July 3
Morning surface water temperatures are around 80 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and on the inside the bait supply is improving.
The inshore flounder fishing is day-to-day in Murrells Inlet right now, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that some days they tangle with a bunch of small fish but no keepers, some days they get a lot of fish and a handful over 16 inches, and then some days the flounder just don’t bite. The fish seem particularly finicky right now, but in general deeper holes in the creeks have been the most productive in the summer heat. They are also picking up a few redfish here-and-there as well as the occasional big trout.
It's a similar report from Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464), and on days when wind traps most guide boats in the inlet it can sometimes feel like a bit of a grind with a bunch of captains chasing the same fish that aren’t feeding especially well. Other days they bite better, but yesterday was particularly tough with nobody reporting much besides short flounder and puppy reds.
One bright spot is that bait-sized mullet are scattered throughout Murrells Inlet now and so you don’t have to rely on mud minnows as much.
Unfortunately being able to get to the jetties and beaches hasn’t provided the excitement it did last week, and the bait that was so prolific has moved. Which means the cobia, king mackerel, and Spanish mackerel have also gotten scarce.
Finally, while the nearshore reefs don’t seem to be holding many flounder right now all the reefs including the 3-Mile, Pawley’s Island, and the North Inlet reef have a good number of spadefish.
June 27
Morning surface water temperatures are around 82 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and bait is very prolific.
Last week Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464) reported that they were concerned that the big schools of menhaden were about to leave the beaches, but in a pleasant surprise they have gone nowhere. As a result there are still abundant cobia (mostly smaller), king mackerel, Spanish mackerel and of course sharks around.
For cobia and sharks the pattern is pretty easy, and throwing a knocker rig with a live menhaden into a school of bait will often trigger a strike by isolating that one injured fish. For kings and big Spanish the better pattern is typically slow trolling spoons or live bait on a king mackerel rig through and between the bait schools. Since the bait is close to the beach that is where they are targeting.
Inshore the flounder bite continues to be good, with lots of fish and a decent number of keepers showing up most days. While the falling tide is typically best the fishing has not been super tide-dependent recently and they are catching them at most of their spots. It helps to have bait around, and moving water is better than flat tides.
Trout are hard to locate and they are picking up a few redfish on the inside, but the action for reds at the jetties has really taken off. Mullet are a good size to fish with and those are now working very well for both flounder and redfish.
Nearshore spadefish have been the most exciting thing at the reefs. There are also some flounder around but that has slowed down from a week ago.
June 19
Morning surface water temperatures are around 80 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and bait is getting easier and easier to catch.
The inshore flounder fishing has picked up this week for Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850), who reports that they are finally getting some really good fish on the inside. There’s still variability from day to day with the bite, but they have caught keepers up to 23 inches fishing in 1-5 feet of water. The rising tide has been fishing the best, but the real key for Captain Tom’s boat has been fishing in areas with lots of bait.
But outside the flounder bite Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464) reports that fishing inside Murrells Inlet has been a little tough, and they are picking up random redfish and trout but actually having more luck for both at the jetties. One positive overall is that finger mullet are getting very close to bait-sized.
But the bad news is that the menhaden seem to be starting to leave the beaches, which doesn’t bode well for the cobia and king mackerel fishing. They are picking up a random king here or there but mostly seeing them sky on bait but refuse to eat, although they have been catching a fair number of smaller cobia.
June 11
Morning surface water temperatures are around 80 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and bait is getting easier and easier to catch.
It’s been a mixed bag with the flounder for Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850), who reports that at the jetties he has had a lot of success for big fish up to 22 inches. But inshore inside the creeks the action has been spotty, and while he is catching plenty of fish the quality has just not been consistent. The best action has been coming either side of low tide in both areas, but inside Murrells Inlet it just seems like that there are some decent concentrations of keepers but then a lot of areas without good fish.
That bears a lot of similarity to the news from Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464), who reports that they are fishing a lot of different places and generally doing better on the falling tide. While small menhaden have been abundant mud minnows are working about as well, and the fish are in a bunch of different type of places.
While the trout fishing has been very weak by all reports, they have been picking up decent numbers of bonus redfish at the jetties as well as in in holes in the creeks.
While the wind and waves have made for some rough fishing conditions, big menhaden have showed up on the beaches a couple of days go and brought cobia with them. When conditions allow you can catch cobia around the bait pods as well as at the nearshore reefs. There are also some small king mackerel around.
About 11 miles offshore there have also been spadefish around.
May 29
Morning surface water temperatures are around 77 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and there is more bait moving into the inlet every day.
Once again this week it’s the flounder that are keeping clients happy in Murrells Inlet, and Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464) reports that inshore fishing has been a little slow overall but the flounder fishing has been pretty outstanding. They haven’t been coming on any particular tide besides generally when there is clean moving water, but they have still been schooled up in certain areas instead of being more spread out. Deeper holes have again had the best concentrations. One of the best parts has been the large number of big fish being caught this week.
Beyond that there has not been much else caught inshore, with virtually no trout and just a random redfish caught here-or-there.
The second best bite has been nearshore at the reefs for, again, flounder. Sheepshead are mostly gone from the reefs, bonito are good, Spanish mackerel have slowed down, and they aren’t hearing of king mackerel yet. They do expect the Spanish mackerel to pick up any time now.
Our family is travelling for our annual beach vacation next week, but we will resume regular fishing reports the following week.
May 21
Morning surface water temperatures are around 77 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and there is some bait moving into the inlet including small menhaden and glass minnows.
The fishing around Murrells Inlet has been a little spotty, and Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464) reports that inshore fishing has mostly consisted of flounder inside the inlet that have luckily been keeping charter parties busy. They haven’t been coming on any particular tide besides generally when there is clean moving water, but they have notably been schooled up in certain areas instead of being spread out. Deeper holes have had the best concentrations. Beyond that there has not been much else caught inshore, with virtually no trout and just a random redfish caught here-or-there.
The second best bite has been nearshore at the reefs for, again, flounder. Sheepshead are mostly gone from the reefs, bonito are good, Spanish mackerel have slowed down, and they aren’t hearing of king mackerel yet. They do expect the Spanish mackerel to pick up any time now.
May 7
Morning surface water temperatures are around 73-74 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet.
The inshore fishing inside Murrells Inlet is taking off, and Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464) reports that as flounder flush into the inlet the action is getting very good. This early in the season the keeper ratio is still lower than it should be later, but the numbers are already strong. The falling tide has been the best time to fish, and fish are generally very shallow because the water is a bit warmer. Both mud minnows and artificial lures are working.
The numbers of redfish and trout inside are not great right now, and you basically have to be in the right place at the right time. There are a few fish at the jetties but more inside the creeks spreading out in shallower water.
Nearshore the action has been outstanding, and while the bonito usually only stay about a week they have been here three weeks now. Accordingly, at any point they do expect them to leave. They are also trolling up a good number of Spanish mackerel and a few baby kings.
Sheepshead and black drum are also both thick, and while the weakfish may be starting to peter out bluefish are everywhere.
In offshore trolling news the dolphin have gotten prolific while the wahoo and blackfin tuna seem to have faded a bit.
April 24
Morning surface water temperatures are around 69 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet.
The inshore fishing inside Murrells Inlet continues to improve, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that there are now tons of flounder inside the inlet and the only real issues is finding keepers. He caught an 18-inch fish a couple of days ago, but for every fish over 16 inches they are getting 10-12 small fish. Trolling has been slow and so Captain Tom has been casting at his spots, catching fish on a jighead with live shrimp or a mud minnow. The best tide has been the early incoming.
Inside the inlet he has not caught a trout in the last ten days, and redfish have been surprisingly rare despite picking up a few. There may be more at the jetties.
Captain Tom’s boat has mostly been targeting the jetties for sheepshead, picking up decent numbers, and there are also lots of small bluefish around.
Overall as temperatures warm everything is getting better and the fishing should only continue to improve for the next month or two.
April 9
Morning surface water temperatures are around 67 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet but seeing low to mid-70s in the creeks is common during the day.
The inshore fishing inside Murrells Inlet is finally picking up, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that his go-to pattern right now is to fish for redfish and black drum inside the creeks on low water – and then head out to the jetties when fish get more scattered. Of course for trout the pattern is different, and he likes the last of the incoming and first of the outgoing when the water is high and clean. Live shrimp continue to be very hard to beat and some good-sized fish have been showing up.
There have also been some good flounder caught on the inside, and while Captain Tom’s boat has not spent time targeting them yet he has caught a couple that were close to keepers and heard reliable reports of some 18-inch fish caught.
The jetties continue to produce nicely for a mixed bag of species, although there are always days or at least times when the better bite is inside. They continue to catch black drum and sheepshead on fiddler crabs at the jetties, and there are certainly flounder, trout and redfish around the rocks.
But the most exciting day Tom has had recently was offshore, where they found an incredible bite for blackfin tuna and eventually left them biting.
