Fishing Report 05/17/2018

 

Inshore / Nearshore:

To say the least, I’ve been getting a ton of calls about what’s going with the Cobia, we have weighed around 5 fish in the last week. So, there’s some around to be caught, yes, it’s not hot and heavy as it was last year but what we have seen this week more waves of fish are showing up each day. Seems like our Charter Fleet is seeing more fish each afternoon showing up along the beach. Best action we’ve seen so far has been at the hook at Cape Lookout. That’s where most of the fish have been caught. Some have been caught sight fishing along the beaches, but they have been few and far between. The bait has been hard to find, one day good bait balls; the next day they are gone. But we have been seeing tons of turtles along the beaches for the fish to hang around and there has been a few caught off the turtles. So far, fish Bowed-Up Custom Bucktails, Sea Striker Bug Eyes, Savage Real Eels, Custom Meathog Lures as far as the artificial lures go. The bottom fishing guys have been using Menhaden, Live Eels and Chum. We have all the supplies in-stock ready to go, fresh caught Menhaden and Live Eels.

Spanish fishing this week has been on fire, the fish have move in along the beaches now. Anglers had great luck just outside the Beaufort Inlet on the bar over the last two days, all you want to catch on top of that very nice size fish. They have been having the best luck casting the heavy glass minnow jigs we have in the shop and a new lure we just got our hands on the “Spanish Candy Jigs” both are working very well. So come on and get you some to give them a try. The anglers trolling also have been picking up nice fish along the beaches and along the Cape Lookout Shoals. The custom Bowed– up Spoons, Clarkspoons, Squid Chains and Mackerel Trees all have been working well. The next two weeks will be a key time to fish before the water heats up into its summertime temps and the fish start to split up. Right now, these fish are grouped and feeding like crazy, this will be some of the best action we’ll see all year until the fall rolls around and the water starts to cool back down.

In the mix with the Spanish, you’ll run across plenty of Bluefish also to catch, they will be hanging in the same areas as the Mackerel. We’re still seeing Chopper Bluefish in the area; best action has been at the Cape Lookout area and fishing the bait balls along the beaches when they’re out there. Some of our last charter trips, we’ve ran across all you’d want to catch around the bait balls we’ve been fishing for Cobia.

Also, we’ve been seeing some Bull Reds and Big Black Drum schooling around the schools of Menhaden. Most of these fish have been hanging on the East Side of the Cape but there’s been some caught on the West Side. It really comes down to this hit as many bait balls you can and just searching that area looking for the schools to come up on top. To catch these beasts of fish in the ocean is really comes down to being in the right place – right time kind of deal. Once they go down, they can be very tricky to relocate or find again, but there’s some in the area to catch. Casting Bowed-Up and Sea Striker Bug Eye Bucktails have been getting the job done when you run across these fish.

The Bonito has really shown up this week, I’ve talked to a few customers that said they have caught all they wanted around AR315 this week. Most have been caught trolling Yo-Zuri’s DD, casting Stingsilvers and the Epoxy Jigs we have in the shop all have been working great. These fish won’t stay around long so if you are looking for them now’s the time to give it a try.

Been starting to see a few Flounder show up at the reefs, seems like the best action has been over on the East Side at AR285, not heard all that much from AR315, AR320 or AR330 but it’s getting time for those reefs to really turn on. Jigging 2oz Spro Bucktails tipped with Gulp 4” Shrimp is the golden ticket to catching Flounder on the reefs.

We have weighed a few Sheepshead this week, one was over 10lbs which we were surprised to see this early in the season. Places to fish will be all the normal places any bridge or the port wall would be a good area to try. You will also have a chance of caching some Black Drum in the same areas as the Sheepshead. We do now have Live Fiddler Crabs in-stock ready for action and should have Live Sea Urchins next week going into the Memorial Holiday Weekend.

Red Drum fishing has been up and down, best action seems to be south of us but there’s been a few caught around the Haystacks this week, also along the Core Creek area. Gold Spoons, Redfish Magic’s, Top-water plugs and Popping Corks have been working the best.

Don’t forget, we have our Star Rods Carolina Redfish Elite Event coming up ,June 1st– 2nd, these elite teams will be fishing for a $15,000 1st Place purse so make sure you mark your calendar to attend the weigh in at 3pm on each day. Weigh in will be held at the Big Rock Landing on the Morehead City Water Front so make sure you come out and check out the festivities and have a chance to be on TV as this event will be filmed by the “Chasin Creation” film crew.

 

Piers / Surf:

The Spanish have shown up off the piers this week and a few have been caught in the Surf Zone at Fort Macon. When trying for Spanish off the piers, the Heavy Glass Minnows Jigs we have in the shop are hard to beat, they are small in size but cast like a bullet to reach the fish that might be just out of casting range on a regular jig.  This is just the start, so I have a feeling next week there’s going to be some really good plug fishing for the pier anglers. They also have been catching plenty of the smaller bluefish on Got-cha plugs. Most of the Chopper Bluefish have moved up the coast but yesterday I was talking to a customer catching all he wanted off the Fort Macon beach on a Finger Mullet Rig with Finger Mullet he picked up at the shop, so they are still in the area to catch.

Still seeing some nice Sea Mullets in the Surf Zone and off the piers, but the best bite seems to be more at night on the mullets. We also have weighed some nice Pompano this week with one going over 3lbs that was caught along the beach on a Sand Flea. You will also find a mix bag of Croakers, Hogfish and anglers still seeing some nice Black Drum with a few Red Drum in the mix.  We do have fresh Shrimp and Bloodworms plus any frozen bait you’ll need to bait a hook.

 

Offshore:

The bite is in full swing, the Mahi/Dolphin fishing is just about as good as it gets. Lots of boats are coming back with limits of gaffers and some fish have been over the 50lb mark. Now until mid-June will be the peak on the run of Mahi/Dolphin in our area, so don’t miss out. Also, anglers are catching a good mixture of Wahoo and Tunas in the mix with some Billfish even starting to be caught. The bite now has been more wide range and not in one area. Last weekend, we were seeing fish from north of the Big Rock down to the Rise and close in as 90ft Drop.

Lures, we’re keeping it simple, Full Box of Sea Witches, Islander Jr’s, Sail Lures, and the Monk A Lure, we have all these in stock at the shop ready to go. If you need help learning how to rig ballyhoo for these lures no worries, we can show you hands on. We still have plenty of fresh caught Baitmaster and Bionic Ballyhoo ready to go so we have you covered when heading to the Bluewater.

With the Big Rock fast approaching we have been getting in extra stock for the anglers, so if you are looking for rigging supplies we will have you covered, also just put a huge display of squid skirts ready for action.

For the bottom boats the Grouper, Sea Bass, Trigger Fish and Snappers all are holding on the bottom grounds. I’ve heard of some good catches from the 240 Rocks and around the 90ft Drop area. I haven't heard too much more because most anglers have been taking advantage of the great trolling we have been seeing.

 

 

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