Morning surface water temperatures have dropped a little to 83 degrees around Little River and bait is still abundant.
It’s hard to give sole credit to the slightly dropping water temperatures when fishing was already picking up last week, but Captain Buddy Love with Captain Smiley Fishing Charters (843-361-7445) reports that the slight drop in water temps has certainly coincided with a dramatically improved bite. In particular they are seeing more black drum this week, including some 22-23 inch fish, which are basically on the same pattern as the redfish. That is they are biting best on the last of the falling tide and the first of the rise around creek mouths with oysters. With live shrimp you will catch both types of drum as well as mix of other species, while with finger mullet you are more likely to get redfish. You will also catch flounder on any live bait, which are generally biting best on the lower stages of the tide as well.
In South Carolina you have to pick through the flounder to get one over 16 inches, while in North Carolina (closed to harvest) there are tons of big ones around.
While the bite hasn’t gotten hot they are also picking up a few trout, generally on the last of the rising tide. They are scattered pretty much everywhere and eating live shrimp.
The Spanish mackerel are also still around, and twenty-five feet of water is still the magic depth. You can catch them trolling spoons on #1 or #2 planer boards and there are also still some times when you can cast at them.
