Topsail December 5, 2005
Chris, at East Coast Sports, reports that the speckled trout bite in the surf has been doing well. Mirrolures are picking up specks from 2-3 lbs. The grubs have been mostly producing dinks.
Sea mullet are also in the surf. Go with sand fleas. And there’s puppy drum around the inlets.
Gray trout are just off the beach about 1-2 miles offshore. They’re hitting orange diamond jigs and stingsilvers. Most fish have been legal size, with a 14-18″ average. Two good places have been in front of the checkered board tower on the base and in front of Surf City Pier.
Inside, go to Turkey Creek and fish for specks. Most will be small, but there’s a few bigger fish mixed in.
Offshore, there have been a few reports of wahoo.
Terry, at Surf City Pier, reports that the trout bite has been strong on the pier. They’ve been in since a little before Thanksgiving. The sizes have run from undersized to 3 lbs. Red drum have been biting better at night. Expect fish to run 23-25″. Black drum are hitting during the day, with the average fish size at 1-2 lbs.
The bigger mullet have been biting at night, and smaller ones have been caught in the daytime.
They are also picking up a few flounder, a few blowfish, and about one spot per day.
Frank, at Seaview Pier, reports the fishing is slowing down as fishing days get shorter. There have been some spots and sea mullet caught lately, but not in big numbers. The speckled trout have been around, but most are throwbacks. Only a few fish are over the 12″ minimum. The biggest trout have been around the 20″ mark. It’s been a couple of weeks between drum bites, but they should still be running the surf.
Ricky Kellum, of Speckled Specialists Charters, reports speckled trout fishing has been good lately. Fish have been caught from New River, south Topsail, Carolina Beach inlet, and the Little River jetties. Live shrimp is your best bet to catch a speck, but grubs, mirrolures, and Gulp baits are working as well. The fish will hang around, especially up the rivers, as long as there are no freezes again this year.
Eric, at New River Marina, reports good fishing in the river for speckled trout and redfish. Lots of small trout are around this year, but there have also been numerous 4 and 5 pounders weighed in.
Grouper fishing has been good around 15 to 25 miles out (when boats can make it out there). Kings are still biting well around Christmas Rock and further offshore.
Not many boats have gone lately, but there have been reports of wahoo and tuna from the gulf stream.
