February 12

Morning surface water temperatures are around 45 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and the water is gin clear.  

There’s no good news out of Murrells Inlet this week, and Tuesday Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that he and a friend spend all day poling and riding a small skiff through the inshore waters of Murrells Inlet. They did not see a trout or redfish all day, and only saw one school of mullet. From there they moved out to the jetties and never got a single bite. They finally caught one 16 ½ inch flounder (off all things) out of a deep hole, but that was it all day.

Captain Caleb has never seen it this dead, and he is really concerned that the cold seems to have pushed everything out. He did have one friend see a school of reds last week inside the inlet, but there’s no guarantee even those fish are still around. Most likely there obviously are some fish in Murrells Inlet, but with 10-12 feet of visibility there must not be many unless they are stacked up like cordwood in the couple of creeks they didn’t go into yesterday. 

Hopefully the warming trend will get fish moving again because right now Caleb has not spoken to anyone who has been catching anything. He notes that there have to be fish at the nearshore reefs but doesn’t know anyone who has been there. 

February 4

Morning surface water temperatures are around 45 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet. 

Returning to Murrells Inlet to much colder temperatures and about three inches of snow, Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that he has not been inshore fishing since the snow but feels certain that there are still trout and redfish to be caught inside Murrells Inlet. The inlet has plenty of deep spots where trout can hold up, and so he is hopeful there was not too much of a kill. To his knowledge no one has been fishing the last few days, but as more people get on the water it will be interesting to see what is reported in terms of the trout. 

There should be some black drum and sheepshead at the jetties, either fish that have not left to spawn or already returned. And of course there will be both species spawning as well as keeper black sea bass at the nearshore reefs. 

January 22

Morning surface water temperatures are around 49-50 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet. 

On the water a decent amount the last week, Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that there is a fairly healthy population of inshore trout and redfish in the creeks right now. While they are biting pretty well when you locate them, they can be hard to find. 
Giving away another valuable nugget this week, Captain Caleb advises that the lower tides are better and what he is looking for to locate fish is a medium depth hole near a flat. For example, if there is an area which has several feet of water at higher water but then a depression where fish will retreat on lower tide the fish can really stack up in it. Right now they are pretty much exclusively fishing with live or imitation shrimp.  

There are also some trout and reds scattered around the jetties, but oddly there is not a lot of pattern to where they are holding and you just have to cover water with the same baits. What is not at the jetties is black drum and sheepshead, and despite fishing hard his boat has only caught one of each in the last week. Accordingly, he believes they have mostly headed offshore to spawn. 

With the cold front coming it’s anyone’s guess what will happen, but in the next day or two he expects a major feed for anyone able to get on the water before the weather descends. 

Note that Captain Caleb will be away from the Murrells Inlet waters spending time with family the next couple of weeks, but we will pick back up regular reports when he returns.

January 8

Morning surface water temperatures are around 53 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet. 

While he has only just gotten back from vacation and fishing in Tennessee, Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) was back on the water yesterday and has also been keeping up with the fishing closely through guide buddies. The bottom line is that the inshore creek bite has gotten very difficult, and basically the catch is just for occasional red drum. They are catching some fish on very low water at the rise or the fall, but finding them has been a struggle. The warm weather has not been helping, and instead of fish grouping up in schools they are pretty spread out. 

Basically the two places to look for redfish right now are steep oyster banks or deeper bends in secondary creeks, and this is not sight-fishing. Fish are so pressured and by now lethargic in Murrells Inlet that it’s hard very hard to catch them if you can see them and so Captain Caleb is trying to stay as far away from his spots as possible. Live shrimp are the best bait either on the bottom or under a floating cork, but they will also eat artificials. 

But the best action is definitely at the jetties, where there are reds around as well as most of the trout that seem to be in the area. The pattern is as simple as circling the jetties with live shrimp or artificials and working every part. 

The other major fishery right now is for sheepshead and black drum, and while many of the bigger fish have made it to the nearshore reefs already there are plenty of fish as well as some bigs at the jetties. Caleb suspects some sheepshead actually spawn there instead of going further out. It’s the time of year where sheeps can be unpredictable and so taking both fiddler crabs and live shrimp is wise – one day they may show a preference for one and the next day they can refuse to eat the same thing but devour the other. There are also some days where they will eat fresh dead shrimp, and black drum will almost always take them. 

December 23

Morning surface water temperatures are around 52 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet. 

And once again the fishing has picked up around Murrells Inlet, with Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reporting that both inshore in the creeks as well as at the jetties the last week has seen improvement. At the jetties in particular more sheepshead and black drum have moved in, as well as trout, while inside the creeks they are finding a few more trout and redfish.  

Fishing at the jetties for a mixed bag it’s hard to beat drifting with live shrimp, but if you really want to focus on the sheepshead and black drum then fiddler crabs are usually the best bet. Tide doesn’t make a huge amount of difference, and so planning trips around the warmer time of day when fish are most likely to be feeding is ideal. 

Inside the creeks when you find redfish or trout they are generally in decent-sized schools, and so there is the possibility to catch a bunch of fish. The redfish are in very shallow water, particularly on low tide, and with clear conditions it’s a great time to sight-fish for them. While trout will sometimes go very shallow and be visible, often when they do that they are not feeding, and so a better bet is to look for them around deeper structure or in holes. Live shrimp are hard to beat but a wide variety of soft plastics will also catch fish. 

December 17

Morning surface water temperatures are around 50 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet. 

Once again we have to report that the fishing has been a little weird in Murrells Inlet, and Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that inshore in the creeks as well as at the jetties there just isn’t the consistent bite they usually expect. Overall the catches have been pretty random and scattered, and they are picking up a few redfish, a few trout, and a few black drum.

While they have had some really good days with the black drum sitting in a single spot and catching a lot of 5-6 pound black drum, the most consistent thing has probably been the sheepshead at the jetties. However, while there are some bigger ones around it’s not unusual to catch 15 or more sheepshead and only get a few keepers. 

It’s hard to know exactly why the action has been inconsistent these last few months, and it could be as simple as pressure. But there aren’t that many people fishing right now and that isn’t a very satisfying explanation for the change from last year to this year. 

Finally, Murrells Inlet is still full of surprises like this striped bass – only the second Captain Caleb has ever caught in the inlet!

December 4

Morning surface water temperatures are around 57 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet. 

The big news out of Murrells Inlet this week is that the trout have finally started to show up, and Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that they are now catching them inshore in the creeks as well as at the jetties. It’s about a month behind schedule but at least they are arriving. Any day now the bite could get truly wide open.  It seems that the arrival of the trout coincides with the shrimp migration, and at the same time that they started catching more trout shrimp boats started filling baskets with shrimp. 

Trout can be caught on all different tides in different spots, and it’s much more a matter of location (location, location) than high or low tide. Live shrimp are working well but they are also catching them on paddletail grubs in “opening night” color. 

Red drum are still around but the bite is changing, and as they get into larger winter schools they are in less places but when you catch one there should be many more in the area. While they can also be caught on any tide, overall lower tides find the fish more concentrated and easier to target.  

With less bait around they are more willing to eat artificials but will still take a wide array of natural baits. 

November 19

Morning surface water temperatures are around 61 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet. 

November inshore fishing in Murrells Inlet continues to not disappoint, and Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that really the only species which is not doing as well as they would expect is the trout. In the morning they can catch a handful of trout very early, but they just are not around in numbers right now. To the north and south of Murrells Inlet they are catching trout, and if the trend this season is any indication they will probably just be behind like everything else this year. November has been much better than October overall, and perhaps December will be better than November for trout.   

But the black drum, red drum, and sheepshead fishing has been very good. Inside the inlet they are catching black drum and red drum on both the incoming and the outgoing tide as long as the water is moving, mostly around isolated oyster shell mounds. Live shrimp on the bottom have been working on lower tides, while on higher tides they are generally fishing the same bait under a float.

But perhaps the most exciting fishing has been taking place at the jetties, and when it is not too rough they are catching excellent numbers of sheepshead. Perhaps two-thirds are undersized but the action is steady and they are biting on any moving tide. With less picker fish around a variety of crustaceans will work as bait. 

November 6

Morning surface water temperatures are around 63 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet but about 59-61 inside the creeks. There are still lots of mullet and shrimp around. 

It’s only a month late, but finally theinshore fishing in Murrells Inlet has turned the corner. Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that they have been waiting for this since October, but all of a sudden everything turned on at once and they are catching redfish, sheepshead, flounder, trout, and black drum. It’s hard to explain why it took so long, or what triggered the good bite, or why the pinfish are still thick at this stage. All they can think is that something about not having a major storm system this year changed the dynamic.

Basically everything has been biting better on lower water except the trout, and while they are not wide open yet trout fishing is improving. On a very early high tide a couple of days ago they caught a half dozen in thirty minutes before it stopped. They are catching a ton of mostly smaller redfish on low tide around oysters, and on one charter caught twelve in 15 casts.  Some late season flounder including big ones are also around, and while there are not a ton of black drum they have large creek fish pretty well patterned. They are catching fish from 3-9 pounds around shell mounds on the rising or falling tide with live or dead shrimp. 

Sheepshead can be caught at the jetties on any tide, and even though they are mostly smaller there are tons of them around.  

The bull reds seem to have moved out again. 

October 29

Morning surface water temperatures are around 65 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet but cooler in the creeks, especially the last three days. 

The consensus is that that this has been the strangest October for inshore fishing in Murrells Inlet in recent memory, but Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that there have been some highlights. On lower stages of the tide they have found some very good black drum fishing in the creeks, targeting the edges of oyster beds with shrimp. There have also been a fair number of redfish around, although most are just below 15 inches or on the smaller end of the slot. And has been the case for a while there are still a fair number of flounder around, although keepers are rare.

The most excitement they have had in a while, though, was when there was a good push of bull red drum just before the rains came. Usually they set up on rocks a little ways out, but these fish were very shallow on bait balls and they so could just run the beaches and sight-cast for them.  They may still be around – weather has greatly limited fishing the last three days.  

 

But the bad news is that the trout have still not shown up, despite water temperatures being right where they should be, and the shrimp in the creeks are still very small like grass shrimp. It’s as if the shrimp never grew to the size they were supposed to be, and they can only speculate the problem might be the lack of rain at times this year.  

Additionally, on the calm days when Captain Caleb’s boat was chasing reds off the beaches the boats that made it out to the nearshore reefs reported that nothing but small black sea bass and lizard fish were around, and the jetties have been similarly spotty. A few summer trout have been caught but not much. 

October 16

Morning surface water temperatures are around 70 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and there are still a lot of mullet and shrimp in the creeks. 

We are a little tired of reporting that the inshore fishing is still unsettled out of Murrells Inlet, but undoubtedly nowhere near as tired as Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) is of not knowing what to expect from day to day. Fortunately, things are looking up a bit this week as the weird nor’easter temporarily put the fish in a bit of a funk but dropped a lot of rain and water temperatures and sparked a better bite. 

There are still inconsistencies, but the flounder fishing has gotten better and catching numbers of fish most days is not a problem.  Keepers have been a little hard to come by but they are still getting one or two most days. On the right tides they are also catching a few black drum and red drum, and there are early signs that the trout fishing is coming on. It’s not consistent yet but one days Captain Caleb’s boat caught four fish at one spot on a moving tide, although they weren’t able to repeat the success the next day on the same tide. That should only get better, however.

At the jetties there are reports of over-slot reds, but the true bulls have not showed up yet. That’s strange as well as they should be here by the middle of the month, but again nothing has been normal this October. 

Offshore a few king mackerel have been reported 10-13 miles out, but the weather has usually not been good enough to get after them.

October 9

Morning surface water temperatures are around 76 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and there is still a tremendous amount of bait around. 

It remains a strange situation around Murrells Inlet, and Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that there is still an overabundance of bait inshore – mullet, shrimp, mud minnows, and more – in all the creeks, but not the expected number of predators there to eat them. There are a couple of spots with a good numbers of keeper flounder, and then Captain Caleb has found some other spots with great numbers of small fish. In one area he caught 26 undersized flounder and one keeper on a trip! They have also found some over-slot redfish on the flood tides feeding up in the grass, which will take live bait drifted to them, and on lower tides there are some schools of 14-16 inch reds that will eat most anything. But trout are very, very rare inshore, and they are only finding occasional schools of black drum. 

The winds have been so bad that it’s been almost impossible to comfortably fish the jetties or nearshore, but if you are willing to fight 3-foot seas at the jetties there are a few bull reds around. There are also some trout at the jetties. And with a few kings picked up trolling yesterday there is a hope that once the wind lays down again that bite will be good. 

Overall, things will almost certainly get better but a change in the weather may be necessary. 

Our apologies for the sporadic fishing reports in recent weeks. We will do everything we can to get back on track with weekly updates, but one of our children is getting through a significant health challenge which has occupied a great deal of our time and kept us out of work.  

September 25

Morning surface water temperatures are around 79 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and bait is abundant (more below). The water is clean and pretty even though tides have been strong. 

It’s a little hard to describe what’s going on around Murrells Inlet, and Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that he has never seen so much bait around. Inshore the creeks are full of shrimp, finger mullet, and “cob” mullet, and at the jetties and off the beaches there are also menhaden, greenbacks, more mullet, glass minnows, and he even netted ballyhoo at the jetties yesterday. Add to that list 1-2 pound bluefish and smaller Spanish mackerel, which are really bait for lots of species, and there should be every predatory fish in the ocean around. But instead there’s a little bit of everything and not a lot of anything.

A few redfish, a few flounder, no spotted sea trout, a few weakfish, a few black drum, and a very few kings are around. The creek bite is downright miserable for everything except croaker. They did catch two stud 14-inch croaker yesterday, but the rest were normal size and they only managed one really nice black drum after going through two pounds of shrimp. The jetties are also a struggle to catch a few good fish.  In addition to seeing a few 15-20 pound king mackerel jump they have also seen the occasional tarpon, but overall it’s like the predators haven’t found the bait. And on a recent trip to a nearshore reef they caught a 6-pound flounder on the first drop and then struggled to get more bites. 

It's still a beautiful time to fish, they are catching some fish, and it’s the time of year when things could go from 0 to 60 overnight. A change of wind direction today may help the fishing, but overall they are left scratching their heads until that happens. It could be that the absence of a big storm this summer has not refreshed the area, and it could be a pressure issue. Time will tell. 

Thanks to Captain Caleb for his honest correspondence and hard work. 

September 11

Morning surface water temperatures are around 78 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and the mullet run is very much underway. A few days ago there was a monster wave of menhaden pushing south but because of the northeast wind the last few days they haven’t been able to see if they are still around. 

The inshore bite is picking up for flounder, and instead of mainly catching them around the rocks Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) reports that they are getting good numbers in the creeks. They are extremely hard to pattern, and at times they are in a foot of water chasing shrimp while others are in the belly of creeks in ten feet and others are in creek mouths. No particular tide has clearly been the best, but if he had to chose Captain Caleb would probably fish the outgoing.

There are also increasing numbers of redfish around inshore, and yesterday they caught a 27-inch fish while chasing flounder. They are still pretty random, but there are lots of puppy drum around (particularly at the rocks). They show up every year at this time. 

A few trout are around but not enough to target with clients. 

At the jetties there are flounder and redfish (as mentioned), but the Spanish mackerel are not at the jetties or off the beaches in the numbers they were a week or two ago. However, there are tons of tarpon around. A few are at the jetties, but mostly they are just following the bait schools. Overall they seem to be more focused on migrating than feeding and there has been a lot of fruitless casting for them this week. 

August 29 

Morning surface water temperatures are around 82 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet and the mullet run is underway along the beaches. 

We apologize for the hiatus in Grand Strand fishing reports, but we are pleased to announce that Captain Caleb Hartley with Carolina Hook and Fly Guide Service (843-241-7706) will be sharing fishing reports with us going forward. We will have a full-length report from Captain Caleb in the near future, but suffice to say that today they had a banner day with the Spanish mackerel this morning and flounder this afternoon. The Spanish were at the jetties and around the mullet schools off the beach, and just looking for jumping fish and then casting to them with live bait they caught all females in the 2-5 pound range. You can catch fish trolling and with lures, but the bigs want live bait right now.

This afternoon they targeted flounder on the inside and at the jetties, managing 16 fish with five keepers. The keepers were all very solid fish in the 18-21 inch range.

There aren’t a ton of redfish around right now but there is a good early morning bite for them with topwaters. 

Meanwhile, king mackerel are inexplicably MIA.

Again, more to follow. 

July 31

Morning surface water temperatures are around 85 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet. 

The inshore fishing out of Murrells Inlet has picked up this week, and Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464) reports that the presence of large numbers of 3-6 inch mullet seems to be helping the action. In particular the redfish have been more available this week, biting best at the tide switches when the water is not running as hard. The action at the jetties has also been strong for reds. 

On the inside flounder have been a little hit-or-miss, and basically catching them comes down to finding the right water conditions. It’s so hot right now that they are living in deeper holes, and they are also happier in cleaner water. The falling tide is the best time to catch them. 

Unfortunately the pinfish have gotten so bad that they really can’t fish for trout with live shrimp, and they are only picking up very occasional fish on finger mullet or mud minnows.   

Off the beaches there are some random Spanish mackerel, but nearshore at the reefs they are more concentrated. There are also a few random weakfish at the reefs, and then there are also large groups of 8-11 inch croaker and weakfish just swimming around in big schools nearshore. A few cobia are around as well as fair numbers of big flounder, and sharks are also showing up again. Spadefish are on the reefs but for keepers 20 miles out is much better. 

Our family is travelling next week for the last week of the summer before our children go back to school, but we will resume weekly fishing reports the following week. Hopefully some cooler weather will give us some exciting changes to relay – although it will still be August in South Carolina!     

July 22

Morning surface water temperatures are around 82 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet, and at times wind from the east has really cooled off water temperatures. 

Yesterday favorable winds made for some good fishing out of Murrells Inlet, and Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464) reports that they were able to get out to the nearshore reefs and found a pretty good bite. Cobia and king mackerel were out there and Spanish mackerel were busting the surface, and in general they usually find that August picks up for both Spanish and kings. There are also a decent number of flounder on the reefs but they are mostly smaller.

Inshore it’s still mostly about flounder, and right now tide seems to be more important than time of day.  The falling tide has been best, and while fish have not moved into deep water they seem to be holding closer to deep water where it slopes off to the shallows. The keeper ratio is not great but bigger baits can improve that.  There are a lot of mullet inside the inlet. 

They are also catching more redfish this week, including a lot of slot fish. Tide changes in both directions (when the current slows down) are fishing the best.  

The beaches have been slow without much bait to speak of, while at the jetties there are a few trout and flounder being caught. 

We apologize that these reports are running a few days behind – the author had some unexpected issues in his other job arise. 

July 10

Morning surface water temperatures are around 83 degrees at the mouth of Murrells Inlet.

It continues to be an odd period for fishing out of Murrells Inlet, and Captain Robert Orr with Fish Finder Fishing Charters (843-347-4464) reports that the storm that came through certainly didn’t help some of their patterns. 

Inshore there really isn’t much change, although perhaps he has noticed a tiny up-tick in the action for flounder and reds. But it’s still spotty, and yesterday they caught five flounder but no keepers while today they only had two but one was 24-inches! Overall deeper holes in the creeks continue to produce the best.

It’s a similar story with the flounder from Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850), who reports that one day he will get ten (like yesterday) but then the next day they could hardly bite. But he has also noticed an improvement with the reds, and they are catching more than a week or two ago.  The tricky part about them is that they cannot find any pattern at all, and they are usually singles. His boat has caught them in a foot of water, three feet, eight feet, and fifteen feet, and on baits ranging from mud minnows to shrimp to menhaden to mullet. 

Off the beaches things have definitely gone downhill, and Captain Robert reports that the tropical depression made the water nasty and seems to have pushed the bait north. They worry it may be a couple of weeks until kings, Spanish and cobia return when conditions improve and bait returns. 

Finally, the nearshore reefs are a bit of a mystery, with no flounder, and it seems like pinfish are overtaking them. The one bright spot is that 10-11 miles offshore there are a fair number of cooperative spadefish around. 

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.