Fishing Report 07/07/2016

 

Wind and more wind has been the story this week and over the 4^th of July Weekend.  We did have a little bit of a break over the weekend for boats to get out but the last few days has kept the majority of boats on the inside.  Hopefully, over the next few days things will start to settle down and anglers can get back in the ocean. One thing for sure; fish should be biting good when it happens because there's not been much pressure this week.

 

Inshore:

Spanish are all around the inlet and along the beaches, seeing good action up at the Cape Lookout area along with good action down the beach toward the Double Tree Resort.  This past Monday, anglers caught good numbers of larger fish showing up at the AR reefs along with some Snake King Mackerel.  Now, it’s just a matter when the winds are going to lay out a bit for anglers to get back out to the fish. With the rough ocean we've been seeing there's some Spanish behind Shackleford Banks and inside the Turning Basin area.  Also, there's been good numbers of Bluefish mixed in the same areas when fishing for the Mackerel.

Flounder fishing has been decent over the last week, again with the winds it’s been hard to get to the reefs but when anglers can they've been bringing back some fish.  Old faithful is still the best choice for action; jigging a Spro 2oz and Sea Striker Bucktail tipped with Berkley Gulp 4” Shrimp along with Live Mud Minnows will get the Flatties in the boat.  The best action this week has been in the channels around the Beaufort Inlet, behind Shacklefords Banks and along the channel around the AB Bridge.  Drifting Live Mud Minnows and Berkley Gulp baits are working the best.  I've not seen any big fish over the last few days but if you're going to fish for them now, the Port Wall and Docks would be a good place to try.

Amberjack fishing still remains good, it’s been pretty much a sure bet to catch some fish right now. If you can make it to AR330 or over on the East Side of the Cape to the bottom areas you should have no problem finding some action.  Another sure bet has been the Sharks, there's been tons of them behind the shrimp boats to catch. Our charter guys haven't got into any crazy action this week since the ocean has been too rough for the shrimpers to be out working but I can assure you as soon as they get back out it won't take long for lots of Sharks to find them. 

So far, the Sheepshead fishing this season has been very up and down. Last year at this time, we were weighing fish over the 8lb mark just about every day. This year so far, it’s like we're weighing one a week in that size. Some days have been really good for action – some have been slow but I did talk with a customer yesterday that had some really good luck at the Harkers Island Bridge catching some big fish just this week. AB Bridge, Beaufort Bridge and Port Wall are always good places to find fish. There's even been good numbers of fish in the shallower water along the ICW around Docks to be caught.

With the winds up, we've been seeing Speckled Trout and Red Drum being caught in the Marsh areas since we've been seeing more anglers fishing the backwaters. The Haystacks, Core Creek all the way up Adams Creek has been holding fish.  Anglers are seeing good numbers of small Red Drum in the creeks so that's a great sign for the fall and next season.  We've been seeing nice Speckled Trout each week so, I'm really pulling for a good fall bite. I remember last year at this time we weren't weighing really any fish at all. A few anglers have been seeing some good action under the lights at the AB Bridge, best baits are Live Shrimp and Live Mud Minnows for the best action. Some anglers are having good action fishing Top-water lures early in the morning and late in the day.

 

Piers / Surf:

The Surf Zone has been quite over the last few days being the ocean has pretty rough with the SW winds. Over the past weekend anglers were seeing good numbers of Spanish and some have been the bigger fish, we have weighed a few over the 5lb mark that's came from the piers. There's been even a few Tarpon caught over the last week as they're making their way up the beaches to the Neuse River.  

As for the bottom feeders still seeing the mix bag of Sea Mullets, Croakers, Hog Fish, Skates, Sharks, Puffer Fish and Drum. There's not a lot of any one species just that time of the year if you've got bait on the bottom it’s going to be a mixed bag of fish coming over the rails.

Before the ocean got so rough surf anglers were seeing some good Red Drum schools coming through. So hopefully, when the ocean lies down we'll still see some of that action. Cut mullet on the bottom seems to be the best bait for the Redfish. Between the Oceanana Pier and Double Tree area seems to be the area where the schools of Drum have been hanging.

 

Offshore:

Not many boats made it out over the 4th Holiday Weekend. They've been fishing inshore this week trying to catch Spanish. When you see a 50th Sport Fisher trolling inside the Inlet that's a good sign the ocean is bad.  A few boats did make it out this past Monday to the Gulf Stream and to their surprise filled the boats up with Blackfin Tuna and a few Wahoo. So, Dolphin fishing may have slowed down but of what we saw earlier this week some Tunas have moved in to feed. 

I'm sure Monday when it's calling for light winds, the offshore guys are going to be heading out to try their luck. There's still a few Dolphin around to be caught; just most have moved inshore around the 90ft Drop making them a little harder to catch since they aren't in large schools like we find in May.

The bottom fishing still remains good with most of the action for the Groupers has been in the 100ft water range for the best action. Also, there's Sea Bass, Trigger Fish, Snappers and plenty of Amberjacks in the mix. So, let’s all keep out fingers crossed for some light winds coming our way. 

 

 

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