North Myrtle Beach October 23, 2008
Robert Hughes, Todd Helf, and Brian Richard with a limit of gag grouper caught in 80' of water on live cigars and beeliners while fishing with Charlie Terragrossa.
Mark, of Shallow Minded Inshore Fishing, reports that striped bass fishing has been solid off the ICW at spots like Coquina Harbor over the past few weeks. Anglers are landing good numbers of the linesiders on live shrimp fished underneath floats (most are 2-4 lbs. with some running as large as 15 lbs.).
Fishing creek mouths off the ICW has been producing plenty of action lately as well. Anglers are catching black drum, red drum, sheepshead, and a few trout on live shrimp pinned to Carolina and float rigs and cast into the mouths.
Reds are also feeding on flooded grass flats, and anglers in shallow draft boats should be able to hook up with them while casting spinnerbaits, gold spoons, and soft plastics.
Deryl Ennis, of Charlotte, with a 7.89 lb. flounder he hooked on a live mullet behind Ocean Isle Beach.
Patrick, of Capt. Smiley’s Fishing Charters, reports that area fishing is really picking up for the fall. Little River Inlet is loaded with bluefish right now, and red drum are feeding along the rocks; however, the wind has kept it rough out there lately, so most of the fishing has been inshore.
Creeks draining into the ICW have been producing plenty of action and variety. Anglers casting live shrimp on split shot rigs near the creek mouths are hooking up with speckled trout, black drum, red drum, sheepshead, and flounder. Casting the rigs into the flooded grass and pulling them out to imitate a shrimp popping out of the vegetation has been producing near instant strikes in many cases.
Striped bass are feeding at Coquina Harbor, and they’re also proving vulnerable to the live shrimp.
Drew, of Crowd Pleaser Sportfishing, reports that the wahoo bite has been excellent when boats are making it out to the Gulf Stream. A decent number of sailfish are mixed in with the ‘hoos, and boats fishing further south off Georgetown reported some phenomenal sailfish action last week with a few posting double digit numbers of releases.
Ballyhoo rigged under skirted trolling lures will produce action with the wahoo and sailfish, with darker colors best for the wahoo. Fishing at least one line deep with a planer or heavy trolling weight will also increase anglers’ chances with the wahoo.
The gag grouper bite has been getting better and better as the fish move a bit closer to shore for the fall. Anglers are hooking good numbers of gags while dropping live pogies, pinfish, and other baits to bottom structure in 75-90’of water.
Along the beaches, the king mackerel bite has been decent for boats trolling live pogies and bluefish. The pogies have been plentiful along the beaches, and anglers are catching bluefish in Little River Inlet.
Mike, of Cherry Grove Pier, reports that anglers are catching some stout black drum on live shrimp from the planks.
Red drum are falling for cut mullet fished on the bottom.
The last few days have seen solid spot runs, with most of the fish falling for bloodworms.
Live baiters caught several king mackerel over the past week, with the largest weighing 22 lbs.
The water is 76 degrees.
