s just not much fishing going on right now,” said Miki Woodward of Rick’s Bait and Tackle in Conway. And for good reason. The Waccamaw River at Conway was at 13.47 feet at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday, which is in the moderate flood stage range. The Little Pee Dee River at Galivants Ferry was in minor flood stage, at 9.46 feet at 3 p.m. Thursday. Woodward noted that most anglers are heading for lakes and ponds to fish for crappie.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Local fishing report (Feb. 19, 2016)."