Fishing at the southeastern coast is in a typical summer pattern with a wide variety of species available to anglers.
“We’ve been catching Spanish mackerel, king mackerel, cobia, African pompanos and some really nice grouper,” said Capt. Butch Foster of Yeah Right Charters at Southport (336-239-5429 or 910-845-2004, www.yeahrightcharters.com).
Spanish are close to the beaches at Oak Island and Southport, he said, and his boat has been trolling Clark spoons with No. 1 planers. He also sometimes pulls a “bird” rig or a mackerel “tree” (tinsel skirts with a hook behind) to land Spanish.
“We’ve been catching Spanish from 12 to 14 inches while trolling, but some of the king mackerel anglers are having 6-, 7- and 8-pounders hit their king rigs, trolled live pogies (menhaden), farther offshore,” Foster said.
Anglers who want to head for the Frying Pan Tower have been catching kings, cobia and African pompano.
“Out to 41 miles offshore, we’ve jigged up cigar minnows around the Tower to use for bait and have been catching some really nice grouper and scamps,” he said.
Scamps have been weighing from 15 to 20 pounds. American red snappers continue to be off limits because of federal rules.
Flounder trips to Yaupon Reef have been producing good numbers of 2- to 4-pound flounder.
Foster’s anglers use peanut (small) pogies on Carolina rigs for flounder.
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