April 27
Inshore water temperatures on the north end of the Grand Strand are around 65, and when the wind lies down the water is still super clear. On windy days it gets murky.
There has been some challenging weather with an abundance of wind for much of April, but Captain Patrick “Smiley” Kelly (843-361-7445) reports that there have still been some good catches recently. Crabs are molting and so the fish are on a crab bite, with blue crabs a dynamite bait right now. They are also catching a lot of fish on fresh cut shrimp, and mud minnows on a ¼ ounce jighead have also been working. Artificials like Gulp! haven’t been quite as good lately.
Last week they caught a huge 45-inch red drum in the ICW on a blue crab, and there have been plenty of slot-sized fish, too. The best fishing has been on the higher tides when there is still a steadily moving current getting up in the grass, and they have generally been fishing pretty shallow.
Small flounder are beginning to show up, but trout have been pretty much nonexistent. Remember that SCDNR is asking anglers to practice catch and release of all spotted seatrout through the end of September. To read the full news release click here.
Cherry Grove Pier (843-249-1625) reports that they are catching a bunch of 8-12 inch bluefish, whiting, croaker and a few small black drum. They did land a 27-inch red drum off the pier but no Spanish so far. Water temperatures are still only about 64 degrees.

Jay A’Hern
Angler’s Headquarters (www.AnglersHeadquarters.com)
P.O. Box 50225
Columbia, SC 29250
jay@usfishingreport.com