Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Forecast-July 2018

July around Southeast NC is a good month for fishing but with the warm season we’ve already had this year you may need to fish a little differently this July. Go earlier or later in the day to find that cooler water. Even a light rain shower can make the fish feed better. Small changes can make for a better day of fishing or (catching)!

The Flounder fishing is in full swing about everywhere by July and it’s been a good Flounder season already!  In July you can find Flounder around most inlets, in creeks (deeper water parts), main channels (ICW) and just off the beach.  Using smaller lives baits like mud minnows, finger mullets and little menhaden should do the trick to put dinner in the boat for you.  I rig these live baits on Carolina rigs, with #1 and 1/0 L42 Eagle Claw hooks; a forty pound mono leader will work fine for Flounder fishing.  Casting and slowly retrieving this rig, drafting or anchoring with this rig are all good ways to catch Flounder with a Carolina rig.  You can also go the artificial root as well to catch Flounder; (which I prefer).  Try a Berkley Gulp five or six inch jerkshad in colors pearl white or chart pepper neon.  I rig the jerkshad on 3/8 to ¾ ounce jig heads, working the jig slowly across the bottom. Remember it is always a good idea to have a good landing net for Flounder fishing; FraBill makes a lot of nice landing nets.

Redfish in July, well you can catch them but with the water really warming up you need to change the way you fish a little.  If you want to target Reds in shallow waters, you really need to go early in the morning or late afternoon when the water is a bit cooler; top-water lures like MirrOlure Top Pup’s are my choice in the shallows.  During the mid parts of the day try to fish a little deeper with jigs and grubs, the Reds like a little deeper water when the sun gets high in the sky.  I really like Berkley Gulp baits, hey you can’t beat there great scent and Redfish love’em!  Berkley’s three inch shrimp is my go to Redfish lure during the hot summer months, I like them in molting, sugar spice glow and white colors.  I rig my Gulp baits on 1/16, 1/8 and ¼ ounce jig heads in colors red, gray and brown with thirty or forty pound Berkley Pro Spec fluorocarbon leader material.

I really start to keep my eye out for the silver king (Tarpon); these big silver fish are making their way up from Florida; they are a little early this year.  I’ve already jumped two nice ones!  The long trip has made them hungry and hungry fish are easier to catch, ‘most of the time’!  I look for Tarpon around local inlets, shoals and hard bottoms close to shore.  Live or fresh dead baits like Menhaden or Mullet on the bottom and free lining are the best bet for getting a bite out of these beasts.  I prefer Trokar AP circle hooks in sizes 8/0 to 9/0 and my leader material is always Berkley Pro Spec sixty or eighty pound fluorocarbon; Tarpon have great eye sight!  Tarpon are around from mid June to mid September most seasons around Southeast NC.  If you hook in to one of these Tarpon hold on tight, they fight very hard!

I also enjoy shark fishing later in the summer and July the bigger sharks really start to show up.  Sharks on light tackle are always a good pull and boy the kids love to catch’em!  I drift live and fresh dead bluefish, Spanish mackerel, mullet or menhaden in thirty to forty five feet of water just offshore.  I rig these baits with a 7/0 circle hook with one foot of ninety pound wire and six to eight feet of eighty pound mono leader.  You can free line the bait and /or put a small egg sinker on to keep the bait close to the bottom.  You’ll know when you get a bite!   Most sharks are in the ten to one hundred pound range.

Tackle run down: PENN Battle II & SpinFisher VI reels 2500, 3000, 3500 sizes for the Redfish and Flounder.  Tarpon/Sharks PENN Spinfisher VI  6500 & 7500 and PENN 20 Fathom casting reels.  Rods PENN Allegiance II  7’ medium and med/heavy for the Redfish and Flounder.  Tarpon/Shark Rods: PENN Rampage or Carnage Jigging series.  Line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen pound and Berkley Pro Spec Chrome mono in thirty and forty pound for the Tarpon/sharks.

I hope you have a great Fourth of July, be safe on the water and good July fishing to you!

Capt. Jot Owens
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Posted in Fishing Reports on July 4th, 2018