North Myrtle Beach May 24, 2012
Jeter Allred, of Waxhaw, NC, with a 27.8 lb. gag grouper that bit a cigar minnow/squid combo 50 miles off Little River Inlet while he was fishing with the Hurricane Fleet.
Patrick, of Capt. Smiley’s Fishing Charters, reports that flounder have been the best thing going lately, and anglers are catching big numbers of the tasty flatfish in Tubbs Inlet. There are a lot of short fish mixed in with the keepers, so refining the approach to target the larger flatfish will increase the number of fish anglers can bring home. Spending some time searching for larger tiger-side minnows (striped killifish) around sandbars and marshy spots will pay off, as the bigger baits attract bigger flounder than anglers with store-bought mud minnows will be catching. Gulp shrimp and swimming mullet rigged on jigheads just heavy enough to make contact with the bottom are also good bets for the flounder, and white and new penny have been the hottest colors lately.
Some red drum are feeding around Tubbs Inlet too (most 18-22”). They’ve been a bit hard to locate lately, but anglers can often land several once they find a feeding school. The same baits anglers are fishing for flounder should prove tough for the reds to resist.
Anglers are encountering some speckled trout along with a few more reds and flounder around the Little River Crossroads. Gulp baits are tempting bites from all three of the components of the inshore slam.
Katelyn Kincer, Amy McMullan, and Caroline McMullan with a apir of dolphin that bit trolled ballyhoo in the Gulf Stream while they were trolling out of Ocean Isle with Rube and Capt. Brant McMullan of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center.
Mark, of Shallow Minded Inshore Fishing Charters, reports that anglers are connecting with some flounder and red drum in the causeway canal at Sunset Beach. Live mud minnows on Carolina rigs and Gulp baits on jigheads are fooling both fish.
The flounder bite has been better in Tubbs Inlet (with fish ranging from undersized to 18-20”).
Most of the flatfish in the inlet are taking an interest in Carolina-rigged mud minnows.
More red drum and a few black drum are feeding beneath docks in the ICW, and mud minnows and Gulp baits have been fooling both drum.
Holly, of Cherry Grove Pier, reports that anglers bottom fishing with shrimp are connecting with some sea mullet and black drum.
Small live baits fished underneath the pier are producing some action with flounder.
Bluefish are feeding around the pier as well, and anglers are hooking them on Gotcha plugs and mackerel tree rigs.
