Fishing Report 07/01/2016

The 4th of July forecast is shaping up to be quite nice down here at the coast for the up-coming holiday weekend and the good news is the fishing has been pretty good over the last few days.

We want to thank everyone that came out last Saturday, to our Customer Appreciation Day Event; it was a blast with several informative seminars and to top it off great food, we hope everyone enjoyed the day. It’s going to be hard to top it in 2017 but we will try our best.

Inshore:

The Spanish fishing has been great this week, the winds have been down for plenty of anglers to get along the beaches and they've had no problem catching limits of fish. Right outside of Beaufort Inlet, then down toward the Double Tree Resort has been a real good area. Also, anglers fishing up at Cape Lookout area have caught good numbers of fish over the last few days. It won't be too long, when the big Spanish are going to start moving in. When I say not long it could be tomorrow since Bogue Inlet area has already seen good numbers over the last few days and that’s just a few miles down the beach from us.

Also, we've even seen a few King Mackerel moving in, there's been a hot bite off the beach south of us. Along with Spanish, anglers are catching good numbers of Bluefish mixed in. Yesterday, one of our charters caught all they wanted around the inlet and they left them biting. So, you shouldn't have a problem finding some Mackerel and Blues this weekend.

Flounder bite still remains good inshore and out at the reefs just off the beaches. We saw some nice catches of fish that were caught at the reefs last weekend. I'd say, we're seeing more numbers from the ocean but over the last week or so we've seen good numbers move inside the inlets. Most anglers having the best action on the inside are drifting with Live Minnows along the channels and drop offs. For the anglers wanting the trophy fish you need to fish around the Bridges, Port Wall and Docks along the waterway.

Sheepshead fishing has picked up some this week, we've had a few customers with some nice catches over the last few days. Seems like this week anglers are seeing more numbers of fish. I talked to a customer yesterday, that caught 15 in an afternoon of fishing. This week, we've weighed a few over the 8lb mark so, the larger fish are moving in. Bridges, Docks and the Port Wall will be the best places to fish when searching for some Sheepshead action. We have plenty of Live Fiddler Crabs and Sea Urchins In-stock ready for action.

Amberjack and Shark fishing still has been crazy just off the beach. For the Sharks – just look for the Shrimp Boats and it won't take long to find the fish. There's been some crazy action on the big sharks over the last few weeks. Just this week, there was a 12ft Tiger Shark caught down around Topsail off the Surf. So, there's some big Sharks in the area and they aren't that far off the beaches.

For the Amberjacks – most of the reefs 8 miles off or so have plenty to catch, there's been a lot of them over on the East Side of the Cape. If you want something that's going to pull like crazy and give you a fight without having to go way offshore these will take care of your needs.

Speckled Trout and Red Fish have been doing well this week, every Charter we've sent out into the Marsh has come back with fish. It’s been awhile since anglers have reported back catching good numbers of Red Fish in the Marshes around Morehead. Speckled Trout fishing hasn't been wide open but each week we are weighing a few fish and seeing some really nice ones. Most of the anglers catching them have been fishing the Sand Flats and Grass Flats finding the best action.

Piers / Surf:

We usually don’t see Red Drum much in the Surf this time of the year but over the last week anglers have been having some luck off the Pier and Surf. I talked with a customer yesterday that caught 8 or more off the Surf on Cut Mullet fishing on the bottom. I'm not talking about small fish most have been upper slot fish.

Spanish and Bluefish are still doing for the anglers plugging the plugs off the end of the pier, we have weighed some 6lb plus Spanish just in the last few days coming from the piers. As for the bottom feeders, it’s been a mixed bag: Sea Mullets, Pompano, Croakers, Hog Fish, Sharks, Skates, Lizard Fish, Bluefish and a few Flounder. So, get out and take advantage of the decent fishing going on. Usually, this time of the year things can get slow from the Surf; so, we will take the action.

Offshore:

Word on the docks, the Dolphin fishing has become very scattered over the last week or so, still some boats having good luck but it’s becoming “Right Place – Right Time” now. This week, we've seen some caught at the North West Places, Sea Buoy and some of the AR Reefs. Not huge numbers of fish just some action here and there, which is pretty typical for this time of the year.

The Sailfish action has been really good over the last week, some boats caught 10 or so fish last Sunday that were fishing the Blue-Water along with a few Blue Marlin being caught.

The bottom fishing has been great over the last week. Our charters boats seem to be finding the best action over on the East Side of Cape Lookout area, 1700 Rock and Atlas Tanker has been holding some fish. We've been seeing Grouper, Trigger Fish, Snappers, Sea Bass and Amberjacks just about every trip out. Don’t count out the bottom areas out front or just a bit south of us as they have been producing too.

Braggin Board: