Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Forecast-July 2024
July around Southeast NC is a good month for fishing but with the warm, some downright HOT days during this season you may need to fish a little differently in July. Go earlier or later in the day to find that cooler water. Even a light rain shower can make the fish get more active. Small changes can make for a better day of fishing or (catching)!
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, cloudy days help too. Top-water lures like MirrOlure Top dog jr. and Top Pup’s are my choice in the shallows. During the mid parts of the day try to fish a little deeper with jigs & grubs or swimbaits like Berkley five-inch CullShad. *See here https://alnk.to/44Vxvaq Rigging the CullShad on 1/8oz or 1/4oz Eagle Claw swimbait hooks. The Reds like a little deeper water when the sun gets high in the sky (11am on). 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 molting, sugar spice glow and pearl white colors. The new Chrome series Gulp look really nice too! *See here https://alnk.to/5ufSG4o I rig my Gulp baits on Fusion 1/4oz and 3/8oz jig heads in colors red or gray * https://alnk.to/hDqamLs with thirty- or forty-pound Berkley Pro Spec fluorocarbon leader material. *See here https://alnk.to/gKQnsJ5
The Spanish mackerel fishing can still be pretty good in July, here too going earlier in the morning can pay off! These fish are a lot of fun to see busting the surface of the water and even more fun to see on the end of your line! Casting small spoons like (Big Nic Spanish Candy lures) or using fly gear in weights seven to nine can make for a great challenge on light tackle. When casting lures High speed spinning reels are really getting my clients more bites! I prefer the Slammer IV 2500 HS *See here: https://alnk.to/4BFOrsT or a Authority 2500 HS *See here https://alnk.to/6109D5k Look for Spanish to be hanging around near shore artificial reefs, ledges, and inlets. Cast and reel Fast, but one tip I can give you; let the lure sink down just a little before you start to reel. You might come over a few false albacore and bluefish mixed in with the Spanish from time to time.
I really start to keep my eye out for the silver king (Tarpon); these big silver fish are making their way up from the south; they are a little early this year. I have already had two bites with one being landed. 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 TrokarTK5 AP circle hooks in the new bait saver series *See hear Trokar TK5 Bait Saver Circle – Eagle Claw sizes 8/0 to 9/0. My leader material is always Berkley Pro Spec sixty- or 100-pound fluorocarbon; Tarpon have great eyesight! 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 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 an 8/0 circle hook with the barb pushed down for easy release, one foot of ninety pound plus 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 twenty-to-one-hundred-pound range.
The Flounder fishing is in full swing about everywhere by July and it has been a good Flounder season already, I know it is closed in NC! But SC is open, it really hurts to have to say that!! 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 getting them to bite for you. I rig these live baits on Carolina rigs, with #1 and 1/0 L42 Eagle Claw hooks; a forty-pound fluorocarbon leader will work fine for Flounder fishing. Casting and slowly retrieving this rig, drifting, 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). I tend to see bigger size flounder when using artificials. Try a Berkley Gulp five- or six-inch jerkshad, color wise go darker colors for stained or tannic waters. I use brighter colors for clearer, blue/green waters. Here too the new Gulp Chrome series in the Jerkshad or four-inch shrimp looks awesome! * https://alnk.to/5ufSG4o I rig the jerkshad and four-inch shrimp on 1/4 to ¾ ounce long shank Berkley Fusion jig heads * See here https://alnk.to/hDqamLs working the jig slowly across the bottom.
Tackle run down: PENN Battle III https://alnk.to/aWDe16H Slammer IV https://alnk.to/4MAHGzf or Authority https://alnk.to/fSgjdIK series spinning reels 2500, 3000 & 3500 sizes for the Redfish, Spanish and Flounder. Tarpon & Sharks: PENN Slammer IV or Authority 5500 & 6500 spinning reels or PENN 15LW, 20LW, 25NLD Fathom casting reels. https://alnk.to/gKQ67P2 Rods PENN Battalion II or the Fenwick HMG Inshore series; 7’ medium and med/heavy for the Redfish, and Flounder. Tarpon & Shark Rods: PENN Rampage https://alnk.to/4BFWHOm or Carnage III Jigging https://alnk.to/eOLTB9w series 50 to 100 class casting and spinning. Line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen, twenty (ocean flounder) pound braid and Berkley Pro Spec Chrome mono in twenty and thirty pound for the Tarpon & Sharks; it is great line! *See here https://alnk.to/7BeJdIC Leader material Berkley Pro Spec Fluorocarbon 30 to 40 pound for inshore and 60 to 100-pound Tarpon/shark fishing. *See here https://alnk.to/gKQnsJ5 Tackle storage Plano Z-series or Guide series tackle bags with Plano EDGE stowaway boxes.
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
