Drum on the Slack, Pompano in the Wash — Week of August 17

Cape Hatteras Point is running 83.5°F with SW breeze at 13-14 knots pushing across Diamond Shoals. Tides are tight this week — small swings under a foot — so work the transitions hard. Low tide at 07:16 is your morning pompano window: two-hook Pompano Hi-Lo Rig baited with fresh sand fleas or shrimp, cast into the first slough. Drum will show on the evening slide toward the 19:32 low, Fish Finder Rig with cut mullet on the outside bar. Afternoon thunderstorms building — watch the sky.

Avon Pier is fishing the same tides and same 83.5°F water. Spanish macks and bluefish should be crashing bait early before the SW builds — Bucktail Jig White worked fast off the end, or a Topwater Stick Bait 4" at first light if the water lays down. Kings still hanging on the second sandbar; live bait on a Kingfish Wire Rig from the T is the play through midday. Pompano in the wash on the incoming push toward 12:59.

Hatteras Inlet current is ripping with these tides. Flounder are staging on the channel edges — drift a Flounder Carolina Rig with mud minnows or finger mullet through the drops on the last of the outgoing before the 07:16 low, then again on the 19:32 slide. Drum working the flat edges on the slack and early incoming. Sunny and hot today, storms rolling in tonight.

Oregon Inlet has more tide swing — 1.2ft high at 12:14 and again just after midnight. That's more water moving, better flounder bite in the cuts. Water temp 83.1°F. Work Bucktail Jig Yellow/Chartreuse tipped with Gulp on the drops through the middle of the outgoing. Sound side flats on the low water at 06:44 and 19:00 — drum tailing in skinny water, Topwater Stick Bait 4" at first light before the wind gets up. Heat index will be brutal midday, 91°F air.

Murrells Inlet is fishing textbook August. 82.8°F, light SW wind, big 5.5ft tide swings moving serious water. Redfish are up in the spartina on the top of the 11:51 high — weedless soft plastic or a Topwater Stick Bait 4" walked along the grass edges. Speckled trout in the deeper holes early before the sun gets on it. Flounder on the channel drops through the outgoing toward the 17:55 low, Flounder Carolina Rig with mud minnows. 94°F air temp — fish dawn and dusk.

Folly Beach is the hottest water on the report at 86.7°F. That's warm, but the redfish are still working the trough on the incoming toward the 12:28 high. Fish Finder Rig with cut mullet or blue crab in the first cut. Whiting and pompano on a Pompano Hi-Lo Rig with fresh shrimp — steady bite through the tide changes. Nearshore Spanish still around for boat guys and long-casters — Bucktail Jig White retrieved fast. Storms possible late today, otherwise clear.