Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Forecast-September 2018
September is the month of change, summer starts to wind down and fall starts to show it’s self. I personally really like to fish in September, warm days, a little less humidity, much less boat traffic and best of all; great fishing! Here are some of the “goto” fish I like to target during September.
The Flounder fishing has been good this season so far, with this said it looks like September should be a great mouth for Flounder too. I look for Flounder in the fall around the inlets, in the creeks; up and down the ICW. I also will find some very nice Flounder just offshore of Wrightsville/Topsail/Carolina Beach’s on live/hard bottom as well as artificial reefs. Mud minnows and small finger mullet will be the best live baits for Flounder in September. Rigging the live bait on carolina rigs with Eagle Claw 042 1/0 hooks is a good choice of rigs for Flounder.
If you prefer to use artificial baits, which I do; scented and none scented Jerkshad will do the job. Berkley Gulp Jerkshad in six inch with colors chart pepper neon and pearl white seem to work the best for me. Rig these on jig heads with longer hook shanks with will help with a better hookup ratio. I prefer 3/8oz inshore and 3/4oz to 1 oz jig heads for ocean fishing.
When the water starts to cool down the Redfishing (Red Drum) will heat up. I look for the Reds to be in the creeks, along the ICW docks and oyster rocks. Carolina rigs with live bait or fresh cut bait is a good bet to catch a Redfish.
If you want to go the artificial root, try Berkley Gulp three inch in color sugar spice glow or molting rigged on a 1/8oz or 1/4oz jig head should get’em to bite. Early mornings or late afternoons the top water bite should be good; cast MirrOlure Top Dog Jr’s and Top Pup’s for the best bite. Look for the top-water reds to be along marsh grass lines and shallow oyster rocks. You can also use rattling or popping corks in the same areas you use top-water plugs, just rig them with eight to fourteen inches of forty pound fluorocarbon, 1/0 hook L42 Eagle Claw and a live figure mullet.
The bigger Reds are starting to show up in the ocean on hard bottoms and around the inlets. You never know when you might hook one of these hard fighting fish. When I fish for bigger Reds, I use fresh cut or live menhaden and mullet. I use carolina rigs with TroKar TK5 8/0 or 9/0 AP circle hooks and eighty pound clear Berkley Big game mono leaders. Don’t forget to keep your drag tight when using circle hook so they will do their job. One tip I can give you when fishing for Bull (Old) Reds, is don’t use to light of tackle for these bigger Reds. If you fight them to long, there is a chance you can tire them out to much and kill them. Try a med/heavy rod and a reel with at least thirty pound mono or braid, this will help you get the fish in quicker; with a better chance of a good release. Check to see if the Red has a yellow tag in its back; there are a fair amount of tagged Big Reds out there.
Spanish mackerel fishing can be great during September. The Spanish run the biggest all year during the fall. You can cast or troll for them and the fly fishing can be great as well. The Spanish will be around the inlets, up & down the beaches and near shore artificial reefs. Look for jumping Spanish and diving birds; that is where you will find the Spanish mackerel. Casting small spoons or jigs on light spinning tackle will put some Spanish in the boat for you. If you would rather troll, give a Blue Water Candy Daisy Chain a try on top and a #1 planner down deep with a Clark spoon. If you would like to give fly fishing a try, use a five to eight weight set up with floating line with a small minnow pattern fly or epoxy minnow pattern; my favorite!
Shark fishing will be good until late September. I see lots of different kinds of Sharks in September; Black tip, black nose, Sandbar, Hammerhead and Tiger. Best baits for the near shore sharks are fresh/live Bluefish, Mullet and Menhaden. I use spinning or conventional reels for Shark fishing with 300+ yards of thirty and fifty pound Spider wire Ultra-cast braid. Rigging the baits; eight feet of 80 pound mono leader; some of this leader will wind on to the reel. Connected to the 80 pound mono to a fifty pound swivel, then Two to three foot of #9 SS wire and a TroKar 8/0 or 9/0 AP circle hook. (I push down the barb for easy release) If you prefer Fly fishing, I like Striped bass flies in Menhaden patterns with 4/0 and 5/0 hook sizes. We use ten to twelve plus weight set ups; have lots of extra flies with you!
Fishing Tackle I use: PENN Spinfisher VI series reels 2500 and 3500 puppy drum, Flounder and casting to Spanish mackerel. Big Drum and Sharks PENN Slammer III or Spinfisher VI 5500 or 6500 series spinning reels or conventional Fathom 20LW reels. Rods PENN Battalion or Allegiance II 8 to 15 pound 7’ class for puppy drum, Flounder and Spanish mackerel. Big Drum and Sharks PENN Rampage jigging spinning or casting 30 to 80 pound class. Lines Light tackle (Flounder/puppy drum) Spiderwire Ultra-cast 10 to 15 pound, Big Drum and Sharks 30 pound Berkley Pro Spec Chrome. I prefer blaze orange color (easy to see). Tackle Storage Plano Z-Series Tackle Bags in 3600 & 3700 sizes.
Good September fishing to you and thanks for reading!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
