Fishing Report 09/21/2017

 

Well, the first day of fall starts tomorrow and from what we’re seeing with the fishing so far, it’s going to be a good one. Over the next 7 weeks will be some of the best fishing of the year.  All the fish in our area will get very active and start to feed heavily as the water temperatures begin to drop, heading into the winter months.  What we have seen just over the last week in some of the marsh areas, looks like the Speckled Trout bite is already starting and going to be right on path of seeing lots of fish in our area.

I’m in high hopes that this hurricane season is going to calm down, hard to believe how active the season has been in the last month. Looks like, we have some more swells on the way for early next week from Maria then hopefully; the ocean will clean up to get right for this fall season.  Really hits home living in a coastal town seeing what Harvey did to Texas, then Irma with Florida and the latest storm Maria that just brought total devastation to some of the islands.  Please keep all that has been affected by these storms in your prayers!

 

Inshore / Nearshore:

It’s time for some Speckled Trout fishing and we’re getting into full trout mode around the shop, we have been stocking the walls with new orders of Z-Man, Berkley Gulp, Mirrolures, DOA, Rapala, Yo-Zuri, Betts, Saltwater Assassin and more… if Speckled Trout lures are what you’re looking for we have you covered with a huge line to choose from.  Also, we’re making more room for Live Shrimp so we’re stocked full when the trout bite really fires off in the next few weeks so you won’t have to worry about it, we’ll have them in-stock.  Anglers have already started seeing some good action that’s been targeting the trout. Last weekend, I know there were limits of fish coming from the Haystacks and Core Creek area which has been a great sign for what’s to come. We weighed two fish last week at the shop that went over 6lbs and no they weren’t in the Speckled Trout Challenge. The larger fish that we’ve weighed so far has been caught off Live Shrimp, but plenty of keepers are coming off artificial. I’ve not seen much action from the jetties yet, but have heard some rumors of a few fish being caught at Radio Island already.  It’s not going to be long when we’ll start seeing fish along the beaches and all over our jetties. We just need the water temperatures to drop just a few more degrees and the fish will be there. Don’t forget our Speckled Trout Challenge has started but you can still sign up at any time to fish. We have been getting good numbers of entries over the last week, so if you’re going to be trout fishing this fall it’s just a $50. entry fee. You never know when that big fish might bite and it could be a lot of cash.

Redfish bite still going strong, our charter fleet has been seeing some good action in the marsh area: Haystacks, Core Creek, Calico Creek, North River, Adams Creek and any marsh grass banks all have been holding fish. We’ve been seeing lots of shrimp in the marsh, so if you find a creek with shrimp in it more than likely there’s a school of Reds in that area. Once you find them it’s been pretty easy to catch them, popping corks with live shrimp and mud minnows have been working great! Still seeing some good action on Top-water lures like Rapala Skitter Walks and Heddon Spook Jr’s also.

 It’s getting late into the season but we are still catching the Old Drum in the Neuse River, it’s been a great season with lots and lots of fish in the area. So, that means we saw some good fishing and should see a great spawn this year with the amount of fish that was up there.  You can still find action from Adams Creek all the way out to Cedar Island, these fish more than likely will start to make a push out next week on the north blow that is forecasted, so the next few days should be pretty good fishing for them. Popping Corks with DOA Airheads and Z-Man Jerkshads have been getting the job done on the artificial side of things. Fresh Mullet or Shad for you bottom guys will land a big one for you, both have been a little hard to find but we hope we have fresh mullet this weekend.

Flounder fishing has been good this week, “Trout man” from the shop has fished the last 3 days with some friends and been catching limits each day. Their largest fish so far was over 6lbs; most of the fish were in the 3lb range.  Best area seems to be around the Port Wall and AR 315, fishing Live Finger Mullet which we do have in-stock and jigging Spro 2oz Bucktails tipped with Berkley Gulp 4” Shrimp has been getting the job done.  The Port Wall is going to be a great spot over the next month, with all the mullet starting to coming out of the marsh the flounder will stack up around that wall taking advantage of the easy meals. So, keep in mind if you like to Flounder fish now’s the time to be on the water fishing.

Spanish fishing has been kind of hit or miss over the last week, Irma was throwing a huge swell our way making the ocean tricky to fish and having the water dirty.  But this morning charter founds lots of action along the beach with some nice sized fish. So we should see some good fishing over the next few days before the next swell arrives. Also the reefs have been producing some larger fish since the water has been a bit clearer than along the beach.  So over the next few days trolling Clarkspoons and Bowed-up Spoons along the beaches and inlets should get you some fish pretty easy. Keep in mind the Cape Lookout area can be great this time of the year, each fall the Spanish will stack up in that area in very large schools feeding like crazy before they head south mid-October.

King fishing’s kinda been the same way as the Spanish, hit or miss with this swell we have been seeing over the last week. We have a King event rolling into town this weekend so, I’m sure we’ll have a better idea where the fish are come next week’s report. If you want to try this weekend, AR285, North West Places, Atlas Tanker and the 1700 Rock all would be good places to fish.

I’ve been getting lots of calls about the Spot run, last weekend we did see a few fish being caught over at the Beaufort Draw Bridge so I’d think that would be the first signs of the run. A few anglers have reported decent catches. I’ve been talking to some shops up north and they have been seeing a great run for the last two weeks, more than they have seen over the last few years. Actually we just might be looking at a good run which we haven’t really seen either in the last few years. Live Blood Worms and Fishbite Bloodworms fished on bottom rigs will be the best bet to finding some fish.  Same goes for the Sea Mullets we’re just now starting to see a few come in the inlet, usually they are behind the Spot run so it might be a little while longer for they really get here. Some years in the past, the best fishing has been on up into November.

For the anglers fishing for Sheepshead they’re still seeing some good action, same ole areas have been producing fish. The bridges, docks and rocks are all holding fish; we do still have Live Fiddler Crabs and Sea Urchins in-stock.

 

Piers / Surf:

Looks like the next few days will be good to hit the Surf Zone, the swell’s going to be down but be back up first of next week as Maria passes offshore of us.  Keep in mind if you have trouble fishing the Surf Zone with the rough waves you can always fish the backside of Fort Macon State Park, what we call the Sound Side. You can also fish the Radio Island beach access that’s inside on the sound away from the heavy surf.  Even with the heavy surf we saw last week anglers still were pulling in nice Black Drum, Red Drum, Sea Mullets, Spots and Bluefish. 

The pier anglers have been catching Spanish and Blues off the end of the pier with Gotch-plugs. Also, we have seen a few keeper Flounder feeding long the Surf Zone, anglers have been having the best luck with live minnows and Berkley Gulp baits. On the pier you can bottom fish using fresh shrimp and bloodworms to catch Spot, Sea Mullet, Black Drum, Bluefish and cut mullet to have a shot catching Puppy Drum.

 

Offshore:

Well, some boats made it out last week before the waves got too big and a few went yesterday and more out today. Most everyone going out is coming back with Wahoo in the box as we’re seeing good numbers of fish. Most of the action seems to be wide spread all the way to the Swansboro Hole back up toward the Big Rock area. I even heard a few boats making very long runs ever further down south fishing for the Hoos. Hopefully, this next storm will past early next week and we won’t see any more major swell so we can enjoy the Wahoo season because of the few times boats have made it out the fish are there ready to eat. While trolling for the Wahoo, we’ve also been seeing a few Dolphins, Tuna and good Sailfish action in the same areas. 

Bottom anglers this week have been catching plenty of Grouper, Snappers, and Trigger fish. Best action has been 150ft or more, East Side of the Cape or out around the ledges at 14 Buoy or 90ft Drop has been producing some fish.  Water has been churn up a bit from all the swell but fish still seem to be biting if you can make it to the grounds. 

 

 

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