# Recent Surf Fishing Report - SC



## BeachLife (Nov 14, 2020)

I have a lot to say today. Firstly, don't be discouraged by the lack of participation on this or other fishing forums. I wish more people would share their daily fishing adventures, but newbies can still benefit from all of the tips that others have shared in the past. As well as being able to look at prior years reports for various locations & species to get some idea of what should be where, and when.

I went out surf fishing last night in North Myrtle Beach. Mullet & glass minnows are still here, although scattered in tiny schools. Mud minnows were rare, but blue crabs were everywhere. And those should remain active (not buried in the mud) until the water temps get into the high 50s.

I caught two undersized flounder (released), and 3 or 4 small (6-8") whiting. But still not autumn blitz which normally includes small speckled trout, small weakfish, bull whiting, drum from slot to monster size, and I assume black drum if fishing with shrimp or crab......I was using "flounder ribbons" (long strips or scraps of the white underbelly) that I salt, freeze and save all year just for this occasion.

The flounder ribbons work well, but so does everything else at this time of the year, as long as there are fish around to be caught.

I wish more folks would start pressuring their state DNR to do more to improve the fish habitat along our coast lines. SC beaches are as flat as a skating rink all the way from the NC state line to GA. And that's why the surf fishing here is so lame most of the year.

There's trophies to be caught, but only with the same luck required to win a million dollar lottery prize, or with 100s of hours of time spent probing the surf.

The lack of structure along our coast, is also the same reason for all of the long currents and drownings. We need structure to break those long currents and to attract and hold fish.

Search for "Reef Balls" or ReefBall . Org for more details. Inexpensive boulders would have the same effect. Jetty type structures, even submerged would have the same effect.


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## BeachLife (Nov 14, 2020)

On a positive note, the water temps have started to drop (again). As of 11-22-20 the surf is 67-68F. Its been going up and down for the past 6 weeks fluctuating between 67-72F and that probably has a lot to do with the poor surf fishing this autumn. The water temps should have been in the low to mid 60s weeks ago.

If the water temps keep going in the same direction this time, and they should, then maybe we'll still see an improvement before it takes a turn for the worse for the winter.

Going to try to get back out later today. If I catch anything worthy of mention i'll post some pics.

Best advice I can offer is to keep your hooks baited (i.e. check them every few minutes). And if you're paying money to fish on one of the privately owned piers, then take advantage of the structure rather than launching your bait 100 feet in the opposite direction.

And if you're getting taps but no solid hook ups, then try down sizing your gear if youre just looking for some table fish. Otherwise you might be missing out on a bunch of smalls, if your not just feeding the crabs.


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## BeachLife (Nov 14, 2020)

Related to the above but not. This is a "pound net" map showing the location of commercial fishing nets in real time. Its from MD but I assume this same situation exists all up and down our coast line. Note that these nets are set in all of the prime locations, the mouth of the bays, creeks, estuaries, all along the shore lines. No wonder the recreation fishing industry has been going down hill for the past 30 years.

How do you all feel about "$8.99 all you can scarf down fish buffets"? Hows does anything get past these nets? Give a man an $8.99 all you can scarf down fish buffet, and why would he even learn to fish?

Its even more disturbing when you learn that in some states commercial fishing or crab licenses arent even available to the general public. Theyre treated like private property, held by the same families, and sold as if, well, as if they're private property. Politics anyone?


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## BeachLife (Nov 14, 2020)

Got out on the beach a few days ago for an hour or two and managed to catch a couple of small flounder (6"-12") and a whiting in the surf. So as of Dec 1 or 2 theres still some life out there.

The flounder don't tend to move around much so if I had moved my rods 25-30 feet in one direction or the other I probably could have got a couple more.

Had 2 rods out with 30# flouro leader, 6/0 or 8/0 circle hooks, one rigged with long 6-8" flounder ribbons, and the other with some long strips of squid. Neither of those got any action.

Had a third (smaller) rod rigged with a #2 Owner circle hook, 10# flouro leader, baited and some small strips of squid. And that's the rod that I got all 3 of my little fish on.

All 3 rods had "fish finder" rigs (a circle hook tied to a 20" flourocarbon leader, tied to a swivel with a slider above it along with a small pyramid sinker).

I fished the small rod and one of the bigger rods right behind the breaking waves, just behind the "suds". The bigger rod was out over the "sandbar" or where it starts to drop off about 75 yards out.

Another guy I talked to said he was catching some small blues earlier in the day on "cut bait".


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## jjirons69 (Dec 17, 2020)

New here - long time lurker

From the south and north ends of Folly over the past few weekends - single slot black drum, numerous juv black drum, and a couple whiting in the surf and around rock croppings. Shrimp and cut bait with shrimpbites. Been kind of slow, but at least the weather has been nice.

Heading to Sunrise Park (Melton Peter Demetre Park) during the holidays to see what it holds. Got flats and structure, so who knows.


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