Nearly all species of inshore saltwater fish are biting in the waters surrounding Cape Lookout, led by albacore, bluefish, red drum and speckled trout.
“Whatever you want, we’ve got it going on,” said Capt. Noah Lynk of Noah’s Ark Fishing Charters of Harkers Island (252-342-6911, www.noahsarkfishingcharters.com). “Fishing is wide open right now.”
Nearshore catches have included nice-size albacore weighing 8 to 10 pounds, plus bluefish up to 4 pounds at the Cape Lookout Shoals, particularly around Shark Island.
“The best lure for the albacore are 2-inch-long clear soft baits that look like a silverside (minnow) or fry-type bait,” Lynk said. “The blues are hitting 3-inch Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows cast to schools on top. You just look for the bird and throw where they’re blitzing baitfish and you’ll get hooked up immediately.”
Anglers also are catching red drum and a few speckled trout at the rock jetties along the beaches by casting soft-plastic shrimp and mud minnow imitation lures.
“I started using Deep Creek scented baits last week for the first time after I got turned on to them,” Lynk said. “They come in Shrimp, Pogie, Swim Shad and Slim Shad, which is shaped like a Bass Assassin. They’ve got a real strong scent and they really catch fish.”
During one trip, Lynk’s anglers landed five trout measuring more than 20 inches.
“You’ll catch a lot of small trout now, maybe 80-percent throwbacks, but big ones will be mixed in with them,” he said.
“Flounder fishing also has been really good. I recently used the Deep Creek Shrimp and Slim Shads and none we caught weighed less than 3 1/2 pounds and we also had quite a few citation-size (5-pound minimum) fish.”
Many yearling red drum remain in the water and can be caught at the same spots as speckled trout, but some over-slot (longer than 27 inches) reds will be in the mix.
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