North Myrtle Beach June 13, 2013
Jerry Gore with a 28″ red drum he caught and released after it struck a Gulp shrimp in a creek just off Little River Inlet.
Mark, of Shallow Minded Inshore Fishing Charters, reports that anglers are connecting with flounder and red drum around the Little River jetties right now. Most are falling for smaller live menhaden fished on the bottom. There are plenty of menhaden in the area right now. Many are a bit on the large side, so anglers who take time to locate the smaller baits will likely have better luck.
Speckled trout are feeding in Dunn Sound and other backwater spots in the area (with good numbers of 20”+ fish). Live mud minnows fished on float rigs and jigheads have been tempting plenty of bites from the specks recently.
Out in the ocean, legal-sized black sea bass are feeding at structure from the 40’ depths on out. They’ll bite bucktails, jigging spoons, or spec and bottom rigs tipped with virtually any bait.
Spadefish are schooled up around the General Sherman and other nearshore structure. The spades love cannonball jellyfish, and the most effective technique to hook them involves chumming the fish up from the structure with whole and cut jellies, then using small pieces as hook baits to fool the fish near the boat.
Patrick, of Capt. Smiley’s Fishing Charters, reports that anglers are finally seeing the fishing enter a consistent summer pattern in the North Myrtle Beach area. Red drum action in the creeks has been excellent recently, with the fish feeding around oyster bars, deeper holes, and other irregularities in the little waterways. Live bait’s been a bit tough to come by recently, but anglers are fooling plenty of the reds on mud minnows and Gulp baits. Both work well on jigheads or suspended beneath popping corks, which help anglers locate actively feeding fish. Since the reds rarely travel alone, those who find one can often catch several to many more in the same vicinity.
Jared Carroll and Ty Kennedy with spadefish that bit cut menhaden at AR-460 off Shallotte Inlet.
Flounder fishing has been solid lately as well, with anglers seeing good numbers in Tubbs Inlet, Cherry Grove, and more fish spreading out throughout the inshore waters. Fishing soft baits like Gulps on jigheads enables anglers to cover more ground and find more hungry fish than dragging live baits.
Speckled trout are feeding in the creeks and around inlets and structure in the area. Anglers can tempt the specks to bite Gulp baits and other soft plastics, but live shrimp are the best bet. Unfortunately, the shrimp can be tough to catch, and they’re a bit behind schedule this year, complicating the process further.
Steve, of Cherry Grove Pier, reports that last week’s storm dirtied the water, but anglers are starting to see some improved action again. Decent numbers of spot came over the rails last week for anglers baiting up with bloodworms.
Fishing shrimp near the breakers is producing some action with red drum.
Bluefish have started to show back up, and they’re biting jigging lures and bottom rigs. The spanish shouldn’t be far behind them as long as the ocean stays clean.
The water is 78 degrees.
