April 16
Morning surface water temperatures are about 66 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
As temperatures continue to rise the fishing is picking up, and Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters(843-361-7445) reports that one of their boats recently caught the first three inshore flounder of the year fishing shrimp under a cork. It’s so early that there’s really no pattern to catching them yet, but Captain Buddy does note that the grass is still so bad that fishing with traditional flounder techniques on the bottom is next to impossible.
There has not been a ton of activity with reds but they have been finding some big trout on both the falling and rising tide as long as there is moving water. Drops and grass lines have both been good, and live shrimp significantly raise your chances of hooking up.
Nearshore there were bonito around for a few days and then Spanish showed up, which usually means the end of the bonito, but then the Spanish pushed in towards the beaches and the bonito have stayed pretty steady at the reefs. There have also been some very early king mackerel caught off the beach.
Speaking of, Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) reports that today has been off but in general they have been catching lots of Spanish mackerel off the pier. There have been no kings yet, but there are people now fishing for them. They have also had good catches of bluefish and black drum as well as five flounder including three keepers so far this spring.
April 3
Morning surface water temperatures are about 64 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
Very quickly inshore water temperatures have risen into the upper 60s, and Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that the bite is improving with the warmer temperatures.
The trout have started feeding more, and on live shrimp they are catching them in 3-5 feet of water on both the rising and falling tide. Moving water is key. Fish are very scattered, but that also means you can find them in multiple different areas.
The redfish are even more spread out this week, but they are also feeding better. It’s worth casting at any shallow structure with mud minnows, live shrimp, or cut bait. Generally fish have been feeding best both sides of low tide.
And while they are still not widespread, more flounder are moving into the area including some early keepers.
Off the beach at the Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) the catch is once again just small croaker and whiting, but very, very soon more excitement should be arriving.
Nearshore the reefs are still in something of an in-between stage, with dwindling numbers of sheepshead and black drum around. But the water hasn’t gotten quite warm enough for numbers of bonito and Spanish mackerel to show up, so Captain Buddy says they are in something of a holding pattern.
March 25
Morning surface water temperatures are about 56 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
Even though inshore water temperatures are generally in the 58-63 degree range, Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that – while fishing is getting better – the fish are still not in a very consistent pattern.
The trout are actually one of the better bites going, and on live shrimp they are catching them in 3-5 feet of water on both the rising and falling tide. Moving water is key. Fish are very scattered, but that also means you can find them in multiple different areas.
Similarly the redfish have largely broken out of their big winter schools and started to scatter out, and while they are picking some up it has generally been pretty random.
An exciting sign of the spring is that they are starting to pick up a few flounder.
Off the beach at the Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) the catch is pretty much still just small croaker and whiting as well as some rays and dogfish, but more excitement should be coming very soon.
Nearshore the reefs are in something of an in-between stage, with dwindling numbers of sheepshead and black drum around. But it hasn’t gotten quite warm enough consistently for bonito and Spanish mackerel to show up, so Captain Buddy says they are in something of a holding pattern.
March 11
Morning surface water temperatures are about 53 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
Two weeks ago inshore water temperatures were in the low 40s, but Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that now they are starting off as warm as 60 degrees. As a result the fish seem to be in limbo, and they really don’t seem to know what to do. They are catching a few redfish out of the schools that are still around, and also a few random black drum, but overall the very sharp rise in temperatures seems to have the fish confused more than anything.
Captain Buddy notes that the big school of trout that had been around in the waterway seems to have broken up.
Off the beach at the Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) the catch is pretty much still just small croaker and whiting, but more excitement should be coming soon.
But luckily the fishing nearshore has been good, and on days when you can get out to the reefs the action for sheepshead and black sea bass has made it worth the trip. While not giants almost all the fish are keepers, and they will take shrimp and sand fleas although fiddler crabs have been the best bait. Water temperatures are about 58-59 degrees at the reefs.
February 25
Morning surface water temperatures are about 48-49 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet. Water clarity is high.
With inshore waters a little warmer than the ocean for several days this week, Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that water temperatures got above 50 for a few days and they were able to find redfish and a few trout mixed in on some western-facing banks. As we get into more stable, warmer weather the fishing will get more consistent again instead of having a few days when they bite and then several where they may not. Everything they are catching has come on live shrimp fished under a cork, and they are finding the best action in moving water – again on sun-drenched banks that are a bit warmer than the surrounding areas.
While they have not targeted the trout very aggressively as noted they have picked a few up, and so they wonder if they weren’t hit quite as hard as feared.
Off the beach at the Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) the catch is pretty much small croaker and whiting.
Finally, when wind makes these areas fishable there are some redfish, trout, and black drum at the jetties and some sheepshead at the nearshore reefs.
February 12
Morning surface water temperatures are about 44-45 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet. Water clarity is high.
While the ocean temperatures are in the mid-40s, Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that the inshore temperatures they have been seeing are more like 41-42 degrees. In those conditions it wouldn’t be reasonable to expect a hot bite, and experience on the water recently certainly matches expectations!
With their metabolism so slow fish don’t have to feed every day and generally they are lethargic, but riding around the last couple of days they have seen redfish in skinny water in holes and off shell banks. The easiest time to locate them is the last of the fall and first of the rise when they are concentrated. But again, unless you hit the right day they don’t bite much if at all and catches have been slow.
Meanwhile they have marked some trout in the Intracoastal Waterway, but from the marks on their electronics Captain Buddy is concerned that they were also seeing a lot of dead fish on the bottom. They could have been mullet or something else, but underneath trout there were definitely fish that appeared lifeless.
February 4
Morning surface water temperatures are about 46 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet. Water clarity is high.
It’s too early to say what happened to the inshore trout on the top of our coast due to the winter storm, but Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that all indications are that the trout in North Carolina were hit very hard. There is talk of closing the fishery. The snow was unpredictable in the area, and at his home in Conway Captain Buddy only had 5-7 inches – while 20 miles away closer to where he keeps his boat in Little River there was a report of 15 inches. What was consistent is that the area creeks got very, very cold. With nobody on the water there isn’t much information yet, but we will learn more in the coming weeks.
If you want to target redfish the best pattern remains fishing deep holes in the creeks.
January 28
Morning surface water temperatures are about 46 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet. Water clarity is high.
With unpleasant conditions the past week Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that that they haven’t run any trips since the last report, but he reminds anglers that with water temperatures this cold fish don’t have to eat every day and so there will be times when you are on top of them but they just won’t feed. As temperatures are expected to continue to drop that effect will get even stronger.
Basically there are trout and redfish around inshore right now, and reds are frequently found in deep holes in the creeks at low tide where trout can also be mixed with them. However these trout are commonly very lethargic. The more productive schools of trout are often in the Intracoastal Waterway, especially if you can find some water that’s a little warmer. But regardless you have to present either live bait or artificials very precisely to them to get bites. The other place where there are some good groups of trout are at the jetties, and on the falling tide that can also be a good place to catch red drum.
Again, nothing is having to eat every day and so if you pick warmer days to fish you dramatically improve your chances of catching and not just casting.
Off the beach at the Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) there has been zero fishing activity since the last report.
January 21
Morning surface water temperatures are about 49 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet. Water clarity is high.
It’s a funny time to fish inshore at the top of the South Carolina coast, and Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that with water temperatures generally between about 48 and 52 degrees inshore it’s not unusual to fish the exact same pattern two days in a row and have a great day and a terrible day. That’s because fish don’t have to eat every day, and so there will be times when you are on top of them but they just won’t feed.
Basically there are trout and redfish around right now, and reds are frequently found in deep holes in the creeks at low tide where trout can also be mixed with them. However these trout are commonly very lethargic. The more productive schools of trout are often in the Intracoastal Waterway, especially if you can find some water that’s a little warmer. But regardless you have to present either live bait or artificials very precisely to them to get bites. The other place where there are some good groups of trout are at the jetties, and on the falling tide that can also be a good place to catch red drum.
Again, nothing is having to eat every day and so if you pick warmer days to fish you dramatically improve your chances of catching and not just casting.
Off the beach at the Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) there has been a little fishing activity and the catch is mainly small croaker and whiting.