May 29

Inshore water temperatures around Georgetown are in the low to mid-70s, while ocean temperatures may be a few degrees higher. Everything is already muddy with way more freshwater on the way.   

Weather and water conditions around Georgetown continue to be consistently inconsistent, and the effects of a pair of tropical storms and 5 inches of rain have now been added to winds that switch 180 degrees every three days. With five rivers that have their confluence near Georgetown the area is far more affected by freshwater than areas such as Port Royal to the south, and the net result is that Captain Fred Rourk (843-241-4767) must continue to report that the fishing is still unpredictable. 

While there is plenty of bait in Winyah Bay, including hordes of menhaden on the rising tide and prolific finger mullet, the redfish just aren’t in there right now. Until the wind settles they won’t be, and so for now his boat is having to go into the creeks to catch fish.  They are getting some good ones on mullet and menhaden but having to work hard. 

In the next few days tailing action should start on the good flood tides that are coming up. 

There have been a few nice flounder caught in the creeks, while trout have been hard to catch. Soon there should be a better surface bite early and late in low light conditions. 

King mackerel and early cobia are just starting to show up, and on the occasional calm days nearshore fishing has been pretty good. 

When anglers can get offshore dolphin fishing has continued to be decent, but Georgetown Landing Marina (843-546-1776) reports that the real excitement is still that yellowfin tuna have been caught in strong numbers.  There have also been some wahoo and blackfin tuna around.

May 14

Inshore water temperatures around Georgetown are about 74 degrees inside, while ocean temperatures are around 74. Winyah Bay is muddy as always while North Inlet is a milky green. 

Water temperatures are several degrees behind where they were last year, and Captain Fred Rourk (843-241-4767) continues to report that a new front every few days has the fish a little fickle. He does not expect them to settle down until the wind calms down.

While there is plenty of bait in Winyah Bay, including hordes of menhaden on the rising tide and prolific finger mullet, the redfish just aren’t in there right now. Until the wind settles they won’t be, and so for now his boat is having to go into the creeks to catch fish. There have been a few nice flounder caught in the creeks, while trout have been hard to catch. In two weeks things should look very different.

King mackerel and early cobia are just starting to show up, and on the occasional calm days nearshore fishing has been pretty good. 

Dolphin fishing has been decent for May, but Georgetown Landing Marina (843-546-1776) reports that the real excitement has been that yellowfin tuna have been caught in excellent numbers.  On days like yesterday when anglers can get offshore the bite has been wide open.

April 30

Inshore water temperatures around Georgetown are about 70 degrees. 

There are fish to be caught inshore in the Georgetown area, but Captain Fred Rourk (843-241-4767) reports that with a front every few days and oft-changing wind direction the fish just can’t get into a comfortable pattern. The bite will probably not stabilize until the weather and the wind do. 

While there have been some days, overall the redfish have been very erratic. The flounder have also been a little unpredictable in Georgetown, and even though fishing has been fairly strong to the north around Georgetown the casual angler is not having much luck trolling for them. The trout bite is decent but there have not been a lot of people chasing them. 

Better news is that cobia are just starting to show up, and last week there was a fish caught out of Georgetown. The bite should get better and better pitching buoys and at the Georgetown Reef three miles offshore. There have been some large schools of rays around and soon the cobia should be following them. 

While Fred has not seen many bluefish yet, the Spanish mackerel and summer trout are both around the wrecks. Sheepshead are also thick, and with jelly balls everywhere the spadefish have also arrived.