Hurricane Ida literally put a damper on fishing this week as its counterclockwise winds and torrential rains drove boats off the Atlantic and made pier and surf fishing improbable and kept freshwater anglers at home.
However, when Ida clears the state’s waters, fall fishing should pick up in a few days.
Capt. Jot Owens of SeaPath Marina, Wrightsville Beach (910-233-4139), said he knew a spot for some of the best fall gray trout fishing at the Tar Heel coast.
Gray trout caught in N.C. waters normally weigh less than 1 1/2 pounds, except for a couple of near-shore spots. The most famous is Johns Creek, which isn’t really a creek but a nearshore bottom area between Masonboro Island and Carolina Beach. (Johns Creek actually is the remnant of a creek channel on the ocean floor that once extended through a now-closed inlet. A good starting point GPS number for Johns Creek is N34 06.361, W77 50.829).
“But there’s a place off Swansboro that’s better, in my opinion, than Johns Creek for gray trout,” Owens said.
Best times to find grays at this area are October through December, then during the spring, he said. The region is ¾-mile wide by 1-mile long.
“I think it’s the best gray trout hole in North Carolina,” he said. “You can catch fish from 1 ½ pounds to 4 pounds, and there are not many places where you can do that.”
Owens’ prime weakfish hole is shallow, ranging from 15 to 40 feet, so it’s not far offshore, although he understandably is reluctant to reveal its exact location.
Stingsilvers (a shiny jig) are a good lure choice for catching smaller weakfish, while 3-inch-long finger mullets seem to catch bigger grays.
“You also can use diamond jigs or double speck rigs tipped with Fish Bites,” Owens said. “Gotcha leadheads fished in tandem also will catch ’em.”
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