What are the best fishing charters in Myrtle Beach?

Why is “best” the wrong question, and what should I ask instead?

Two people can book the same boat on the same morning and one has the day of their life while the other is bored or seasick. Nothing about the boat changed. What changed was the fit.

A family with a six year old wants calm water and a short run. Two anglers who have fished all their lives want to run out to a wreck and stay there. A group of six wants a boat that takes six. The charter that is best for one of those is wrong for the other two.

So the useful question is not which charter is best. It is which one is built for your day.

Where does the boat actually leave from?

Myrtle Beach is where people stay. Most of the charter fleet keeps further south, and for a reason.

Murrells Inlet is a real tidal inlet with a creek and marsh system behind it and a short run to nearshore reefs in front of it. A boat there can fish sheltered water on a windy morning and be through the mouth onto structure on a calm one. Carolina Hook and Fly’s boats leave from the Marsh Walk in Murrells Inlet, about fifteen minutes south of Myrtle Beach.

How many people does it take, and on what?

Ask this before anything else, because it decides the boat.

Carolina Hook and Fly runs two boats. The smallest is a shallow water skiff for small parties, the platform for technical inshore fishing and for casting a fly. Confirm the capacity of the boat assigned to your trip when booking. A charter that sells you a seat beside twenty strangers is a different product, and the party boat comparison sets out when that is the right call.

Inshore, nearshore or offshore?

Three different days, and people book the wrong one all the time.

Inshore stays in the creeks, flats and the inlet: redfish, flounder, speckled trout, black drum. Calm, short runs, the right first trip. Nearshore goes out to reefs, wrecks and live bottom for Spanish and king mackerel, cobia and black sea bass, with sharks around more often than people expect. Offshore is a longer run and a longer day. Carolina Hook and Fly offers inshore and nearshore charters, not offshore trips, and the deep sea page explains what each one really means from Murrells Inlet.

What comes with the trip?

Rods, reels, bait and tackle are on the boat. The fishing licence is the captain’s, so you do not need one. What you bring is sun protection, something to drink, and a cooler if you want to take fish home.

Confirm the available duration and whether your trip will fish inshore or nearshore when booking. The half day inshore page goes into the four hour version, which is the one most first timers should book.

Who makes the weather call?

The captain, and on your behalf rather than the boat’s. Wind matters more than rain for how a day feels on the water, and a captain who moves you inshore on a blowy morning is the reason the trip is any good. A charter that promises a fixed spot regardless of the forecast is telling you how little it watches the forecast.

What about the captains?

Experience is the thing a schedule cannot buy. Carolina Hook and Fly’s three captains are described on the who runs the boats page: one with twenty years on saltwater and tournament finishes from the Carolina coast to the Florida Keys, one with more than fifteen years holding a charter licence on this inlet, and one who came up as an offshore mate and fishes inshore tournaments.

How do I book?

Call (843) 241-7706 with your dates and the size of your party, or check availability on the booking page. The boats leave from 3993 US-17 BUS, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576. What a trip costs depends on the length and the party size, so the honest answer is to ask about your dates. The main charters page covers everything else.