Inshore:
Snuck out yesterday afternoon myself with Thomas D from the shop here to try our hand at some more trout fishing once the rain let off a little. We were not expecting much with the great amount of rain that had fallen that morning, but we were pleasantly surprised when we were greeted by a decent bite! We were able to produce 15 trout, a few reds, and a flounder in just a few hours of fishing Had some decent size fish but nothing of “gator” status. In other words, the inshore bite is still going strong. Trout continue to be found in decent numbers in 3-6ft of water fishing submerged shell rakes at high water, and bottom contours at low water levels. While live shrimp and minnows are always a good bait choice, the topwater bite has been very good using Super Spook Jr’s and Mirro-Lure top pups. When the topwater slows later in the day, this is the time to switch over to a suspending bait such as the Mirro-Lure 17MR or a SS series Ba-Donk-A-Donk. Reds are still in their “summer time” pattern of hanging around docks and structure around low water, and up along the grass edges on higher water levels. Live minnows and cut mullet are still old stand by baits, but again artificials such as a Gulp Jerkshad or a Zman PaddlerZ have been very productive as well. Flounder have shown up in good numbers fishing around creek mouths and inlets, and IMO dragging a mud minnow slowly along the bottom in these areas is as productive as you can get for the flatties!
Offshore:
though the weather has not been too cooperative the last week or so, there has been a couple of days the boats were able to slip out and take advantage of a still strong dolphin bite anywhere from 130ft out to 600ft. Blue marlin have shown in great numbers the past week or two, and we look forward to hearing some great reports back from the boats fishing the Bohicket Marina leg of the SC Governors Cup billfish tourney this weekend. Bottom fishing has been producing some VERY large black sea bass since they opened back up on June 1st. Better reports on the sea bass have been from 50-90ft of water using cigar minnows, squid, and larger curl tail jigs. Grouper have been caught in good numbers as well. Taking the time to catch some live pinfish or menhaden to drop down to the bottom can really increase your odds of tangling with a large grouper, but butterfly style jigs can also be very productive this time of year as well for them.
Scott Hammond
Manager – Haddrell’s Point
843-573-3474