North Myrtle Beach April 24, 2014
Roy and Alex Itch, of Waxhaw, NC, with a red drum that bit a live mud minnow on a Mission Fishin’ jighead while they were fishing a shallow creek near Little River with Capt. Mark Dickson of Shallow Minded Inshore Fishing Charters.
Mark, of Shallow Minded Inshore Fishing Charters, reports that anglers are seeing some solid fishing in the area right now, and it’ll only improve as spring wears on.
Flounder have shown up in decent numbers in the marshes at Cherry Grove, and anglers are seeing around a 20% ratio of keeper to short fish. Live mud minnows and scented baits like Gulps on jigheads are getting attention from the flatfish. Anglers should see more flounder throughout the area over the coming weeks, and the proportion of keepers should improve as well.
Red drum are feeding in the creeks between Sunset Beach and Little River, and anglers are hooking good numbers on most recent days when the weather’s cooperative. Live mud minnows on jigheads are fooling the majority of the reds right now. The area’s crabs will be shedding over the next few weeks, and once they do, chunks of soft shell crab will become the go-to baits for the reds.
Some speckled trout are in many of the same areas as the reds and biting mud minnows and soft plastic baits like Voodoo Shrimp.
The up-and-down weather has made the fishing a bit inconsistent day-to-day over the past few weeks, but there’s a solid showing of fish in the area which should mean spring fishing will be in full swing once the weather stabilizes.
Tim Lens, of Boston, and David Duppstadt, of Little River, SC, with a pair of red drum they hooked near Tubbs Inlet while fishing with Capt. Patrick Kelly of Capt. Smiley’s Fishing Charters.
Patrick, of Capt. Smiley’s Fishing Charters, reports that flounder fishing is heating up in the marshes and creeks off Cherry Grove. Live mud minnows on light Carolina rigs and Gulp baits pinned to jigheads are tough for the flatfish to turn down. Most fish are still shy of SC’s 14” minimum size limit, but anglers are connecting with some keepers and the fish will only be getting larger as they continue to feed through the spring.
Some red and black drum are feeding around structure and in the shallows near Little River. Fresh shrimp are fooling both drum species, and anglers are also connecting with the reds on live mud minnows.
Ronnie, of Cherry Grove Pier, reports that anglers are starting to hook some keeper flounder and black and red drum from the pier. Live mud minnows and shrimp are fooling the larger fish.
Bluefish, small croaker, and some decent-sized sea mullet are falling for bottom rigs baited with cut shrimp.
The water is 60 degrees.
