October 13
Morning surface water temperatures are in the upper 60s inshore around Little River.
While it will only get better in the coming months, Captain Patrick “Smiley” Kelly (843-361-7445) reports that the troutfishing has really picked up on the north end of the Grand Strand. They are catching fish drifting live shrimp on a #6 treble hook under a bobber, and the best action has been coming with the bait about 4 feet down over 5-10 feet of water. Moving water on the incoming tide has been fishing the best.
For now the trout are only in certain creeks, but over the next couple of months they will get more numerous and widespread. The good trout fishing could continue right through December, or even to February with a mild winter.
They are also picking up black drum the same way, and of course the drum will also eat cut shrimp on the bottom.
Redfish on the smaller end of the slot are abundant, and they are catching plenty of reds on the shrimp rig. While they can be found in the same areas as the trout, redfish are more commonly found in small potholes, little feeder creeks, along the edges of grass and around rocks right now. They will also take finger mullet or Gulp! fished on a 3/8 ounce jighead.
Unfortunately the bite for bull red drum has slowed down, and even though they are picking up a few fish the numbers are not good. You can fish for hours and only get one or two bites. It seems there just aren’t many around their inlet this year, and generally for most species the jetties have been less productive than usual recently.
The pattern is the same, and 20-30 feet is a general target depth. Sometimes they will be in holes, sometimes they will be near the rocks, and sometimes they will be a little out from the rocks. A lot depends on the stage of the tide. Cut or live mullet or menhaden are all good baits
