The Little River Jetties are a fabulous and fabled fishing spot accessible only by boat for those hunting trophy redfish and speckled trout. The jetties are just over the South Carolina line from Brunswick County, NC in Horry County, SC at the northernmost tip of the beach strip known as the Grand Strand which stretches down into Myrtle Beach.
There is a wonderful history of fishing in Little River available in PDF form by going to The Recreational Fishery in SC: the Little River Story.
As mostly a shore, surf and pier angler I’ve fished the jetties all my life whenever I can hitch a ride out there. It’s a terrific experience and some of the best fishing guides in the Carolinas ply those waters and consistently bring home pictures of their proud clients holding huge redfish and speckled trout.
In addition to specks and red drum the jetties hold a lot of flounder and Spanish Mackerel in season and black drum almost all of the year. There are many other structure orientated fish like black sea bass around and hosts of sea robins, oyster toads, and the inevitable lovable hordes of pinfish (until he water gets really cold).
I have fished with the guides and other anglers out at the jetties and seen all of the deadly tactics they utilize in their hunts for the tide running speckled trout and redfish schools. While they are available most guides love to fish live shrimp, usually under floats which they work out from the rocks at different depths depending on the tide. I’ve never been out to the jetties once that I didn’t land at least a couple of nice trout or redfish, and live shrimp is always the best bet.
Anglers use lures at the jetties too, especially as the water gets colder. Gulp lures are by far the most popular choice as anglers often use the Gulp shrimp just like live shrimp under the floats. They are also worked on jig heads around the rocks and the channel drop-off, a place where the Gulp fluke-style twitch baits are popular.
Many boats work the channel dropoff with live minnows on the bottom for flounder and low cruising redfish and specks, and soft baits on jig heads can work well here to. In addition to the Gulps you see a lot of DOA, Billy Bay Halo, Fishbites and Sea Striker soft baits.
The jetties can get a bit crowded but I have never seen it when it was a real problem. The morning bite is often the best, but guides watch the tide more than anything as fish are active when the tide is moving swiftly.
Remember if you fish the jetties you are under SC rules and regulations (and must have a SC license or be with a guide with a blanket license), but if you launched from NC you’ll be under NC law at the dock so pay attention. The Little River jetties are a great place where anglers love to ply the rocks for speckled trout and redfish.
For more fishing article and links see my blog A Dash of Salty and my website Surf and Salt.
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