Murrells Inlet flounder fishing report

Flounder feed heavily in Murrells Inlet

For flounder fishermen, summer is the prime time to bring home dinner from Murrells Inlet’s famed waterways.

Capt. Dan Connelly of Captain Dan’s Fishing Company is one of the staple fishing guides in the Murrells Inlet area.

“Murrells Inlet is well-known for it’s stellar inshore flounder fishing from spring through fall,” said Connelly (843-241-7022). “During the summer months, the plethora of natural live baits show up. And they keep all the large, keeper-sized and doormat flounder feeding on a regular basis.”

Flounder are ambush feeders and will set up in about any place where they can ambush bait. Connelly fishes around the jetties and along creek mouths, creek edges, and adjacent to structure to find flounder.

“My main focus is usually around structure or areas with strong current and eddies where the fish can lay on the bottom and ambush anything that comes within reach,” he said.

Connelly rarely stays in one place too long while fishing for flounder in the summertime.

Don’t waste time

“Don’t spend more than 10 to 15 minutes in an area without a bite. If they are feeding in an area, they will not allow a bait or lure to enter their strike zone without taking a bite. And flounder are also traveling in groups. If you find them feeding in an area, chances are, they aren’t traveling alone,” he said.

These fish will engulf about any live bait, dead bait, or artificial lure imaginable. They are almost like the vacuum cleaner of the inshore grounds. Connelly will typically use live finger mullet, peanut menhaden, or mud minnows in the summer on a Carolina rig or jigheads.

“Traditional Carolina rigs and colored jigheads are my rigs of choice for targeting flounder. I like to fan cast an area while slowly dragging bait along the bottom to give the flounder more than enough time to attack,” he said.

“Many folks believe that smaller baits like mud minnows are needed to catch flounder but this isn’t necessarily true. Even an undersized fish can gorge on a 6- to 8-inch meal. And typically larger fish are caught with larger baits,” he said.

“It is not unheard of to have a banner day catching 30 to 40 fish and having 5 to 10 keeper-sized fish ranging from 2 to 8 pounds,” he said.