Fishing Report 07/20/2017

 

Inshore / Nearshore:

Spanish fishing has been pretty good over the last few days, we finally had some days this week where the winds haven't been howling. There's good numbers of fish around the Beaufort Inlet and up around Cape Lookout. It's been mixed in size, some of the schools are on the smaller side but our charter fleet has been catching nice 20'' fish the last few afternoons just outside the inlet.  Trolling Clarkspoons on #1 planers has been working well along with the Bowed-up Spoons that anglers have been having great luck with all summer. Also, it's a good idea to put a Bird Rig out being they've been schooling on the surface.  If you aren't into trolling, casting small jigs like the Glass Minnows Jigs we have in the shop along with the Sea Striker Jig Fish lures both have been working well the last few days on the higher tides around the inlets since the fish have been feeding on top. 

I've been getting some calls about the larger Spanish since the college tournament is this weekend. The key spots will be at the AR Reefs fishing Live Bait and slow trolling Dead Cigar Minnows on Dead Bait Rigs and we now have the 3lb bags in-stock so you don’t have to buy the 5lb box if not needed. Along with the Spanish you will see Blue Fish in the mix also.

Snake kings have moved in along the beaches, most have been hanging around the reefs. Atlas Tanker area over on the East Side has been holding some good numbers of fish. Most of the fish have been 10-15lb range no real monsters but a few larger fish mixed in time to time. AR 315 just off the beach has been holding a few fish, as anglers have been picking them up trolling for Spanish.

Sheepshead fishing has been doing very well the last two weeks. We've been weighing quite a few nice fish in being a lot of anglers have been fishing for them since the winds have been blowing so much over the last month. Places to try will be around the area bridges they all are holding fish, it really doesn't matter which one. Also, the Port Wall has been good but they have been keeping anglers away since a lot of ships have been in the port this summer, so that area can be hit or miss. Don’t pass up the docks, you can catch good numbers and some big ones off docks in water as shallow as 3'. Live Sea Urchins and Live Fiddler Crabs is going to be the best choice for bait and we do have both in-stock at the shop ready for action.

Redfish bite has been pretty good so far this summer, seems like we have a decent stock of fish in the area right now. Seeing fish anywhere from 18″ up to 30″ in the marsh areas and the creeks, also along the flats. It’s not been surprising to hear that anglers are catching 20 + fish a trip over the last few weeks.  Places to look are shallow flat areas, grass edge points and oyster bars, most important look for bait if you find that in the area good chance there could be some fish around.  Live Mud Minnows and Live Shrimp under Popping Corks seem to be working great. Top water lures like the Spook Jr’s and Skitter Walks also are working well. Also, Berkley Gulps, Z-Man and Spinnerbaits have been working good too; when you find fish they haven't been all that picky. 

It's not going to be long now before Old Drum Season kicks off. I already know of a few that's been caught over the last week or so. We are in high hopes for a good season this year because last year was kind of off for them.  With the Old Drum that's already here and the amount of smaller Red Drum that are around I don’t see why this year's Old Drum Season won't be a good one. In the next week or so, we'll start carrying the Fresh Jumping Mullet, along with Fresh Caught Shad we have in the spring for Cobia which Old Drum love too.

We've still been weighing nice Speckled Trout each week, it's crazy on the 5lb + fish we have seen so far this year. Usually, in the summer trout fishing can become pretty slow, so with more fish around we're setting up for a good fall. The best areas have been on the grassy flats and around the oyster bars. It seems Top-water fishing early in the morning right at day break has been the best for the larger fish. Once the sun gets up the fish seem to move back off the flats into the deeper water and hold until the low light conditions come back around.

Flounder fishing has been good, it's been hard to get to the reefs with all the wind but I know this week some anglers have really caught them.  Seems the East Side reefs have been holding some good numbers of fish.  Jigging Spro 2oz Bucktails in White tipped with Berkley Gulp 4” Shrimp has been getting the job done. Also, we have ran a few trips to AR 315 and been catching a few keeper fish on the reefs just off the beach. We've seen some Doormats being caught on the inside waters over the last week. We had one customer that caught 3 over 6lbs in the last week with the largest at 8lbs. Crazy enough, he caught all of them in just a few feet of water on a 4” Berkley Gulp Shrimp. So, it seems to be some nice fish hanging in the marsh areas in the shallower water than the deeper water around the Port area. Also, we've seen some nice ones caught along the ICW around some of the shallower docks on Live Mud Minnows.  Some anglers have been drift fishing behind Shackleford Banks and up at the Hook at Cape Lookout picking up keeper fish with Live Mud Minnows, Squid Strips and Gulp Baits.

 

Piers / Surf:

Piers are seeing some good Spanish action most seems to be coming early in the morning right at daylight for the anglers that are plugging for them. Now, some guys have been catching some real nice Spanish on live bait light lined throughout the day. There's been a few King Mackerel caught on some of the piers south of us too. As far as the bottom fish we have been seeing a few Sea Mullets, Pompano, Bluefish and Black Drum. Seeing a few Flounder but not heard of all that many keepers, most of the keepers we've seen are coming from the Fort Macon State Park area on Live Mud Minnows.

 

Offshore:

It’s been windy, that just about sums it up, LOL. We have seen a few nice days this week and a several boats have made it out. Dolphin fishing has been hit or miss no other way to put it. With the warm water, they seem to have moved in toward the beach and went in all different directions. So, you might catch a few here and there. Now, I have heard of a few good catches but it just comes down to getting lucky enough being in the right area. It won't be long now we will be rolling back around to Wahoo Season, September – November can be pretty good off our coast for the Hoos. 

Most of our Offshore trips that we've been running have switched over to bottom fishing, the Grouper, Snappers, Triggers and Sea Bass have been pretty constant.  The best bottom seems to be over on the East Side reefs, ledges and live bottom areas. 

 

Braggin Board