Fishing Report 11/22/2018

 

Inshore / Nearshore:

Speckled Trout fishing has been good over the last week or so, anglers have been catching lots of small fish all season long but with dropping water temps we’re now starting to see more and more keeper fish. All last week and this week our charter fleet has been bringing back limits of fish on every trip. A few days last week they caught over 100 fish per trip, that’s some non-stop action in a half day trip for sure. Also, just in the last few days we’ve been weighing some big fish here at the shop, which we haven’t seen all year so far.

Just yesterday, we finally heard the Cape Lookout Rock Jetty turned on. We’ve been seeing plenty of fish in that area but yesterday we were got reports of good numbers of keeper fish being caught on Live Shrimp and Mud Minnows. The Cape Rock Jetty should only get better and better over the next few weeks, when the water starts to really cool down like we’re seeing now these fish will get stacked on those rocks.

Our Charter fleet is still finding plenty of action in the backwaters in areas like Haystacks, Core Creek, Newport River, Carrot Island, North River, Radio Island Rocks and Shackleford Banks Rocks. As far as lures Z-Man Jerk ShadZ, MinnowZ, ShrimpZ, Curly Tailz, Berkley Gulp, old School Curly Tails, DOA, Vudu Shrimp, Betts Shrimp and our custom Mirrolures have been killing it. Let’s not forget Live Shrimp and Mud Minnows fished under a Slip Float Rig or Popping Cork that always works and seems to find larger fish at times. We do have both in-stock and will have minnows all winter plus Live Shrimp as long as we can keep them with water temps, usually it’s mid-December sometimes it’s been the whole month, just depends on how cool the water drops.

Along with the good Speckled Trout fishing we’re seeing a great Red Drum bite. Again, in the last week or so just about on every trip our Charter Fleet has been coming back with limits of fish. Last week, we were seeing 20-30 fish trips just in a 4-hour window of fishing. Crazy enough most of the Red Fish have been caught around the Morehead High Rise and Railroad Track Bridge, there has been plenty of Drum holding around the pilings, it’s just a matter of moving around until you find the right area holding the schools of fish. It’s simple fishing, fresh baits shrimp from the shop on the bottom seems to be working the best. Also, you’ll find Black Drum and Sheepshead in the mix to catch fishing in the same area. Anglers are finding fish up in the creeks along Core Creek and Haystacks area. Keep in mind with the water temperatures’ now falling we’ll start to see those larger schools of fish along the Surf Zone and around the point; at Cape Lookout, I know Shark Island is gone but the fish are still going to relocate back to that that area this winter, they do year after year. Awesome thing about when these fish get in the ocean it’s usually large numbers, if you find them it’s on when they’re feeding. Just a matter of finding the right day when the weather allows you to take advantage of this location. We usually target them this time of the year with Berkley Gulp Baits and Live Mud Minnows, when the water gets cool, they’re hard to beat when Red Fishing.

Well, the Albacore a few weeks back disappeared on us but over this last week the fish have shown back up in very good numbers. The boats that fished for them last weekend had some very good fishing finding large schools of feeding fish. Seems the best area to look for them this week has been from the Beaufort Inlet up toward the Cape Lookout area. If you want a pull go looking for these fish, they will burn it down on light tackle spinning gear. To me it’s the closest fight to a Bull Red you can get. As far as lures the Heavy Glass Minnow Jigs, Epoxy and Spanish Candies jigs we have in the shop can’t be beat. They all throw very well allowing you to stay off the fish, and get more bites because it’s the right size lures. We also have the Albie Snax here in the shop which is something if you’re going Albie fishing you better have them in the boat.

I’ve been getting a lot of calls about King Mackerel, yes there was a ton of fish caught last weekend in the tournaments, I mean numerous fish. But most of those fish were caught from Ocracoke up to Hatteras Island. I’m sure there’s still a few fish hanging on the East Side to be caught but just don’t know how many, water is cooling down now so they will be moving south. I did hear of some fish caught at North West Places last weekend. I think the major bite for our area might be over because rule of thumb once they get thick up north, they are getting ready to move offshore then down south for the winter. Dead Bait, Mac A Hoo’s rigged up on Dead Cigar Minnows will be just as good as any now and more than likely if you’re going to give it a shot you need to be on out to the North West Places even out toward Big Ten / Little Ten area.

Also, we’ve been getting a lot of calls about the Sea Mullets, I did hear of some nice catches up around the Cape Lookout area in the last week. So, just maybe we’ll see a few schools of fish moving through after all. One positive thing I’ve seen this week has been we’ve been hearing and weighing some big ones that Surf Anglers are catching along the beach so it does seem there’s some fish coming down the beach to catch, just don’t know the numbers of the fish. Not sure we’re going to see that mass of fish, we usually see in the fall, I’m beginning to believe Hurricane Florence played a major role in that this year.

 

Piers / Surf:

Speckled Trout has been the name of the game in the area for the anglers on foot. With the water temps dropping we’re now starting to see some fish being caught beside the Oceanana Pier area. Heard of a few good catches over the last week from the beach in that area. Also, another good place can be Fort Macon around the Jetty this time of the year.  Had a few anglers in the shop yesterday that caught some good keeper fish fishing off the Pier itself.

Radio Island’s still holding plenty of fish, but keep in mind that rock jetty is like a stopping point for those fish moving out to the ocean. So, it can be very hit or miss, one day there gone the next but if you hit it right you can really smoke them. I feel like with the cooler temps now we’re going to see more and more fish show up along the Surf Zone to catch over the next few weeks before it really turns cold. Another good place to try fishing from land can be the Harker’s Island Bridge area, been good numbers of fish in that area, but again you just got to pick through them to get the keeper fish. If you’re fishing from the beach one of the best lures has to be an old school Mirrolure 52M or TT they just work in the Surf. Now, anglers have also been having some good luck on the 18MR which is a smaller lure but still will sink. Other good lures anglers have been having luck on have been Z-Man, Curly Tails and Berkley Gulp.

Over the last week, we’ve been weighing in some nice Sea Mullets from the Surf anglers, yesterday one customer had like 10 or so all pushing the 2lb range. I’ve also talked to few other customers in the shop buying some fresh bait shrimp that has been having really good luck on the mullets. Not heard of many yet but it’s about time we start to see some of those Puffer Fish show up along the beaches. Just this week the Puffers have shown up on the Oceanana Pier. I don’t mess with them, but what I hear it’s one of the best eating fish you can get catch of the ocean.

 

Offshore:

Talk around town is still how good the Wahoo bite has been, big question was if the fish were still going to be in the area after weeks of wind keeping boats tied to the docks and not being able to get out to the grounds. Well, last weekend the window opened and boats were back to filling limits of fish without any issues. Even this week, we’ve been seeing very good fishing for the HOOS. Seems like the best bite is in the normal places for this time of the year, Swansboro Hole up to the Rise and back toward the Big Rock area. From what we’re hearing anywhere you find that good water temp break; the bite has been on. Along with the Wahoo, the Sail Fishing has been crazy, almost every boat out last week and this week has been catching sails too. It’s not been uncommon seeing boats flying 3 -6 flags from the riggers. Unfortunately, this weekend isn’t looking too good for the offshore fishing, maybe a window for some of the larger boats on Sunday we’ll just have to see how that plays out. So, keep a lookout on the weather, when it looks good come on by the shop and pick up some rigs and bait and get on the hot bite before the fish move south.

Also, been a lot of talk about the ole Blue Fin Tuna as we had a small season last week for a few days and during that shorty window there was 3 fish that we know of that were caught. So, once the season opens back up December 1^st it’s going to be interesting to know how good the bite’s going to be. The fish that were caught were on off the beach so we’re in hopes the bait’s going to move back toward the beach making these giants a little easier to target. We have the supplies you need for these fish and the bait so come on by and get gear up before the season opens.