Added on Thursday, July 27, 2006  Gary Hurley

Morehead City July 27, 2006

Matt, of Chasin Tails Charters, reports that the spanish are biting good early and late in the day. Trolling clark spoons are doing well, but the bigger fish are hitting live bait.

The red drum bite is still good in the Newport and North River. Working around the oyster bars seems to be producing the best.

The size of the flounder is still on the small side, with a lot of small fish and only a few bigger fish. For big flounder try some big baits around the port wall, but you might have to fish all day for one. If you can find some deep holes in the marshes, you can pick up some good keepers that way as well.

Sheepshead are still biting, with live fiddlers working the best. It seems like they can be found at any of the area pilings.

Some trout are still around, but they all seem to be around 12-14 inches.

Marty, at Freeman’s Bait and Tackle, reports that the flounder fishing is entering a typical hot-weather pattern. Drifting Carolina-rigged live baits in the channels behind Shackleford Banks is producing good numbers of fish. Larger flounder (up to 7 lbs.) are holding in the turning basin and at the nearshore artificial reefs, particularly the 315 and 320.

Puppy drum are abundant in the marshes right now. The Haystacks, Middle Marsh, and around the Hoophole are excellent places to find drum. A live mullet or pogy is the best bait, with Gulp baits and Johnson spoons a close second.

Spanish mackerel fishing was phenomenal early in the week, but strong winds dirtied the water and scattered the fish. Trolling clark spoons on the beach was a good way to guarantee a limit of keeper fish. Larger spanish were coming from slightly farther offshore on Yo-zuri deep divers and small live baits.

King mackerel fishing has been good from the beach to 1.5 miles offshore. Live baits and cigar minnows on Hank Brown rigs have produced good results.

Anglers have reported excellent dolphin fishing from the 14 Buoy on out to the gulf stream. Most fish are bailers, with a few gaffers mixed in.

The billfish bite has been hot in the gulf stream. More sailfish than blues or whites have been caught, but the marlin are there. Ballyhoo, squid, and spanish mackerel are a good variety of baits to pull when searching for billfish.

Shane, of Second to None Charters, reports that billfishing has been on fire in the gulf stream for the past few weeks. Sailfish and blue and white marlin are biting so well that there is little reason to target anything else. Dragging naked dead baits (such as ballyhoo and spanish mackerel) offers the best chances of hooking up.

Some dolphin are mixed in with the billfish. The dolphin readily eat the same baits as the billfish, so no adjustments to the trolling spread are necessary in order to target both.

King mackerel in a variety of sizes are on the inshore rocks. Cigar minnows on Hank Brown rigs or drone and clark spoons will get the kings to bite.

The spanish mackerel have been plentiful on the beach, and as usual trolling small clark spoons draws them to bite.

Joe, at Joe’s Pro Bait and Tackle, reports that inside flounder fishing remains strong, but deeper and cooler water is the key to locating them. This trend will continue until the water temperatures start to cool in September.

The spanish were biting good down the beaches until all the wind came. To catch the very large spanish that are in the waters now, you must live bait with live mullet or peanut shad. The big ones will not hit lures very often.

The red drum are still strong in all the marshes, including the Haystacks.

Kings up to the mid-40s were caught inshore, particularly at the 30 Minute Rock, NW Places, Big Ten, etc. More and more large kings will show up down the beaches in the next few weeks.

Offshore, the dolphin bite is excellent for small dolphin from the 14 Buoy out to the Big Rock. There are only a few big gaffer dolphin being caught.

Good numbers of sailfish, white marlin, and blue marlin were caught over the weekend at the Big Rock. Action came from both north and south of the rise. Only a very few wahoo were caught.

 

George, at Carolina Bait and Tackle, reports fishing has been great in the area. The sheesphead have been especially strong, with good numbers of fish in the 5-7 lb. range. These fish are holding along bridges and pier pilings and can be caught with fiddler crabs.

The inlet has been good for flounder and a few spots.

The surf has seen the usual species, such as pompano, spots, and flounder.

Off the beach, the king mackerel and dolphin have been on structure anywhere from the sea buoy on out. There have been some reports of wahoo moving into the nearshore structures as well.

On the bottom, the sea bass are biting well nearshore, and grouper have been hit or miss further offshore.