January 4

Morning surface water temperatures have dropped to around 50 degrees or below in Murrells Inlet. 

Last year January was a fantastic month in Murrells Inlet, but so far this year Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that the fishing is not off to a flying start. Fishing two days this week he found limited bites at the jetties as well as inshore, picking up small black drum, small trout, undersized flounder, and losing a couple of better fish. He had live shrimp so it’s unlikely the bait was the problem, but there just don’t seem to be a lot of fish feeding. At the jetties he found a big school of trout in 15-17 feet of water, but they just wouldn’t bite. 

While things could still pick up, it’s a bad sign that water temperatures are already 50 or below. Last January they were much warmer, while when he fished Monday he actually saw 47 or 48 first thing. It seems like when temperatures get below about 50 the bite really slows down. 

December 21

Morning surface water temperatures have dropped into the lower 50s in Murrells Inlet and the inlet is clearing again after recent rains.  

While Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) has had his boat out of the water since just before the storm, last year the best winter action for trout and redfish started around the first of the year and so they are optimistic the same will happen again this year. The best fishing should be in 7-10 feet of water with live shrimp under a cork, and floating baits around structure in the creeks or at the jetty rocks should produce.

December 7

Morning surface water temperatures have dropped into the mid-50s in Murrells Inlet and the water has gotten really clear. 

There are signs of life in Murrells Inlet, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that the fishing is still inconsistent from day to day but in conditions when the fish are biting they are finally getting some good trout and redfish. Both inside the creeks and at the rocks they are picking up some big trout and slot-sized redfish floating live shrimp under a cork, while artificial lures haven’t produced much. The best fishing has been in 7-10 feet of water. 

Even though the fish either aren’t biting every day, or there aren’t tons of them, the results are certainly better than week or two ago. It seems the last couple of years that December is fishing better than November and it should only get better this month.   

November 30

Morning surface water temperatures have dropped to around 55 degrees in Murrells Inlet. 

We wish we had better news to report, but Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that he has been working hard drifting live shrimp for trout and so far the results have been really poor. They are picking up the occasional short flounder, a random big bluefish here-and-there, and toadfish. 

Tom is back on the water all day tomorrow and we will give an update as soon as we hear anything. There is every reason to think things will get better with this colder weather, but so far we can’t confirm that. 

November 16

Surface water temperatures have dropped to around 59 degrees in Murrells Inlet. 

The trout fishing has picked up in Murrells Inlet, but Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that it’s still not completely wide open. Some of the spots are producing, while others are not. Yesterday they caught about a dozen trout on one good spot, and the best areas seem to be in 7-10 feet of water off the side of oyster rakes. Falling tide has been best and they are catching them all on live shrimp.

Redfish are in about the same areas, but they are turning on later on in the dropping tide. They will take most any bait, but live shrimp are working very well.   

They have not picked up any flounder inshore this week, and the bulk of the fish seem to be moving out.

While conditions have limited how much they have been able to do it, there are still big red drum that are easy to find around bait pods and structure. They are catching them on cut mullet, and while some are no doubt in the surf zone they are finding the best action about a half mile out. Additionally, there are plenty of small to medium-sized weakfish around in the same areas right now and even a few still inside the inlet. 

November 9

Surface water temperatures have dropped into the lower 60s in Murrells Inlet. 

The trout have not been super cooperative this week around Murrells Inlet, perhaps because temperatures have gotten warm again, but Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that the redfish having been biting pretty well inshore. They have caught a decent number of 15-18 inch redfish, and after the absence of reds of any size inside the creeks that’s a pleasant turn of events. They have also picked up a few smaller flounder inshore, but the bulk of the better flounder seem to be moving out.

However, the best fishing this week has come off the beaches where the big red drum have been easy to find around bait pods and structure. They are catching them on a cut mullet, and while some are no doubt in the surf zone they are finding the best action about a half mile out. Additionally, there are plenty of small to medium-sized weakfish around right now. 

Tom also notes that there are a ton of pufferfish around inshore right now, and they caught half a dozen in about 30 minutes while trying to target trout with live shrimp earlier this week. 

November 3

Surface water temperatures have dropped into the lower 60s in Murrells Inlet. 

While a lot of our saltwater guides have not had clients willing to brave the conditions since Tuesday, Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) has been in the fortunate position of having some hearty anglers on his boat the last couple of days. And they have in turn been rewarded with some of the best fishing of the year so far, particularly in the trout department.

Captain Tom reports that, while it’s not steady yet, they are seeing spurts of really hot action for big 19-20 inch trout where they will catch several good ones in one spot in short order. Quality fish are both in the creeks and in the inlet, including around the jetty rocks, and he only expects the action to get better. Live shrimp are still hard to beat but we are coming into period where artificial lures should also be dynamite. 

While the redfish bite isn’t “supposed” to get much better than October, it’s been a slow fall for redfish so far but signs are that’s changing. Based on this week’s results it is improving, and 17-inch and better fish are starting to show up.

When conditions are fishable, like yesterday, there is also really good action at the 3-Mile Reef. Yesterday they caught abundant weakfish, keeping the limit, a good flounder and some nice bluefish. It looks like the flounder are moving out from the creeks towards the nearshore structure. 

So far it looks like this year could be following recent trends where November out-fishes October!

October 27

Morning surface water temperatures are around 66 degrees in Murrells Inlet. 

While there is still a surprising absence of red drum in the Murrells Inlet area, Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that other than that they’ve had a pretty outstanding week of fishing. It’s been too windy to get out to the jetties and beaches to fish for reds, and so maybe that’s where they are.

Inside the creeks that flounder have turned back on, and they are catching them in all their summer haunts and particularly around docks. There aren’t as many but the better fish are still around. The incoming tide has fished the best, and both finger mullet and shrimp are working.

There are also probably a ton of black drum out at the jetties, but inside the creeks they are wearing them out with live shrimp fished in holes. It hasn’t made a huge difference which direction the tide is moving. 

They are still picking up some summer trout, and they also got a 3-pound winter trout to the boat this week. However, those are only present in really limited numbers for right now. 

October 19

Morning surface water temperatures are around 70 degrees in Murrells Inlet and there is still plenty of bait around. 

It’s a real mixed bag fishing inside Murrells Inlet and at the jetties, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that he continues to be most surprised at how few redfish are around. They seem to be on a shrimp bite, and shrimp are tricky to fish with so many bait-stealers around, but even considering that there still should be more eating other offerings such as mullet and mud minnows – or fighting off other species to get to the shrimp!   

There are some big red drum at the jetties, and this week Tom’s boat has caught several in the 25-pound range. They have also tangled with some even bigger fish, some of which may have been sharks. They have also landed some big sharks.

While trout have been suspiciously absent so far, they are still seeing decent numbers of flounder. They are willing to eat mud minnows and finger mullet. The dropping tide has been best for flounder, especially around creek mouths with oysters. 

Out at the jetties there are still bluefish and Spanish mackerel around, and if you go out a little further there are abundant weakfish. 

October 6

Morning surface water temperatures were in the low to mid-70s this morning in Murrells Inlet and there is still lots of bait around. 

The quality of the fishing around Murrells Inlet has been somewhat weather-dependent recently, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that in the high winds (20-25 knots from the northeast most of this week) when they are limited to fishing inside the inlet it’s not great – yet. Perhaps because of persistently warm temperatures a lot of the fish are still feeding on shrimp out in the ocean, and it may take some cooler weather to move fish inside.

But regardless, they are finding very few redfish inside the inlet. There are decent but not great numbers of flounder, and they are also catching some trout. The brightest spot is that there have been a surprising number of weakfish, which is not unusual for this time of year. 

But it’s a different story for the redfish especially when you can fish out at the jetties, and this morning they got on the bigger redfish early. Live finger mullet or cut mullet chunks are the bait of choice. There also tons of bluefish chomping outside, mostly in the 1-2 pound range. 

September 29

Morning surface water temperatures were around 71-72 degrees this morning in Murrells Inlet and the mullet run is still very much underway. 

With king tides there are some pretty extreme conditions for fishing right now on the Grand Strand, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that on the water for a few hours this morning at high tide in the 15-20 knot winds he immediately realized the conditions were somewhat less than ideal. Tailing redfish were hard to spot, and the fish didn’t want artificials. 

With that said reds and prolific bluefish are both biting pretty well right now, and all you have to do is have mullet in the water – and go at lower tides. At higher tides there is just so much water that the fish are extremely spread out. There are also still tons of small redfish around that will eat anything they can get their mouths around near oyster shells, creek mouths, and docks. 

There are also even more bull red drum at the jetties now, and with live or cut mullet you will catch them on the bottom. Spotted sea trout are still a little rare but they should be showing up in numbers very soon.

The flounder fishing is also good on lower moving tides with finger mullet. 

September 21

Morning surface water temperatures have dropped a few more degrees into the upper 70s in Murrells Inlet and the mullet run is underway. 

It’s been a good summer for fishing on the Grand Strand, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that he only expects things to get better as we move into the fall. In a short trip yesterday he went out to the jetties and fished live mullet, and they picked up several 30-35 pound red drum. There are also tons of smaller redfish inside the creeks, and they are biting around the tide cycle in almost all of his spots. He has had the best luck on the incoming but that’s mainly because that is when he has been fishing!

Spotted sea trout have been a little rare – so far – but they did pick up a surprise 14-inch weakfish.  Trout fishing always improves as temperatures drop into the mid-70s and below.

It also appears that we are getting into a better period for the flounder, and as temperatures start to cool off the bigger flounder already seem to be showing up. In the late summer the keeper ratio dropped a little, but between fish growing and more fish returning to shallow water that’s improving. They caught a 19-incher this week and several more keepers. Live finger mullet are working too well to try anything else.

Overall, the next month or two should be the best fishing of the year.

September 7

Morning surface water temperatures have dropped a few degrees into the mid-80s in Murrells Inlet and there is a ton of bait around. 

In addition to tons of shrimp in the creeks and the mullet running, the menhaden have showed back up and so there is an abundance of bait in the area. Seemingly the result has been a pretty good bite, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that both the redfish and flounder have turned on. They are now catching a lot of 12-14 inch reds, as well as fish up to 27-28 inches, and they are all biting around the tide cycle. He is mostly fishing on the bottom with live and cut mullet.

It's also been a good week for flounder, and on one trip he caught eight with a 20- and a 21-inch fish. The better flounder seem to be biting more again after some slight temperatures relief. 

While the trout have been a little sporadic, there are clearly some big ones around. They lost a four-pound trout that jumped off earlier this week and then landed some 17-inch fish.  

August 25

Morning surface water temperatures are about 86 degrees in Murrells Inlet and water clarity is fairly high. There is a ton of bait around. 

We’ve been saying for a while that there’s a lot of bait around, but it’s now more than that as Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that the mullet run has just started. There are tens of thousands (millions?) of mullet running the beaches, and already today Tom saw fish busting on them. It could have been Spanish mackerel or bluefish, but a host of species including trout, redfish, king mackerel, tarpon and of course sharks will be attracted. 

Inside the inlet the fishing has slowed down, and while they did manage one 19.5 inch flounder today they only caught three or four smaller ones. The incoming seems to be fishing the best for flounder. Note that the mullet run should pull flounder that went offshore in the heat back inshore, and get them feeding aggressively.  

At the jetties there are also tons of small black sea bass around, which provide good action even if you can’t keep them. On the other hand pinfish are so prolific right now that it can make fishing in certain inshore spots difficult. They are voracious, almost like piranhas, and will peck at a finfish bait (including other pinfish) until they devour it. And you can forget about fishing shrimp. When you get into too many of them you just have to move on.

Inside the inlet trout and reds are very slow, but the mullet run should attract more species. 

August 18

Morning surface water temperatures are still around 87 or 88 degrees in Murrells Inlet.

It’s a surprisingly good bite for the middle of August in Murrells Inlet, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that they are catching plenty of inshore species. 

The best action has still been with the flounder, and at one spot this week they caught 25 flounder in an hour. Only four were keepers, and so as a percentage it was just fair, but no one who has been flounder fishing recently in South Carolina is going to complain about catching four fish over 16 inches in one spot!  While most of the fish are being caught with mud minnows or finger mullet on the bottom, they also had a really nice 22-inch fish this week that came on a live shrimp under a float in the mouth of a creek. 

The redfish are also thick, particularly the 12-14 inch young-of-the-year fish. It’s not unusual to pull up on a spot and catch eight or nine redfish in quick succession. They can be caught around the tide cycle on a variety of baits, including finger mullet and live shrimp.

While trout are rarer right now, they did get a nice 17-inch fish this week as well as some smaller ones. Live shrimp are working for trout, and there are lots of other species around as well that will take shrimp. In addition to redfish black drum, croaker, and even the occasional tripletail can be caught!  

There’s also plenty of sharks and stingrays around right now, and so all-in-all there’s no shortage of action.  And it should only get better for the next few months!

August 4

Morning surface water temperatures are 87 or 88 degrees in Murrells Inlet.

After a slower summer for redfish they are finally showing up in Murrells Inlet, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that they are catching a decent number of big fish over the slot, slot-sized fish, and 12-14 inchers. Fish can be found around grass edges and the banks in as little as a foot or two of water in the creeks, and so despite the heat they are still fishing shallow. There is plenty of bait around and the reds will eat about anything. 

The flounder fishing is nothing like it was earlier in the summer, but they are still catching half a dozen or more fish each trip – although keepers are hard to come by. There are tons of junk fish including pinfish, lizardfish, and more around. 

Each trip they seem to catch one or two trout, but the numbers are low. With so many bait stealers they are actually having better luck with mullet or menhaden for trout, rather than live shrimp. 

Sheepshead and black drum fishing has been slow at the jetties, but they expect that to improve (along with basically everything) in the next couple of weeks. 

While not around in the numbers of earlier this summer there are still plenty of sharks in the creeks, including bonnetheads and even bull sharks, to provide action. 

Finally, for the time being Tom’s boat has basically stopped making the run out to the nearshore reefs with so many boats out there. Flounder, Spanish mackerel and more should be around but it’s just crowded. 

July 27

Morning surface water temperatures are in the mid-80s in Murrells Inlet.

The fishing has slowed overall around Murrells Inlet, and Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) reports that it’s not terrible but they are really having to work to catch fish.  In particular the flounder, which had been so reliable earlier in the summer, are a lot harder to locate. They are still catching a few keepers inshore each trip, but it seems as if a lot of the better ones have headed offshore.

They haven’t seen any trout in about 3 weeks until a 14-inch fish yesterday, but one bright spot is that redfish are showing up around docks and at the jetties – after a prolonged absence. They will eat cut bait, mud minnows, finger mullet and more.

 

Despite putting in some serious time they are having trouble catching sheepshead even chumming with barnacles and fishing with fiddler crabs, and even the sharks have been a little slow. 

At the nearshore reefs and wrecks they aren’t finding very many exciting species, and while there are a lot of Spanish mackerel around they have been a little finicky about eating a hooked bait. 

July 13

Morning surface water temperatures are in the mid-80s in Murrells Inlet.

Despite the heat it’s been really good fishing at the south end of the Grand Strand, and it’s hard to discuss the last week of fishing for Captain Tom Cushman of Cush’s Calmwater Charters (843-997-5850) without leading off with the flounder report. This week they caught an eight(!) pound fish inshore and then more big fish up to 21 inches. However, it seems like the fish are starting to make their way to deeper water and the nearshore reefs. While the 8-pounder was caught inside the jetties, it had moved out of the creeks and seemed to be heading offshore. For anglers continuing to fish inside the creeks it’s a good bet to seek out slightly deeper water where the fish can find cooler temperatures.  

While they haven’t caught a ton of trout, they have caught some really big breeding fish up to 21 inches (released). The jetties have been holding the most trout, and live shrimp or finger mullet under a cork have been working.

Unfortunately the redfish have been very hard to find, and Tom believes the resident population is very low. Eventually some fish will move down from the Little River area or up from Georgetown, and for a while there will be some action, but they seem to be heavily overfished in the area. 

There are some Spanish mackerel inside the jetties, but the best numbers are running the beaches with all the bait. There have also been some small cobia up to about 30 inches but they seem to be moving out. 

While Tom would expect the best shark fishing to be along the beaches, recently it’s best really good inside the jetties.  Mostly they are blacktip sharks and generally running from about 7-70 pounds. Outside the jetties there should be more bonnetheads, dusky sharks, and sand sharks.