Speckled trout, flounder and red drum are filling the creeks at Wrightsville Beach as the fall migration of baitfish toward the ocean continues unabated.
“We’re seeing drum in the creeks along with specks (spotted sea trout),” said Capt. Jot Owens (910-233-4139), who anchors his boat at SeaPath Marina. “It’s been kind of a surprise, but there also are lots of big bluefish in the inlets, up to 10 pounds. I was reeling in a fish the other day and I thought, ‘gosh dang,’ that’s a little king (mackerel), but it was a 10-pound blue. We are catching a bunch of 4- to 8-pounders as well at the inlets.”
Spotted seatrout are hitting soft-plastic grubs and MirrOlures while the bluefish are smacking jigged Hopkins lures or topwater plugs.
“We’re catching a bunch of reds (drum) inshore with rattlin’ corks using a live mullet or Saltwater Assassin or Blurp softbaits in a shrimp pattern underneath the cork,” Owens said.
Most of these drum are the “puppy” variety, sub-slot (18- to 27-inches) fish that will weigh from 4 to 10 pounds.
“The top places we’re finding reds are marsh edges and oyster rocks,” Owen said. “The main thing is you need to be close to a main channel of water where there’s some current and protection for them, then throw your bait so it passes over the oysters.”
The flounder bite on strip baits also has picked up, but live mullet minnows also work well when used with a Carolina rig as doormats are feeding up for the winter.
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