North Myrtle Beach October 11, 2012
Jamie Ninger, of Myrtle Beach, with a 6 lb. flounder he hooked on a Gulp swimming mullet while fishing near Little River with Capt. Patrick Kelly of Capt. Smiley Charters.
Mark, of Shallow Minded Inshore Fishing Charters, reports that the big red drum have shown up in earnest at the Little River jetties (8-40+ lbs.) and anglers are hooking solid numbers while drifting through the inlet. Both tides have been productive lately, and finger mullet are the baits of choice. Anglers targeting the big reds should use reasonably heavy gear to keep the fight times short and limit the amount of stress the fish undergo.
Large spanish mackerel (3-4 lbs.) and bluefish (2-5 lbs.) have been chasing bait along the beaches and producing some thrilling action for anglers. Casting topwater plugs into the surface frenzy (often right on the back side of the breakers) is tempting big numbers of bites from both fish.
Some king mackerel are feeding in 20-30’ of water just off the beaches, and live mullet and menhaden will tempt them to bite.
Capt. Mark Dickson, of Shallow Minded Inshore Fishing Charters, and Brent Evans, of Atlanta, GA, with a red drum that bit a live finger mullet in Little River Inlet.
Speckled trout are the next big thing local anglers will be chasing, and they’re already showing up in the ICW, where anglers can hook them while trolling small soft plastics along the banks.
Patrick, of Capt. Smiley’s Fishing Charters, reports that anglers are connecting with some black and red drum around the Crossroads (with most reds around 16” and black drum 18-20”). Live shrimp fished under popping corks are attracting plenty of attention from both drum.
Speckled trout (most around 14”) are feeding in the ICW near Little River, and they’re taking an interest in D.O.A. and Gulp shrimp.
More specks and reds are looking for meals in Dunn Sound, where the popping cork and live shrimp have also been the ticket to hookups. There have been a lot of undesirable fish also taking an interest in shrimp, so anglers may have to switch to Gulp baits to weed through the pinfish and other shrimp thieves.
Steve Stefanick, of Johnsonville, SC, with a fat scamp grouper he hooked on a vertical jig offshore of Charleston on the "Split Decision."
Red drum are also feeding in Tubbs Inlet around the docks and grass banks, and Gulp shrimp on light jigheads are proving tough for them to turn down.
Some larger bull reds are cruising through Little River Inlet, where anglers are hooking them on finger mullet and menhaden.
Mike, of Cherry Grove Pier, reports that some black drum and spadefish are feeding around the pier and biting shrimp-baited bottom rigs.
Plug casters are hooking plenty of bluefish but not many spanish mackerel.
Live baiters, however, landed solid numbers of king mackerel last week (the largest 32.8 lbs.) on bluefish and other baits pin-rigged off the end of the pier.
