Kings, bottomfish filling fish boxes on good-weather days
The offshore bite out of Southport has been excellent over the past week, both bottom-fishing and trolling for bluewater species. Now, if only the wind would quit blowing for Capt. Butch Foster.
“There are lots of fish biting out in the ocean, but the wind is blowing so hard we’re having to cancel a bunch of trips,” said Foster, who runs Yeah Right Charters. “Hopefully, the wind will blow itself out while the fish are biting,”
Foster said fishermen are limiting out on all kinds of bottomfish, including black sea bass and various grouper species, along with a few queen triggerfish, hog snapper and African pompano.
He said king mackerel have been biting, along with a few cobia and sailfish following baitfish inshore of the Gulf Stream, and the number of dolphin is growing daily.
“The offshore fishing has been really fun fishing; I just wish the wind would lay out and we could get there more often” Foster said. “The fish are here and bitin,g and we’re catching them really well when we can get the weather to cooperate.”
Foster (910-845-2004) said the good action comes almost to the beach, too. Plenty of Spanish mackerel are just off the beach and should really be biting as soon as the water clears up – it’s been discolored from recent rains and runoff.
“Lots of people are fascinated by sharks and want to catch one,” Foster said. “We have a lot of sharks around the mouth of the Cape Fear River, and they are rarely bashful about taking a bait. Sharks fight well, and the blacktips will usually jump a time or two to add some excitement.”
Be the first to comment