Wrightsville Beach August 6, 2009
Frank Colonna with a 9.25 lb. American red snapper he hooked at some bottom structure 25 miles off Wrightsville Beach while fishing with his son and friends on the "In My Dreams."
Tex, of Tex’s Tackle, reports that anglers are still getting in on a solid red drum and flounder bite inshore.
Anglers are finding the flatfish in the inlets, creeks, and marshes, as well as around docks and other inshore structure. Live baits on Carolina rigs and Gulp baits are both fooling the flounder.
The drum are in many of the same places, and anglers can hook up with them on the same baits or on topwater plugs and a variety of other lures.
Not many boats have made it outside the inlet lately with the strong southwest winds, but anglers caught good numbers of sailfish and white marlin in the Gulf Stream north of the area during the Ducks Unlimited billfish tournament last weekend.
A few boats have had decent catches of spanish mackerel lately while trolling Clarkspoons and other lures wherever they could find clean water, and the spanish action should be hot again after the weather moderates for a few days.
King mackerel have been feeding a bit further off the beaches than the spanish—in the 5-25 mile range—and they should be present in the same areas when boats get the weather to go chase them. Live pogies are the best baits for the kings.
There should still be a few dolphin around some of the same spots as the kings.
The bottom action should also still be good in 80-100’ of water. Red, gag, and scamp grouper, along with a variety of other bottom feeders, are holding on structure in that range. Cigar minnows, squid, live and cut baits, and vertical jigs should all fool the bottom feeders.
Capt. Ken Mullen, of Swell Rider Sportfishing, with a big bull dolphin that fell for a light-lined cigar minnow while he was anchored up on some bottom structure 30 miles off of Wrightsville Beach.
Frank, of Intracoastal Angler, reports that the last local boats fishing the Gulf Stream found some action with dolphin, wahoo, and white marlin around the Same Ol’ Hole.
Sailfish and dolphin have been feeding a bit closer in as well, with good reports lately from the 15-30 mile range off Masonboro. Live baits or dead ballyhoo will fool both.
Inshore, anglers have found good red drum action from the lower Cape Fear River all the way up to Topsail. The fish are feeding on the flats, and anglers are hooking them on topwater plugs, spinnerbaits, Gulps, and other lures.
The flounder bite is still good inshore, with anglers finding flatfish around the docks, creeks, and inlets. Live finger mullet and Gulp baits will both fool the flatties.
Anglers have also been reporting good action with sheepshead in the area. The fish are feeding around hard inshore structure (like dock and bridge pilings and oyster rocks), and anglers can hook up with them on live fiddler crabs.
Rick, of Living Waters Guide Service, reports that the king mackerel bite has been good lately around bottom structure in the 20-25 mile range, particularly south of Wrightsville (with some fish in the mid-20’s class). Some dolphin and a few sailfish are mixed in with the kings, and anglers can have shots at all three while slow-trolling live pogies.
The key to finding the kings, dolphin, and sails is to find pods of bait in the middle of the water column. Anglers shouldn’t waste too much time fishing an area where they aren’t marking much bait.
Megan Tamson, of Wilmington, with her first dolphin. The fish fell for a ballyhoo beneath a blue/white Ilander near 23 Mile Rock while she was fishing on the "Fish-A-Holic" with Gary Spangler.
Jim, of Plan 9 Charters, reports that the spanish mackerel bite has been good lately despite the windy and wet weather. Most of the fish are falling for trolled Clarkspoons, and the action’s been better at spots to the south like Johns Creek and the Carolina Beach tide line.
Sharks are also feeding near shrimp boats in the area, and dead and cut pogies will attract their attention. Anglers don’t need to get right on top of the boats to find action, as the sharks will be cruising over a fairly wide area.
Danny, of 96 Charter Company, reports that there’s been a pretty good flounder bite at deeper holes behind Masonboro Island lately. Anglers are catching a few reds in the same areas, and live or dead finger mullet will fool both fish.
Ken, of Swell Rider Charters, reports that with the wind lately, the best bottom fishing bet has been looking for gag grouper at structure 15-25 miles off the beaches. Since the new one fish per person bag limits have been instituted, finding limits of the gags hasn’t been very hard. Cigar minnows, sardines, and Boston mackerel have been producing most of the gag action.
Mike, of No Excuses Charters, reports that the wind and extremely low tides lately have made fishing tough, but anglers are still picking away at the red drum and flounder in the creeks, marshes, and around the inlets. Gulp baits and live baits will fool both fish.
Sheepshead are feeding around inshore structure like bridge pilings, and anglers can find action with them while fishing with fiddler crabs.
Rob, of Johnnie Mercer’s Pier, reports that anglers caught good numbers of gray trout (most 12-15”) last week on bottom rigs baited with shrimp. Some spot, croaker, and whiting have been mixed in, and anglers are hooking them both day and night.
The king action’s slowed down a bit with the recent windy weather, but anglers still landed several last week (the largest 28 lbs.). Some small cobia and blacktip and hammerhead sharks are also taking an interest in the king rigs.
