Fishing Forecast: Stormy weather, Hurricane Joaquin thwart coastal fishing attempts

Bad weather generally has disrupted fishing across the Carolinas during the past few days, especially offshore.

Rough seas have kept charter boats in their berths. And now Hurricane Joaquin threatens to make conditions even worse.

“We had a captain attempt to go out Sunday,” manager John Horton said from Georgetown Landing Marina on the S.C. Grand Strand. “He made it 2 miles past the sea buoy, turned around and came back in.”

A positive has been the bite of big red drum. Anglers willing to be wave-tossed have scored well at several locations – most notably in Pamlico Sound near Hatteras Village, at the Little River Jetties, the Murrells Inlet Jetties and backwaters near Charleston.

Lake Norman: Good for blue and channel catfish in the vicinity of Markers 10 and 11 on the main channel. They are taking raw shrimp best. Fair for largemouth and spotted bass back in coves during early morning on buzz baits and other top water lures. Small hybrids in McCrary Creek on Ice Jigs cast to surfacing schools.

Lake Wylie: Fair for largemouth on a variety of lures simulating shad as schools of the forage species moves into the creeks. Fair for bream and catfish from the shoreline.

Mountain Island Lake: Fair for largemouth in surfacing schools.

Union County Lakes: Fair to good for catfish and crappie at Lake Lee. Little activity at the rest – Cane Creek, Monroe and Twitty.

Yadkin/Pee Dee River Lakes: Good to excellent at High Rock for lunker catfish on a variety of traditional baits. White perch, or Waccamaws, in surfacing schools on silvery, flashy lures at Tillery. Little activity at the rest – Tuckertown, Badin and Blewett Falls.

Lakes James, Rhodhiss and Hickory: Little activity.

Fontana Lake: Good for smallmouth and spotted bass on crankbaits cast to the points. Improving for walleye on crawlers.

Lake Wateree: Fair for largemouth, following schools of shad into the creeks. They’re striking artificial worms and jigs around docks, rocks and grassbeds.

Lake Murray: Good for white perch 5-40 feet deep on earthworms and small jigging spoons. Good for bream and shellcrackers just off the shoreline on crickets and worms.

Santee Cooper Lakes: Good for crappie around cover 12-22 feet down. Good for bream around brush 10-15 feet deep.

Lake Thurmond: Fair to good for crappie 15-25 feet deep back in the coves.

Lake Hartwell: Fair for smallish largemouth bass on soft plastic lures cast to the shoreline. Fair for channel catfish 15-35 feet deep on cut baits, crawlers.

Lake Keowee: Slow.

Lake Jocassee: Fair for trout 60-80 feet deep on slow-trolled minnows and spoons.

Outer Banks: Nags Head area: Rough seas, but a few black drum, blues, pompano, spot and whiting at piers; Oregon Inlet: No activity because of poor sea conditions. Hatteras Island: Excellent for trophy-sized red drum for anglers braving rough waters in Pamlico Sound. Otherwise, little activity. Ocracoke Island: Little activity. Morehead City area: Wind, rain thwarting anglers.

Southeastern N.C. Coast: Good to excellent for big red drum at the Little River Jetties when seas fall off enough for anglers to get their boats at them. Fair for smaller reds in the backwaters. Fair black drum near the Sunset Beach Bridge. Flounder in Tubbs Inlet. Scattered blues and a few king mackerel at piers.

S.C. Coast: Little River area: Scattered blues, Spanish mackerel and whiting at the pier. Grand Strand area: Fair to good for flounder, reds, tarpon and trout in Winyah Bay at Georgetown. Big reds at the Murrells Inlet jetties when seas aren’t too rough to fish. Some improvement for flounder on finger mullet in the Murrells Inlet and Cherry Grove creeks Scattered surf feeders at the piers. Charleston area: Big red drum in the surf on chunks of mullet. Trout in the backwater creeks on Paddletail and ZMan lures. Flounder on finger mullet around oyster rakes and docks. No offshore activity. Beaufort/Hilton Head area: Little activity.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Fishing Forecast: Stormy weather, Hurricane Joaquin thwart coastal fishing attempts."