Overall, catches of flounder and red drum are good in local estuaries. On the south end, Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown had a solid trip on Winyah Bay in the rain on Monday, catching seven red drum including a five-pounder plus a black drum while fishing cut shrimp on floats in the grass. Capt. Jason Burton of Fly Girl Charters has had good success this week with flounder and reds in Murrells Inlet. Even on Wednesday after the cold front passed the previous evening, Burton produced 18 flounder with six keepers plus four reds on a falling tide using mud minnows. In the Little River area, Capt. Mark Dickson of Shallow-Minded Inshore Charters has caught flounder in Cherry Grove Inlet and reds with a few trout in the Sunset Beach area using mud minnows. Dickson had a great trip Monday, catching 18 reds, and caught 10 flounder with two keepers in less than two hours of fishing on Saturday in Cherry Grove.
Inshore
• Look For | Bluefish, Spanish mackerel, whiting, black sea bass, sheepshead, flounder, black drum, croaker.
• Comments | On Sunday, boats trolling near Paradise Reef out of Murrells Inlet encountered some very good news for the spring fishing season when they caught Spanish mackerel, including some keepers over the 12-inch minimum size limit. Bluefish are also on the scene in the inshore waters and the artificial reefs are producing black sea bass, weakfish and sheepshead. A few Spanish have also been caught off Grand Strand piers over the past week, but whiting and blues are the top catch. Size of the whiting is improving, with a few over one pound being caught off the Apache Pier. Also look for flounder, black drum and croaker off the piers. The surface ocean water temperature was 63.59 degrees Thursday at 4 p.m. at 2nd Ave. Pier in Myrtle Beach.
Offshore
• Look For | Wahoo, blackfin tuna, dolphin, black sea bass, vermilion snapper, porgy, amberjack, triggerfish.
• Comments | Offshore trolling action kicked up a notch – with a few dolphin showing up in the catches – last weekend before the latest cold front rolled through on Tuesday. Capt. Derek Tressinger of Ocean Isle Fishing Center reports Get Floor’d out of Ocean Isle Beach found a weedline offshore of the Blackjack Hole and caught a 50-pound wahoo to go with a 25-pound class dolphin. Get Floor’d moved back inshore to a depth of 160-220 feet and landed a blackfin tuna to complete the Carolina Slam. Water temperatures were in the lower 70s near the break. “Once the water temperature hits 74 (the dolphin) will really start showing up,” said Tressinger. Bottom fishing is producing black sea bass, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, porgy and amberjack. In less than two weeks, on May 1, the annual shallow-water grouper spawning season closure will be over. Red snapper must be released until further notice in the South Atlantic region.
Freshwater
• Look For | Bream, crappie, catfish, bass.
• Comments | Reporting from the water, Jamie Dunn of Fisherman’s Headquarters in Conway was in the middle of a great trip for catfish on Thursday afternoon. Dunn and his boys had caught 15 catfish and counting in three hours on the Great Pee Dee River, using marinated cut eel for bait. Dunn reports good catches of bream before the cold front in depths of 2-3 feet of water with fish hitting both crickets and worms. Top areas for bream and shellcracker are the Ricefields area and the Waccamaw between Bucksport and Conway. Bass action is good, with many fish bedding, or close to being on the beds.
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