Inshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that January typically offers some of the clearest, prettiest water of the year, and as a result it can be an excellent month for sight-fishing on the north end of the Grand Strand. Redfish will be grouped up in large winter schools that are easy to spot, and it is hard to beat fresh cut shrimp fished on a jighead to entice them to bite. Black drum can also be caught on shrimp fished around docks and ledges in the Intracoastal Waterway or holes in the creeks. If water temperatures stay in the upper 40s then trout should continue to bite right through January. They will be caught on artificial lures such as Vudu Shrimp in the ICW and around the jetties, and at times they will even be mixed in with redfish on the shallow flats. Storms and dirty water can slow the bite and spread the fish out, but they will usually return to eating once conditions improve.

Inshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that October is often the best month of the year on the north end.  Trout, redfish, flounder and black drum should all be gorging on bait before it gets harder to locate later in the season.  During October the trout will get bigger and live shrimp will work inshore and at the jetties as long as it’s available.  When shrimp get hard to find anglers can switch over to DOA shrimp and Gulp! baits.  Redfish will continue to eat mullet and shrimp around oyster beds or grass lines, and flounder will be caught on mullet around creek mouths and depressions.  Bigger flounder will almost certainly be caught this month – although September was already fantastic.  Black drum will eat shrimp and crabs at the jetties as well as at random spots.  Through the middle of the month bull red drum should remain in the inlet and off the beaches, and to start the month the action should get better each day.   

Inshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that at the end of August the water had gotten really dirty after the storm, but the fishing was surprisingly good.   And there is every reason to expect it will only get better as we get further into the annual fall feed.  Black drum, redfish, and flounder will continue to gorge on live shrimp inshore, and as long as you are fishing in areas where bait is abundant you should find action.  More trout should also start to show up soon.  Additionally, bull red drum should move closer to shore where they can be caught off the beaches and at the jetties.  

Inshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that patterns should hold fairly steady in the month of July, although the grade of fish size often goes down a little this month.  By this point mullet are a consistent bait source for flounder, trout, redfish and more, and pretty much everything should also eat shrimp which will remain prolific in the area.  However, black drum – which have been so reliable this year – may drop off somewhat this month.  Look for fish to hold a little deeper in the July heat and to feed better early and late.  The ledges in the Intracoastal Waterway and the rocks at the Little River jetties should be good all month.  Finally, shark fishing should provide plenty of excitement. 

Nearshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports the Spanish mackerel fishing had slowed by late June, but there could be another run of fish and the action could pick up in July.  

Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that June should be an excellent month for inshore fishing to the north of Myrtle Beach. Redfish, trout, black drum and more will eat shrimp, and as the mullet get bigger they will become a more consistent bait source for most species. Topwater baits will catch reds and trout early. Mud minnows, menhaden and live finger mullet should catch flounder in the creeks, and a variety of artificial lures will also work.

Inshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that after a good late April they have high expectations for May, and redfish, trout and black drum should all continue to be caught inshore around structure as well as at the jetties. Live shrimp are hard to beat for all three species. The black drum fishing has been particularly reliable this spring – about as good as they have ever seen it. The flounder were already arriving by the end of April, and this month more bigger fish should return. They will take mud minnows, and early in the season look for them closer to the ocean.

Nearshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters reports that bluefish and Spanish mackerel fishing was phenomenal by the end of April, and it should stay good into this month. The tail end of the bonito fishing should last into early May while big weakfish should be around a bit longer. Cobia should arrive about the third week of May.

Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that April is sometimes an unpredictable month, but usually there is some pretty good fishing for trout and redfish as temperatures warm and fish metabolism speeds up.  Fishing live shrimp under a cork will work for both species, and redfish (as well as black drum) will eat fresh cut shrimp around docks.  This month the flounder will also return and by the end of the month there should be decent numbers of legal fish to be caught.  There were already some early keepers by the end of March. 

Inshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that March is typically a strong month on the north end of the Grand Strand, and they have every reason to expect that the black drum fishing will continue to be excellent. They will eat cut or dead shrimp fished around structure. Redfish should also still be schooled up on the flats where they can be caught at low tide on shrimp, and at higher stages of the tide they will be found around structure. Trout fishing should turn on at the jetties as well as inshore, and fish will be caught on both live shrimp and artificial baits like Vudu Shrimp. In late February they were already feeding a little better as water clarity improved. Finally, at the end of February flounder started to return to the Cherry Grove area and that should begin full-scale in the whole region later this month.

Nearshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters reports that in March sheepshead will still be stacked up at the nearshore reefs, and black sea bass should still be relatively close to the coast.

Inshore: Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that January typically offers some of the clearest, prettiest water of the year, and as a result it can be an excellent month for sight-fishing on the north end of the Grand Strand.  Redfish will be grouped up in large winter schools that are easy to spot, and it is hard to beat fresh cut shrimp fished on a jighead to entice them to bite.  Black drum can also be caught on shrimp fished around docks and ledges in the Intracoastal Waterway or holes in the creeks.  If water temperatures stay in the upper 40s then trout should continue to bite right through January.  They will be caught on artificial lures such as Vudu Shrimp in the ICW and around the jetties, and at times they will even be mixed in with redfish on the shallow flats.  Storms and dirty water can slow the bite and spread the fish out, but they will usually return to eating once conditions improve.