Cape Lookout speaks Spanish

Mackerel are first on the list of targets for nearshore fishermen this month

There’s no shortage of fish ready to bite in the Cape Lookout area in June: flounder, speckled trout and redfish, for example. But when Noah Lynk of Noah’s Ark Fishing Charters steers his boat out of its Harkers Island. N.C., home base this month, he’s got Spanish mackerel on his mind.

“Spanish mackerel will be the best bite we get in June,” said Lynk (252-342-6911). “You’re going to be trolling around Cape Lookout or out near the shoals, usually in 30 to 40 feet of water.

“They’ll be schooled up, so look for birds: sea gulls and white terns. Once you find them, locate them, just keep going in a circle. Go over them again and again.

“They’ll stay in one place for a couple of days and then move off. As it gets hotter, they’ll move farther off (the beach), and the bite will be better early. When it gets hot, the bite will peter out by about noon every day.

Lynk said he’ll be catching mostly nice Spanish in June, a better- quality fish than he’ll get later in the summer. “These will be nice fish; the size will still be good,” he said.

Trolling is the chief way that Lynk hooks up with Spanish. He’ll be trolling small Clark Spoons, Nos. 0 and 0, in silver, gold, green and the new electric chicken (pink/green) colors.

“Spoons work better on top,” he said. “I pull two of them on top, with just a little weight, maybe a 1/4-ounce, at the head of the spoon. I tie them on a leader at least 10 feet long of 20-pound monofilament or fluorocarbon. I’ll put a small swivel about halfway down the leader.

“I’ll run two spoons on hand lines down on Nos. 1 and 2 players — one of each so I can cover different depths. I’ll have spoons on top and at two different depths.”

Occasionally, Lynk said, he’ll get on a school of aggressive fish that are busting baits on the surface.

“When they’re really kicking up at the surface, Sea Striker has come up with a plug called a Cedrus, a sinking plug that’s made out of cedar and is about the size of a medium-sized MirrOlure,” he said.

“You have to fish it fast. Spanish like baits fast — you’ve got to troll for ‘em at 6 to 8 knocks, so if you’re casting to ‘em, you’ve got to really be swinging it.

“The other thing you can use is a Sea Striker Surf Spoon in gold or silver. It’s a big chunk of metal, and you can really get some (casting) distance with it.”