June 24
Morning surface water temperatures are around 81-82 degrees inshore around Little River. Bait is now pretty abundant in the creeks.
The Spanish mackerel continue to provide a lot of excitement at the north end of the Grand Strand this week, and Captain Patrick “Smiley” Kelly (843-361-7445) reports that false albacore have joined the party and are also a lot of fun. They are catching both species pulling #1 planer boards with Clarks Spoons at about 6 knots, and you can also cast small silver spoons when you find the fish. The key is to look for the menhaden balls and glass minnows and they will be nearby. There also sharpnose sharks underneath which provide a lot of action.
The flounder fishing is still really good, particularly in North Carolina, and in Tubbs Inlet they have been catching a ton of fish over 16 inches. The action is also pretty good in Cherry Grove where you can keep the big ones.
Drifting has been about the best way to catch fish, and when you get a bite opening the spool and giving the fish time to eat is the preferred technique. You can also cast and jig with a grub or minnow on a 3/8 ounce jighead.
The Cherry Grove area also has a fair number of black drum, and Dunn Sound is also full of them right now. You can catch drum on cut or live shrimp.
They are still catching some small trout on Gulp! around oyster beds and creek mouths, and during the heat of the day in deep holes. However the bigger trout are being caught at the jetties drifting live shrimp around the rocks on moving tides. You will also pick up redfish this way, and you can also still catch reds in shallow potholes back in the creeks on the low to rising tide. Live mullet, pinfish and Gulp! can all work. There are also redfish around docks.
It’s been another strong week of fishing off Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625), and each day they are averaging a couple of king mackerel. They are also getting some Spanish on the king rigs as well as casting Gotcha plugs, and there have been a bunch of keeper flounder this week. They are also catching an assortment of whiting, croaker and spots.
At the nearshore reefs there are some flounder which will take finger mullet or live menhaden, and there are also some small cobia at the reefs and wrecks. Small black sea bass are also abundant and there are a bunch of sharks.

June 17
Morning surface water temperatures are around 82-83 degrees inshore around Little River. Bait is now pretty abundant in the creeks.
The most exciting fishing at the top of the coast this week has been trolling for Spanish mackerel, and Captain Patrick “Smiley” Kelly (843-361-7445) reports that pulling #1 planer boards with Clarks Spoons at about 6 knots they are really catching them. The key is to look for the menhaden balls and glass minnows and the Spanish will be nearby. There also sharpnose sharks underneath which provide a lot of action.
The flounder fishing is still really good, particularly in North Carolina, and in Tubbs Inlet they have been catching a ton of fish over 16 inches. The action is also pretty good in Cherry Grove where you can keep them.
Drifting has been about the best way to catch fish, and when you get a bite opening the spool and giving the fish time to eat is the preferred technique. You can also cast and jig with a grub or minnow on a 3/8 ounce jighead.
The Cherry Grove area also has a fair number of black drum.
This week they have caught a few more trout on Gulp! around oyster beds and creek mouths, and during the heat of the day in deep holes. You can also still catch redfish in shallow potholes back in the creeks on the low to rising tide. Live mullet, pinfish and Gulp! can all work. There are also redfish around docks.
It’s been an another excellent week of fishing off Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625), and yesterday they caught five king mackerel! The day before they had a 35-pound fish. They are also getting some Spanish on the king rigs as well as casting Gotcha plugs, and there have been some keeper flounder and trout today. They are also catching an assortment of whiting, croaker, spot and bluefish.
At the jetties the action has been pretty good for trout and redfish drifting live shrimp under a cork just off the rocks. Moving tides have been best.
At the nearshore reefs there are some flounder which will take finger mullet or live menhaden, and there are also some cobia at the reefs and wrecks. Small black sea bass are also abundant.

June 10 

Morning surface water temperatures are around 81 degrees inshore around Little River.  Bait is now pretty abundant in the creeks.   

Even as it gets hot there has been some pretty good inshore fishing, and Captain Patrick “Smiley” Kelly (843-361-7445) reports that the flounder are probably the best thing going.   Drifting in the Little River Inlet has been about the best way to catch fish, and when you get a bite opening the spool and giving the fish time to eat is the prefered way to catch them.  You can also cast and jig with a grub or minnow on a 3/8 ounce jighead.   

Probably the best flounder fishing right now is in North Carolina’s Tubbs Inlet where you can’t keep them, but you have to be careful with the sand bars to avoid getting stuck.  The Cherry Grove area has also been pretty good and has a fair number of black drum as well.   

The few trout that are around are mostly very small, but you can still catch redfish in shallow potholes back in the creeks on the low to rising tide.  Live mullet, pinfish and Gulp! can all work.  They are also redfish around docks.   

There are also plenty of croaker and small black drum around inshore that will take shrimp or Fish Bites.   

At the other end of the size range there have also been a lot of giant bull sharks in the Intracoastal that will eat a range of cut baits.   

It’s been an incredible week of fishing off Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625), and in addition to the usual suspects of whiting, croaker and a few spots they have had a nice run of bluefish, Spanish mackerel, and even a couple of king mackerel this week.  But the most exciting action came on Tuesday when they jumped 10 tarpon on the pier!  

Just off the beaches you can cast heavy silver jigs and catch abundant false albacore, and even though this oily fish isn’t good table fare they make for excellent shark bait!  You can also troll for Spanish mackerel with Clarks Spoons and #1 planers, and if you see a good wad of them you can cast.   

At the nearshore reefs there are some flounder which will take finger mullet or live menhaden, and there are also abundant blues and Spanish mackerel.  There are also some cobia at the reefs and wrecks.