Fishing report (July 22, 2016)

Estuary

Look For: Black drum, flounder, spotted seatrout, red drum, sheepshead.

Comments: It’s the middle of summer and the water temperature in the estuaries is in the middle-to-upper 80s, but local guides and bait shops report plenty of fish are being caught. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown noted a water temperature of 86.2 degrees Thursday morning. Still, McDonald caught red drum, black drum, spotted seatrout and sharks the two previous days, using live finger mullet. “It’s mostly small fish but we caught a 20-inch red Tuesday,” said McDonald. Capt. Patrick Kelly of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters in Little River has ventured across the state line into North Carolina to the Tubbs Inlet area to catch black drum, flounder and trout. “For the hot temperatures, fishing hasn’t been that bad,” said Kelly. “We’ve caught trout on popping corks with live shrimp or mullet and flounder on pogys (menhaden) and mullet. Bait is plentiful.” Jessica Perry of Perry’s Bait and Tackle in Murrells Inlet reports black drum, flounder and sheepshead can be found at the jetties, with flounder and red drum in the creeks of the inlet. “The reds are either undersized (15-23 inch slot limit) or they’re an inch over the slot,” said Perry.

Inshore

Look For: Spanish mackerel, flounder, king mackerel, bluefish, spadefish, black sea bass, whiting, pompano, croaker, black drum.

Comments: Spanish mackerel are hitting in numerous areas – adjacent to inlets, on near-shore artificial reefs and along the beach. Capt. Mark Dickson of Shallow-Minded Inshore Charters had his crew work Zara Spook top-water lures just outside Tubbs Inlet Wednesday and had a blast catching Spanish. On Thursday, after the Zara Spooks worked on a few spotted seatrout early in the morning inside, Dickson headed out to the Jim Caudle Reef and had good catches of flounder to 20 inches. On the reef, located about three miles south of Little River Inlet, Dickson slow-trolled menhaden on a Carolina Rig to catch the flounder. Capt. Jeff Maples of Reel Salty Charters landed a 7-pound flounder out of Murrells Inlet. Also look for spadefish, weakfish and black sea bass on the near-shore reefs. Spanish mackerel, whiting, flounder and bluefish are the best bet on Grand Strand piers. The piers are also producing scattered catches of pompano, croaker and black drum. All cobia must be released for the remainder of 2016. The ocean water temperature at 11:54 a.m. Thursday at Springmaid Pier was 81.9 degrees.

Offshore

Look For: Grouper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, triggerfish, porgy, grunts, wahoo, blackfin tuna, dolphin, sailfish.

Comments: A six-man crew out of Ocean Isle Fishing Center, including brother and captains Barrett and Brant McMullan, headed way offshore on Monday to try their hand at catching a swordfish, a real rarity off the Carolina coast other than those caught by commercial long-liners. The McMullans headed 92 nautical miles offshore and were fishing in 1,300 feet of water when they landed a 245-pound swordfish. The broadbill hit a bonito belly strip. Look for more details on this ground-breaking catch in an upcoming outdoors column. Otherwise, trolling action is generally slow for wahoo, blackfin tuna and dolphin, with a few fish being caught. Capt. Shawn Thomas of Underdog in Murrells Inlet headed offshore trolling Wednesday. “(We found) 85-degree green water out to over 100 fathoms,” said Thomas. The crew caught a wahoo and a king mackerel, both in the 20-30 pound range, and hit the bottom to catch a large snowy grouper. Look for king mackerel on bottom spots in depths of 55-90 feet. Bottom fishing is the best bet, with good catches of grouper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, triggerfish, porgy and grunts. Best catches are in depths of 75 feet and beyond. Red snapper are off-limits in the South Atlantic region and must be released. All cobia must be released for the remainder of 2016.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, catfish, bass, crappie.

Comments: There has been plenty of rain over the last few weeks, which has caused a rise in the Little Pee Dee and Great Pee Dee rivers. The Waccamaw, however, has remained about the same. “The Waccamaw is low,” said Catfish Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle, who says fishing is good on the river from Conway to Pawleys Island. Look for bream in 2-8 feet of water, hitting crickets, worms or beetle spins. “A lot of guys that are catching nicer (bream) are catching them deeper,” said Stalvey. Use cut eels and goldfish to catch catfish, and many anglers are targeting catfish at night. “They come into the shallows to feed at night,” said Stalvey. A variety of baits are working for bass including soft plastic, buzzbaits and spinnerbaits. “Fish a little deeper because of the water temperature,” said Stalvey. “The nicer fish are coming deeper.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 3:25 PM with the headline "Fishing report (July 22, 2016)."