‘Carolina slams’ common at Crystal Coast venues

Redfish, speckled trout, albacore, kings available as water temperatures drop.

Fantastic fall fishing has arrived at the North Carolina coast, even after Hurricane Irene roughed up the region and nearly gave it a knockout punch.

Spotted seatrout fishing has “really started to pick up,” said Bryan Goodwin of Harkers Island’s Native Guide Service (252.725.3961).

“Red drum fishing also is picking up as the water temperature is falling down through the 70s and baitfish are starting to move,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin said anglers are completing “Carolina Slams” now, landing specks, reds and flounder during the same trip and often with the same lures.

“And false albacore are off the beaches, and the big kings and Spanish mackerel are here,” he said.

Trout are “everywhere,” he said.

Goodwin and his clients are catching specks up to 20-inches long at inshore spots and off the beaches.

“We’re using a variety of artificial lures, including DOAs, Billy Bays (Halo Shrimp) and Cajun Thunder spoons for reds and Betts Shrimp for the specks,” he said.

His anglers are picking up flounder, ranging from 15-inch keepers to 5 1/2-pounders on the soft-plastic lures.

“But it’s area-specific,” Goodwin said. “Some places you catch a lot of flounder and others you don’t.”

Old drum are still being caught at Ocracoke Inlet, just outside Drum Inlet and in the surf at Core Banks as these fish prepare for winter by moving toward the ocean.