South Carolina is the one state on this list whose headline season is written into statute rather than announced. The shrimp baiting season has a formula, which means its opening day can be worked out years ahead — and it is why this page can tell you next year’s date.
Every season we have verified in South Carolina
One block per rule, because a single species can be on two calendars in the same state depending on the water. The band under each heading is the legal season; the row under it is what our own data says the fish are doing.
Shrimp — Shrimp baiting
The season “is set by law to last 60 days and opens at noon on the last Friday on or before September 15”. Because that is a formula and not a date, it moves by a day or two every year, and it is worth reading twice: the last Friday on or before the 15th, so a season can open as early as September 9. A shrimp baiting licence is required and it is separate from a saltwater licence.
Shrimp Season in South Carolina: the full rules, the sizes and why this state is different →
Shrimp — Cast nets and seines, no bait
Different fishery, different rules. Brown shrimp show in the tidal creeks from early June and white shrimp from late July or early August, moving out to the ocean by late October. This is a biological window rather than a legal one — the baiting season is the one with dates attached.
Crab — Statewide
SCDNR regulates recreational crabbing with sizes, pot numbers and bushel limits rather than with a season: a base recreational saltwater licence covers two pots, and a five-dollar endorsement raises that to five. We have not found a published closed season, so this page does not claim one — check the crustacean regulations before you set pots.
- Size
- No crabs smaller than 5 inches point to point.
- Limit
- One bushel per person per day and two bushels per boat, in force since 2025.
Crab Season in South Carolina: the full rules, the sizes and why this state is different →
Read on 2026-09-14 from South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Legal dates were read on the agency’s own page on the date shown beside each entry. Seasons change: the agency link is always the last word.
What the water is doing while the season is open
This is the part an agency page will not tell you. The temperature row above is the seasonal curve we use for the 6 of 13 South Carolina waters we track on a southern reservoir striper profile, and it is why an opening date and a fishable date are not the same thing. A season that opens while the water is still in the forties is a legal invitation, not a biological one: the fish are there, they are just not eating on your schedule yet. Cross the legal band against the activity row before you book the day off.
Where to fish it
We publish a daily report for 13 South Carolina waters, each with live flow or tide and today's conditions.
- Lake Murray — Lexington County
- Myrtle Beach — Horry County
- Lake Marion — Clarendon County
- Lake Moultrie — Berkeley County
- Lake Keowee — Oconee County
- Lake Greenwood — Laurens County
- Charleston — Charleston County
- Lake Wateree — Kershaw County
- Murrells Inlet — Georgetown County
- Lake Jocassee — Oconee County
All 13 South Carolina waters →
The licence is a separate question
An open season is not permission to fish. South Carolina requires a licence from age 16, and residents pay from $10.00 against $35.00 for visitors. What a South Carolina licence costs and where to buy it →
Questions
When does fishing season open in South Carolina?
It depends on the species: shrimp september 11, 2026 to november 10, 2026; shrimp no closed season published; crab no closed season published. Every date on this page was read off SCDNR on 2026-09-14.
Do I need a licence to fish in South Carolina?
Yes. South Carolina requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $10.00 for residents. A season being open is not permission to fish: the licence is separate and so are the size and bag limits.
Are these South Carolina dates going to change?
Some of them, and the page says which. Dates written as a rule in the regulations are calculated here for 2026, so they follow the rule rather than going stale. Dates the agency sets each year are shown as exactly that, with no calendar band, because inventing one would be worse than leaving it empty.