Saltwater Series: North Inlet fishing locations pinpointed

North Inlet is a little off the beaten path — if water can be beaten — but most South Carolina fishermen know how to find out.

Although it’s technically an inlet, it also refers to a sprawling area of salt marsh north of Winyah Bay, North Inlet is a good half-hour’s boat ride from ramps in the Georgetown area, but it’s apparently well worth the expense of fuel and time.

Tides and wind can push water in and out of the marshes and change its clarity in a jiffy, but the toughest thing about catching redfish, speckled trout and flounder in the marshes is getting into them; No Man’s Friend Creek and Jones Creek are the two main thoroughfares, and getting in and out of them on low water can be a difficult job.

Richard Pate operates Carolina Guide Service with his brother, Jordan; he grew up on the waters around Charleston and Georgetown and loves the North Inlet area. He has some very specific ideas about the best ways to fish the marshes behind North Inlet.

“Most of the spots in North Inlet are better on a falling tide, especially if you’re fishing around oyster beds,” Pate said. “Some of the mounds tend to show up in unexpected areas, like the middle of the creeks where most fishermen expect to find deep water.

Pate and other captains who frequent the North Inlet marshes advise first-time fishermen to visit on the low end of the tide cycle and ease through the marsh, perhaps using a trolling motor, to learn where the obstructions to navigation are. Once you get past them, there’s no dearth of great fishing spots. Here are a few:

No Man’s Friend Creek Oysters
N 33 18 774/W 79 11 616

Entering the marsh from Winyah Bay, move into No Man’s Friend Creek. After a big right-hand bend where Oyster Bay drains into the creek, look on the left-hand bank for series of oyster mounds, some of them marked by stakes.

“This is a double whammy. You have spotty oyster mounds near the mouth of a creek,” he said. “You want to come in to these oyster mounds from downwind.”

Pate likes to fish a soft-plastic bait on a jighead for reds around these oyster mounds.

Editor’s note: This article is part of the Saltwater Series feature in the July issue of South Carolina Sportsman, which is now on newsstands. Digital editions also can be downloaded right to your computer or smartphone.

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