October 24
Surface water temperatures on the north end of the Grand Strand have risen to 74 degrees. Particularly on the incoming tide the water is a pretty blue color. While finger mullet remain abundant in the creeks and menhaden are thick off the beach, shrimp are still hard to come by.
The redfish action has been outstanding for the last couple of weeks, and Captain Patrick “Smiley” Kelly (843-361-7445) reports that inside the creeks they are catching lots of smaller reds, a bunch of 18-23 inch fish, and some up to 26 inches. Spots are tide-dependent, and on lower tides they are fishing holes in the creeks while on higher tides they are fishing around grass and oysters. The best baits have been live finger mullet on a jighead, but Gulp! shrimp are also working.
The flounder fishing is still pretty good, but right now they are catching more short fish and lower numbers of keepers. Live finger mullet and Gulp! baits are both working.
On the incoming tide they are catching black drum on fresh cut shrimp fished around docks and certain oyster beds that the fish seem to like.
The trout fishing continues to be off, and it seems likely that this is the result of a couple of factors. First, shrimp are still hard to come by and so floating live shrimp around has not been as much of an option. Second, temperatures have not dropped yet. They did catch a nice trout on finger mullet today, perhaps a sign of good things to come.
In the surf, Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) reports that whiting and croaker are both biting well, and there have been a few black drum too. But by far the most exciting action is with the king mackerel, and in the past two weeks more than 70 fish have been caught. In the last two days 17 have been landed! A few Spanish mackerel are also around although they have slowed off the pier.
While smaller redfish are biting inshore, the fishing for bigger drum has been pretty good in the inlet and off the beaches. Fish from 30 to 40 plus inches have been caught around the rocks, in holes in the inlet and following the schools of menhaden down the beach. Some of these schools are half an acre or more and if you drop baits into them you will pick up drum and sharks. They are usually just outside the breakers in 5-20 feet of water and the pelicans will point you to them.
There has also been some outstanding Spanish mackerel fishing in the inlet, with many of the fish 2-3 pounds and better. It’s as simple as looking for the diving birds and then casting spoons to them, and you can also troll or cast Mirrolures at the Spanish.

Jay A’Hern
Angler’s Headquarters (www.AnglersHeadquarters.com)
P.O. Box 50225
Columbia, SC 29250
jay@usfishingreport.com