King mackerel moved offshore; guide feels like they’ll return
Hurricane Sandy sent some large waves, high tides, lots of rain and gusting winds to Topsail Island as it passed by last weekend, but it didn’t seem to bother the fish.
Chris Medlin of East Coast Sports in Surf City said that except for king mackerel, the fishing is as good as it was before Sandy’s visit. And with the water temperature on the beach holdig at around 70 degrees, he wouldn’t be surprised if some kings came back to the beach again after moving 10 to 15 miles off the beach into deeper water.
“Everything is biting,” said Medlin (910-328-1887). “We are catching red drum, black drum, flounder and trout in really good numbers. There are so many bluefish right now; many fishermen consider them a nuisance. Limits are really easy to fill.”
Medlin said he expected the inside fishing to remain good. Sandy didn’t even dirty up the inside waters, and the fish were biting again on Monday, maybe even Sunday afternoon.
“The wave action from the storm made us a great slough in the surf,” Medlin said. “It was already holding some fish, and when the spots start to run through, it should concentrate them.”
Medlin said the fall spot run hadn’t begun before Sandy, and he is hoping it will very soon. Several old-timers said the water has stayed warm this fall and the spots hadn’t really moved south yet. They believe the storm should push the spots down the beach and the run could begin at any time.
Medlin said several nice flounder have been caught lately including one that weighed 12.9 pounds. He said the flounder fishing at creek mouths, in the inlets and along the surf was excellent. He said red drum and trout are in the creeks and red drum, black drum and bluefish are in the surf, too.
Medlin said the fish are biting a lot of things, but the hot ticket for red drum and flounder is a fat mullet minnow on a Carolina rig. This works very well inside, and for the surf, all that’s needed is a heavier sinker.
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