Fishing Report 06/26/2014

Don’t forget this Saturday is our “Customer Appreciation Day”

10% OFF the entire store!!! Reels… Tackle… Combos… T-Shirts… ALL DAY!!! (Excludes top shelf items and bait)

We're going to have “FREE” Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Chips & Watermelon between 11am to 1pm along with plenty of soda and water for drinks.

Also, we'll have “FREE” fishing seminars going on between 11am until 2pm.

1st – at 11am we're going to start off with Capt. Rick Patterson talking about Redfish and Trout on our inshore waters.

2nd – at 12pm we're going to have Capt. Russell from Blue Water Candy talking about Nearshore Dolphin and King Mackerel for the small boat angler.

3rd – at 1pm Capt. Chris Kimery is going to be talking about the in and outs on fishing our artificial reefs.

4th – at 2pm we'll be wrapping the seminars up with Aaron “ Bait Man” at the dock with hands on Cast Nets. You'll be able to throw demo nets and be instructed how to do it HANDS-ON!

At the end of each seminar we are going to have “FREE” raffles for a chance to win some great prizes. Items like Betts Cast Net’s… Penn Battle Combo… Star Rod… Tsuimina Combo… Blue Water Candy Lure Pack… Pier Cart… Calcutta Caps… and lots of other products will be given away.

We hope to see you all this Saturday… we are doing this event for our customers in appreciation for their support throughout the year. WE WANT TO GIVE BACK TO SHOW OUR THANKS!!!!

Inshore / Nearshore:

Flounder fishing has been pretty good over the past week with good numbers being caught at the Nearshore Reefs. Jigging Spro 2oz Bucktails tipped with Berkley Gulp and also drifting Live Mud Minnows across the reefs are hooking up some nice ones. We have also seen a few being caught in the Port area on Live Mud Minnows and Dead Finger Mullet. The High Rise Bridges also have been holding a few fish as well.

Sheepshead fishing is getting better and better just in time for the “1^st Annual Sheepshead Challenge” that starts on July 1^st and goes through August 31^st. We have weighed quite a few over the last few weeks. The High Rise Bridges and Port Wall area are both holding fish in pretty good numbers. Live Sea Urchins and Live Fiddler Crabs both are working well and we have both in stock. We also are seeing fish being caught over oyster bars on high tide cycles.

Good Spanish fishing continues along our beaches both down the east beach and up on the west beach toward the Cape. The Inlet area and the Shipping Channel also are holding fish plus reports are there has been numbers of fish caught. Trolling Clarkspoons, Mackerel Trees, Squid Rigs are all working well. The majority are using planers catching plenty to take home to the table.

Just over the last few days, we have seen our first sign of King Mackerel moving into the area. I've heard of a few being caught around the Sea Buoy area. Most have been the Snake Kings so far but I'm sure the bigger ones are going to start showing up soon. When the Kings move in it's best to use Dead Bait Rigs and Pirate Plugs rigged up with Cigar Minnows both will work great.

Speckled Trout action has been pretty good over the last week even though it has been hot. Capt. Rick took a charter out yesterday and returned with a nice limit of 3 to 4lb fish caught within a few miles from the shop. Also, I'm getting good reports from the Neuse River area on Top Water fishing plus I heard of a few nice fish that was caught around the Middle Marsh area on Top Waters. So, if things keep going like what we're seeing, we might be having a great fall season.

Redfish action is still good in the area. I've received reports that some anglers are catching up to 30 fish a trip. I talked to a customer yesterday who got into a school and caught them until he was tired of catching them. Really, what you need to be looking for is shallow water, oyster bars, grass beds and bait and usually you can find some fish. The Newport Marshes, Core Creek, Carrot Island, Middle Marsh, Newport River Marsh all has places like this just look for them. Even this week with the higher than normal tides we have seen some tailing fish up in the grass area. As far as baits Berkley Gulp, Redfish Magic’s, Top Water Plugs, Popping Corks, Live Mud Minnows and Dead Mullet all are working great.

Shark fishing is picking up around the inlet just inside on the shoals and just outside the inlet on the shoals. When they get fired up you can have a lot of fun with some real big fish on the inside waters. Along with being big, they're pretty easy to catch. We have premade Shark Rigs here in the shop and plenty of Shark bait so we can set you up and show you where to go to get a tug on a 6 to 8ft fish. Just remember you are dealing with sharks and they have teeth that can be very dangerous.

We are still seeing Cobia in the area. Most have been caught on the neashore reefs over the last week but we have weighed a few in that have been caught inside the inlet over teh last week. I would say by next week the ones that have been hanging around in the inside waters will move out as the water is getting pretty warm now. Still fishing with dead menhaden on the bottom has been the best for action.

Piers / Surf:

Still a mix bag from the Surf Zone this week but I did talk to a customer that has been catching plenty of mullets, pompano, blues and spots in the surf. He was telling me that he was using a plain pompano rig and Fish Bites or shrimp as bait. The best bite seems to be right in the wash of the waves. You don’t need to throw it out as far as you can because you will be over fishing where all the fish are.

There's some Flounder also being caught right along the surf with anglers catching them on Live Mud Minnows and Berkley Gulp 4” Swimming Mullet fished on 3/8oz jig head.

Spanish and Bluefish are being caught off the end of the piers with Got-Cha Plugs. A few nice sized sharks also were caught this week around the pier area.

Several Sheepshead are being caught along the rocks at Fort Macon, they'll get around the jetty in good numbers during the summer. Live Fiddler Crabs and Live Sea Urchins would be the best choice for them. You also could run hook-up a Red Drum or Black Drum off the rocks.

Offshore:

Dolphin fishing remains very good in the Blue Water. I talked with some customers that caught 40 fish last week and some caught up to 60. There's not as many gaffers as there was back in May but still some nice fish to be caught. They've moved in to some of the closer waters like North West Places. I even heard of a few that have been caught at the Sea Buoy this week. Trolling Small and Medium Ballyhoo on Blue Water Candy Sea Witch Rigs along with Mahi Mallers and C& H Jets are producing fish.

There's still some Wahoo being caught in the mix and even a tuna every once in awhile. Bottom fishing has been good with some fish moving on in closer to the beach. Capt. Chris ran a bottom trip this week and came back with some nice Sea Bass, Grouper, Trigger Fish, Cobia and King Mackerel. They were fishing around the Atlas Tanker area over on the east side of the Cape. Also, I heard of some action around the Big Ten, Little Ten and North West Places. Dead Menhaden, Cigar Minnows, Mackerel, Squid Wings all are working well on the bottom. Also ,the Barefoot Decoy Jigs, Squid Jigs and Blue Water Candy Roscoe Jig are producing very well off the bottom.

BRAGGIN BOARD: