Anglers can defeat January’s fishing doldrums by taking on red drum around Harkers Island
It was evident from the start of the cold January morning at the public ramp next to the Harkers Island Bridge that Bryan Goodwin probably was an extraordinary saltwater fishing guide.
The boat acted like a well-trained Labrador retriever, “heeling” next to the pier as Goodwin backed it down the ramp and slid it off the trailer in one motion, without assistance.
An incredulous bystander asked how he accomplished the feat. “Practice, I guess,” he said. “I’ve launched boats so many times by myself I guess I learned how to do it.”
An eighth-generation Harkers Island waterman, Goodwin (252-725-3961) knows something of boats and fishing. The first Goodwin to settle in the area, Thomas Goodwin, set foot on Cedar Island around 1750, and Bryan’s predecessors fished the waters of Carteret County. So he has a wealth of knowledge from which to draw, having relied on fishing, shrimping, clamming, oystering and flounder-gigging to pay his tuition to UNC-Chapel Hill.
That background appeared to be facing a tough test beyond the ramp, where a week of frigid weather had let the water temperature in the mid- to high 40s in the usual places Goodwin finds schools of red drum. But Goodwin, who runs Native Guide Service, shrugged off the problem.
“Redfish don’t mind water that’s cool, water that usually forces other species into the ocean or makes them migrate offshore or go south,” he said. “But when it falls below 48, they sometimes become hard to find. Like everything else, most of them will move out the (Barden’s) inlet toward the ocean, looking for deeper water. Or they’ll try to find a pocket of 50-degree water.”
Goodwin started by heading south from the bridge, searching for tell-tale reddish splotches of water created by the sun reflecting off the sides and backs of a school of red drum.
“This place usually has some reds this time of year,” Goodwin said, pointing to an open bay between several marsh islands.
But after an hour of cruising wind-swept flats, exploring the edges of multiple marsh islands and open water, Goodwin pointed his boat south toward Shackleford Banks and punched the throttle.
“We’ll go toward the Beaufort Inlet and turn north and look along the beach at Shackleford,” Goodwin said. “Sometimes in winter, big schools will be just behind the breakers.”
In that case, he ties on a soft-plastic bait — Gulp! jerk shad, Flatback Shad, Alive minnow or shrimp or Powerbait or DOA shrimp — and tries to get within casting distance.
“You don’t want to run right into a school, because they’ll dive and might swim hundreds of yards away before going toward shore again,” Goodwin said as the bay boat rode the gentle swells, mere yards from beaching.
But no baitfish, nor even a single flash of bronze in the gin-clear water.
“Let’s go try the (Cape Lookout) jetty,” he said. “At the least there should be some boats out there fishing, probably for specks, but you never can tell when a big drum will come through.”
He rode to the west of Cape Lookout’s hook, then turned up the north side to parallel the shoreline, mostly protected from the wind as he skirted the mouth of Barden Inlet, then Goodwin pointed to a line of boats off the east side of the cape. The jetty at high tide was submerged just underneath the water.
“Look at ’em,” he said. “And there aren’t really that many people here today. Sometimes, when the fishing’s hot, they’ll be lined up so you could walk from one end of the jetty to the other just by stepping on boats.”
Soon after leaving the fishing conga line, Goodwin headed toward the eastern edge of Middle Marsh, a series of islands between Cape Lookout and the Rachel Carson Coastal Preserve, where wild ponies still roam. He continually checked his water-temperature gauge and suddenly became excited.
“I’ve been reading 44 to 46 degrees all morning, but now I’ve got 52,” Goodwin said.
The sun had shone on a protected pocket of water all morning, warmed it, then the outgoing tide began to move the 52-degree liquid through a little cut between two islands into an open bay. And the reds had found the temperatures to their liking in that bay.
“There they are,” he said with excitement, pointing to the water in front of the boat. “Grab a rod and cast.”
Goodwin picked up a 7-foot, Plasma Series Star Rod and fired a Gulp! jig off the port bow, immediately hooking up with a fish that bent his rod nearly double.
“Helps to have a good pair of polarized sun glasses,” he said.
Goodwin said clients also should bring their duck hunting gear, including waterproof, insulated clothing and tightly-sealed footwear because winter sea water is cold, and nothing is more uncomfortable than getting wet when the air temps are in the high 30s to low 40s.
Soon, Goodwin and a guest both were fighting red drum that strained the 10-pound braid backing and 1½ feet of 15-pound fluorocarbon leader. When the fish were landed, Goodwin spun the boat, using his trolling motor set on low, looked some more until spying the skittish school and getting close enough to cast again. Two more hook-ups with bulldog strong fish followed, then the school was gone, disappeared into the broad expanse of the marsh flat.
Four reds between 27 and 32 inches in a span of 30 minutes will put a exclamation point on any fishing trip.
“Mother Nature dictates what you can do, whether you can go or not,” he said. “You won’t find reds in a 20-knot wind, and the sun angle is lower in winter, too, which makes schools hard to spot.
“The best days are when the winds are light and sunshine is abundant. That’s when you look for schools because you can see them pretty easy. And clear water is a given because of the water temperature.”
Goodwin admitted not every winter’s day at Harkers Island ends in lots of hook-ups. Redfish are especially finicky after several days of consistently frigid weather. But if temperatures have been mild for a spell during December and January, this region of the central coast will provide plenty of action and a way for saltwater anglers to defeat the winter doldrums.
DESTINATION INFORMATION
HOW TO GET THERE — Follow U.S. 70 east through Morehead City and Beaufort, cross the North River Bridge and go through Otway, then turn right onto SR 1322 (see sign to Harkers Island) and follow until you reach the Harkers Island Bridge (boat ramp is on right) — or follow road across bridge to the island.
BEST TIMES — December-February.
BEST LURES/EQUIPMENT — Leadhead jigs in quarter- to half-ounce sizes with extra-wide gap hooks and soft-plastic baits, including Gulp! shrimp, minnows, mud minnows, Gulp! Alive minnows or DOA shrimp or minnows. Natural colors (dark green or black backs) work well, and black or dark-green back MirrOlures will work at times. Rods should be 7-foot medium backbone with open-face spinners spooled with 150 yards of 15-pound-test braid and 1½ feet of 20-pound fluorocarbon.
BEST CONDITIONS — Water temperatures should be at least at 50 degrees with a light wind. Don’t try fishing with a 20-knot wind because the chop will be tough to navigate and sight-fishing will be impossible. This is a sight-fishing game.
ACCOMMODATIONS — Harkers Island Marina, P.O. Box 400, Harkers Island, 28531, 252-728-3907; Lo’r Decks At Calico Jacks, 1698 Island Rd., Harkers Island, 252-728-3575, www.capelookoutferry.com; Inlet Inn, 601 Front St., Beaufort, 252-728-3600, www.inlet-inn.com; Beaufort Inn, 101 Ann St., Beaufort, 252-728-2600, www.beaufort-inn.com.
MAPS — Capt. Segull’s Nautical Charts, 888-473-4855, www.captainsegullcharts.com ; Sealake Fishing Guides, 800-411-0185, www.thegoodspots.com.
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