December 22

Morning surface water temperatures are in the mid-50s in Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. 

There’s not a lot of change in the inshore action on the south end of the Grand Strand, and the real fun right now is offshore. Starting with the bottom fishing, there is certainly some good fishing for species like gag grouper closer in but the best fishing is out in 100-150 feet. 

Meanwhile, out in 160-200 feet of water the wahoo and blackfin tuna have been very strong. 

While you can find photos of good limits of trout caught, Captain Jay Baisch reports that there are just a few spots at the jetties where those numbers are coming. Very few fish are in the creeks and you basically have to sit at the rocks in a handful of locations and float live shrimp to catch them. Because so few people are targeting them Baisch Boys is not carrying live shrimp right now. 

The fishing for redfish is decent, but they are not catching a ton. They are also picking up a few flounder but predictably most of them are undersized. 

There are some black drum in the creeks that will take fresh cut shrimp, and they are also hanging around the jetties. A few could be in the surf. But the best place to catch black drum is at the 3-Mile Reef at night.  

There are a few smaller sheepshead hanging around at the jetties as well.  

There are a few whiting in the surf.

December 16

Morning surface water temperatures are around 57 degrees in Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. 

The trout fishing has slowed down on the south end of the Grand Strand, and Captain Jay Baisch reports that while there are a few spots at the jetties where you can catch them the inshore fishing has gotten pretty tough overall.  Very few fish are in the creeks and you basically have to sit at the rocks in a handful of locations and float live shrimp to catch them. Because so few people are targeting them Baisch Boys is not carrying live shrimp right now. 

The fishing for redfish is decent, but they are not catching a ton. They are also picking up a few flounder but predictably most of them are undersized. 

There are some black drum in the creeks that will take fresh cut shrimp, and they are also hanging around the jetties. A few could be in the surf. But the best place to catch black drum is at the 3-Mile Reef at night.  

There are a few smaller sheepshead hanging around at the jetties as well, but at the mouths of the rivers there have been some reports of sheepshead caught on fresh cut shrimp fished on the bottom.  Jay has seen the fish and they were big ones!

There are a few whiting in the surf. 

Any structure in 40 plus feet of water could hold keeper black sea bass, but at places like the 10-Mile Reef you have to weed through lot of small ones.

Offshore the fishing for wahoo and blackfin tuna has been strong. 

November 19

Morning surface water temperatures are around 56 degrees in Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live finger mullet, live shrimp, blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. 

The fishing is still wide open on the south end of the Grand Strand, and Captain J. Baisch reports that the bite is still all about live shrimp. Trout in particular are still biting really well, and floating live shrimp 5-6 feet under a slip float rig has been extremely productive. Moving tides are key. The biggest trout are at the jetties right now and on the same rig good fish can be also caught on the insides.

It’s a similar report for the redfish, and in the creeks the action for slot-sized fish has been really good. Once again live shrimp have been the key. As with the trout there are some bigger fish that can be caught out at the tips of the jetties, but the bulls are pretty much gone.

Even though it’s getting close to winding down flounder fishing is still really good, and Captain J. has had several more customers catch 15 plus fish this week. The keeper ratio is unchanged from last week. The best fishing is still coming casting mullet or mud minnows on a jighead or Carolina rig.

Black drum and sheepshead are both still stacked up at the jetties.

In the surf the bull whiting are around, but with everything migrating right now you could catch anything from flounder to trout to redfish there as well. 

Since the Spanish mackerel and kings have moved on the 20-60 foot range is pretty dead, but out in 100 feet there continues to be really good bottom fishing. 

The bluewater fishing has also come on this week, and on a trip earlier this week Captain Jay caught three big 60 plus pound wahoo as well as eight blackfin tuna.

 

November 12

Morning surface water temperatures are around 60 degrees in Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live finger mullet, live shrimp, blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. 

A few days ago everything turned on at the south end of the Grand Strand, and Captain J. Baisch reports that this week they have been killing the fish with live shrimp. Trout in particular are biting really well, and floating live shrimp 5-6 feet under a slip float rig has been extremely productive. Moving tides are key.  The biggest trout are at the jetties right now and on the same rig good fish can be caught on the insides.

It’s a similar report for the redfish, and in the creeks the action for slot-sized fish has been really good. Once again live shrimp have been the key. As with the trout there are some bigger fish that can be caught out at the tips of the jetties, but the bulls are pretty much gone.

Even though it’s getting close to winding down flounder fishing is still really good, and Captain J. had a customer catch 27 with 7 keepers this week. The best fishing is still coming casting mullet or mud minnows on a jighead or Carolina rig. 

Black drum and sheepshead are both still stacked up at the jetties. 

In the surf the bull whiting are around, but with everything migrating right now you could catch anything from flounder to trout to redfish there as well. 

Since the Spanish mackerel and kings have moved on the 20-60 foot range is pretty dead, but out in 100 feet there continues to be really good bottom fishing. 

November 4

Morning surface water temperatures are around 67 degrees in Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live finger mullet, live shrimp, live fiddler crabs (usually), blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. 

The trout fishing is starting to pick up around Murrells Inlet, and even though the pinfish are still a bit of a pain the best action is starting to come drifting live shrimp over oysters on higher water that is either coming in or going out. While this cold front will make for less pleasant fishing conditions, if it runs off some of the pinfish it will be much appreciated!

The flounder fishing has been really good, particularly on the incoming tide but also on the outgoing tide close to low water. The best fishing is coming casting mullet or mud minnows on a jighead or Carolina rig. 

While the inshore action for redfish has not been great, they are moving around and starting to group up – and so if you do get on them your chances of catching several are going up. There are plenty of reds out at the tips of the jetties, although most of them are over the slot. Black drum are extremely stacked up at the jetties, and if you target them at night you can slay them. There are also plenty of sheepshead at the jetties but finding fiddler crabs is getting harder and harder.  

There is also still some pretty good surf fishing, with black drum, occasional flounder, whiting, croaker and some spotbeing caught on blood worms. 

Nearshore there have been some really good catches of king mackerel in 40-50 feet, although the fear is that the windy cold front will push them away. 

Bottom fishing has been outstanding in 110 feet, and the last time out Captain J. caught a bunch of strawberry grouper, rock hinds, triggerfish, white grunt, beeliners, vermillion snapper, genuine reds (that had to be released), and even some small dolphin.

There has also been some excellent wahoo fishing, including a 112-pound fish caught recently on the boat with Captain Jay Sconyers. 

Finally, our apologies for the long hiatus in this fishing report, which was the fault of our site, not the guides. We will do our best not to let it happen again.  

October 7

Morning surface water temperatures are around 78 degrees in Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live finger mullet, live shrimp, live fiddler crabs (usually), blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. 

Last week Captain Jay Baisch reported that at the tip of the jetties there were a lot of redfish being following the mullet running down the beaches, and this week the bull red drum have also showed up there for the same reason. Even though you have to weed through sharks they can be caught on live and cut mullet or menhaden. You can also catch some big reds in the surf, but there the sharks are far more numerous. 

There are also still plenty of blues and Spanish mackerel in the surf and out at the jetties which can be caught on live finger mullet or heavy casting jigs, and up the beach at the rock piles off Surfside there are still lots of big weakfish that can be caught fishing vertically with cut mullet. However, the wind has been so bad that it’s been really hard to get out in the ocean. Big whiting should still be in the same area. 

When the water clears up again there should also still be some good pompano in the surf. 

Inshore there are a few trout being caught, but the pinfish are still so bad that you really have to target them with artificial lures like DOA shrimp. Plenty of small redfish are also present in the creeks, and it’s about the same story for flounder – lots of small ones but very rare keepers.

When the winds lay down again there should still be plenty of Spanish at the nearshore reefs which can be caught flipping live finger mullet or trolling spoons, and hopefully the king mackerel will show up.   

When you can get out trolling in the bluewater zone is very slow right now, and most of the better bottom fishing is in very deep water. Although there are a few in about 60 feet, most keeper black sea bass and vermillion snapper are out in 100 plus feet of water, and the scamp grouper are in 140-160 on the edge of the ledge. 

September 29

Morning surface water temperatures are in the upper 70s around Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live finger mullet, live shrimp, live fiddler crabs (usually), blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. 

There is a still a wide-open mullet run down the beaches, and as a result Captain Jay Baisch reports that at the tip of the jetties there are a lot of redfish being caught. There are also plenty of blues and Spanish mackerel in the surf and out at the jetties which can be caught on live finger mullet or heavy casting jigs, and up the beach at the rock piles off Surfside they are still catching lots of big weakfish fishing vertically with cut mullet. There are also some really big whitingbeing landed in the same area. 

When the water is calm and the ocean clear some good pompano are also in the surf. 

Inshore there are a few trout being caught, but because of all the pinfish they are still really hard to target with live shrimp. Plenty of small redfish are also present in the creeks, and it’s about the same story for flounder – lots of small ones but very rare keepers. 

At the nearshore reefs there are also good numbers of Spanish which can be caught flipping live finger mullet or trolling spoons, but for some reason the king mackerel are still nowhere to be found. 

Trolling in the bluewater zone is very slow right now, and most of the better bottom fishing is in very deep water.  Keeper black sea bass and vermillion snapper are out in 100 plus feet of water, and the scamp grouper are in 140-160 on the edge of the ledge.  Only the gag grouper are in about 60 feet of water spawning and there are not huge numbers of them.

September 17

Morning surface water temperatures have dropped into the upper 70s around Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live finger mullet, live shrimp, fiddler crabs, sand fleas, blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. 

Water temperatures are still pretty warm, but Captain Jay Baisch reports that they have dropped enough for the fall bite to really start to turn on. Perhaps the most exciting action in the area can be found at the Murrells Inlet jetties, and as the mullet migrate south Spanish mackerel and bluefish are sitting at the tips of the jetties and smoking them. Live finger mullet will obviously work but any heavy casting jig is also very good. There are also bull red drum sitting at the tips of the jetties which will eat mullet. 

A few redfish and trout are also being caught inshore, but anglers are not targeting them too heavily right now. While there are plenty of shrimp around the pinfish are still so thick that floating live shrimp is basically out of the question.

In the last week there has been a very good flounder bite in the creeks, and anglers drifting or casting live finger mullet on a jig or Carolina rig are doing very well. A bunch of 5-7 pound fish have been caught. 

In the surf whiting and pompano are pretty thick, with fresh, head-on shrimp the best bait for pompano if you can’t get sand fleas. 

At the rock piles off of Surfside weakfish are starting to show up in good numbers and there are also a lot of bull drum around. 

For some reason there are not many king mackerel around right now, but with lots of bait around they should return any minute. 

The offshore fishing has been a little hit-or-miss, but there have been some good wahoo caught early in the morning. After that bottom fishing in 120 feet has been the best although there are some gag grouper in about 60 feet. 80-90 feet is eaten up with red snapper. 

August 26

Morning surface water temperatures are in the low to mid-80s around Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live shrimp, fiddler crabs, sand fleas, blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. Live finger mullet are big enough for bait and prolific in the creeks and off the beaches, but the water has gotten so hot that they are not always able to keep them alive and in stock. 

It’s still hot around Murrells Inlet, and Captain Jay Baisch reports that fish are in a typical summertime pattern where they are still catching a little bit of everything but not a lot of anything. Inshore they are picking up a few redfish and trout, but the better action has been out at the jetties where they are getting decent numbers of sheepshead and black drum. 

The flounder fishing is tough inshore, but with mullet starting to run down the beaches there are some flounder in the surf and the jetties are holding a lot of fish.  The inshore oxygen levels are probably below where the flounder like them, and so that is also pushing fish into the ocean. 

Note that effective July 1 flounder regulations changed, with a new limit of 5 fish per person (from 10) and 10 per boat(from 20). The minimum size moved to 16 inches (from 15).

Down around Georgetown there are a lot of tarpon, but to get one in Murrells Inlet would be rare.   

In the surf there is pretty good pompano fishing, and there are also good numbers of whiting being caught. They are bigger than a couple of weeks ago. The mullet run also has bluefish and some Spanish mackerel in the surf. 

At the nearshore reefs there are some Spanish mackerel and king mackerel everywhere, but not a lot anywhere. People are picking up one or two are Belkie Bear, one or two at the Myrtle Beach Rocks, and so on. 

Offshore there have been good numbers of wahoo and blackfin tuna.

August 6

Morning surface water temperatures are in the low to mid-80s around Murrells Inlet.  

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live shrimp, fiddler crabs, sand fleas, blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. Live finger mullet are big enough for bait and prolific in the creeks, but the water has gotten so hot that they are not always able to keep them alive and in stock. 

The fishing is still spotty around Murrells Inlet, but Captain Jay Baisch reports that with a bunch of CCA-tagged redfishin the creeks this week they spent more time targeting them with some success. Mullet continue to be the bait of choice for reds. 

There has also been some pretty good black drum fishing, and last night Captain Jay targeted them with shrimp on a shell bank at low tide. Black drum have such a good sense of smell that it’s important to keep targeting the same area until they find the baits, but you can also expect to catch a pile of whiting and croaker. Black drum usually feed best at night, especially in the summer.

The flounder fishing hasn’t changed much, with decent numbers but few big fish.  They are holding in deeper water during the day, and so, for example, flounder fishing is better in 8-12 feet than in 2-3 feet. At night flounder will return to 2-3 feet of water when temperatures cool. 

Note that effective July 1 flounder regulations changed, with a new limit of 5 fish per person (from 10) and 10 per boat(from 20). The minimum size moved to 16 inches (from 15).

The sheepshead bite has been pretty good on the jetties, and fiddler crabs are selling well.

While it’s easy to get a line pulled in the surf right now, the small whiting are still so abundant that it's almost hard to fish for anything else. There are still a few bluefish and Spanish mackerel around off the beaches, but not a lot of either. Pompano are also around. 

The best nearshore fishing again this week has been for king mackerel, especially at the 3-Mile Reef. There are more further out, but they are smaller. 

At the nearshore reefs there are some spadefish being caught, but with no jelly balls around you have to use squid.

Trolling is slow but the bottom fishing has been really good for sea bass, snapper and grouper in 80-120 feet.  The cobia that are being caught are also being caught by bottom fishermen getting lucky. 

July 28

Morning surface water temperatures are in the low to mid-80s around Murrells Inlet.  

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live shrimp, fiddler crabs, live sand fleas, blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. Live finger mullet are big enough for bait and prolific in the creeks, but the water has gotten so hot that they are not always able to keep them alive and in stock. 

The fishing has not changed too much this week around Murrells Inlet, and Captain Jay Baisch reports that anglers are catching a little bit of everything from flounder to redfish to black drum, but not a lot of anything.  However, one change is that with so many mullet in the creeks most of the fish seem to have moved over to a mullet bite.

Still, there are weird exceptions and one customer this week got into a pile of trout on live shrimp up around Pawley’s – so it’s definitely still worth going fishing and being prepared for anything!

If anything the keeper ratio for flounder has been a little worse this week, and even though numbers are still pretty good catching a 16-incher inshore is hard! Fish are still holding in deeper water during the day, and so, for example, flounder fishing is better in 8-12 feet than in 2-3 feet. At night flounder will return to 2-3 feet of water when temperatures cool. 

Note that effective July 1 flounder regulations changed, with a new limit of 5 fish per person (from 10) and 10 per boat(from 20). The minimum size moved to 16 inches (from 15).

The sheepshead are still on the jetties, and spearfishermen are still getting a lot of them while snorkeling. They can also be caught on barnacles and fiddler crabs, and generally they are more accessible at low tide. 

While it’s easy to get a line pulled in the surf right now, the small whiting are so abundant that it's almost hard to fish for anything else. There are still a few bluefish and Spanish mackerel around off the beaches, but not a lot of either. Pompano are also around. 

The best nearshore fishing has been for king mackerel, and from the beaches out to the 3-Mile and the Pawley’s Island Reef there are some big kings around. There are more further out, but they are smaller. 

At the nearshore reefs there are some spadefish being caught, but with no jelly balls around you have to use squid.

Trolling is slow but the bottom fishing has been really good for sea bass, snapper and grouper in 80-120 feet.  The cobia that are being caught are also being caught by bottom fishermen getting lucky. 

July 21

Morning surface water temperatures are in the mid-80s around Murrells Inlet.  

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live shrimp, fiddler crabs, live sand fleas, blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. While live finger mullet are big enough for bait and prolific in the creeks, the water has gotten so hot that they hard to stock until temperatures cool. 

It’s typical summer time fishing in the Murrells Inlet area, and Captain Jay Baisch reports that anglers are catching a little bit of everything but not a lot of anything. That applies for flounder, redfish, and black drum, and even on days when someone catches 8-10 fish there will be several other boats who caught almost nothing. 
One note is that fish will often be holding in deeper water during the day, and so, for example, flounder fishing is better in 8-12 feet than in 2-3 feet. At night flounder will return to 2-3 feet of water when temperatures cool. 

Note that effective July 1 flounder regulations changed, with a new limit of 5 fish per person (from 10) and 10 per boat(from 20). The minimum size moved to 16 inches (from 15).

The sheepshead are still on the jetties, and spearfishermen are actually getting a lot of them while snorkeling. They can also be caught on barnacles and fiddler crabs, and generally they are more accessible at low tide. 

There continue to be a ton of sand fleas around, and as a result the fishing for both pompano and whiting continues to be very good. There are also a few bluefish and Spanish mackerel around off the beaches, but not a lot of either.  

At the nearshore reef there have been a few cobia and spadefish caught, but flounder have been the most targeted species. There are also some good king mackerel closer in, and live bait in about 35 feet of water has been working well. 

Offshore in about 100 feet there are some smaller king mackerel and a few dolphin being caught. 

June 23

Morning surface water temperatures are in the upper 70s around Murrells Inlet, and the tropical storm has brought wind and dumped a bunch of rain the last couple of days which has muddied the water. 

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live shrimp, fiddler crabs, live sand fleas (periodically), blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. In the next couple of weeks live finger mullet will be available in the store, and anglers can already net enough for personal use in the creeks. 

Despite a tough few days of weather there have still been some keeper flounder caught, and Captain Jay Baisch reports that just this morning one guide caught half a dozen over 15 inches.  Jumbo mud minnows have been hard to beat. Note that effective July 1 flounder regulations will change, with a new limit of 5 fish per person (from 10) and 10 per boat (from 20). The minimum size will move from 15 to 16 inches. 

Black drum don’t mind dirty water and sometimes feed better in it, so it’s no surprise that they have been biting well the past couple of days. They are taking cut shrimp and fiddler crabs over hard shell bottoms and drops. Live shell bottoms are best. Redfish are in the same areas and will take all those baits plus cut mullet and mud minnows. While you can catch enough finger mullet for personal use in a cast net right now, there aren’t quite yet enough big ones for a bait shop to carry them.  

The sheepshead have moved back onto the jetties, and they can be caught on barnacles and fiddler crabs. Generally they are more accessible at low tide. 

This year there have been a ton of sand fleas around and the bait has brought pompano with it, but when the water got dirty the pompano pushed off the beaches. They will be back. Whiting, bluefish and a few Spanish mackerel are still around, but from the beaches to the reefs Spanish have been spotty.   

The king mackerel fishing has been pretty good from the beaches (when there is bait) to the nearshore artificial reefs to live bottom in 40-60 feet, and there are also a few cobia mixed in. Not a lot of people are targeting them but the spadefish are also at the reefs for the catching. 

There have been good numbers of tuna caught at the ledge, but for anglers who head out to really deep water in 1200-1500 feet and fish grass and current breaks in the Gulf Stream there are still a ton of dolphin around. 

June 9

Morning surface water temperatures are in the upper 70s around Murrells Inlet.

Baisch Boys Bait and Tackle (843-651-1915) has regular and jumbo mud minnows, live shrimp, fiddler crabs, live sand fleas, blood worms, fresh head-on shrimp, and a full range of frozen baits. 

It continues to be a better year for flounder, and Captain Jay Baisch reports that for a few weeks now the sizes have been improved. You will still catch bunch of small fish, but now getting 5 or 6 keepers in a trip is normal. The bottom of the outgoing is still best and jumbo mud minnows are hard to beat.  And just in cast you were wondering, bragging rights for best flounder fisherman on the Grand Strand belong to none other than Kelly Baisch.  Fishing alone she won the rotary club flounder tournament with a 23-inch, 24.53 pound fish that beat all the guides and her husband’s buddies!

The report doesn’t vary much up and down the south end of the Grand Strand for flounder, and the whole area seems to also have a similar population of redfish, trout and black drum right now. However, for some reason Litchfield and North Litchfield have the most reds. 

In the surf there are plenty of whiting around as well as some pompano, and of course there are plenty of small sharksand some bluefish. Again, the water has to be clean for the pompano or else they head offshore. Live sand fleas are working well for them.  

At the nearshore reefs the Spanish mackerel continue to come in waves, and one day you can whack them while the next day could be a miss. There are some king mackerel at the nearshore reefs and over live bottom in about 40 feet, and with lots of menhaden around trolling live bait has been prominent. You can’t get cigar minnows this year so they are trolling small ballyhoo instead in the dead bait department. While there is not a huge cobia run they are getting one or two each day, but spadefish are all over the nearshore reefs.  

There are still some dolphin around but not as many, but yesterday Captain J caught 8 blackfin tuna, 2 wahoo, and a sailfish.