Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report 6-29-11

Can you say hot weather and yes we need the rain, but the fishing has been great for the most part! Going a little earlier in the morning lately and getting back earlier has been my fishing times for the last few weeks! With this heat the water temps have come up a bit and this has changed a few patterns of fishing this last few weeks.

Flounder has been the winner for me in the last few weeks, my clients have caught a few very nice Flounder lately and the bigger Flounder are hitting artificial baits! I have found most of the Flounder just off the beach on hard bottoms, ledges, around the local inlets and docks in the ICW. The Flounder are still mixed in size, but there are some very nice Flounder starting to mix in with the throw backs. I have always been a live bait guy when it comes to Flounder, but let me tell you my clients have caught some big Flounder in the last few weeks on artificial baits.

Barkley Gulp and Gulp Alive Jerkshad are really putting some nice Flounder in my boat for my clients! I am rigging these five inch Gulp Jerkshad on 1/4oz, 3/8ox and 1/2oz jig heads; I use forty pound mono or fluorocarbon as leader. The colors I prefer for the Jerkshads are pearl, chart pepper neon, new penny and root beer gold. If you would rather go the live bait root, try live baits like mud minnows, finger mullets or small menhaden. Rig these live baits on Carolina rigs with Eagle Claw L42 #1 and 1/0 hook sizes.

The Redfish action has been a little slower with all the warm air and warm water temps, but I’m catching a hand full in the early mornings with a little patients. Working scented baits like Berkley Gulp slowly along grass banks and docks has worked the best for me lately. A new Berkley bait that is just getting in to stores now has been very good for me on the Redfish; the baits are the Berkley Fire Tail three inch Shrimp. These are good looking baits with great action and in proven color patterns! The colors I have had the best luck with are the rootbeer gold/chart, new penny/chart and cajun purple/chart; rigging these shrimp on jigs heads in sizes 1/8oz and 1/4oz weights. Thirty of forty pound mono or a better choice fluorocarbon for leader when casting grubs/jigs for Redfish. Tip: when water temps are up try to work your jig a bit slower for the Redfish; “who wants to run in hot weather?”

Spanish Mackerel are hitting very good most days just off the beach in twenty to fifty feet of water, just look for the bait on your fish finder and you are sure to catch some Spanish Macks! I’ve had the best luck with deeper spoons on number one planners, yes I’m seeing a few on the top line but the best has been deeper. Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash. The Spanish hitting the top baits are hitting Blue Water Candy’s Spanish Daisy chains in colors pink, blue and silver; the great thing about this rig is you can pull it off lighter tackle outfits. When the Spanish are jumping I’m casting spoons in sizes one to three inches long with a fast retrieve and keeping my rod tip low to the water to keep the spoon just under the surface. Tip: most of the Spanish I’m finding are in the cleaner and clearer waters off the beach.

I’m starting to see the first push of Tarpon heading up the coast, last week we jumped off about a seventy pound Tarpon just off Masonboro inlet.
Tarpon fishing in North Carolina can be very fun, but it can be a challenge to get one to bite! I fish for Tarpon on the bottom or free lining, using live and fresh dead baits like; spots, bluefish and Menhaden. I’m rigging these baits on fish finder rigs, with three to five feet of 80 to 100 pound mono leaders. Circle hooks are the best bet for good hook ups and landings for Tarpon in hook sizes 7/0 to 10/0 depending what hook series/maker you like. I have also had a fair share of Tarpon on my kite rig with live baits like mullets, bluefish and menhaden. Keep your eyes peeled for rolling and feeding Tarpon if you’re in the hunt for one of these beasts.

Fishing Gear I use:

Reels Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Tarpon Fishing reels: Penn Battle 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD and Torque 12 & 15. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Tarpon Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF. Tarpon Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series or Penn Toarque jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Tarpon; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound. Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

*Are you on Facebook? Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed live reports, photos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff! Just Fan (like) the page on I’ll have monthly random drawings of Fans for free tackle!

Hey thanks for reading, have a great 4th of July, be safe and good fishing to ya!

Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report 6-9-11

Well folks the heat is on! The temps are staying pretty warm to hot for the last few weeks, but the coolest place to be is on the water; fishing of course! There has been no shortage of bait in the last few weeks and with all the bait the fish have followed and the fishing has been very good most days!

You know me let’s start with one I love to fish for; the Cobia! There has been a good number of Cobia around this season, I have seen one almost everyday I’ve been looking for them and there are some big ones around. My clients put four (keepers) Cobia in the boat this last week and I got to catch one myself this last week too. The two big Cobia in the last week was a 66.5 pounder and my 52.4 pound, the really cool part of my Cobia is I caught it on a medium action rod and a Penn Battle 3000 spinning reel with fifth-teen pound Spiderwire braid. What a fight; I did not ever think I was going to get that Cobia in, after a thirty minute fight I put the heat on the fish and got it to the boat!

I look this time of year for Cobia around inlets, shoals and bait schools; near shore/offshore reefs and ledges are also a good place to look too. With the water being so clear it has been easier to see those brown logs in the water. We are throwing big jigs, swim baits and live bait to the Cobia. Color really does not seem to matter, brighter the better; Blue Water Candy makes some very nice Cobia jigs, check them out at our local tackle shops! When I’m not sight casting for them, we are fishing around inlets, shoals and near shore artificial reefs. I float fish, bottom fish and kite fish in these areas with live menhaden, blues and mullet as bait. Yes sometimes I do chum, but the Sharks and Rays can sometimes drive you crazy it you chum a lot!

Casting and trolling for Spanish mackerel has been very good lately. I’m seeing Spanish and Blues all up & down the beaches in fifth-teen to forty-five foot of water as well as around all the local inlets. There has been a few very nice Spanish in the three to six pound ranger caught around the area too. Spanish mackerel have very good eye sight and to the catch the bigger ones you really should try a fluorocarbon leader, you would be surprised how this can make a difference sometimes!

I’ve had the best luck with deeper spoons on number one planners, yes I’m seeing a few on the top line but the best has been deeper. Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash. The Spanish hitting the top baits are hitting Blue Water Candy’s Spanish Daisy chains in colors pink, blue and silver; the great thing about this rig is you can pull it off lighter tackle outfits. When the Spanish are jumping I’m casting spoons in sizes one to three inches long with a fast retrieve and keeping my rod tip low to the water to keep the spoon just under the surface.

With this nice hot air around the Flounder are finally showing up in better numbers, there is still a lot of smaller ones inshore, but the bigger ones are showing every day! Most of the Flounder fishing I’m doing is just off the beach and around the inlets, with the new fifth-teen inch rule you just have got to pick through them to get the keepers. I’ve caught Flounder on both live and artificial baits lately, what I have seen is more numbers on live bait, but more keepers on artificial baits. Mud minnows on light Carolina rigs with #one L42 Eagle Claw hooks are catching the numbers of Flounder, Berkley Gulp Jerkshads in five & six inch sizes are getting the most keeper Flounder. Tip of the day: In most cases bigger bait will catch you bigger Flounder, but you will catch less numbers of Flounder by going with bigger bait.

Redfishing for me has slowed a bit, but the bigger fish are starting to show up around the inlets and near shore live/hard bottoms. I have had no real good numbers yet, just some spread out fish here and there while we are Cobia fishing. Bigger scented grubs like six and seven inch Jerkshads are a good bet for catching ocean Reds on artificial baits, live mullets or menhaden are good on the live bait side of things.

Fishing Gear I use:

Reels Penn Fierce and Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Cobia Fishing reels: Penn Battle 5000, 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Cobia Line: 30 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF, Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. Cobia Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Cobia; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound. Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

*Hey everybody likes a deal on tackle right?!?! This weekend at Tex’s Tackle it’s the Penn Summer Kick-off Sale! Lots of good deals, here are just a few; Berkley’s new Pro Spec Premium Monofilament line will be on sale for one (1) cent a yard. If you like to King Mackerel fish or troll offshore this is the line for you; super supple, thin diameter and excellent knot & impact strength! Berkley Big Game on sale for one cent, Spiderwire Invisi-braid ½ off! Also deals on Reels and Rods too! I’ll be there on Friday to answer any questions you may have about any Penn products come by and say hello, I look forward to seeing you!

**Are you on Facebook? Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed reports, Photos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff! Just Fan (like) the page on I’ll have monthly random drawings of Fans for free tackle!

Hey thanks for reading and good fishing to ya,

Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report 5-26-11

Summer has really been showing its face around here lately and with the warm air comes more bait and more means more fish to catch! I’ve seen a big change in water temps in the last few days, the waters around Wrightsville Beach are hanging around 80` inshore; time to go for a swim! With this warm water the bait has just exploded in numbers in the area waters and it is very easy to find.

The Spanish mackerel and Bluefish are just about everywhere you go just off the beaches from twenty feet to forty feet of water; you should have no problem catching them. I’ve had the best luck with deeper spoons on number one planners, yes I’m seeing a few on the top line but the best has been deeper. Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash. The Spanish hitting the top baits are hitting Blue Water Candy’s Spanish Daisy chains in colors pink, blue and silver; the great thing about this rig is you can pull it off lighter tackle outfits. I’m using thirty and forty pound clear Berkley Big Game mono for all my Spanish leaders. Tip: keep your trolling and casting speed up; faster moving baits seem to get more bites, I troll around five knots or six mph.

If you know me at all you know I love to fish for Cobia and it is now Cobia season for our local waters; the Cobia have been showing up during the last few weeks. I look this time of year for Cobia around inlets, shoals and bait schools; near shore/offshore reefs and ledges are also a good place to look too. With the water being so clear it has been easier to see those brown logs in the water. We are throwing big jigs, swim baits and live bait to the Cobia. Color really does not seem to matter; but “go bright”! When I’m not sight casting for them, we are fishing around inlets, shoals and near shore artificial reefs. I float fish, bottom fish and kite fish in these areas with live menhaden, blues and mullet as bait. If you hook one of these beast, take your time fighting them, they don’t tire out easily; a green Cobia can really tear up a boat or you!

The Redfish have slowed a little bit over the last week due to the waters warming up so fast, but we are still catching them; going earlier in the morning seems to help the bite some. Fishing top-water baits like MirrOlure’s Top Dog Jr or Top Pup also Sebile’s Ghost Walker are catching me some really nice Reds in shallow water. When I’m fishing in deeper water for Reds like around docks, creek mouths and deeper grass lines; I’m casting Berkley Gulp products like the Ripple Mullet or the three inch Gulp shrimp. The colors I prefer in the Ripple Mullet are rootbeer gold/chart tail, goby magic chart tail, new penny and pearl white for the Redfish. Rig these baits on a red, black, brown or gray jig head with a thirty to fifty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader. I have had some good luck lately with spinner baits for the Redfish and the trick that seems to work for me is a Ripple Mullet in the color rootbeer gold/chart tail as the grub on the spinner bait. Remember reel that spinner bait; just fast enough to keep it off the bottom.

Fishing Gear I use:

Thanks for reading this report, if you have any questions just let me know! Get out there and enjoy this summer weather, winter was cold and summer is going to be Hot!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report 5-9-11

Well folks, we have had some cooler weather lately, but it seems that it has not hurt the fishing much at all. The water temps did not go down to much maybe a few degrees, but over all the fishing has been good to great most days. One thing I have seen lately is a good amount of bait showing up around the area, always a good sigh!

Redfish fishing has been pretty good the last few weeks, but one thing I’ve found is the weekdays have had more constancy of good Redfishing due to all the fishing pressure on the weekends. I have seen some very nice Reds lately coming form some shallow water spots, my clients this last week have caught some Reds over thirty two inches inshore. Those are some nice Reds for early May in shallow water and on very light tackle. Using bigger baits has paid off for me in the last two weeks with these bigger fish starting to bite.

One of the winners for me in the last few weeks for the Reds has been the Berkley Gulp Ripple Mullet, now I know I talk about this bait a lot; hey it works! Great swimming action and the proven fishing catching scent of Berkley Gulp! The colors I prefer in the Ripple Mullet are rootbeer gold/chart tail, goby magic chart tail, new penny and pearl white for the Redfish. Rig these baits on a red, black, brown or gray jig head with a thirty to fifty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader and you are good to go! I’ve never been a big user of spoons for Redfish, but I’ve been playing with a new spoon lately, well new to me at least. The spoon is a product of Sébile and it’s called an Onduspoon; let me tell you this spoon has got some action! I’ve caught some very nice Reds and Chopper Blues on this spoon in the last few weeks. The Onduspoon has rattles built in to it; great action and sound. The colors I prefer are gold, natural shiner, blue althea and red head; check them out at www.sebile.com

If you would rather go with the live/cut bait root for the Redfish, there is plenty on bait around; small mullet and menhaden are in most of the local creeks. The days I’ve caught bait, one cast of my net has yielded plenty bait for the day. Light Carolina rigs with an Eagle Claw L 42 #1 or 1/0 hook and twelve to sixteen inches of forty pound mono for leader as a rig. Fishing creek mouths, oyster rock edges and marsh grass lines will produce Redfish for you. Just remember fresh lively baits will catch more fish!

There has been just about all the Bluefish you want around the inlets lately and a good number of Spanish mackerel showing up as well. Trolling Clark spoons and small deep driver lures has been the key to success. Clark spoons in sizes #0, #00 and #1 in colors silver, gold and pink flash seem to work the best. Thirty or forty pound clear mono leader will work just fine and don’t forget the ball bearing swivels for those Clark spoons to keep you leaders from tingling up! There have been a few nice Chopper (bigger) Blues around the inlets in the last few weeks; casting bigger lures like the Onduspoon #3 or shallow water crank baits will find these bigger Blues. Just remembers a light steal leader for these fish for they will bite right through mono leaders.

Flounder fishing is really picking up around the area. Most of the Flounder are eating little menhaden and Mud minnows on light Carolina rigs. The Flounder are mixed in size to just under keeper size to a few over five pounds. I have caught some Flounder on Artificial baits as well. I have had the best luck with Berkley Gulp mud minnow in pearl white, sardine, killifish and new penny colors. Rig the grubs on a red or black jig head for best results. Flounder fishing should stay consistent right through the summer and fall.

Last but never lest; Cobia are starting to show up around the area waters. I look for Cobia around inlets, shoals and bait schools; near shore/offshore reefs and ledges are also a good place to look too. With the water being so clear it has been easier to see those brown logs in the water. We are throwing big jigs, swim baits and live bait to the Cobia. Color really does not seem to matter; but “go bright”! When I’m not sight casting for them, we are fishing around inlets, shoals and near shore artificial reefs. I float fish, bottom fish and kite fish in these areas with live menhaden, blues and mullet as bait. You can chum if you like, but the sharks will come and they will come in numbers!

Fishing Gear I use:

Reels Penn Fierce and Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Cobia Fishing reels: Penn Battle 5000, 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Cobia Line: 30 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF, Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. Cobia Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon. Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

Thanks for reading this report, if you have any questions just let me know! If you would like to go fishing drop me a line; I’m booking now for this coming summer fishing season and don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report 4-26-11

The weather has been just right lately for good inshore and near shore fishing; the great thing is the fishing has been great too! I feel that we are about two weeks ahead of the normal water temps and fishing for this time of year! Here is this weeks fishing report>>>

I’m seeing Bonita, Blues and a few Spanish when we are trolling off the beach to five miles off. Trolling Clark spoons and small deep driver lures has been the key to success. When using the Clark spoons, I would recommend the pink flash spoon in sizes #00, #0 and #1; the pink flash series has really helped me put more fish in the boat. A bird rig on top with a Clark spoon about five to six feet behind it or Blue water Candy Spanish daisy chain (blue, silver, pink) have worked very well on top too. Look for birds working or marking bait on you fish finder is the way to find the feeding fish. When the fish are not on top, I’ve caught some nice Blues and a few Bonita by casting a spoon out and letting it sink down before reeling is in. I’ve found that some times these fish are deeper and you can get them by getting down to deeper water.

With all this warm air lately the Redfish and Black drum have been moving in to the shallower waters. I caught some very nice Reds and Black drum this last few weeks in waters of five to as shallow as one foot deep. The trick for the Reds has been Berkley Gulp Alive in patterns three inch Shrimp and Mud minnow; fishing these baits around docks, oyster rocks and grass lines. Going with lighter jig heads 1/16oz and 1/8oz is working well on the fish that are in one to five foot of water. Bait fishing is still good and will continue right through the summer. Red and Black drum are hitting cut shrimp and mullet on Carolina rigs around the same areas; docks, oyster rocks etc… You never know how big or little the drum will be when you are bait fishing; we’ve had reds as small as fourteen inches and as big as over thirty inches lately.

The Flounder fishing should really start to pick soon, I look for Flounder around the inlets and just off the beach in the spring/early summer mouths. Small baits like mud minnows are great ‘Flounder finder’ baits, you can use these baits for a long time before they die and they are pretty easy to catch. Another way I really like to catch Flounder is with five inch Berkley Gulp Jerkshad; the pinfish don’t seem to tear these apart quite as fast as live baits. Just rig the Berkley Gulp Jerkshad like any grub and keep the flat side of the Jerkshad facing up where the hook comes out. Don’t really worry too much about color, but I would recommend going with brighter colors for Flounder fishing.

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Fierce and Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes.
Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF, Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. Leader material: Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon. Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report 4-13-11

I hope everyone is enjoying some of this warmer weather lately and now if the wind would just lay down a little bit, we go fishing even more! It will not be long before its ninety degrees and no wind at all. For those of you who are loyal readers, I’m sorry for the break in regular fishing reports, I have been very busy this winter with seminars, fishing schools, tackle sales and my fishing trips mixed in too. I’m back now and will keep the fishing reports coming bi-weekly as normal. Here it this weeks fishing report>>>

The Redfish and Black drum bite in the ICW and creeks just off the ICW has been good. I’m starting to see a few smaller Reds 14” to 21” in some of the creeks on warmer days; a few over slot fish mixed in as well. Most of the reds and black drum are hitting mud minnows and “fresh as you can get shrimp”. I use two hook bottom rigs with 2, 1 & 1/0 bait holder hooks, with the fresh shrimp, when fishing for the black drum and reds. If you would like to go the artificial root, I would recommend using scented grubs. The best luck baits have been Berkley Gulp and Berkley Powerbait shrimp in colors Pearl, Molting and New Penny. Jigs heads for the grubs in 1/8oz to 3/8 oz, colors red and black seem to be the trick. Work’em slow around docks and drop-offs on grass lines and oyster rocks. The best tides have been falling or raising but fishing closer to the lower parts of the tides.

Something that I love to do this time of year (late March to early June) is go up to lock & dam #1 and fish for Shad. These fish are so much fun to catch; they run, jump and run some more. Light tackle and fly fishing is the name of the game here! I see so many people fishing for shad use to heavy of tackle. Lighter tackle equals more bites and more fun! All you need is a light rod and reel; I use a Pflueger Echelon combo PFLECHSP502CB2 loaded with six pound Berkley Fireline crystal braid. A two shad dart rig with Fifth teen or twenty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader; darts in colors pink and green. On our last trip we caught well over fifty shad. If you have not ever tried it; you need too! Also while your shad fishing you can put out a catfish line and sometimes catch a very nice Blue catfish.

False Albacore fishing has been good the days I can get out for them. I’m finding the Albacore from five to twenty miles offshore. There has been a few Bonita mixed in with them form time to time as well. It should not be long before we are catching good numbers of Bonita around the area waters. The #0 and #1 pink flash, silver and gold Clark spoon has caught most of our fish lately. Trolling these spoons on #1 or #2 planner; with thirty to forty feet of forty pound Berkley big game mono as leader on the planners is the way to go. On the bird rig for the surface fishing; I rig it with five to six feet of leader to the spoon. Don’t forget to put a ball bearing swivel on the bird and planner; this will keep tangles from happing (well most of the time!)

When the Bonita and Albacore are on top feeding; cast Maria and Sea striker jig-spoons. The colors that seem to work the best are pink, green and blue. I use a forty pound Fluorocarbon leader; about fifth teen to twenty inches long. I really like Stren’s tinted (gunsmoke) fluorocarbon leader material for clear water conditions; “this stuff really works”! A light weight 7’ rod and a Penn Battle 3000 loaded with ten to fifth teen pound braid is important for casting to these fast fish. The reason for this is the further you can cast equals more chance’s you will hook up. When there are a lot of boats chasing the Bonita, they get wearer of boats. If you can cast farther; you will catch more of these fish!

Fishing Gear we use:

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report 2-25-11

Wow, what a difference some warm weather makes on fishing! This has been some of the best February weather I’ve ever seen around southeast North Carolina in a very long time! The great thing it has really gotten the fish moving and starting to feed some around the local waters. And that’s what I’m going to go over in this fishing report.

I love saltwater fishing but, I like any kind of fish pulling on my line salt or fresh and this time of year you can catch some really nice fresh water fish. I have run a few fresh water trips in the last few weeks with some pretty good success; we even got a few very nice bass on a fly rod early last week that went just over six pounds. Fishing local lakes, ponds and the Northeast Cape Fear River has been producing good catches of large-mouth bass. The best baits lately have been Berkley Powerbait 5” Sinkworms in colors green pumpkin/watermelon, black with red flake and watermelon. I’m rigging these worms Texas and wacky style on 4/0 wide gap worm hooks. When we are casting the fly rod we are using; six to eight weight rods with floating line and eight to twelve pound tippets.

One fish that has just been waiting for the water to warm up just a bit is the good’ole Redfish; they are on the move and biting! We are seeing the Reds on the shallow mud and oyster flats now in good numbers. Capt Jeff Wolfe and I gave it a shot last week and ended up with just over forty-five Redfish for the day. All the Reds hit Berkley Gulp 3” shrimp in colors natural and molting on 1/8oz and 1/4oz jig heads with twenty pound Stren tinted tannic fluorocarbon leader. There have been a few schools of Reds around the local inlets and just off the beaches if we can get the weather to go get them!

The Cape Fear River Stripers are biting from time to time; it got a little cold for them but with this nice warm up they should start biting. The Stripers are hitting Berkley gulp jerk shad 5” in colors pearl, new penny and electric chicken. We rig the jerk shad Texas style, with a large 5/0 worm hook. Rapala X-raps work too, in colors glass ghost and green back. Remember, still work the lures slow for the water is warming up but it’s still a little cold.

I would like to thank everyone who has attended the fishing schools, seminars and boat shows I’ve spoke at this winter, it always good to see everyone. There have been some very good seminars/schools this winter and the turnouts have been great, thanks again for attending. If anyone has any questions about any of the classes I spoke at, please feel free to e-mail the questions any time to captainjot@yahoo.com There are a few more good fishing functions you can attend this spring, here are a few more I’ll be at in the near feature.

February 25th, 26th and 27th Bass Pro Shop 2011 Spring Fishing Classic, Myrtle Beach, SC. I’ll be answering any questions you have about products made by Penn, Spidwire, Berkley, Fenwick, Minn Kota, MirrOlure and many others you want to purchase at this sale. Bass Pro is also offering there Reel Trade-Ins program for you to save money on your new reels purchased from Bass Pro.

March 26th: Tex’s Tackle Spring Sale and Fishing Seminars. Yes it’s that time of year again Tex’s big spring sale, Tex will have all kinds of good deals on tackle to get you started for this upcoming fishing season. I’ll be to help you with any questions you have about tackle and I’ll also being doing a seminar or two on inshore fishing.

*If you know any one or your looking for a Bay boat my 2008 Ranger Bay 2200 is for sale please look at this link for all the info on this well maintained Ranger. http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2008-Ranger-2200-Bay-97953352 If you have any questions or would like to see/test drive please let me know.

Fishing gear I use:

Gear used: Redfish, Bass and Striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF for Redfish, Bass and Striped Bass. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello.

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report 1-31-11

I hope everybody is making through this winter so far, the weather been up and down and that is an understatement! There are some fish biting but you just need to go on the right days to catch them. If you’re settled down for the winter and don’t feel like fishing, hit a local or regional fishing school or boat show; you never know what you might learn or see!

The Redfishing lately has been pretty good most days when the wind is not howling and we’ve seen some nice schools of Reds. Warmer, sunny and lower wind days can be the key to catching these inshore winter Redfish. It’s not hard to catch them once you find’em, look for these Reds in creek with dark colored bottoms and oyster rocks never hurt. Scented soft plastics like Berkley Gulp should do the trick to get these Reds to hit. Patterns in Gulp like Shrimp in sizes 2” and 3” are my go too, colors that seem to work the best are pearl, molting and new penny. Try lighter jig heads like 1/16 and 1/8 when winter fishing; lighter jig heads help you to work the lure much slower and still look nature as possible.

I’ve made quite a few trips to the Cape Fear River year; there are two different kinds of fish to chase in the Cape Fear, Catfish and Striped Bass most all winter long. Here is a few ways to put a CFR Striper on your line. Try Berkley Gulp and Powerbait Jerkshad in 5’ size; in pearl & new penny colors. Work these baits slowly and always rig them weed-less; there are many hangs in the Cape Fear River. Look for Stripers on drop-offs, dock pilings and reed-grass lines.

If you would like to give the Catfish a try, use baits like cut mullet, chicken livers and cut eel. I use heavy Carolina rigs when I fish for catfish. Try an Eagle claw L42 2/0 to 4/0 hook with fifty or eighty pound mono leader to make your carolina rig. Look for the catfish on drop-offs from five to twenty feet of water. We have seen some blue cats over thirty pounds caught in the river so try not to use to light of tackle; these are not always your ‘farm pond channel cats’!

Fishing gear I use:

Gear used: Redfish and Striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. Catfish Fenwick HMG GS 70MH-MF. Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF for Redfish and Striped Bass. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.

In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar/school season. Here are some of the shows I plan to speck at or appear at.

February 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011 – Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show – Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world. I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.

February 12th Fisherman’s Post 6th Annual Saltwater Fishing school. www.fishermanspost.com/fishing-school I look forward to this school, I’ve wanted to participate in this school in the past but my winter schedule did not allow me to. I’ve herd many good things about this school in the past. There will be more than twelve local captains at this year school to help you learn all there is to know about any kind of local saltwater fishing.

February 19th, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest. www.capefearsportsmen.org/fishfest This is a great free event! I’ll be speaking on two topics this year; Cape Fear River Striped Bass fishing and my very popular MirrOlures with success seminar.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello.

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report 1-11-2011

Folks this winter will not give up with out a fight, right when it looks like its going to get warmer; we get snow and nasty cold weather! So what are we going to do if we live to fish; of course GO Fishing on the ‘right’ days! With this winter being cold and last winter not any better, I’ve found you can catch fish but you just have got to go on the right days. So you ask what are the right days? Warmer, sunnier and lighter wind days are your best shot to catch fish this time of year. Any thing that will give you an advantage when it’s cold out side, here are a few winter fish that can get you through the cold winter of fishing.

If you like to chase Red’s the Redfishing in the winter can be some of the best of the year for catching numbers of fish; the deal breaker for this fishery is you have got to good weather, clam seas and bright sunny skies. I use Berkley Gulp Ripple Mullet in colors Pearl/chart tail, New Penny and Rootbeer gold/chart tail; also the Berkley Gulp 5” and 6” Jerkshad work well too, when looking for surf Red schools. Work these baits slowly in front of the Redfish schools not right through the school, all this will do is spook the Reds and will make it very hard to catch them. Don’t count out a Reds inshore this time of year, look for Reds on dark color (black, brown) mud flats. The Reds love to get on these flats to warm up a bit when it gets cold.

Cape Fear River Striped Bass are not the easiest winter fish to catch but they will bite right through the winter, the colder it gets the harder they are to catch. Taking your time and fishing hard you can catch Cape Fear River Striped Bass. Here is a few ways to put a CFR Striper on your line. Try Berkley Gulp and Powerbait Jerkshad in 5’ size; in pearl & new penny colors. Work these baits slowly and always rig them weed-less; there are many hangs in the Cape Fear River. Look for Stripers on drop-offs, dock pilings and reed-grass lines.

Fishing gear I use:

Gear used: Redfish and Striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. *New Rod Line I’m using: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF for Redfish and Striped Bass. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.

In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar/school season. Here are some of the shows I plan to speck at or appear at.

It was good to see everyone at the NC Bass and Saltwater Boat Show and Expo this last weekend. This was a great Expo and there were a lot of people there this year. Those of you how came to one of my seminars, thanks for dropping in and if you have any follow up questions about any thing I spoke about; feel free to e-mail the question at captainjot@yahoo.com

January 18, 2011 – Bass Pro Shop in Charlotte, NC I will have a seminar at 7:30pm on Tuesday night; Speaking for the Piedmont Chapter of NC Waterman which meets at Bass Pro Shops the third Tuesday of each month . The topics I’ll be speaking on are Speckled trout, Redfish and Cape Fear River Striped Bass. If you live in the Charlotte area come on by that night.

January 29th 2011 – Saltwater Sportsman National Seminar Series. BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE-Odell Williamson Auditorium. www.nationalseminarseries.com I’ll be there with Penn Fishing tackle showing all the new Rods and Reels from Penn.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello.

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Report-12-22-10

Man it’s been cold around here lately, where did fall go? We have had some kind of weather around here in the last; oh-I’ll say over a year! Cold, hot and cold again, what a year!?!? It has played havoc on the local fishing but I’m not one to set around and wait for it to warm up, I like to fish! So here is the fishing report of what I’ve been trying to catch (with some success) during this cold December we are having.

Speckled trout fishing got a little harder in the last few weeks and I’ve caught a few but worked hard to catch’em. Working baits like MirrOlures and Berkley Gulp very slow has been the best success lately. The trout seem to be sitting deeper whether it’s in the creeks or around the inlets; the trout are feeding in the five plus feet of water. When the trout starting doing this, it’s usually a little later in the year; I use baits that sink very slow. The MirrOlure 52M, 52MR and TT series are some of the best for the slow pattern I look for during the cold fishing mouths. When I use soft plastics like Berkley Gulp I use lighter jig heads in weights of 1/16oz, 1/8oz and 1/4oz. This lighter jig heads make it much easier to work grubs much slower when trout are lethargic form cold water. Any days when we have mostly sunny skies or warmer air temps; these are the winter days you need to try to go Speckled trout fishing.

When the cold weather hit us and decided not to leave, I knew it was time to go try for some Cape Fear River Striped Bass. Cape Fear Stripers can be a hit and miss fishery but not to say you can’t go catch a few most days. I look for the Striped bass in the CFR to be in around five to twelve feet of water; when its warmer they are shallower and when it’s colder they are usually deeper. Casting soft baits like Berkley Gulp jerkshads and pogy patterns are a good choice for the Stripers. Colors I prefer are pearl, new penny and Arkansas shiner. When the CFR Stripers are very active, I like hard baits like MirrOlures L29M in colors 11, 18 and 808. Always with any winter fishing, work baits slower in cold water for better results.

One thing we have not had much of this season is nice enough weather to get out and chase the winter Redfish, one of my favorite winter pass times! The Reds are there all we need is the weather to go get’em. When I fish for winter Redfish I use lots of Berkley Gulp! You can’t go wrong with scented lures when the water gets cold. Berkley Gulp Ripple Shad, 3” Shrimp and five inch Jerkshad should do the trick. Another trick for winter Redfish is to look for dark/black mud bottoms in creeks; on warmer sunny days the Reds love to get on these flats to warm up a bit. We all know if a fish warms up any at all they will usually bite a hook!

Fishing gear I use:

Gear used: Speckled trout, Redfish and striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. *New Rod Line I’m using: Fenwick HMG series in sizes GS 70ML-F for Trout and GS 70M-MF for Redfish and Striped Bass. Locally Intercoastal Angler carries the Fenwick line of rods. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound for trout and thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.

In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar/school season. Here are some of the shows I plan to speck at or appear at.

January 7th, 8th and 9th, 2011 – Raleigh Bass & Saltwater Fishing Expo NC State Fairgrounds – Raleigh, NC. www.ncboatshows.com This is a GREAT show, with over 160 booths offering everything from the latest lures, plastics, jigs, custom rods, apparel, knives, product sample booths, hard-tops, saltwater fishing guides, fresh water guides, cast nets, gaffs…..by far one of the best shows of its kind in the Carolina’s and Virginia. I will be there along with other Ranger and Pure Fishing pro staff members, as well as many others fresh and salt water pros! I’ll be there all three days and doing two different seminars on fishing MirrOlures the right way and near shore light tackle King Mackerel Fishing.

February 12th Fisherman’s Post 6th Annual Saltwater Fishing school. I look forward to this school, I’ve wanted to participate in this school in the past but my winter schedule did not allow me to. I’ve herd many good things about this school in the past. There will be more than twelve local captains at this year school to help you learn all there is to know about any kind of local saltwater fishing. Learn more about this school at: www.fishermanspost.com/fishing-school

February 19th, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest. www.capefearsportsmen.org/fishfest I don’t know what topics I’ll be speaking on yet, but as soon as I know I’ll let you know! For more info on the day, check out this link!

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello!

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011 | Comments Off

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