January 29
Surface water temperatures are down to the low 40s around Georgetown.
Even before last week’s snow inshore fishing activity was almost nonexistent around Georgetown, and Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) reports that he has basically not heard of anyone going as of a day or two ago. With warmer weather on the way it will be interesting to see what reports come in.
The area had six inches of snow, and at one point he saw an inshore temperature gauge that read 31 degrees! By the next day it was only up to 38. As of yesterday the snow at Captain Greg’s home still wasn’t completely melted, and so it would be extremely surprising if there were not some significant trout mortality.
If one is going fishing Greg recommends targeting redfish, which are heartier than trout, but expect them to be lethargic and work baits extremely slowly.
More information to follow as we receive it.
January 16
Surface water temperatures are down to the low to mid-40s in North Inlet.
It’s gotten so cold that inshore fishing is only for the very most determined anglers around Georgetown, and Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) reports that most of the time the redfish anglers encounter will be lethargic – at best. However, if you get a warmer day with a mid-day low tide when the sun heats the mud flats fish could find some slightly warmer water on the low incoming to move up in and try to recover some heat. At these times they could feed a little. Scented soft plastics, or natural baits, are your best bets for tempting some bites, but you need to fish painfully slow. You should practically be dead-sticking the baits, and if you think you are fishing slowly enough then Captain Greg advises you should slow down some more! Simply wiggling your rod tip and barely winding if at all is enough.
It's a similar story for trout, and if they are feeding at all you will need to fish incredibly slowly with very sensitive tackle, leaving no slack in your line, and be alert for the lightest “tick” that represents a bite.
While it looks like conditions will actually get worse before they get better with the cold coming next week, the brightest spot may be the number of juvenile black drum in the creeks which can provide some action for anglers willing to soak pieces of fresh cut shrimp.
January 8
Surface water temperatures are down to the upper 40s in North Inlet.
A few brave souls have braved the temperatures to go inshore fishing around Georgetown, and Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) reports that if you are willing to go after them the redfish are grouped up in big schools. The best time to fish for them is on low tide, and in shallow water you can find some massive schools on warm mud flats. This is especially true when there is a foot or two of water on the shallow flats on a bright, sunny day. There are also some big schools of fish up the creeks in bends and curves with deeper water.
The bite can be pretty incredible at times with fish this grouped up, and they are eating both artificial lures and large sections of fresh dead shrimp. There are also lots of black drum in the same areas as the redfish, especially inside the creeks (although they will sometimes get on the flats too).
While Captain Greg has not pursued them, the trout are apparently still biting and it has not gotten too cold for them around Georgetown. Captain Greg is not overly worried about a kill in the area.
Finally, from the jetties to the nearshore reefs the sheepshead bite is good.
December 19
Surface water temperatures are still in the mid-50s out towards the ocean near Georgetown.
It’s been an unusually warm period around Georgetown, but Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) reports that with a hard cold spell coming inshore patterns are about to change. In particular the redfish are about to get in even tighter schools, and they will probably stay together throughout the tide cycle. On higher tides they will often move up in areas where mud flats and oysters have warmed the water, and the need to get away from dolphins will also keep them extremely shallow. Locating them may not be the challenge, and the question will be whether they are willing to eat. When they are not in a feeding mode they won’t take very much, but when they are then cut bait, mud minnows, shrimp, and a mix of artificial lures will all work.
While the jetties are a magnet for trout right now, as well as other species like black drum and sheepshead, there are also still a fair number of trout inshore. They will be in areas close to deeper water, and they will also be in deeper holes back in the creeks. Generally deeper water has less temperature variance.
While live shrimp are an excellent bait for trout, right now they should also be willing to eat soft plastics on jigheads.
December 3
Surface water temperatures are ranging between about 50 and 56 degrees in the creeks around Georgetown after the cold snap.
The hard cold front has changed the inshore fishing around Georgetown, but Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) reports that fish are still biting well. You just have to approach them differently.
Soaking cut bait is still a can’t-miss pattern for redfish, but fishing with artificial lures for both trout and redfish you have to slow down your presentation. Scented baits are also more important. Trout are moving a little deeper to ledges and drop-offs, although depending upon the time of day, sun versus cloud cover, and air temperature when you are fishing, at times they can still move up shallower. Of course live shrimp, available in some area tackle shops, are hard to beat.
Reds can still be very shallow, and they are starting to group up in larger schools. For many flats in Winyah Bay and North Inlet where they like to feed you can only target them on higher tide because the areas are otherwise inaccessible, but creek drains and shell bank edges often fish better at low tide. When sun is beating down on shallow areas, on either tide, the fish can get most active.
While a variety of scented plastics will work for reds, cut mullet, bluefish, pinfish and crabs are all good.
November 20
Morning surface water temperatures are hovering around 65 degrees in the creeks around Georgetown and there is still a good amount of bait in the area. Mullet may not be as visible in the cooling water but they are still prolific. Water color ranges from muddy to clear.
The inshore fishing around Georgetown has been really good, and Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) reports that yesterday they found a strong redfish bite. They caught around a dozen fish ranging from the shorter end of the slot to 24/25 inches up to 32 inches in Winyah Bay, and they were basically in the same places they have been since the summer. They were along grass edges in shallow water and everything took cut mullet.
While the water in the bay is very dirty and there didn’t seem to be many trout around, by moving out to cleaner water they were able to run into some good groups of them. They were in funnel spots with a confluence of current in about 3-4 feet of water, and the fish bit best on the dropping tide. Everything came on artificial shrimp fished under a popping cork. They also picked up a few small flounder bumping the bottom for trout with a jighead on a grub, but they seem to be mostly gone.
The action at the Georgetown jetties is really good for sheepshead right now, although Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that you may have to go through a lot of small fish to get some bigger ones. Still, they managed multiple keepers as well as some big 5-6 pounds fish yesterday. Additionally, with cut mullet on the bottom they picked up some 30-inch drum and it’s clear that there are a lot there.
November 13
Morning surface water temperatures are about 67 degrees in the creeks around Georgetown and there is still a good amount of bait in the area.
When the wind isn’t howling from the northeast it’s still great conditions for inshore fishing around Georgetown, and Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) reports that in particular the red drum fishing is still pretty fantastic. You can find big drum in the channels or in the surf off the barrier islands, and then there are lots of slot-sized and over-slot fish back in the skinny water. Fish are still fairly spread out as temperatures have not gotten cold enough to really group them up. Cut bait is still hard to beat, but the fish are also receptive to scented soft plastics and it’s not cool enough that you have to worry about a slow presentation.
At the same time the trout fishing shows periodic signs of what is to come but hasn’t really fired up yet, and water temperatures really need to fall below 60 for things to take off. It was getting there but then temperatures shot up again. Soon trout will take any type of artificial lure from suspended twitch baits, to jigheads and grubs, to Vudu or DOA shrimp, and even topwater lures before it gets very cold.
Of course, Captain Greg reminds anglers that trout will always take a live shrimp first – if a shrimp doesn’t get eaten the trout either aren’t there or aren’t eating. For now there are still shrimp in the creeks, but soon you will have to look in deep holes or bait stores!
October 30
Morning surface water temperatures are in the upper 60s around Georgetown and there is a good amount of bait in the area.
In a nutshell it’s the magical time for inshore fishing around Georgetown, and Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) reports that his boat is catching redfish, trout, weakfish, black drum and flounder. The bite is so good that he is even catching black drum on mullet right now!
Redfish are in traditional spots, very shallow, and the first half of the rising tide has been the best time to target the fish 26 inches and below. They are around oyster beds and near creek mouths, and bite better when the current is slower.
At the same time trout are favoring swifter water, and they like an area with a current rip or some sort of edge that is creating current seams. With cooler nights the trout will get better, and so far Captain Greg is not seeing great quantities of trout. However, the topwater bite for the first hour has been pretty strong.
Black drum are around in better numbers than normal, and they favor the channel, holes, or deeper edges when the tide is down. However, just like redfish they will move up on flats to feed and will even get into “tailing” areas. Shrimp and fiddler crabs will both catch redfish, but to avoid picker fish then bigger baits with shells still on them, and blue crabs, work well.
Finally, the bull red drum are certainly around, and even when they aren’t showing up shallower you can still lean on well-known community holes in deeper water. Greg’s boat caught a 44-inch drum and a 40-inch drum immediately upon arriving in a traditional drum channel when the shallow ledges he likes to fish weren’t producing.
October 16
Morning surface water temperatures are in the upper 60s around Georgetown and there is a good amount of bait around.
First and foremost Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) is targeting red drum inshore right now, and in addition to the slot-sized fish that are around all year there are tons of 38-40 plus inch fish to be caught. He is basically catching them soaking bait, either cut mullet or menhaden, busted crabs, or 6-8 inch live mullet. The menhaden that are around are smaller right now. Fish are in the usual areas for this time of year, around the channels but on higher water moving onto shallower spots in 7 feet or less in areas inside Winyah Bay and North Inlet.
While his boat is spending less time targeting them, there are also lots of slot-sized reds inside the feeder creeks in 3 feet of water or less following bait like shrimp as temperatures cool.
In between the shallow slot reds and often deeper bull red drum there is a really good trout bite, and working the bank edges around 5 feet deep off just out from the grass lines and over dead shell bottoms they are stacking up. The best time to target them is the rising tide and first of the drop, and Vudu shrimp are working very well. The trout fishing should continue to improve as it cools.
They did have some real excitement this week on light tackle when one client caught a 40-inch bull drum on Vudu Shrimp!
October 3
Morning surface water temperatures are in the mid-70s around Georgetown and the water is starting to get dirtier and less saline.
At this point it’s hard to know exactly what is coming as the deluge of water hasn’t arrived from the Pee Dee yet, but Captain Greg Holmes with Fish Skinny Charters (843-241-0594) reports that from what he can tell it doesn’t look like the Winyah Bay is going to get as blown out from Helene as it did from Debbie earlier this season. However, with all that water coming in again conditions should once again get challenging.
Still, for now the inshore fishing remains really good in the Georgetown area. Fish are feeding up as they know that bait is not going to be around forever, and the redfish are biting really well. Slot reds can be caught in all the regular spots in the creeks, and low tide has been fishing the best. But in Winyah Bay Captain Greg’s boat is finding big 38-42 inch fish that want big chunks of cut mullet. They are having the best action on the rising tide, fishing about 7 feet of water max. Other anglers are catching them in the deeper channels.
They are also picking up 3-4 foot sharks that seem to be running with the big reds, but they aren’t having much luck with trout or flounder. Of course, cut bait is probably limiting those catches. When they have fished with artificials lures they are picking up a few trout and flounder, but most have been small fish that won’t keep. About the only big trout they have seen have been feeding at first light in the clearest water.
Finally, tarpon are certainly still around.