Fishing Report 06/15/2017

 

Inshore/ Nearshore:

Spanish fishing still remains good. The bite has been a little better up at Cape Lookout this week. We’ve been seeing some fish along the beach from Fort Macon toward the Oceanana Pier but for some reason the water has been dirtier than at the Cape.  We weighed some very nice fish that was caught east of the Cape this week so the larger fish are on the move toward the beaches.  So, it’s time to start seeing larger fish at the AR reefs; since quite a few were caught this week. Trolling Clarkspoons and Bowed – Up Spoons with #1 Planers has been working well. There’s something about the new Bowed-Up Spoons the Spanish love.  Also, it’s always a good ideal to have a bird out with a squid chain or spoon.  When it comes to casting, the new Glass Minnow Jig we have in the shop has been just killing the fish. Quite a few of the 6lb fish we weighed this week was caught on these jigs; which usually we don’t see that size of fish eat casting jigs. Also, you’re going to catch plenty of Bluefish in the mix too, I saw some pretty ones that were caught casting this week up at Shark Island on the Shoals.

Shark fishing has been on this week, our charter guys have been killing it around the Shrimp boats just off the beach. It doesn’t really matter what you throw at them either, our guys have been taking shark rigs from the shop and using dead shad or jumbo mullet and having great success.  It’s a pretty cool sight when you hook into a 6ft Shark that puts on a show like a Tarpon in the Florida Keys.

Flounders are at the Nearshore reefs, seen some nice catches over the last week from anglers jigging 2oz Spro White Bucktails tipped with 4” Berkley Gulp White Shrimp. Starting to see some fish being caught on the inside also, Tim, (the Trout Man) from the shop fished the Port Wall and Rail Road Tracks this past week and caught a few keepers fishing with Live Minnows on a Carolina Rig. Also, I’ve been hearing from some anglers that were fishing the marsh areas catching a few nice keepers too.  If you’re fishing on the inside don’t pass up the docks along the ICW because Flounder love docks. Also, there’s been some fish caught drifting behind Shackleford Banks. I’ve had a few customers buying Live Mud Minnows this week that have caught quite a few in that area.

Sheepshead fishing has been up and down, seeing some nice fish but I haven’t seen that big push of fish yet in our area. Anglers are just beginning to fish for them but it’s getting ready to bust loose. The Port Wall and the Beaufort High Rise Bridge seems to be the best place right now, Live Sea Urchins and Live Fiddler Crabs will be the best choice of bait and we do have both in-stock.

Redfish seem to be spread all out through the marsh areas,  now they aren’t huge fish most of them are running in the 20 to 23” range but it’s a great sign to see some fish around in our backwaters. I’m not saying there aren’t any upper slots around but we have seen some good fish being caught that we haven’t seen in a while. It just takes some searching to find the bigger class of schools working the marsh. Topwaters, Spinner Baits and Gulp Baits all have been working well for the artificial side of things. Live Mud Minnows and Live Shrimp on Carolina Rigs and Popping Corks also have been working very well.

We have weighed some nice Speckled Trout over the last week, some in the 4lb range all the way up to 6lbs. Most of these are being caught right at first light on Top water baits on the flats. The fish are feeding for just a few hours in the morning then they go back to the deeper water during the day.  Now, I have heard of some anglers having luck fishing Live Minnows and Live Shrimp in the deeper holes on Carolina Rigs as the fish move back out after their morning feed time.  We are already getting excited to what the fall will hold; it’s not every year we see trout action like this in the summer.

 

Pier / Surf:

It’s been a bit slow but anglers are seeing some Spanish and Bluefish moving in along the Surf at first light and late in the day to feed when the water is clear.  Plugging Gotcha-plugs from the piers and casting Glass Minnow Jigs off the beach has been working the best.  We weighed another Cobia this week that was caught off the beach, this time it was at Radio Island access. Crazy weighing two, in two weeks, we’ve never done that before. I heard about a few being hooked before but never landed from the Surf on foot.  It took the angler over an hour to get the fish onto the beach because he was fishing 12lb test line.

When the water gets dirty right along the Surf Zone, anglers seem to have better luck on the Sea Mullets, Pompano, Spots, Blues, Sharks and Drum. Not a lot of any of these but catching some is enough to keep things exciting.

 

Offshore:

Most of the boats this week have been chasing that dream in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament; Monday was the hot bite day with three Marlins coming to the Big Rock Landing Weigh Station. Yesterday, one was boated and brought in, two more days to go and someone will be a lot richer. In the past it’s been won on the last day so make sure you keep an eye out on our Facebook page as I’ll have an up-to-date posting if a fish is coming to the scales.

As for the Dolphin fishing it’s been pretty good as long as you are in the right area.  A customer fished yesterday and caught 18 around the 90ft Drop and a few others that picked up fish as close in as the 14 Buoy. I did hear of a few being caught as close in as 10-15 miles but no numbers yet, but it can happen if you run across some good water. We’re still seeing a few nice Wahoo being caught in the mix and if you fish north of the Cape we have been seeing some Black Fin Tunas.

Bottom fishing still going good, we have been seeing some big Red Groupers in the area, most of them have been in the 30-40 mile range on the ledges around the 90ft Drop. Also, there’s been some good fishing over on the East side on some of the closer bottoms like Atlas Tanker, 17 Rock and AR285. We have been seeing Amber Jacks, Groupers, Sea Bass, Snappers and huge Sharks.

 

 

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