July 19
Morning surface water temperatures range between 87 and 89 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
Inshore fishing has been good recently, and a variety of species are on consistent bite. Captain Buddy Love ofCaptain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) says we’re still in a typical summertime fishing pattern for most species. And that means the fishing is generally good, but patterns can change considerably from one tide to the next.
One of his favored species recently has beenflounder, and during the past week he’s had three flounder over 20 inches and plenty of smaller ones. On Saturday, his client lost the biggest flounder he'd ever hooked, so doormats are available. On one five-hour trip, his clients caught 14 flounder, 3 redfish, and a trout. He reports the shallow-water bite is good, with most of the flounder coming in 3-5 feet of water and being caught on both incoming and outgoing tides, but water movement is crucial. He’s targeting creek mouths and oyster beds.
Captain Buddy said mullet and mud minnows have been the key baits for him recently.
Redfish action is good, but scattered. He’s targeted redfish recently with moderate success and has caught fish over 30 inches in the past few days. But the action is not at the level he’s experiencing with flounder. Some of the redfish are being caught at thejetties, and some are scattered on the inside.
With water temperatures often in the mid- to high 80s, troutfishing continues to be tough, but he reports small to medium-sized black drum scattered around docks in the waterway, and he’s been catching some keepers as well. On cut shrimp, they can provide fast action and good table fare.
The Spanish mackerel fishing has been fair off thebeaches,with a slight improvement recently.
Captain Buddy said that with families aboard, one of his ‘go-to’ tactics is to fish shrimp on the bottom, and that’s providing excellent action on a variety of species including whiting, spots, redfish, and black drum.
--Terry Madewell
July 2
Morning surface water temperatures are about 84 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
The inshore fishing has been pretty good this week, and Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that Kids’ Camp has been a success for a lot of young anglers. Check out the Catch of the Week later today once we get the picture posted to see one of them!
Flounder continue to be a mainstay of their business, mostly in the creeks but also in the Intracoastal Waterway. The best action has been coming in 3-5 feet of water, on both the fall and the rise, although a few fish have come much deeper. The best structure has been creek mouths and oyster beds.
Interestingly, just down the road in Murrells Inlet small baits are king, but at the top of the coast bigger mullet and mud minnows have been the key.
They are seeing less redfish than expected, with a few at the jetties and some scattered on the inside, and most inshore fish are under the slot.
With water temperatures often in the mid- to high 80s trout fishing has been a little tough, but there are tons of small to medium-sized black drum scattered around docks in the waterway. On cut shrimp they can provide fast action and good eating.
The Spanish mackerel fishing has been a little slow off the beaches but if more bait arrives could hit its stride.
June 17
Morning surface water temperatures are about 82 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
After some slower fishing on negative tides recently, the action is returning to normal and should be better this week. Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that flounder action has improved considerably, and they’re providing very good action.
Captain Buddy said a lot of 16-20-inch flounder are being caught throughout the local area, with good catches in the Little River area, Cherry Grove, and south to Murrells Inlet. Fish are being caught around creek mouths, shell beds, sand bars, or around most any other structure. Captain Buddy reports live mud minnows on a Carolina rig are hard to beat for flounder right now.
The recent flurry of trout action has slowed a bit in the last week, but they’re still being caught scattered around the area, just not as consistently as they were a couple of weeks ago. But with the upcoming tides, Captain Buddy is hopeful that fishing will take a turn for the better.
He said the redfish bite continues to be steady and productive, and the best baits are finger mullet and mud minnows. In addition, plenty of black Drum are being caught, and while many are small, the action is excellent.
Off the beaches, Spanish mackerel are still available when anglers can get out. Captain Buddy hasn’t tried them in a few days, but has received reports that they’re still active.
June 3
Morning surface water temperatures are about 75 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet. Usable mullet as well as shrimp are in the creeks.
A little bit of everything has been biting inshore at the top of the coast, and Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that in particular the trout fishing has been really good – although it is just starting to drop off. In June trout should slow further, but they expect the flounder fishing to really pick up. There have been some good catches around Cherry Grove and to the south in Murrells Inlet, but only a few nice flounder have been caught in Little River so far. It’s just a matter of time until they show up as numbers of smaller fish have already arrived. Fish will be found at creek mouths, shell beds, sand bars, or around most any other structure. Live mud minnows on a Carolina rig are hard to beat.
There are some redfish around, but they are pretty scattered, while black drum have been prolific around structure. The bite for both should improve in June with more stable weather patterns.
Off the beaches there are Spanish mackerel if you can get out, but with recent winds they have actually caught more inside the creeks. It’s worth carrying a spoon ready to throw at jumping Spanish that come inside on the rising tide. With stable weather the Spanish mackerel bite everywhere should get much better.
And finally, off Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) spot, croaker, whiting, bluefish, a few flounder, and trout have been caught. No king mackerel catches have been recorded yet but a few Spanish are being landed.
May 21
Morning surface water temperatures are about 70 degrees in the ocean, and are a little
warmer inshore, around 71 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
Inshore fishing continues to be good in the Little River area and off the beaches. Captain Buddy Love ofCaptain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-222-7532) reports that most species are on a strong bite, but the trout action has really improved in the past week.
Captain Buddy said this 25-inch trout was taken this week; the trout bite is on.
Captain Buddy said the trout action has experienced a major uptick in success over the past week. The bite is good in the creeks along the grass edges, and using live shrimp under a popping cork is his most productive tactic. A ‘Gulp’ shrimp is a productive artificial lure. Captain Buddy said this action should continue to be excellent for the short term at least, and he’s hopeful it will improve further.
Flounder numbers in the area are still increasing, with plenty of quality fish caught recently in the Little River area.
Captain Buddy reports anglers are still catching black drum and redfish on cut shrimp, with quality redfish still on a good bite in the creeks. The sheepshead action remains good, and croakers and whiting remain plentiful.
Captain Buddy reports that the Spanish mackerel bite is strong from just off the beach and the nearshore area, and he’s catching them by trolling planers to spread the baits.
Terry Madewell
May 7
Morning surface water temperatures are about 65 degrees in the ocean, and are a little
warmer inshore, around 68-69 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
Inshore fishing is improving in the Little River area, and off the beaches, and Captain Buddy Love ofCaptain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-222-7532) reports two of the best options now are Spanish mackerel and flounder.
Captain Buddy reports that the Spanish mackerel bite is strong from just off the beach and thenearshore area. They're catching mackerel in excellent numbers, trolling planers to spread the baits.
Captain Buddy Love said the Spanish mackerel and flounder bite is good and improving
The inshore news is quite good, with trout action still productive in the creeks along the edges; live shrimp under a popping cork is the best bait tactic. A ‘Gulp’ shrimp is a productive artificial lure right now. Captain Buddy said this good action should continue, and likely improve during the coming weeks.
Exciting news: flounder are beginning to arrive in good numbers and sizes in the Little River area. On a return trip from a recent successful Spanish mackerel trip, Captain Buddy wanted to try one spot for flounder. He caught three flounders with just five casts, including 18-inch, 16-inch, and 14-inch fish, indicting better opportunities for anglers targeting flounder soon. It's easy to understand his excitement about this news.
Anglers are catching both black drum and redfish on cut shrimp, with quality redfish still biting well in the creeks. The sheepshead bite remains good, but not many keepers right now, and croakers and whiting are plentiful, offering diverse opportunities for all types of inshore species.
Terry Madewell
April 30
Morning surface water temperatures are about 67-68 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet.
Inshore fishing is taking off at the top of the coast, and Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that in particular the trout fishing has really come on. It’s not unusual to see a better grade of trout after freeze years, possibly because small trout are more likely to be killed, and that appears to be happening with lots of 18-22 inch fish around. Fish are being caught in 3-5 feet of water against creek banks, and it’s a good idea to look for signs of life like bait showering and fish those areas. Live shrimp under a popping cork are the best bait approach. In May the pattern will only get better as more fish come in to spawn, and trout will continue to get more concentrated until it gets very hot.
Flounder fishing is also picking up with keepers now three trips in a row, and fishing should continue to bite better and better around creek mouths, sand bars, and oyster beds in May. Gulp! and mud minnows will both work depending on angler preference. Early in the season it’s wise to look for them closer to the ocean rather than way back in creeks.
With cut shrimp they are picking up a few black drum and redfish, and there are some whoppers inside the creeks. This week they had a 42-inch red on cut shrimp! While it will get harder to fish this way as more picker fish arrive, with cut bait in May reds should be caught around docks and at the jetties. Additionally, when the big schools of menhaden show up off the beaches then big redfish will get under them. Sheepshead are also at the jetties, although this year it seems like you will have to go through a lot of crabs to get keepers.
From the beach out to nearshore the Spanish mackerel fishing is getting better and better, and May is usually the easiest month for trolling the beaches for Spanish. Fish are more aggressive and less finicky this month.
In that vein, off Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) it’s been a good bite for Spanish, bluefish, and some decent-sized flounder. There are also lots of croaker and whiting around.
April 23
Morning surface water temperatures are about 67 degrees at the mouth of Little River Inlet. Shrimp are still very small but usable mullet are showing up in the creeks.
It’s been a really good week at the top of the coast, and Captain Buddy Love of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that fish are really sliding into a summer pattern. There has been some noticeable improvement with the inshore fishing, and they are finally catching more redfish in the creeks. And trout are starting to get pretty spread out instead of just clumped in a few big schools – with 6 or 7 caught on most trips. While they have not been targeting flounder very much yet, to the south there are some really good reports of numbers, keepers, and doormats showing up so it should just be a matter of time.
The sheepshead have left the reefs and come back to the jetties, but from the beaches out to nearshore there are good numbers of Spanish mackerel, lots of blues mixed in, still plenty of bonito, and even some king mackerel feeding on the smaller bluefish.
In that vein, off Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) it’s been a good bite for Spanish, bluefish, and a few kings. They are also picking up more keeper flounder as well as croaker and whiting.
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.