Fishing Report 06/14/2018

 

Next Saturday is our annual Tent Sale… so mark your calendar and get ready for deals of the year! Then July 14^th, we’ll have our annual Customer Appreciation Day, something for sure you don’t want to miss out on. Our grill master will be on hand again this year; slow cooking BBQ all night long to be ready for serving the next day at 11am. In the last two years of doing BBQ, we hear the same thing year after year from customers, “This has to be some of the best BBQ we have ever eaten”. Also, we’ll have our line-up of Captains performing seminars from 11am -2pm, giving out some good info for fishing in our local area. The best part about all of this it’s totally FREE for all of our customers to enjoy!

 

Don’t forget parents, our “Kid’s Fishing Rodeo” has started, you can still sign up anytime here at the shop or call over the phone to get your child registered. Already, a few kids have brought fish in to weigh and they were excited! The smile on their faces was priceless; so, get you kid involved in this event.

 

  

 

Inshore / Nearshore:

It’s starting to look like our Cobia season is pretty much over, we haven’t weighed any fish this week and only heard about one being caught actually inside.  I’m not saying you still might be able to catch some because this time of the year the fish that are left will be caught from anglers setting up in the backwaters. Now, still if you’re going into to the ocean I’d have a Bowed Up Bucktail tied on ready, because you just never know when you might run across a few swimming on top. Just like the last Cobia we weighed last week, that angler was going to catch bait and ran across 3 swimming in the No Wake Zone. The key to catching them you have to have something ready to cast, you don’t have time to rig up something or the fish will most likely be gone with a missed opportunity.

Again, Spanish fishing has been great this week, we’re seeing lots of larger fish in the area, seems every day we’re weighing in fish over the 6lb mark. Last few days our charter fleet has been running trips having no problem catching limits pretty quick. Trolling Clarkspoons, Bowed-Up Spoons and Mackerel Trees all are getting the job done on #1 planers. Some days it seems that the colored Bowed-Up Spoons are producing more fish at times; also pulling a Bird with a Squid Rig on top has been working very well. Best areas have been along AB beach from the inlet down towards the Double Tree and all-around Cape Lookout area. Now, if you’re not into trolling we’ve been seeing schooling fish around the inlets and the reefs the last few days, this week late in the afternoons there’s been large schools of Spanish feeding on top around AR315 and around the Cape. Casting the Glass Minnow Jig, we have in the shop and the Spanish Candy Lures have been getting the job done. Also, anglers have been having good luck on the Mack-a- Hoos rigged with Cigar Minnows with the larger fish, along with pulling Live Baits. Most of what we’re seeing all the AR reefs are holding larger fish to be caught. I’ve been getting some calls if we’re having the “Spanish Jackpot Challenge”, answer “YES” it will be beginning on July 1^st through September 30^th. Please be sure to sign up before July 1 to avoid the 3-day waiting period before you can weigh in a fish.

We also have been seeing lots of King Mackerel in the area, we’ve already been weighing fish over the 30lb mark which is a little early but we’ll take it. From what, we’re seeing so far with the number of Kings coming to the scales, we could be in for a great fall with the Kings since they are already really get thick in our area. The smaller fish have been mixed in with the Spanish and the larger fish are being caught over on the East Side of Cape Lookout. The Mack-a- Hoo’s rigged with Cigar Minnows have been getting plenty of fish in the boat for anglers and the Live Bait guys also have been having good luck. But, the Mack-a-Hoo’s have been catching more fish, with mostly the smaller fish around in the area but these are very fun to catch.

Flounder fishing has been getting better and better every week, I’ve heard of some very nice catches from the East Side AR Reefs.  Jigging Spro 2oz White and Glow Bucktails tipped with a 4” Berkley Gulp White Shrimp is the way to go. Also, AR 315, 320 and 330 could all be holding Flounder and any other structure you might run across in the ocean. We weighed a nice one this week that went over 7lbs caught at one of the reefs.  Inside waters have been the Creeks, Port Wall, Docks and drifting behind Shackleford Banks all have been producing a few fish. Live Mud Minnows fished on Flounder Rigs seem to be working the best in the backwaters.

It’s that time of the year, Sharks are plentiful out behind the shrimp boats when they are working. Probably the easiest fishing you can do because there's lots to catch plus great action. They will just about eat anything you put in the water; well, I’ll say anything you put in the water they will hit. There hasn’t been a lot of boats out shrimping yet but the few we’ve seen this week have had more sharks behind them than we have ever seen. I’ve heard some shrimp boats aren’t even be able to work because the sharks were tearing up all their gear. If you're going to fish behind these boats just keep in mind they are working so keep your distance. You don’t have to get right on top of these boats to catch the Sharks.

Redfish seem to be spread all out through the marsh areas now, over the last week we’re seeing more Live Shrimp in the backwaters the fish have started to move in better. Also, we are still finding some schools of fish along the beaches, one of our charter boats got into a good school along the beach last week. 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.

For the anglers that have been Sheepshead fishing, they have been having to work for them but are seeing some good numbers and nice fish. In the last week we’ve weighed fish over the 10lb mark. As for locations, the best area seems to be around the Atlantic Beach Bridge right now. But we've seen some from around the Beaufort High Rise Bridge and the Port Wall area also. We’re just at the start of the season for these fish so, we'll see more and more show up as we move into summer. Now, that a few fish are starting to be caught, we do have Live Sea Urchins and Live Fiddler Crabs In-Stock. I've been getting some calls about the “Sheepshead Jackpot Challenge” and YES, we will be having it again this year. It will start on July 1st for anyone that wants to enter and will go until September 30^th.

 

Speckled Trout season opens back up tomorrow, it’s been closed since the freeze this past winter. We really haven’t heard anyone catching many but a few mixed in with the Red Drum in the Marsh areas. I’m sure with the season getting ready to open up we’ll start to see some trout anglers get back at it.

 

 

Piers / Surf:

 

Spanish and Blue Fish has been the name of the game off the piers early in the mornings and late evenings. Anglers are plugging Got-cha Plugs and Spanish Candy Jigs. Anglers have been hanging some Cobia too. I’ve been hearing some of the piers that allow King fishing some anglers have been hooking up. I’ve even heard of a few Tarpon being caught on some of the piers along the coast.

 

As far as the bottom fishing goes it’s got hot and looks like we’ve got into that summertime mixed action. Fishermen are catching a mixed bag: Sea Mullets, Spots, Croakers, Bluefish and a few Drum, not a lot of any one kind. Fishing Bait Shrimp, Bloodworms, Fish Bites, Mullet and Squid off the bottom will get you some action.

 

 

Offshore:

Looks like again, we are going to have a good weather weekend for anglers to get out and catch some fish. Now, we’re starting to see Dolphin in good around the North West Places, last weekend a few boats had some good catches. Heck this week, I heard of a grass line in as close as the Sea Buoy, so you know what that means more than likely some Dolphin were close by to catch. We are also still seeing some Dolphin out around the 14 Buoy out toward the Big Rock area, not heard that much down south of us over the last week. The “hot lure” we’ve been having the best luck with has been the Monk A Lure, last weekend it caught quite a few fish. We sold out pretty quick last week, we have another shipment coming in today, but who knows how long they will last. These lures are hand made locally in a garage so we only can get a limited supply on each run. Also, in the mix with the Monk A Lures, anglers have been having good luck on Ballyhoo and Sea Witch Combo, really hard to go wrong with that combo this time of the year.

We’ve been seeing some of the best Grouper action we’ve seen in a year, we weighed one in the other day that was 63lbs. That’s just unheard of in the Grouper world. Triggerfish, and B-liners have been caught around the Atlas Tanker and the 210, 240, 305, and 1700 Rocks fishing on the bottom. The Sea Bass action seems to be the best out around the North West Places fishing with Squid, Squid Wings and Blue Water Candy Roscoe 2oz Jigs. You can find keepers on just about any area in the ocean but the North West Places seems to be holding the bigger fish.