Southeastern NC fishing report from Yeah Right Charters

Fishing is “best of the year” when weather cooperates

According to Capt. Chris Foster of Yeah Right Charters, North Carolina’s southeastern coast is providing some of the best fishing that most anglers will experience all year. Weather and winds play a big part in whether your trip will be successful, but when that lines up, the fishing has been on fire.

“In the backwaters, the speckled trout bite is the best I have seen in years, with anglers limiting out on nice trout nearly every day. And there is no need to spend half the day looking for bait, because the specks are ready and willing to pound on artificial baits! The Betts Halo Shad and Halo Shrimp have been extremely effective for us. The Z-Man Trout Trick is also producing good catches,” said Foster (910-845-2004).

He said numerous colors are working, especially when the lure is coated with a little Pro-Cure Inshore Angler Super Gel.

“Plenty of red drum are mixed in with the trout. Some are slot sized, but we are also finding many of the drum in the creeks are too small to keep. But, they are still fun to catch. The flounder are fun too, even though all must be released. You’ll catch plenty of them while fishing the Halo Shrimp for trout,” he said.

Anglers are catching bull red drum on the beaches using cut mullet and pogies on beefed up Carolina rigs on the nearshore reefs will have no problem filling out the “good kind” of North Carolina citation paperwork, said Foster.

Offshore fishing is just as hot

He also said king mackerel are moving back offshore. They are feeding in big numbers in the 12 to 30-mile range. Dead cigar minnows on Pirate Plugs are keeping reels screaming. Foster urges anglers to also drop some of those cigar minnows to the bottom along offshore areas because the grouper season is still open for a few more weeks.

“Drop those to the bottom on the offshore ledges and rocks, and hold on while pumping the rod up, trying to get that big scamp or gag grouper in the boat,” he said.

And when the weather really cooperates, Foster said the wahoo bite in the Gulf Stream is still going great.

“Covering water is key this time of year to find the schools of fish in the Stream, and trolling a solid lure spread made for wahoo will allow you to do just that. Once the wahoo are located, then you can slow down a bit and deploy your ballyhoo or next phase of action to secure more fish in the boat,” he said.

Click here to see the latest catches from Yeah Right Charters.