Best sight fishing for redfish at CALO

The best sight-fishing of the year for red drum is occurring now at Cape Lookout, according to a veteran Beaufort guide.

“We have massive schools of red drum, both at inside and outside waters right now,” said Capt. Bryan Goodwin (Native Guide Service, 252-725-3961). “It’s the best start for sight casting I can remember of any year.”

Goodwin said red drum schools numbering in the hundreds are between Beaufort and Cape Lookout.

“It’s my stomping grounds,” he said. “Recently me and a pharmaceutical salesman from Raleigh caught more than 100 reds in four hours from the same school. I was able to position the boat perfectly, and we just kept catching them.”

Goodwin said redfish are in the process of moving back to inside waters after spending the winter in warmer ocean waters.

“The extra long cold winter forced the overwhelming majority of fish that normally stay inside to go into the ocean, but now they’re returning,” he said. “And they’re in 1 to 3 feet of clear water, and you can see them easily. Most of them are over-slot (18 to 27 inches) fish, too.”

Soft-plastic lures such as Gulp! shrimp and other soft-plastic lures attached to lead-head jigs are working best.

“Curly-tail grubs, Billy Bay Halo Shrimp and the new MirrOlure soft-plastic paddletails are catching reds now,” Goodwin said. “It’s also the best fly-fishing opportunity of the year.”

Fly anglers are using Clousers and other saltwater streamer flies to hook up with reds.

“They don’t like hard baits such as gold spoons, spinnerbaits and hard baits like they do at other times of the year,” he said.

Goodwin said because the water temperature has risen into the upper 50-degree mark, redfish have become more aggressive after a long winter.

“I’m taking advantage of light-wind days and a high-sun angle, and these reds just can’t hide,” he said.