Fishing Report 05/29/2014

 

 

 

Cobia Report:

We’re still seeing good numbers being caught sight fishing along with bottom fishing. So far, this year has been good along with some up and down days mixed in. We have weighed lots of fish probably more this year than last year but the action is way different.

 The bait balls just won’t stay along the beaches, one day they’re on the beach and the next 3 days they won’t be anywhere to be found. Last Sunday is the only day I have really heard anglers seeing good numbers of bait balls plus good numbers of Cobia on them.  Most days the bait has been very hard to find and you’ll see Cobia just swimming along the surface looking for something to eat.

 It looks like we still have a period of 2 to 3 weeks that there will be good Cobia action along our beaches.  Last week anglers just started to catch them in the Wrightsville Beach area. So, that late wave of fish should be pushing through our area now.

We weighed in fish everyday over the Memorial Day Weekend so they definitely haven’t moved on yet. The guy’s sight fishing are having great success with the Savage Live Eels. This is one of the best artificial baits we’ve seen hit the market for Cobia fishing. They’ve been hard to find and get because most of the suppliers only carry one color. But we made a special order of the best colors from the factory. The ones we just got back in stock look just like a Live Eel swimming through the water.

Live Eels are the very best bait to use when fishing for  Cobia sight or bottom fishing. We have them in stock and should have a good supply through this weekend.

The bottom fishing is still producing good numbers at the Cape and behind Shackleford Banks. We even weighed a few fish in that were caught down the ICW last week. The best bait has been Live Eels and Dead Menhaden fished on the bottom with chum blocks out. I’ve talked to a lot of anglers that haven’t had any luck Cobia fishing and I tell them it’s all about being at the right place at the right time and who knows when that will be when Cobia fishing. I sent some first timers out to the Cape this past weekend and they fished for about 2 hours hooked up and brought in a 60lb fish.

 

 

 

Inshore:

Spanish fishing has really picked up this past week with boats catching over 50 fish in just a few hours over the holiday weekend. When they get here like this you can experience some great action. Both East and West beaches are producing plenty of fish along with good action on the shoals at Cape Lookout. Trolling Clarkspoons on planers and trolling weights along with Birds are working the best. During the next few weeks will be some of the best Spanish action we’ll see until the fall. They’re bunched up right now feeding like crazy. When we get more into summer the schools will break up more making them harder to catch but right now it’s pretty good action. Along with the Spanish you’re going to catch Bluefish in the mix fishing the same way. Anglers are still catching some Bonito at the artificial reefs too.  

We’re starting to see some Flounder in the inside waters just yesterday we weighed a 5lb Flounder that was caught near the Coast Guard Station area. Also, some anglers picked up a few drift fishing in the channels this past weekend. Live Mud Minnows and Berkley Gulp will be good choices for the inside waters. Also, we’ve seen some good action on the artificial reefs now with the Spro 2oz Bucktails tipped with 4” Berkley Gulp.

Sheepshead fishing is beginning to turn on around the bridges with fish in the 2lb range and good numbers of them. We haven’t weighed in any huge ones yet but it won’t be long that’s for sure. We do have a good supply of Live Fiddler Crabs and Live Sea Urchins In-Stock for the Sheepshead anglers.

We’ll see how good the Redfishing is this weekend with our 1^st Event of the Carolina Redfish Series this Saturday here at the shop. I was hearing good reports from south of us plus in our area. But now guys aren’t giving out much info, as they all are being tight lipped where the fish are hoping they’ll take the top prize on Saturday. Top Water Lures, Redfish Magic’s, Berkley Gulp, DOA Soft Baits, Z-Man Baits all are producing fish.

 

 

If you want to fish the tournament on Saturday registration is going to be Friday night at the shop between 5pm – 7pm. For more info on the event you can go to www.carolinaredfishseries.com to find out all the details and rules for the event.

 

 

Pier / Surf:

Spanish and Blues are both being caught off the Piers on Got-Cha Plugs by anglers plugging off the end.

Last Monday there was even a few Cobia caught off the Pier. Always keep your eyes open because they will swim right through that area, this time of the year. Also, I heard of some that were spotted swimming with stingrays coming by the piers too. So, if you’re fishing the piers right now be sure to have a rod rigged in order to be ready if a Cobia swims by. I know of a few that were missed because anglers didn’t have the right tackle to catch them.

There’s still a mix bag of Sea Mullets, Croakers, Hog Fish, Flounder, Sharks, Spot and Rays all coming off the bottom kind of a good mix bag. Bait Shrimp, Mullet, Bloodworms and Live Mud Minnows are working well. 

 

 

Offshore:

There’s great Dolphin action going on right now. Plenty of fish were caught last weekend with many boats having limits of fish. We did weigh a few Wahoo but mostly nice Dolphin in that 20lb range. We did weigh in a few over that 40lb range. The Big Rock down toward The Rise seems to be the hot spot. I’d say in a few more weeks we’ll start to see fish inside around the 14 Buoy and 90ft Drop. So, anglers won’t have to go out so far to get good action. Medium Ballyhoo and Small Ballyhoo trolled on Sea Witch Rigs, C&H Rattle Jets and Pirate Plugs all have been working great on the Dolphin.

Bottom fishing is still pretty good with the head boats bringing back plenty of fish like Grouper, Sea Bass, Trigger Fish and Grunts. Squid Wings, Mackerel, Cigar Minnows and Dead Menhaden are working great with the bottom anglers.

 

 

 

Braggin Board: