Fishing Report 12/04/2014

 

Inshore:

Speckled Trout fishing still remains pretty good. From what we're seeing, the Cape Lookout Rock Jetty seems to be one of the best areas right now to catch fish. It's not a bad spot when you might catch Speckled Trout, Gray Trout and Red Drum. Yea, there's a lot of small fish but I've seen plenty of nice keeper fish being caught from there too. Just keep in mind it has been hit or miss, around the rocks. Seems like one day is good then the slow. So who knows when the bite will be on or off.

The Speckled Trout are being caught seem to be midway down the rocks toward the beach. Plus, there's some nice fish being caught by casting off the beach. Berkley Gulp, Billy Bay Shrimp, DOA Shrimp, Live Target Shrimp, 18MR Mirrolures, Soft Dines, Curly Tails all are working good for the artificial lures. I know “Live Bait” has been playing a major role in catching fish out there now. Live Mud Minnows fished on the lightest weight you can get away with or even a split shot has been working extremely well. We might be getting another load of “Live Shrimp” today so, if that happens some Live Shrimp fished on a float rig around the rocks could really be productive.

The backwaters still have plenty of fish to catch. In the last two days with the warm weather, I've weighed some nice fish that's came from some of the creeks in the area. I know, you can go over to the Haystacks area and catch pretty much all the trout you want to catch. Most are on the small side but it can be really fun and still picking through will get a few keepers to take home. Creeks like School House, Spooners, Broad and Gales have been holding a few fish and I've heard of nice catches being caught from the North River area. 17MR Mirrolures are working well in the backwaters and in the creeks Live Mud Minnows fished on the bottom are producing the bigger fish.

Neuse River area is still holding good numbers of fish, Core Creek up toward the Neuse would all be good creeks to fish plus South River has been holding some nice fish. The fish in these areas seem to be located more in the back of these creeks. So, we're far from Speckled Trout fishing being over, Year after year, December is usually when we see the largest fish caught. You need to remember the water has gotten pretty cold, so you need to slow down your retreive when using artificial or Live Bait.

The Redfish bite was pretty good last weekend. I know one of our charter guides on Sunday caught well over 50 right in sight of Morehead City. He told me, the fish were holding right off the end of the oyster bars and if you found the right one you could catch all you wanted. Also, the Cape Lookout Jetty has been holding more and more fish each week. The best of that action is up toward the beach. They seem to be holding in the shallow water but you can also locate them along the deeper part of the rocks at times.

Bear Island area is still holding huge amounts of fish, if you can catch the weather right where you can fish it. Berkley Gulp and Live Mud Minnows are working the best of what we've seen. But keep it in mind, the water has gotten cold so, the fish aren't all that active; fishing slower can produce better action.

Sea Mullet fishing has slowed a bit this week but I'm still seeing some nice fish around the Dead Tree Hole area along Shackleford Banks. I heard last weekend was pretty good in that area. The ones, we're seeing are still the biggest we've seen all year or for that matter in a few years. Don’t past up the Turning Basin area back toward the Inlet as the weather has been warm and you should still fish in that area for a few more weeks. Bait Shrimp and Fish Bites tipped on Spec Rigs is the best way to catch them. Also, anglers are catching some nice Puffer Fish off the bottom in the same areas that they're finding the mullets.

 

Piers / Surf:

Not all that many anglers are fishing the “Surf” for Speckled Trout and what we're seeing you are missing some good action. There's been nice limits of fish caught this week along the beach besides the piers. What I'm hearing, the best action is around the high tides and first light, then back at dark. Mirrolures and Soft Dines have been working the best. There's still plenty of fish being caught at the Radio Island area but they're smaller than the beach fish right now.

Black Drum, Sea Mullets, Puffer Fish, Bluefish, Red Drum, Trout, Flounder is what you might catch fishing the bottom with bait right now. There's not any huge numbers of any of these fish but there's some out there to catch. I heard this morning the Bluefish were plentiful and Trout was being caught from the Surf and Oceanana Pier.

The Fort Macon Park area would be a good area to try. Bait Shrimp, Finger Mullet and Live Mud Minnows will be the best choices for bait. It’s that time of year when it could be slow or you could have a blast. In December, in years past we can have some great Black Drum action along the beach.

 

Offshore:

Blue Fin Tuna has been the talk of the town all week long. We've not seen action like this in quite a few years. It all started on Sunday when one was boated, then a few Tuesday and Wednesday was an “Epic” bite for our area. I heard most boats hooked up or brought fish to the buyers. I think, the number was around 25 that were sold on Wednesday which hasn't happen in Morehead City since the '07 days.

The bite slowed down a bit yesterday as the warm water move in and it was very calm along with sunny skies not the perfect Blue Fin weather. Today, the winds are back out of the North so, we'll wait to see what happens. As far as, what anglers are using 220 Fluorocarbon is a must, Blue Water Candy Jags, 10/0 Mustad Hooks and Select or Horse Ballyhoo. Bluewater Candy sent up all the best colors in the Jags and we have plenty of Fluorocarbon and Ballyhoo in stock if you're needing supplies. The best action has been from the Cape Lookout Shoul's to the Knuckle Buoy out toward the 14 Buoy and been a few caught at teh Sea Buoy.

The Black Sea Bass fishing has been great this past week with boats really catching good numbers and size. North West Places out will be some good areas to look for the bass. Squid on the bottom will get the job done because they aren't all that pickey when you find them. Good thing about this time of year usually they're bunched up in good numbers making it pretty easy to catch.

 

 

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