While fishing for select saltwater species can be very good throughout the year, the month of May is prime time for saltwater action to jump into overdrive. With cooperative weather and flourishing forage fish numbers, the saltwater bite is on.

While the list of possible species to fish for is long, there are a few that provide consistent fishing right now and through the summer months.

The big three saltwater species for most South Carolina inshore anglers are flounder, redfish and trout. In addition, the fishing for sheepshead is absolutely awesome and shark fishing offers a wide variety of opportunities from inshore along the Intercoastal Waterway to fishing offshore for the really big species of Jaws.

We'll take a close look at each of these five species and let you know how to get in on the action. In each case, the fishing for each species is good all along the South Carolina coast.

FLOUNDER
While the fishing for flounder begins to improve inshore by March, May is the month when the action really gets rolling and stays consistent throughout the summer and fall.

Flounder are among the most popular of all saltwater fish species in South Carolina. They're good fighting fish, great eating and generally not all that difficult to target and catch. As with any species, having a good game plan is the key.

That game plan should include consolidation of factors that determine where the fish will be at any given time. These include factoring forage, tides and structure into your fishing strategy.

Flounder can be taken on any tide but the places where you may find them will change dramatically from a low to a high tide. Key your efforts near major inlets from the inshore waters to the ocean and look for the mouths of smaller creeks feeding into the main inlet.

One proven method is to anchor the boat off the shoreline where you can easily cast to the area you've targeted. Tie a 1/0 Kahle hook at the bottom of a 14- to 18-inch leader below a barrel swivel. Put a sliding float above it and a bobber stopper, which can be a piece of rubber band, at the depth you want the float. Set the float position so the bait will be just off the bottom. Best baits for flounder include mudminnows, finger mullet, small menhadden and shrimp.

Cast the rig slightly up current of where the target area and allow it to drift along the edgeline of the grass and shells. If that doesn't produce action, rig the float a bit deeper and work slightly deeper water. If working progressively deeper for a couple more casts does not produce any action, pull anchor and move to another spot.

When you locate a productive spot it's not unusual to catch multiple fish from the same general area using this method. Thus, if you catch one fish, don't automatically haul the anchor and move. One good flounder in the cooler warrants a few more casts to that area before leaving. When the action slows at the spot you're fishing, often all you'll need to do to get back into action is to move the boat a very short distance and begin fishing again.