3/17/2008 |
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 | Striped Bass: Good. The bite has slowed from earlier this winter but
fishermen continue to catch them. Target striper in the ICW using grubs
and artificial shrimp. |
| Spottail Bass: Slow to fair. Try fishing with live minnows or
artificials in ICW areas. |
| Trout: Very good. The trout bite is still strong and lots of 3 to 5
pound fish are being taken. Fish in the ICW with grubs and artificial
shrimp. Berkeley Gulp baits have been particularly effective. The trout
bite will likely begin to slow down in the next week or two so now is a
good time to go. |
| Bottom Fish: Good. Boats are doing well fishing for black sea bass,
grouper and snapper when they can get offshore. Use cut squid. |
Grand Strand
| Spottail Bass: Fair to good. Fish the creeks using live mullet or
mud minnows, lead head jigs and curly tail grubs or Johnson spoons.
While some nice spottails are being caught other anglers report that the
fish are finicky and, even if visible, difficult to catch. |
| Black Drum: Good. The 2 to 5 pound drum are still hanging around and
fishermen report nice catches using similar techniques as for the
spottails. Cut shrimp are also very effective. |
| Trout: Slow. Trout are deep and not very aggressive. Try Mirrolures
or Gulp shrimp and fish deep areas very slowly. |
| Flounder: Slow. Although flounder fishing is slow more and more fish
(besides the immature fish which winter inshore) are beginning to show
up in the creeks. Male flounder which have finished their winter
spawning run come back inshore before the females, and their appearance
indicates that spring is approaching. |
| Bottom Fish: Good. Boats report nice catches of black sea bass,
grouper, and snapper from the Parking Lot (25 miles offshore) on out
when they can get offshore. |
| Springmaid Pier: Some really nice red drum have been caught off the pier this week, including fish up to 30 pounds. Use cut mullet weighted on the bottom. |
Cape Romain/ McClellanville
| Clear water conditions continue to allow sight fishing to be
productive. |
| Spottail Bass: Good. Fish are grouped in large to very large schools
on the flats but are at times reluctant to feed in the very clear water.
Try a variety of lures to get them to bite, ranging from DOA or Gulp
shrimp to topwater plugs to gold spoons to flies. Mud minnows or live
mullet may also be effective. |
| Trout: Good. Fish deeper than for the spottail bass and target holes
in creeks. Use an Equalizer-type popping cork with a leader underneath
and fish a grub on a lead headed jig. Finding the right action on the
jig is very important. |
Charleston
| Spottail Bass: Good. Despite tough, windy fishing conditions this week spottails are still available on good days. They are scattered from deep holes in rivers through the creeks and flats, ICW, inlets, and out to near shore reefs. Look for more stable conditions to hopefully improve spottail bass fishing this week. |
| Trout: Good. The trout fishing continues to improve. Nice catches of trout are being reported north of Charleston in the creeks around Dewees, Capers, and Bull Island as water temperatures rise. Fish are hitting DOA shrimp (clear with flakes) on the falling tide and ½ ounce bucktails with DOA shrimp trailers. Try to target holes in 6 to 9 feet of water and fish very slowly. Trout fishing seems to be slower in the southern parts of Charles ton although some roe trout are being caught. |
| Flounder: Fair. Some doormat flounder are being caught at the
nearshore reefs using traditional flounder baits. |
| Sheepshead: Very good. Sheepshead are schooled up at the nearshore
reefs. A potential state record sheepshead of 16.35 pounds was weighed
in at Haddrell's Point Saturday March 1. The angler's fishing partner
also caught a monster sheepshead over 14 pounds on the same trip. |
| Bottom Fish: Very good. Black sea bass, grouper, and snapper are all biting very well offshore – 150 fish days are being reported. Black sea bass are biting well in 40-70 feet of water and grouper are biting well from 60-70 feet on out to 150 feet. |
Hilton Head
| Spottail Bass: Very good. Hilton Head guides continue to report nice
catches of spottail bass on the flats. Use artificials such as the
ever-reliable brown Gulp Swimming Minnow or DOA shrimp, or mud minnows.
Fish the bait under a popping cork. The artificials can be fished either
under a popping cork or jigged on a free line. |
| Trout: Very good. Use the same bait or lures as for the spottails
but target drops on the falling tide. Gulp shrimp imitations have been
particularly effective. Some large fish have also been taken on mud
minnows. |
| Sheepshead: Very good. January through March is the prime time for
sheepshead fishing in the Hilton Head area. Guides continue to report
nice catches of sheepshead at the near shore reefs. Lots of fish are in
the 2-5 pound range but some larger fish up to 9 or 10 pounds are also
being taken. |
| Bottom Fish: Good to very good. Snapper are being caught in large
numbers around 40 miles out in 110 feet of water but many of the fish
are short. Black Sea Bass and some nice flounder are also being caught
out at the Betsy Ross. The flounder are up to 7 or 8 pounds. Fisherman
going out after black sea bass are having no trouble catching large
numbers but are finding that many of the fish are short. |
Beaufort
| Spottail Bass: Good. The weather has been unpredictable this week
which has made fishing conditions variable from day to day. Fish are
still congregated in large schools, and in the Broad River area guides
are seeing schools with up to 150 fish in the shallow flats. However,
bait is limited in the flats and fish are focused more on hiding from
predators than feeding – coaxing a bit has been difficult at times. Best
fishing is on the falling or low tide with spoons and flies. |
| Trout: Good. Trout are congregated in deep holes and are very
hungry. Fish Gulp shrimp imitations, live mud minnows or live shrimp.
|
| Sheepshead: Very good. Nice catches of sheepshead are being reported
at the near shore reefs and wrecks. |
| Bottom Fish: Good to very good. Black Sea bass are abundant but
catching fish over the legal limit of 12 inches is difficult at times.
The same is true for red snapper, which have a legal limit of 20 inches.
Grouper over the legal limit of 24 inches are being caught but not in
huge numbers. Offshore fishermen are encountering prolific dogfish which
make fishing difficult and will remain until water temperatures start to
warm up. |
| Offshore: Flounder and big black drum are being caught at the near shore wrecks and reefs. Further out bluefin tuna have yet to show up in the Beaufort area but in 180 feet of water some huge triggerfish are being caught using live fish as bait (such as small black sea bass). |
Coastal Fishing Piers:
Cherry Grove
Pier: Pier and tackle shop open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. until
late-March.
Apache Pier (Myrtle Beach): Pier and bait Shop open 6 a.m. to
8 p.m. seven days a week. - Check
weather and water conditions>>>
Springmaid Pier (Myrtle Beach): Pier is open 6 a.m. to
midnight seven days a week, year-round. Tackle shop open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
daily. - View the
pier cam>>>
Myrtle Beach State Park Pier (Myrtle Beach South): Pier open
6 a.m. to 8 p.m., 7 days a week (24/7 if staying onsite). Tackle shop open
9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Surfside Pier: Open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
The Pier at Garden City:
Open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
Winyah Bay Fishing and Observation Pier (Georgetown):
Open 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, with free parking and fishing.
A Freshwater Fishing License is required due to brackish water. A second
fishing pier is open on Winyah Bay called Hobcaw Point Observation and
Fishing Pier.
Folly Beach Pier:
Open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week.
Hunting Island State Park Fishing Pier: Pier is open 24 hours
a day. The Nature Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through
Saturday.