A variety of fish are available for inshore anglers from Wrightsville Beach to Southport, a top area fishing guide said.
“Red fishing has been good in the early morning and late afternoon,” said Captain Jot Owens (910-233-4139, www.captainjot.com).
He’s been finding red drum during high-tide periods near marsh grass and at oyster rock beds while during low tide periods reds are around docks and at the edges of creek channels.
Redfish have been running from under-slot (18 inches) to over-slot (27 inches) lengths.
“We’re also catching flounder, Spanish mackerel and speckled trout, while nearshore fishing for tarpon has been really consistent up and down the beaches and at the (Cape Fear) shoals near Bald Head Island,” Owens said.
For flounder, from undersize to 5 pounds, live-bait rigs with finger mullet and mud minnows have been effective, along with Gulp! mud minnow artificials in the Triple Ripple color.
Anglers are catching flounder “just about anywhere in the creeks, at the inlets and in the ocean,” Owens said.
Bigger flatties are at the offshore reefs.
“The Triple Ripple is a brand new lure,” he said. “It’s a Gulp! bait with good action. The root beer and morning glory patterns with a chartreuse tail have been working well, along with the mud minnow pattern in new penny and pearl white colors.”
Speckled trout are attacking Saltwater Assassin grubs and Berkley Gulp! pogies in pearl white along with MR17 MirrOlures and L29 MirrOlures in 808 (orange belly/black back) colors.
“Most of them are around 12 inches but we’ve been catching 3-pounders occasionally,” Owens said.
Bluewater Candy Daisy Chains are catching Spanish mackerel.
“When you get on them, you can load up the boat with the Bluewater Candy lures,” Owens said.
These are three squid in a daisy chain arrangement with gold hooks.
“It’s been the deal-breaker this year and we sometimes catch two Spanish at a time with them,” he said. “We even caught a 15-pound king mackerel with it. It’s easy to pull on top.”
Be the first to comment