Red drum holed up at southeastern bays

With cold weather settled across most of North Carolina, the southeastern corner of the state remains a hot place for red drum fishing.

Because it’s the southernmost tip, this corner of the state has been spared most of the extremely cold weather that’s plagued the central and northern coasts. No cold-stun fish kills have occurred at this region.

“I’ve had one of the best winters I’ve ever had for drum,” said guide Jeff Wolfe of Wilmington. “The fish are piling up in the deeper holes in the small creeks in the bays across from Southport.”

Best places to find fish include the secondary feeder creeks off the main creeks.

“I like to fish from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. during times of low tide or when there’s no tide running,” said Wolfe (Seahawk Inshore Charters, 910-619-9580, www.seahawkinshorefishingcharters.com). “Especially on mild days when the sun warms up the water a few degrees, that’s when I’ve been having good luck.”

Water temperatures generally are 47 to 48 degrees.

Wolfe said sometimes he can see the fish in the clear water, but his best technique has been to fish holes too deep to see fish.

“Most of the time when you fish for reds, you beat the bank, but in the winter I wait for low tide, then go to a creek (in the bays) and cast 20 or 30 times,” he said. “You don’t make five or six casts and decide the fish aren’t there; you might cast 10 or 15 times and not get a bite, then you’ll cast 10 or 15 more times and, boom, you’ll get that first bite, then it’ll be boom, boom, boom.

“It seems like to me that one fish that bites gets the rest of them stirred up. They figure, hey, something’s out there worth eating and they all get fired up.”

Wolfe said he has taken up to 20 reds from one hole once the bite activates.

“I’m throwing Gulp! and DOA soft plastics,” he said. “I use a 1/4-ounce Bluewater Candy round-head jig with the Gulp! baits and a DOA jighead with the DOA baits.”

His favorite soft-plastics include Golden Shiners that imitate mud minnows.

“The fish have been running from mid-slot to above slot (18 to 27 inches),” Wolfe said, “and there’s always the possibility of catching a bigger one. I caught a 34-incher in a small creek this winter.”

Days with air temps in the mid 50s are best, especially with sunlight.

“Even on crappy (cloudy) days, I’ve been catching fish,” Wolfe said. “It’s just a matter of knowing where to go and how to fish for them. You just gotta spend a lotta time using the trolling motor until you find them, then you can have a lot of fun.”