Inshore Report: Flounder Showing Up in Little River and Cherry Grove
Flounder are running behind schedule this year, but they’re finally starting to show up. Went out the evening of 7/20 around Little River and Cherry Grove and, despite the wind trying to cancel the whole trip, came home with four solid fish.
Late fish, and a guess at why
This has been a slow year getting started — flounder that are usually showing up in the creeks and along the ICW well before now just weren’t there in the usual numbers. My best guess, for what it’s worth, is the combination of unusually warm water and the ongoing drought has kept a lot of fish holding offshore or in deeper water longer than normal rather than pushing up into the shallows on schedule. That’s a read from being on the water a lot this season, not a scientific one — but whatever the cause, they’re finally starting to move into Little River and Cherry Grove now.
Fighting the wind to find fishable water
7/20 was about as windy as I’d normally consider a wash for gigging — the kind of evening where a lot of water just isn’t worth trying. Instead of forcing it, I spent time hunting for pockets tucked out of the wind rather than fighting it in open stretches, and found enough calm, clear water blocked from the wind to actually see bottom and work it properly. With conditions that rough, I wasn’t interested in staying out late chasing one more fish — get on fishable water, work it well, and call it a night if the wind wins.
The results
In the water at 8:30 PM, out by 10 PM — a tight window, but it produced. Four flounder: two right at 17 inches, two better than 20 inches. All well clear of South Carolina’s 16-inch minimum, and a good four fish for a couple of dinners.
For anyone looking to put a similar rig together, this trip ran on the same lighting and battery setup covered in the J16 gigging boat build.
Bottom line
A late, slow-starting flounder season is finally turning the corner around Little River and Cherry Grove. Wind wasn’t cooperating on the 20th, but finding the pockets it couldn’t reach turned a short, marginal-looking evening into four solid fish and a quick trip home.
South Carolina flounder limits are a 16-inch minimum, 5 per person per day, 10 per boat per day, and gigging is restricted to nighttime hours — verify current rules with SCDNR before you go.
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