March 31, 2008
Saltwater Fishing Trends:

Little River - Grand Strand - Cape Romain/McClellanville - Charleston - Hilton Head - Beaufort - Piers - Tides - S.C. marine recreational fishing regulations (PDF file). Saltwater Fishing License site.

DNR does not endorse or otherwise sanction the following Web page. Saltwater reporting courtesy SCFishingReport.com.

Little River

• Striped Bass: Good. Target striper in the ICW using grubs and artificial shrimp.
• Spottail Bass: Slow to fair. Live minnows have been producing best in the ICW.
• Trout: Good in the ICW with grubs and artificial shrimp. Berkeley Gulp baits and DOA shrimp have been effective.
• Bottom Fish: Good. Boats are doing well fishing for black sea bass, grouper and snapper offshore. Use cut squid.
  

Grand Strand

• Spottail Bass: Fair to good. Fish the creeks using live mullet or mud minnows, lead head jigs and curly tail grubs or Johnson spoons.
• Black Drum: Good. The 2 to 5 pound drum are still hanging around and fishermen report nice catches using similar techniques as for the spottails. Cut shrimp are also very effective.
• Trout: Slow. Trout are deep and not very aggressive. Try Mirrolures or Gulp shrimp and fish deep areas very slowly.
• Flounder: Slow. Although flounder fishing is slow more and more fish (besides the immature fish which winter inshore) are beginning to show up in the creeks.
• Bottom Fish: Good. Boaters report nice catches of black sea bass, grouper, and snapper offshore.
• Springmaid Pier: Some really nice red drum have been caught off the pier this week. Use cut mullet weighted on the bottom.
  

Cape Romain/ McClellanville

• Clear water conditions continue to allow sight fishing to be productive.
• Spottail Bass: Good. Try a variety of lures ranging from DOA or Gulp shrimp to topwater plugs to gold spoons to flies. Mud minnows or live mullet may also be effective.
• Trout: Good. Fish deeper than for the spottail bass and target holes in creeks. Use an Equalizer-type popping cork with a leader underneath and fish a grub on a lead headed jig.
  

Charleston

• Spottail Bass: Good. Lots of fish are being caught in the ICW, creeks, and sounds, and large numbers of baitfish such as finger mullet are present. Flats fishermen continue to catch redfish using live bait (mullet or mud minnows) or soft plastics.
• Trout: Good. Nice catches of trout are being reported north of Charleston in the creeks around Dewees, Capers, and Bull Island as water temperatures rise. The Wadmalaw Sound is also productive. Try Gulp shrimp on red jigheads.
• Flounder: Fair. Some doormat flounder are being caught at the nearshore reefs using traditional flounder baits. Also, flounder are starting to show up inshore.
• Sheepshead: Very good. Sheepshead are schooled up at the nearshore reefs. The state record sheepshead, a 16.35 pound fish, was caught recently in the Wando River.
• Bottom Fish: Very good. A state record white grunt weighing five pounds was caught March 10th off the coast of Charleston at the Y73 reef by Jason Edgerton of Mount Pleasant. Black sea bass, grouper, and snapper are all biting very well offshore.
• Offshore: Blackfin tuna are beginning to show up and wahoo are biting well. Dolphin are beginning to show and most boats are catching several per trip.

Hilton Head

• Spottail Bass: Good. Hilton Head guides continue to report nice catches of spottail bass on the flats but this week was tough with very high tides. Use artificials such as the ever-reliable brown Gulp Swimming Minnow or DOA shrimp, or mud minnows. Fish the bait under a popping cork. The artificials can be fished either under a popping cork or jigged on a free line.
• Trout: Good. Use the same bait or lures as for the spottails but target drops on the falling tide. Gulp shrimp imitations have been particularly effective. Some large fish have also been taken on mud minnows.
• Sheepshead: Very good. Through the end of March is the prime time for sheepshead fishing in the Hilton Head area. Guides continue to report nice catches of sheepshead at the near shore reefs. Lots of fish are in the 2-5 pound range but some larger fish up to 9 or 10 pounds are also being taken.
• Bottom Fish: Good to very good. Snapper are being caught in large numbers around 40 miles out in 110 feet of water but many of the fish are short. Black Sea Bass and some nice flounder are also being caught out at the Betsy Ross.
  

Beaufort

• Spottail Bass: Good. Fish are still congregated in large schools, and in the Broad River area guides are seeing schools with up to 150 fish in the shallow flats. Best fishing is on the falling or low tide with spoons and flies.
• Trout: Good. Trout are congregated in deep holes and are very hungry. Fish Gulp shrimp imitations, live mud minnows or live shrimp.
• Sheepshead: Very good. Nice catches of sheepshead are being reported at the near shore reefs and wrecks.
• Bottom Fish: Good to very good. Black Sea bass are abundant but catching fish over the legal limit of 12 inches is difficult at times. The same is true for red snapper, which have a legal limit of 20 inches. Grouper over the legal limit of 24 inches are being caught but not in huge numbers.
• Offshore: Flounder and big black drum are being caught at the near shore wrecks and reefs. Further out bluefin tuna have yet to show up in the Beaufort area but in 180 feet of water some huge triggerfish are being caught using live fish as bait (such as small black sea bass).