Fishing Report 03/30/2017

 

Inshore / Nearshore:

Sea Mullets fired back up last weekend from the slow down a few weeks before with the cold weather.  Since last Thursday, we've been seeing a steady bite around the 18 Buoy in 50 to 60' of water.  Then yesterday, we started seeing fish start to move back into the Turning Basin area in front of the Port Wall. I have a feeling as the water warms back up the fish will start to really get around the 25 Buoy in the Turning Basin like they were a month ago during that warm up. Sam’s Gitters Custom Spec Rigs tipped with bait shrimp has been the go to bait to put fish in the cooler. Don’t know what it is about that rig but the fish love them and good fresh bait shrimp helps also which we carry.

Bluefish and False Albacore has shown back up around the Cape Lookout area. All it took was the water temps to come back up and the glass minnows to move back toward the beach and the fish followed. Last Sunday afternoon there was a blitz of Albacore going on, so that’s only going to get better and better over the next week or so.  Also, seeing Bluefish being caught in the Inlet area, so I'll say by this weekend they should be back in the area as thick as they were a few weeks ago before the cold snap.  I heard today from some friends down south around the Wilmington area that a few Bonito have shown up, so we just might see some up our way in a few weeks.

Trout Man caught some pretty Gray Trout at the Atlantic Beach Bridge jigging Sting-silvers this week plus found some nice ones around the Railroad Tracks. Also, anglers Sea Mullet fishing are picking up some Grays in the Inlet and Turning Basin on the Spec-Rigs.

Speckled Trout fishing has been great, seeing some action like we were this past fall just not all that many people are fishing for them. I have some customers that caught 2 limits each day last weekend along with releasing 30 or more fish some up to 5lbs. I get asked a lot where do you fish for them in the spring, a lot of the fish will be in the same areas, I've seen nice catches of trout out of the Haystacks and the Core Creek area in the last week.  17MR Mirrolures, new Yo-Zuri Twitch Baits, Z-Man and Halo Shads along with Live Mud Minnows seem to be working the best.

Red Drum fishing still has been good, the Bull Reds are still hanging around the Cape Lookout area. It’s just a matter of being at the right place at the right time to catch these fish. What we've been doing is looking for birds diving or sitting on the water in large numbers. That’s a good sign that there are some schools of Reds somewhere in that area. You just about have to sit and wait for the fish to come up and start feeding then ease over there and try to catch them. If you run up on a school the fish will go down making them hard to catch. Anglers are still catching smaller fish around Shark Island and inside Shark Island too.  I've not heard of many but I'm sure if you looked hard enough in the marsh areas like Haystacks and Core Creek bays you should run across a few fish willing to play.

Sea Bass fishing still very good, if you get in the 10 mile range or more it's not taking much effort to get a limit of bass.  North West Places is holding a few fish but the big numbers seem to be over on the East Side of the Cape. Also, seeing a few Amberjacks and Grouper but remember it's closed right now so all of them have to go back.

Crazy enough we even see some King Macklerel last weekend that was caught at the North West Places, which is way early. Nick from the shop caught 3 or 4 while jigging for Flounder and Sea Bass on Spro Bucktails, so who know how many were really there if you were actually King Fishing. 

 

Piers / Surf:

Fishing hasn't been all that great yet from the piers but we're starting to see good numbers of Puffer fish moving along the beaches.  Can't report all that many Sea Mullets yet, most of them have been hanging in the deeper water in that 50 to 60' range. If it stays warm, they will start to move right on into the Surf Zone. We started to see the Bluefish move back toward the beach last weekend so I'd say any day the piers should start getting some action from the Bluefish. Just this past week there's been a few caught from the piers.  Also, Fort Macon Park beach will be a good place to catch Blues from the Surf.  Plus, you might find Black Drum and Red Drum fishing the rocks at Fort Macon, just still a little early but some fish are starting to move closer to the beach.

 

Offshore:

Last weekend, we saw a great weather window right into the first of the week with very light winds for this time of the year and anglers took full advantage of it.  We've hung quite a few Wahoo on the scales over the last week along with a few nice Tuna.  The bite was very spread out, not really any “Hot Spot” just small patches of fish and if you were in that area catching fish wasn't a problem.  We saw good catches of Wahoo from the Northeast corner of the Big Rock down south towards The Rise.  With the boats finding the Hoo’s most have also been bringing back a mix of Black Fin and Yellow Fin Tuna.  

Cow-Bells, Hoo Da Booms, Bonita Lures and Jags mostly in Black/Purple, Black/Red, Orange/Black and Blue/Black colors are proving to be the best lures to use.  As far as Ballyhoo, smalls have been working best for the Tuna's and Wahoo’s Medium size. We now have received our orders of bait in-stock for the season and it's fresh caught so we have you covered.

Bottom fishing has been good; we have been running a few bottom trips and the captains are having no problem at all filling limits of Sea Bass. Mostly, we have been fishing over on the East Side off the Cape fishing for the larger fish and the most numbers of fish.  Also, catching good numbers of Grouper so when the season opens come May 1^st it’s should be some good fishing.  The Amberjacks are starting to stack up on the reefs and hard bottoms which are always fun to pull on. 

 

 

Braggin Board