Find the structure, then find the current and you’ll find specks along the Brunswick County coast.
As fall settles in along North Carolina’s coast, locals don’t fret over the end of summer. The last months of the year mean several things: smaller crowds, cooler temperatures and the best speckled trout fishing of the year.
Due to geography, Southport becomes the center of an all-out trout blitz that starts in October and can last — depending on the temperature — into January. At the confluence of the Cape Fear River and the Intracoastal Waterway, Southport has plenty of fishable water in close proximity, and a lot of hungry trout.
Guide Tommy Rickman, who owns the Tackle Box at Southport Marina, loves cool-weather trout fishing for several reasons. First, the fall temperatures in Brunswick County are nothing short of perfect, with cooler mornings and afternoons usually in the 70s. He tells his clients to layer up to start the day, then shuck off layers as the mercury rises. Second, the fishing action is typically fast, and between casting and reeling in trout, you can work up a bit of a sweat. Finally, there is much less traffic on the water than during the summer, so there are nowhere near as many disruptions to the fishing.
Rickman said the first thing he looks for when targeting specks is moving water. These fish can be caught on a slack tide, but at nowhere near the frequency as when the tide is moving. He uses the low end of the tide cycle to scout for places he wants to fish, looking for exposed rocks and structure, then marking the spots for a return trip. He said the absolute peak time to fish is when the rising tide has covered exposed rocks to where they are just out of sight. Then it’s time to tie on a lure and start fishing.
Rickman said that covering lots of territory is a major key to fall fishing success. For tackle, he uses medium-light, 7-foot Fenwick HMG rods mated with Shimano Symetre reels spooled with 30-pound Power-Pro braid and six feet of 12-pound Hi-Seas fluorocarbon leader. The combo makes for long casts and cuts down on line drag.
Rickman’s go-to lure is a MirrOlure 18MR, one of the heavier MirrOlure baits, which he said is necessary around Southport due to the strength of the current. Tied on with a loop knot to get the most action and wobble, he favors the black back/gold body/chartreuse belly and the blue back/chartreuse belly. He carries plenty of spares; when the paint — and shine — gets beaten off of the lure by multiple speckled trout, changing lures can make the bite continue again.
The secret, Rickman said, is how the lure is worked through the water. He always casts upcurrent so the lure is actually pushed back towards the boat. Instead of simply winding it in, he lets the current do the majority of the work, keeping the slack out and adding a slight twitch now and then. This way, the lure resembles an injured baitfish, exactly what a trout is counting on the same current to bring him. Keeping slack out of the line will greatly benefit the angler when the trout bites, as there is just a moment where the angler has the opportunity to set the hook, which is best done by sweeping the rod, rather than jerking it upwards. Rickman said the rod needs to do the work. The lighter action prevents the hook from being pulled out of the fish’s mouth, and you can keep pressure on the fish after the initial hook-up.
Rickman is a big fan of MirrOlures; he said they produce a better class of fish than soft plastics or live bait. Specks love shrimp, but the “gators” seem to prefer minnow-shaped lures. Whatever the case may be, Rickman has plenty of citation specks under his belt, and his charters add to that total frequently.
Trout can be caught later on into the fall and winter, provided a fisherman knows what clues to look for. As the water cools, trout want to expend less energy when feeding, so it is imperative to find areas where the current isn’t as strong. Moving into creeks with less flow can mean locating fish on colder days.
Rickman will often switch to a lighter MirrOlure and go as light as a 10-pound fluorocarbon leader to couple with less current and a slower retrieve. He will switch off MirrOlures when the class of fish is smaller, going to a 3-inch Gulp! shrimp on an 1/8-ounce or ¼ ounce jighead, depending again on the current. He will vary his retrieve and twitch rate until he finds the speed that the trout are biting at and instruct his anglers to stay at that rate.
If you ask Jeff Williamson of Get Busy Fishing Charters the best way to catch speckled trout, he has a different take entirely. While he is based in the Ocean Isle Beach area, he keeps his boat on a trailer and focuses his efforts between Southport and the jetties that line Little River on the North Carolina-South Carolina border — depending on conditions and where the biggest trout are coming from. Between the two boundaries, he said there is no lack of prime trout water, but that the Southport area and rocks at the Little River jetties tend to produce big fish on the most-consistant basis. Other areas Williamson says produce consistent trout are the pilings at the Holden Beach bridge, the docks near Lockwood’s Folly Inlet, and Davis Canal. However, he makes it clear that any hard structure — rocks, pilings or oyster beds — can and will hold trout, so long as there is tidal flow. It’s just a question of trying enough spots until you find the right one.
Williamson uses live shrimp almost exclusively in the fall. Shrimp are perhaps the best all-around bait when it comes to catching numbers of trout, and they will catch virtually anything else that swims by as well. When fishing on charters with anglers who have little or no experience, live shrimp provide the most action. Also, it is much less expensive to fish with bait that you catch yourself.
Williamson spends the time before to trips cast-netting around creek mouths to catch shrimp for bait. He keeps them in a specialized “pen” in the water and in a custom baitwell in his bay boat. He can keep several trout alive in his other, larger livewell and also carry minnows, which would otherwise harass and kill the more fragile shrimp.
For tackle, Jeff uses 7-foot-6 Kunan rods with a very soft tip for trout. The longer rods make for easier casting and help prevent hooks from being ripped out of the soft-mouthed trout. He matches his rods with Daiwa Sweepfire reels spooled with 10- to 12-pound mono, opting for heavier line of there are red drum around. He will opt for the heavier line when there are more red drum around, but prefers the lighter because it is easier to cast.
Williamson prefers mono to braid when fishing with live shrimp. First, the mono is more forgiving when fighting a fish due to the fact that it stretches, meaning less pulled hooks. Also, using mono creates less splices on the main line to hang up when the rig is cast.
Williamson says that anchoring is a must for this type of fishing. He likes to anchor on the deeper side of the structure he wants to fish and always casts upstream. He’ll anchor up either using his 8-foot Power Pole Pro or a traditional anchor if the water is deeper. If he uses an anchor, he said it’s vital to lower it as quickly and quietly as possible to avoid spooking fish in the area.
He casts in the direction that will get him the longest possible drift, even drifting past the boat where he can let our more line or mend the line to keep out slack, which creates additional drag on the cork. This keeps the shrimp in the strike zone longer and helps Williamson identify where trout are holding. Varying the depth he sets the stop knot will also help locate the depth they’re holding, because when one cork goes down, those fish are rarely alone.
When anglers get the hang of fishing a popping cork, it becomes a team affair. It is easiest to cast from the bow and retrieve from the stern after the angler has drifted his shrimp as far as he can, and having different fishermen put their baits and different depths helps find the most-productive water. When the bite stops, it generally means that the tide has stopped as well. You can bet that it’s moving somewhere else.
DESTINATION INFORMATION
WHEN TO GO/HOW TO GET THERE — Fishing for speckled trout around Southport picks up beginning in October. The action can be fast and furious, depending on water temperature, until well into January. Extremely cold temperatures make trout lethargic, so the first sustained cold snap usually means the end of the best action. Southport can be reached from US 17 by NC 211, of via the Fort Fisher ferry from the Carolina Beach area. Southport Marina and the wildlife ramp on Fish Factory Rd. are the two most-popular boat ramps.
TACKLE/TECHNIQUES — Spinning outfits with 7-foot, light-medium action rods and reels spooled with 30-pound braid or 10- to 12-pound mono, with a fluorocarbon leader. MirrOlure 18MRs are popular trout lures, 3-inch Gulp! Shrimp on 1/8- or 1/4-ounce jigheads.
GUIDES/FISHING INFO — Capt. Tommy Rickman, The Tackle Box, Southport, 866 395-3474, www.the-tackle-box.com; Capt. Jeff Williamson, Get Busy Fishing Charters, 910-367-0647, www.getbusyfishing.com; Ocean Isle Fishing Center, 910-575-3474, www.oifc.com. See also Guides and Charters in Classifieds.
ACCOMMODATIONS — Southport Angler Outfitters 866-395-FISH; Southport/Oak Island Chamber of Commerce, www.southport-oakisland.com, 910-457-6964.
MAPS — ProChipUSA, John McWhite, 910-512-6700 www.prochipusa.com; GMCO’s Chartbook of North Carolina, 888-420-6277, www.gmcomaps.com.
Be the first to comment