Inshore:

The past 3 weeks has shown some awesome and encouraging signs as far as our speckled trout stocks are concerned! After a couple of brutal cold winters in 2011 and 2010, the trout have made a fantastic comeback. I have been fishing wednesday mornings for the past 3 weeks and in just a few hours, been able to produce 20-40 trout each outing. Not only are there some good numbers around, but the size of some of these fish have been great. Already for this year I have been able to find a dozen or so fish in the 4# range, and even a couple pushing 6#’s….true lowcountry gators! Live shrimp under a popping float has been deadly, but with the pinfish starting to come around in force, artificials such as the MirroLure 17mr, Zman PaddlerZ, and DOA shrimp are a great choice now. Lately the better trout reports are coming from 4-6ft of water along hard bottom areas and shell rakes. Reds continue to be in a more traditional summer time pattern, meaning on low water targeting structure and on high water finding them on the edges. Flounder are being caught around our inlets as well as in the harbor along structure in 3-8ft of water.

Offshore:

With many of our local boats up in Georgetown for the Gov Cup billfish tournament, we expect some solid reports to start coming in now almost anytime. Until we get those reports, we have still been hearing solid numbers of dolphin anywhere from as shallow as 100ft and as deep as 1800ft. Wahoo continue to be a little sporatic, but with the best reports coming in lately from the southwest banks area and along other areas of the ledge. The blue marlin have been showing up in good numbers as of late, with dozens of reports of fish in the 150-300# size range. Typical for spring, the fish are there and the biggest challenge has been finding a good weather window to coincide with your time off!

Scott Hammond

Manager – Haddrell’s Point

843-573-3474

Inshore:

Having heard all the awesome reports the past few weeks I slipped out myself and decided to try my hand on some inshore species. Well I have not been lying! The fishing is hot! Fished for a few hrs and produced 22 trout,3 reds, 2 flounder, and even a couple of sheepshead. Live shrimp under a cajun thunder for the trout proved irrestible, fishing in 4-5ft of water along hard bottom. Reds are being found in good numbers along heavy structure around low tide, and along the edges around high water. Minnows, shrimp, mullet, menhaden, Gulp baits, and Zman Jerkshads are all very productive this time of year. Bluefish and spanish continue to be found behind castle pinckney and the ends of the jetties, and flounder have shown up in solid numbers in and around our inlets.

Offshore:

Though the wind has been somewhat of an enemy lately, all the boats the have ventured out have reported back that the fishing is still wide open. Joseph on the Game Day reported back quality dolphin in as shallow as 130ft, though great numbers of dolphin have been found anywhere from 90-1600ft of water. Wahoo are still consistent along the ledge and on temperatre breaks, and the latest reports have been indicating strong numbers of blue marlin off our coast currently in water depths ranging from 200ft-1600ft.

Scott Hammond

Manager – Haddrell’s Point

843-573-3474

Inshore:

It must be May! The time has come now where it is not really a question of whether you can go out and catch a few fish right now, but more of a question of WHAT do you want to catch. While reds continue to be steady and available around docks at low water and grass edges near high water, the reds are only one of dozens of options to target right now. Spanish and bluefish have begun to school in the harbor and along the front beaches, flounder are showing up in our inlets, sheepshead are still biting well, and the trout bite has really turned on lately. Trout in good numbers are being found around shell rakes and creek mouths in 3-6ft of water (look for a good current rip in these areas) using live shrimp under popping floats, DOA shrimp, and Zman PaddlerZ. Sheepshead continue to feed on fiddlers and shrimp fished along rock piles and pilings, and the spanish and bluefish are chomping almost anything silver you can rip through the water quickly(my preference being a #00 clarkspoon with a 3/4 oz trolling lead in front of it). If you are into the flounder fishing side of things, you owe it to yourself to come by and check out the new flounder weighted hooks and jigheads we now carry in here, we have been getting rave reviews from all that have tried them!

Offshore:

Much like the inshore report, the offshore season has turned on in full swing with solid catches of good dolphin, a still solid wahoo bite, some blackfin still hanging around, and sails and blues already showing back up. Though everyday is a different day on the big pond, we have been hearing good dolphin catches anywhere from 110ft of water all the way out to 1300ft. The majority of the ‘hoos and blackfin are still being found along the ledge in that 150-250ft range. Don’t forget that while May marks some of our best offshore trolling of the year for pelagics, it also marks the start of grouper season opening back up! Vermillions are being found in great numbers in 80-110ft along live bottom and artificial reefs, and we are looking forward to hearing the first grouper reports of the season this week as the boats begin to head out with their live baits and butterfly jigs at the ready.

Scott Hammond

Manager – Haddrell’s Point

843-573-3474