North Myrtle Beach May 30, 2013
Justin Bowser (age 9) with a 14″ pompano that bit shrimp while he was surf fishing with family at Cherry Grove.
Mark, of Shallow Minded Inshore Fishing Charters, reports that the flounder action is solid in Cherry Grove right now, and anglers also saw a good push of flatfish around the Little River jetties (with an average 40-50% of the fish keepers). Live mud minnows and tiger-side minnows have been tempting most of the flounder bites. Big numbers of menhaden have shown up in the area, but most are too large to be good flounder baits at present.
The red drum bite has fallen off a bit from last week, but anglers are still finding some fish up the creeks, a few at the jetties, and more around hard structure in the ICW. Live mud minnows, shrimp, crab chunks, and scented soft baits like Gulps are all effective offerings for the reds.
Speckled trout are also feeding around the Little River jetties, but the bite’s been on one day and off the next. Live shrimp are the way to go for the trout when they’re in a feeding mood.
Spadefish have shown up at the General Sherman wreck. Anglers can chum the spades up to the surface by lowering cannonball jellyfish to the structure on a rod or downrigger, then slowly bringing them to the top. Small pieces of the jelly for hook baits will tempt the spades to bite.
Cobia are also in the same vicinity and will attack bucktail jigs or live baits when anglers spot them on the surface.
Josh Benton and Jon Sweeney with a pair of red drum they hooked at the Little River jetties on Carolina-rigged pogies.
Patrick, of Capt. Smiley’s Fishing Charters, reports that anglers are hooking good numbers of flounder in Tubbs Inlet right now (with some keepers in the mix with the short fish). Both live baits like mud minnows and scented soft baits like Gulp Swimming Mullet will fool the flatfish, but the Gulps have been offering a better hookup rate lately as the fish are eating the live baits lazily. The flatfish bite has also been on in Cherry Grove.
Some speckled trout and red drum are also feeding in Tubbs. Targeting oyster bars with Gulp baits or live mud minnows suspended from popping corks will fool both the trout and the reds.
More reds, black drum, and flounder are feeding around oyster bars and elsewhere in Dunn Sound. Shrimp and crabs are top choices for the black drum and will also fool the reds, while mud minnows and Gulp baits are attracting attention from the reds and flounder.
Red drum are also feeding alongside speckled trout in Bonaparte Creek and will take soft plastic baits or mud minnows.
And anglers are finding bluefish and more reds around the Little River jetties.
Ronnie, of Cherry Grove Pier, reports that live-baiters caught several cobia (around 30 lbs.) from the end of the pier last week.
Bottom fishermen are connecting with a few sea mullet and some healthy black drum while baiting up with shrimp.
Some spanish mackerel are falling for Gotcha plugs and mackerel tree rigs that anglers are working from the pier.
The water is 73 degrees.
