Pender, New Hanover, and Brunswick Counties
Thanks to NCDMF’s Dennis Trowell for this fishing report of NC’s southern coast
OCEAN: Offshore, there have been a few wahoo and even a few yellowfin tuna brought to the docks by fishermen trolling in the stream. One of the yellowfins came in at an unbelievable weight of 124 pounds. Anglers targeting reef fish brought in gag, red and scamp grouper, along with some red snapper on Friday. Limits of vermilion snapper were also in these catches. Near shore, good numbers of king mackerel were caught throughout the area from the beaches on out to the 20-mile range. Dolphin and some sailfish started to show up in the 10-mile range and were a welcome catch for the anglers targeting king mackerel. Lots of amberjack and even some cobia kept anglers busy, as well. Spanish mackerel fishing remained good as anglers caught limits just behind the breakers and around the inlets.
INLETS/SOUNDS/BAYS: Nearshore, the fishing slowed down with the very hot weather we have experienced of late. There were still some trout around, but they were harder to catch with the hot water temperatures. Red and black drum were caught, along with some nice sheepshead. Good numbers of tripletail were reported in the Cape Fear River and New River. These fish can be found hanging around crab pot buoys and docks.
PIER/BEACH: The water cleared up nicely and anglers caught some big Spanish and king mackerel off the ends of the piers, along with a good number of tarpon. Bottom fishing was slow with low numbers of sea mullet, spot and croaker being caught. Anglers using live shrimp caught a few keeper sized trout and drum, along with some throwback flounder. Surf casters caught red and black drum out of the surf, along with some pompano and sea mullet on mole crabs and fresh shrimp.
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