North Myrtle/Little River – June 2026
Greg, of Dave’s Outpost, reports that good numbers of spanish mackerel are on the beach for anglers fishing on the piers, from the surf, and in boats.
Bottom fishing from the surf and piers is producing a mixed bag of black drum, whiting, spots, croakers, flounder, and some small pompano.
Inshore, the red drum bite continues to pick up as these fish scatter out along the shorelines.
Anglers are starting to find some flounder while working these same banks with baits on the bottom.
Bigger sheepshead are steadily moving in.
Chris, of Fine Catch Fishing Charters, reports that good-sized menhaden are showing up off the beach.
The local ARs (such as Three Mile Reef) have had all sorts of action. Up top, spanish mackerel are around, with both trolling or casting tactics getting all the action you want.
Dropping to the bottom on these shallower reefs with jigs is producing gray trout and keeper flounder.
Further off the beach, anglers have been targeting gag grouper that are hanging on the 60-80’ bottoms.
Anglers fishing the jetties are finding a ton of smaller sheepshead around as these fish continue their push inshore. Slip corks with shrimp drifted down the rocks has been the main tactic. The better class of fish have been on the deeper end of the rocks (in around 15-20’).
Dropping a crab down to the bottom near the rocks is producing black drum and the occasional red drum.
Inshore, there is some black drum action to be had, and the freshest shrimp you can get is really important when targeting the bigger hard structure areas in the ICW.
Red drum are being caught by drifting live shrimp around docks in the ICW. Doing this will also pick up a couple speckled trout.
Timmins Mervin, of Cherry Grove, caught (and released) these flounder using Carolina-rigged croakers while fishing from a dock near Cherry Grove.
Curtis, of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters, reports that off the beach, some bigger spanish mackerel are starting to show up. Clarkspoons and planers have been the top tactic for hooking up quickly.
Flounder action has been picking up as these fish move back inside. This early in the season, live bait (menhaden or mullet) works great, but they will easily strike just about any soft plastic or shrimp imitation.
Inshore, the speckled trout fishing has been pretty good, with some good-sized fish (to 20”+) being caught. Live shrimp or mud minnows are best, but Vudu shrimp and D.O.A. soft plastics have also produced some bites.
Black drum are around, though most of the fish have been a little smaller.
Bob, of Strange Magic Fishing Charters, reports that nearshore anglers out trolling Clarkspoons or sight-casting to surface-feeding schools are catching spanish mackerel.
Bluefish have been plentiful off the beach, and it seems that good numbers of them are pushing inside.
Inshore, the red drum have broken out into smaller groups and are cruising up and down creek banks and holding under docks.
Flounder are showing up as well, but the numbers aren’t anything special yet.
Anglers looking for black drum are finding most of that action still back in holes in the creeks or around docks. They typically prefer shelled bait offerings such as shrimp, fiddler crabs, or blue crab.
The speckled trout bite has been a little tough, but live shrimp under a cork gives anglers the best chance of success.
Bevan, of Chilly Water Fishing, reports that runs offshore are starting to find some mahi showing up. There should soon be a bigger push of fish as water temperatures continue to warm up.
Mixed in the trolling action are good numbers of blackfin tuna and wahoo. All three species will hit a skirted ballyhoo, with high-speed trolling a good option for picking up a wahoo on longer runs between spots.
Bottom fishing trips, starting as shallow as 80’+, can expect to find any mix of vermilion snapper, triggerfish, gag grouper, scamp grouper, and black sea bass.
Larry, of Voyager Fishing Charters, reports that the offshore bottom trips have provided anglers with a mixed bag that includes vermilion snapper, grunts, triggerfish, and some big amberjacks.
Suprisingly, anglers didn’t catch as many grouper as predicted, with mostly Graysby (strawberry) grouper showing up.
Out on the break, the mahi are moving in for anglers pulling ballyhoo.
Nearshore bottom trips are finding black sea bass and porgies, and these species can be caught with simple bottom rigs tipped with squid.
Chase Childes, of South Carolina, doubled up on flounder in Dunn Sound on white Gulp Nemesis soft plastics. He was fishing with Capt. Cody Childers of Tail Finder Fishing Charters.
Josh, of Little River Fishing Fleet, reports that offshore trips found some big gags, scamps, and the occasional Graysby grouper mixed in on offshore ledges. Anglers are also finding a bunch of vermilion snapper, big amberjacks, and almaco jacks.
Mahi are moving in. Though most of the action is still pretty far offshore (60+ miles), at any time they could move into the 35-50 mile range.
King mackerel have been off to a slow start this year, with only the occasional fish hitting the drift lines in the 35+ mile range.
Bob, of Apache Pier, reports that sight-casting efforts are producing a good mix of bluefish and spanish mackerel.
The pier has already seen a king mackerel caught.
Those working the bottom have found some flounder (to 21.5”), and bottom rigs tipped with shrimp or Fishbites are producing whiting.
Ed, of Cherry Grove Pier, reports that anglers have been doing well by casting Gotcha plugs to schools of spanish mackerel and bluefish.
Bottom fishing efforts are producing whiting, croakers, and pompano, and even a small black sea bass was caught (which is rare for the pier).
Flounder have been showing up, with the heaviest fish weighing in the 3+ lb. range.
