Topsail May 26, 2005
Chris, at East Coast Sports, reports that the piers are seeing lots of blues all day and lots of spanish in the morning. The mullets have been off and on
In the surf, the sand fleas are now readily available. New River Inlet to Surf City is producing mullets and blues. Surf City to Topsail Beach has lots of blues and a few big mullet. From Topsail Beach to New Topsail Inlet, guys have been picking up some big pompano and mullets. The north end of Lee Island continues to produce a few reds.
The waterway/inlet has been the same as last week: bluefish are everywhere soundside, and their presence has been dominating the inshore fishing.
The nearshore region out to 20 miles has lots of bonito at the Liberty Ship and a few at Divers Rock and AR390
Further offshore the yellowfin are starting to slow down, but the dolphin are as thick as they have ever been in the stream and at WR-2. There were several reports of big schools of big dolphin busting surface baits.
Ricky Kellum, of Speckled Specialists Charters, reports excellent trout catches from the New River with the best bite coming off live shrimp. A 5+ lb. speck was weighed in and released by Ricky in the Inshore Challenge to take first place and it was one of over 20 caught in 2 hours of fishing in some sloppy weather conditions. The spanish mackerel and small kings up to 30 inches are just outside New River inlet and should be along the beaches consistantly now. Black drum fishing at the high rise bridge should pick up on fresh clams and crabs especially after a 63 lb. fish was caught this past week.
Lewis, at Bugem Bait Co, reports fishing finally improving with lots of dolphin from the stream as well as tuna and wahoo. No real king reports except the snake kings that are mixed in with the spanish on the beach out to 10 miles. The grouper bite is around the 30 to 40 miles reefs and ledges and some cobia have been caught off the dredge wreck. The surf has been good with small flounder, bluefish, whiting, sheepshead, and black drum. Inside the flounder are still small with an occasional keeper but the drum are beginning to bite better and there have been scattered speckled trout reports from creeks behind Wrightsville Beach.
Chris, at East Coast Sports, reports dolphin are on fire in the stream and running up to 30 lbs. The yellowfins are thinning out but there are still good catches of wahoo. Kings are in the 20+ mile areas and the first one off an area pier came this past week. Nearshore the bonito are still hanging around and black sea bass are on the wrecks and reefs. Spanish mackerel are along the beaches and biting very well at area piers. Surf fishermen are catching bluefish, sea mullet, big pompano, black drum, and red drum. Flounder are arriving inside and bluefish are in the inlets with a few speckled trout as well.
Eric, at New River Marina, reports fishing is very good with trout coming from upriver, the bridge, and the inlet. Redfish are still shallow in the creeks and there have been a few black drum as well. Flounder are still running small but there have been a few 8 to 9 lb. fish gigged so the bigger fish are moving in. Off the beach the spanish mackerel have about run off the bonito and there are some kings mixed in as well. Gulf stream is still good with catches of wahoo and yellowfin tuna.
Frank, at Seaview Pier, reports spanish mackerel and bluefish on plugs but no kings to report yet. The king rigs have been catching big hatteras blues and cobia with one keeper size cobia. Whiting are biting very well in the evenings and there have been a few black drum and gray trout. Flounder are still slow biting and very few keepers.
