August 4
Morning surface water temperatures are around 84 degrees inshore around Little River, and until yesterday there had been rough wind and therefore muddy water every day for some time.
After too many days of too much wind, yesterday Captain Patrick “Smiley” Kelly (843-361-7445) reports that the wind finally laid down and they had some outstanding fishing. On the low to incoming tide they caught black drum, redfish, flounder, trout, croakers, sharks and more. They were fishing up in the creeks with live shrimp and finger mullet around grass banks and 5-foot holes.
While the trout and redfish have been a little spotty at times, the black drum have really turned on. At the Tillman docks they are catching tons of slot-sized fish as well as giants up to 40 or 50 pounds on fresh cut or live shrimp. There are also big reds in the area.
When you can get out there there have also been some big drum at jetties, and they have been caught on the bottom with live menhaden. Sharks are also mixed in.
You can also float live shrimp off the rocks for trout.
The flounder fishing continues to be outstanding, but the asterisk is that inshore it’s best on the North Carolina side where it’s strictly catch-and-release. Small live menhaden, live finger mullet and mud minnows are all working.
In South Carolina the Caudle Reef is still the best place to catch flounder, and there are also tons of Spanish mackereland some bluefish out there.
Until yesterday the water has been extremely dirty off the beaches, but Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) reports that just today it has cleared up and already they are catching Spanish mackerel and had a king in the rigs today. They have also been catching spot, whiting and croaker fairly consistently.
