Fall trout fishing continues to be great along North Carolina-South Carolina line
The fall frenzy for speckled trout has been non-stop in the waters around Little River since early November, but in recent weeks, fishermen have been able to add to quick limits of specks some black drum and redfish.
The collection of creeks, bays, bridges and oyster-shell banks along the Intracoastal Waterway has been full of specks for weeks, but the reds and blacks have arrived recently.
Capt. David Cutler of Lowcountry Fishing Charters (843-222-7433) is having little difficulty getting fish slime all over his new 24-foot Nautic Star bay boat these days, with multi-species returns of tasty critters.
“The good fishing continues with red drum, black drum and speckled trout all available in good numbers,” said Cutler, who said shifts between warm and cool weather has shifted feeding behavior between the three species.
“Both the red and black drum are picking up in the warm weather, and the trout are falling off some,” said Cutler. “They will flip-flop when the cool weather comes back, with the trout picking back up again.”
Cutler has regular success using both live bait and artificials.
“If you can find mullet minnows and live shrimp, the reds will nail them both, with trout and black drum selecting live shrimp as their preferred bait,” he said.
He’s typically finding trout and black drum closer to channels and around deeper structure, while the reds have been in the shallow margins around oysters, pilings and other types of shallow structure.
Grubs, small swimbaits and MirrOlures trolled upcurrent or downcurrent have been producing great catches of trout. Scented baits are also producing mixed-bag catches.
“Gulp! shrimp in pearl and new penny will get the attention of redfish, black drum, and speckled trout,” he said.
Cutler has been doing damage from the Sunset Beach bridge just across the state line to the swing bridge at Nelson’s Crossroads.
