Fishing Report 10/05/2017

Cool fall breezes have been blowing all week and it’s got the fish going crazy. October can be a special month for sure down along our coast. Looks like the weather this up-coming weekend is looking good for anglers to get out on the water and enjoy some of the great action we've been seeing this week. Don’t forget this weekend is the Seafood Festival down along the Morehead City Waterfront, a place to go and enjoy some family time after a day of fishing. 
 

 

Inshore / Nearshore:

The Albacore have been going nuts over the last few days, best place to find them has been behind the shrimp boats working in the ocean. Once you locate the schools it’s been all you can stand to catch, anglers are having the best luck on the Glass Minnows jigs we have in the shop, they are the perfect size and have the weight to reach the fish. Also, the Jig Fish lures have been working too, we have plenty of them in-stock. The shrimp boats aren't the only place to find these fish, anglers also have been catching them along the beaches, pretty simple look for busting fish or birds working an area and the fish will be close by.

Spanish and Bluefish also have been on a feeding frenzy along the beaches and inlets. Trolling along the beach and inlets with spoons will find you some action. Also, we have been catching them the same way as the Albacore, look for the fish feeding on top and cast the same small lures into them. We have been weighing in some big Spanish at the shop when the weather allows anglers to get out to the AR Reefs, that’s where they seem to be hanging out at. Live Finger Mullet which we have in stock at the shop will be the key to catching those larger fish over the 6lb mark.

King Mackerel fishing should fire off any day now, there's been a few caught this week but we haven't seen many. We are excited to be the official weigh station for the Atlantic Beach King Mackerel Tournament this year. I think they have around 50 boats fishing for the next 3 weeks for a top prize of 10K. So, I'm sure we'll  be weighing a lot of fish being each boat can weigh 2 fish during the event. So, over the next few weeks we should have a good idea where the “HOT” King bite is once anglers start bringing fish to the scales. It could be any day now when the mackerel fishing will fire off at the North-West Places and when it does you'd better be ready, it can be an epic bite.

Can’t believe it, we actually are seeing a Spot run, this week we've seen quite a few coming off the piers and being caught at the Beaufort Draw Bridge, Gallant's Channel and Coast Guard Station; the usual places. As more and more show up we should start to see them move into the Turning Basin area also. Bloodworms and Fishbites fished on bottom rigs will be the best. Still seeing a few Sea Mullets in the inlet area, along with all the Gray Trout you want to catch.

Speckled Trout is getting better as we speak, just over the last week more fish have moved into our area. I'm hearing of limits being caught from Swansboro up to our area now. We also have seen some limits of fish from anglers wade fishing the beach access areas, so when that starts happening the fish are here. 

 

The Haystack area is also being pretty good, year after year fish invade that marsh area before they move more toward the jetties and beaches. I get asked all the time where do I fish once I get in the Haystacks? Look for the deeper creek areas, points, oyster bars and bait which can be a big key where the fish will be located. You can also still find fish early in the morning on the flat areas fishing Top-water lures like Rapala Skittlewalks, Top-dog Mirrolures and Super Spook Jr's. We just weighed one over 5lbs in earlier this week that was caught in the shallow water on a Top-water plug. Core Creek area up all the way to the mouth of the Neuse River has been holding fish along with the creeks off the waterway in Bogue Sound. Really any creek system now might potentially have fish holding in it now, since there's still a lot of shrimp in those creeks and the fish are there feeding. 

 

I have heard of a few fish being caught at some of the jetties but if I was trout fishing I would be looking in the backwaters. We have the shop stocked full with trout lures, probably the best inventory we've had, so we should have what you need if you're looking to fish for trout. 

 

We just received a new shipment of Custom Mirrolures and some of them already have been putting fish in the boat, we might have some of the best colors we've ever had made in this batch of customs. If plastic is what you're looking for, don't worry we have a huge selection all stocked up ready for action. 

 

We have Live Shrimp and Live Mud Minnows in-stock ready to go, we are super excited about this Speckled Trout Season so come see us and let us help you catch more trout. Also, don’t forget we have our 10th Anniversary Speckled Trout Challenge going on now until January, you can still sign up and fish there's no dead line. You can sign up in the shop or call to sign up over the phone.

Redfish bite still remains good, Man we haven't seen a year like this in a while. There's been plenty to play with in the marsh areas and we had an Epic Season on the Old Drum in the Neuse River area, heck it’s been so good anglers that are still fishing for them are still catching them. 

 

Let's touch base on the Flounder bite. The Port Wall, Railroad Bridge, Hi-Rise Bridge and around the ICW docks have fired up this week. We've received reports that the Flatties are stacked on the Port Wall.  Live Finger Mullet is the ticket when fishing for Flounder plus a lot of patience.

 

 

Piers / Surf:

If you like to Surf or Pier fish now’s the time to be at the beach, as fishing has been good and should continue to even get better over the next few weeks. Anglers this week have been having a ball with the Bluefish, Albacore and Spanish. I know last weekend anglers were reporting back that the Bluefish were thick as they have seen them, all you wanted to catch. 

 

Still seeing a few Red and Black Drum being caught at Fort Macon area, along with a few keeper Flounder.

 

For the bottom anglers, we have seen a decent Spot run so far, this past weekend anglers were getting them pretty good off the piers. Also, a few of the Surf anglers were reporting back with some catches. There's been a few Sea Mullets, Pompano and Hogfish in the mix also for the bottom anglers. We've not seen that many trout from the beaches yet, but have seen some limits this week already so they are around to catch. I have a felling there's more in the area than anglers might think. 
 

 

Offshore:

What can I say, wind and more wind has been keeping boats close to shore or tied at the dock over the last week. It’s been tough as we have been canceling Wahoo trips and bottom trips for the last 3 weeks. Weather does looks pretty good for the next few days so we'll see what happens, of what I'm seeing still could be 4ft or larger rollers at the trolling grounds. 

 

Last reports of Wahoo were in the same areas, Swansboro Hole back up toward the Big Rock. Now it's getting that time of the year when we'll start to see some larger fish move in over on the East Side of the Cape. As far as bottom fishing I haven't a solid report, our bottom guy hasn't been out in 2 weeks. So hopefully, we'll get some stable weather patterns soon since we are at some of the best Wahoo and Grouper fishing of the year.