Here it is almost Thanksgiving and I think the Speckled trout fishing will go to Christmas this year; I hope! With all this up and down weather the fishing has really been up and down too; I’ve had some very good days of fishing. The problem has been as soon as it gets good the weather changes and I’ve got the start my hunt for fish all over again. Here are some of the tactics I’ve been using lately to catch fish and these tactics should work right up to Christmas.
The Speckled trout has been the name of the game for the last two months and the trout should continue to bite very well. With most of my charters coming to the dock with there limit and some days with over forty trout coming over the side of the boat. The real good news is the big trout are just starting to show up!
When the trout bite is on they are hitting just about any lure or live bait you throw at them, but there are a few colors/lures that are catching more keepers then other colors/lures. This season has been a very good grub/jig season with hundreds of trout coming to the boat on grubs. The two hot grubs this season for me has been the Berkley Gulp Fire tail 3” shrimp and Saltwater Assassin 4” sea shad pattern. The colors that are catching the most and biggest trout in the fire tail shrimp are watermelon red fleck, pearl and new penny. In the sea shads; chicken on a chain, salt&pepper silver with chart tail, sweet pea, cantaloupe, rainbow trout and 10w40 with chart tail.
I prefer to rig all my grubs on red, gray or black jig heads in weights of 1/16oz, 1/8oz or 1/4oz; you really don’t need a much heavier jig,head, a slow sink will catch you more trout! Remember trout typically hit lures that are sinking down or just above them. Keeping this in mind; a slower sinking lure stays in the strike zone longer which gives the trout more time to hit you lure. Another rule I stand by when Speckled trout is the fact that trout have very good eye sight and with this said I always use a high quality fluorocarbon leader for all my trout rigs. I prefer Berkley Pro Spec tinted fluorocarbon leader material in twenty pound test; with gunsmoke tint for clear waters and tannic for river or stained water applications.
My charters have caught a few nice trout on hard baits like MirrOlures and Sebile baits. We’ve caught trout the 17MR and 18MR but some of the bigger ones are hitting the good old 52M&MR this season. Another bait that has really picked up a few nice trout this season is the Stick Shadd by Sebile in sizes 90 and 114 with colors in white lady, hollow mullet and yellow pepper. The colors for the MirrOlures that are having the most luck are; 17MR and 18MR’s in colors: 11, 26, 808, CFPR, CH, EC and BCH. As far as the 52M & MR in colors: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, CFPR, CH and HP.
If you would like to go with the live bait for your trout outing, try live mud minnows, small finger mullet or shrimp all of these baits will catch trout. I rig all these different baits on float rigs in waters of three to six feet deep and a light Carolina rig for deeper waters of five to twenty feet deep. Still here again even with live bait I always use fluorocarbon as leader; it will make a difference.
One cool thing that is always fun during trout season is all the ‘bonus fish’ that you will catch while Speckled trout fishing. My charters have caught a good bunch of Redfish, Sheephead and Flounder in the last few weeks of fishing. Another fish that we catch during trout season is the Black drum and I feel this fish is looked over a lot. There are very good to eat and put up a nice fight on trout tackle! So you never know what might be on the end of your rod to you get it to the boat this time of year.
Fishing Gear I use:
Speckled trout, Flounder and Redfish: Reels PENN Battle, 1000, 2000 & 3000 PENN Conflict 2000 & 2500 spinning reels. Rods: PENN Legion and Regiment in classes of 4 to 10 and 6 to 12 pound class Line: Spiderwire eight and ten pound test braid (Ultracast) Fluorocarbon leader material, Berkley Pro Spec Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound test.
*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!
Thanks so much for reading this report/forecast and have a great Thanksgiving! I’m booking now and booking up fast for trophy Speckled trout trips for December. Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on November 21st, 2013
Well Folks, fall is really trying to show and then it gets warm and dry! A real roller coaster of weather: one day with hot temps and dry; very next day cool, breezy and rainy! Hey that’s what gets those fall fish biting so we can’t complain too much. With that said lets talk fall fishing!
I’ve had some very good Spanish mackerel and False Albacore runs lately. Most of the Spanish and Albacore are hitting Clark spoons on number one planners; a few nicer fish have hit live bait on top as well. I have also caught some on Fly’s and SeaRock jigs casting when the fish get on top to feed. The Spanish are very nice in size; most fish are two to some over four pounds “nice fall size”. They are biting around the inlets, just off the beach to about two miles off. The water has been very clear some days, so I’ve used fluorocarbon leaders on these days and it has really helped me get more bites. I don’t know how much longer they will be here with the cooler air moving in; will just have to see!
Redfish schools are starting to show up in the surf. You can find these schools of twenty to over a thousand Redfish around inlets, outer sand bars and sand flats. Once you find these schools there pretty easy to catch if the weather is calm. I cast 1/4oz to 1/2oz jig heads with five inch Berkley Gulp jerkshad or four inch Berkley Gulp Ripple mullet; in colors new penny or pearl white. Be very careful in the surf if your in a boat, you really have got to watch the waves and try not to run over the school with your boat!
We’ve caught some bigger bull Redfish on hard/live bottoms just off the beach and around the local inlets. We are catching Reds in the 24 to over 40 inch range, some days their over the slot some days their in the slot. Most of the Reds are hitting mullets and fresh menhaden on Carolina rigs; using heavier egg sinkers with circle hooks 6/0 to 9/0. Don’t forget to keep your drag tight when using circle hook so they will do there job.
One tip I can give you when fishing for Bull 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 tag in its back; there are a fair amount of tagged Bull Reds out there.
And last but Not lest, Speckled Trout are starting to show and bite! The Speckled trout fishing has gotten better and better around this area every year! It looks like it will be the same this year as well; especially since we had such a mild winter; “I Can’t wait, I love Trout fishing”! The best trout bites lately have been on grubs and hard baits, but we have caught some on the good ‘ole live shrimp as well. As the weather cools the trout fishing will get much better!
The best grubs I’ve had luck with lately are Berkley Gulp three inch shrimp in colors pearl white, new penny, and new penny flick/chart tail. I also have caught a good fair amount of trout on Saltwater Assassin’s four inch sea-shad in colors greenback shiner, chicken on a chain and silver mullet. I Rig the grubs and shrimp patterns on a red or black jig heads and I always use fluorocarbon leader for trout fishing!
Hard lures that seem to be bringing the trout to the boat are Mirrolure’s 17MR, Catch 2000 Jr, 52M and Sebile’s Koolie minnow & Magic swimmer lures in colors pink, chartreuse, and white. Most of the trout we have caught have been in the creeks and main channels connecting to the ICW and inlets as well as the Cape Fear River.
The Fishing gear I use:
Reds, Trout and Flounder: Reels PENN Battle and Conflict spinning in sizes 2000, 2500 and 3000. Rods: PENN Legion 6’6” and 7’ Med/light and Med. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast in 10, 15 and 20 pound. Bull Redfish: PENN Spinfisher V 5500 and PENN Fathom 20LW. Rods: PENN Legion 1530S70 with the Spinfisher V 5500 and PENN Bluewater Carnage 700ML 20-40 class with the Fathom 20LW. Line: thirty pound Berkley Big Game mono.
*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, videos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Don’t’ forget to take a kid fishing!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on October 9th, 2013
PENN Fishing Tackle has brought another great spinning reel to the fishing market, it is the new PENN Conflict spinning reel. If you love your PENN Sargus or Battle you’re really going to love the Conflict! PENN has been working hard to come out with some very good tackle and I feel that they hit a “homerun” with the PENN Conflict. Here are some of the features that make the PENN Conflict stand alone as a great reel.
The Conflict’s great looking and durable design with a super smooth but very strong drag are a few of the reasons some many anglers will love to fish this reel! Conflicts full metal body allows it to maintain precision gear alignment under severe pressure while you are fighting that trophy fish. The Techno-Balanced rotor (reinforced graphite on 1000-4000 sizes) ensures a smooth retrieve every cast.
Key Features of the PENN Conflict Spinning Reel:
• Full metal body and sideplate keep precise gear alignment under heavy loads (5000, 6000 & 8000 only)
• Superline Spool™ – No backing needed because of the rubber gasket keeps superline (braid) from slipping
• Machined and anodized aluminum spool
• HT-100™ Carbon Fiber drag washers provide smooth drag under heavy loads
• Line Capacity Rings
• 7+1 sealed stainless steel ball bearings
• Infinite anti-reverse
• Techno-balanced™ rotor gives smooth retrieves
• Machined and anodized aluminum handle with foam knob.
• Heavy-duty Aluminum bail wire.
By keying the proprietary HT-100 Versa-drag washers into the spool PENN was able to use both sides of each drag washer giving the Conflict higher max drags, more range and smoother start ups than the competition. PENN’s HT-100 washers are greased with our proprietary PENN grease for longevity.
Cap and Stats:
CFT1000: Mono cap yds/lb: 275/2 135/4 105/6 Braid cap: 160/6 130/8 110/10 Bearings: 7+1 Max drag: 9 lbs Ratio: 5.2:1 Weight: 7.8oz
CFT2000: Mono cap yds/lb: 240/4 180/6 125/8 Braid cap: 230/8 180/10 165/15 Bearings: 7+1 Max drag: 10 lbs Ratio: 6.2:1 Weight: 9.5oz
*CFT2500 Mono cap yds/lb: 255/6 175/8 140/10 Braid cap: 240/10 220/15 160/20 Bearings: 7+1 Max drag: 12 lbs Ratio: 6.2:1 Weight: 9.8oz
CFT3000 Mono cap yds/lb: 200/8 165/10 120/12 Braid cap: 250/15 180/20 130/30 Bearings: 7+1 Max drag: 15 lbs Ratio: 6.2:1 Weight: 11.3oz
CFT4000 Mono cap yds/lb: 280/8 220/10 165/12 Braid cap: 360/15 260/20 185/30 Bearings: 7+1 Max drag: 15 lbs Ratio: 6.2:1 Weight: 12.0oz
CFT5000 Mono cap yds/lb: 225/12 200/15 135/20 Braid cap: 420/20 300/30 240/40 Bearings: 7+1 Max drag: 25 lbs Ratio: 5.6:1 Weight: 19.0oz
CFT6000 Mono cap yds/lb: 335/15 230/20 210/25 Braid cap: 490/30 390/40 335/50 Bearings: 7+1 Max drag: 25 lbs Ratio: 5.6:1 Weight: 21.5oz
CFT8000 Mono cap yds/lb: 340/20 310/25 230/30 Braid cap: 475/50 390/65 345/80 Bearings: 7+1 Max drag: 30 lbs Ratio: 5.3:1 Weight: 28.1oz
*New Size
I was one of the field testers for the new PENN Conflict during the design stage and here are the features that I enjoy while fishing this reel. The Conflict has a lighter weight which you can feel when casting for hours on the water. When I was fighting fast running fish like Spanish mackerel or False Albacore the drag stayed smooth and kept its setting throughout the entire fight. While I was fighting hard but slower running fish like Redfish and deep water flounder the drag was smooth and stayed set even when fish would not want to come off the bottom. I really enjoy the feel of the new foam handles, which are round with a flat finger surface on the 1000 to 4000 and a round larger design on the 5000 to 8000 sizes. The Conflict has clean look to it with a black body and anodized titanium gray look on the spool and side plates. And with the new 2500 Conflict size, this reel is the perfect size for all my inshore fishing needs.
I believe the PENN Conflict is going to be one of the best spinning reels PENN has ever made; I know that is a strong quote, but trust me this is a solid reel!
Check out all of PENN’s great fishing products at www.pennreels.com
Thanks for reading my review, if you have any questions on the Conflict or any PENN product let me know, I’ll be happy to answer them.
Capt. Jot Owens
www.captainjot.com
Posted in Product Reviews on September 24th, 2013
Folks here is this months fishing report and forecast. I’m a little late on getting this one out, so this one is for late August and early September. The rain will just not stop this summer, I hope with the approach of fall the fronts will push the rain by a little faster than lately! The fishing has still been pretty good most days even with all the rain we’ve had. Here are a few of the fish I like to target late August and early September.
Red Drum fishing has been good this season and I’m seeing lots of over slot Redfish this year. I’m catching Reds mostly two different ways; live bait and artificial baits. When I’m fishing live baits I prefer mullets and menhaden in sizes three to six inches long. I rig these live baits on carolina rigs with a 2/0 to 6/0 circle hooks. Remember when using circle hooks, let the fish hook its self; don’t jerk the rod, just come tight with the line. If you do this you’ll never miss a Red and the fish will be hooked in the corner of the mouth for easy release. The artificial baits that are working for me are Berkley Gulp’s three and four inch shrimp rigged on red or gray jig heads. I’m casting these shrimp around docks, grass lines and oyster rocks.
Early mornings and late afternoons has produced some nice Redfish on top-water lures and rattling corks for me. The best luck I’ve had has been with MirrOlure’s Top-dog Jr and Top pup top-water lures. Another good one I’m having luck with on very calm days (slick waters) Sebile’s Ghost walker top-water lure. When I’m using live bait in shallow water a Salt Water Assassin Kwik Cork has been working very well too, with a small live mullet or menhaden under it.
The Sheephead fishing is still going very good and should be good until late October. Rigging is easy for Sheephead; I use a short carolina rig with forty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader about eight to ten inches long. The hook is a number one or 1/0 live bait nose hook; small, sharp and strong, very important for Sheephead! Look for Sheephead around pilings, bulkheads and large oyster rocks that stay covered up by water most of the tide. For bait, I catch fiddler crabs on mud banks on the ICW. Sheephead fishing takes patients and time to catch them but it’s worth the time because Sheephead are good to eat and I’ve had a few nice Black drum lately while Sheephead fishing!
The Spanish Mackerel are biting most days, but the best bite has been earlier in the morning when the sun is lower in the sky; also the fish have been a little deeper in thirty to fifty feet of water for the last few weeks (clearer waters). When you mark big balls of bait with your fish finder this is usually where you’ll find the most Spanish biting. Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash behind number one planners. The Spanish hitting on top 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.
Another lure that is working well for the Spanish when I’m casting to them is the River2Sea Sea Rock lure, these little casting jigs are just the right weight and size to get those fast moving Spanish to bite! All the colors that the Sea Rock comes in seem to work and I prefer the two smallest sizes of Sea Rock in the number seven and four-teen. I rig these jigs on forty pound Berkley Pro Spec clear fluorocarbon leader.
The flounder fishing this season and last has been some of the best I’ve ever seen around these waters, it did start later this year! There has been a good number of keepers, little ones and some very nice fish over five pounds caught just about everywhere this year. The bait I’ve had the best luck with this season has been Berkley Gulp Jerkshad: especially for the bigger flounder. I’m rigging five and six inch Jerkshad in colors pearl white, new penny and chart-pepper neon on 1/4oz, 3/8oz and 1/2oz dark colored jig heads (red, gray, brown etc). I prefer forty pound Berkley Pro Spec fluorocarbon leader material in clear or tannic tint for stained waters. I fish for the flounder around inlets, creeks, docks and near shore reefs. Remember when it comes to flounder fishing; “you can work the lure to fast, you can never work it to slow”!
Tarpon fishing this season has been so/so, with a few fish being hooked and caught off some of the local piers and just off the beach in boats. I jumped off a nice one just off Masonboro inlet two weeks ago. Tarpon fishing is not easy; it takes patients and time, but the payoff can be very rewarding! 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.
Fishing Gear I use:
Reels: Redfish, Flounder and Spanish casting: PENN Battle and Conflict spinning in sizes 2000, 2500 & 3000 sizes. Tarpon & bigger Reds reels: Penn Battle 6000 & 7000, Penn Fathom 25N and Torque 12, 15 & 25N Tarpon) conventional reels. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Tarpon Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: Penn Legion spinning 6’6” to 7’6” Med/light to Med /hvy. Tarpon/bigger Reds Rods: Penn Bluewater Carnage jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Tarpon; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound. Berkley Pro Spec 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 and fishing trivia questions to win free tackle. There is a link to my Facebook page on my website. https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Capt-Jot-OwensJot-It-Down-Fishing-Charters-LLC/134340373310487
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Good fishing to you and stay cool & dry out there!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 14th, 2013
Folks the weather has not been good at all here lately and I’m just about over it all! This rain is killing my charters, but there is sun at the end of the tunnel (mid week)! The forecasters say better weather soon! Here is my July Fishing Forecast/report, have a great forth of July and stay safe!
The Flounder fishing has been fair to good this season with a fair amount of nice fish coming in over four plus pounds. The name of the game for me this season has been using artificial baits to catch the bigger Flounder. Two baits that have really worked well for me are the Berkley Gulp five and six inch Jerkshads in colors pearl white, chart pepper neon and new penny.
Another bait I started using last year with good success was the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig soft plastic lure. This is a bass (fresh water) lure but man when you see this thing you’ll know why it’s sure to catch Flounder as well as Redfish! The colors I’m using in the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig are pearl white silver fleck, swamp gas and california.
When rigging the Jerkshad and Grass Pig baits, I prefer a long shank jig head to hold the baits on securely. Sebile and Blue Water Candy both make a very good jig head design with a longer shank hook. Colors of jig heads for Flounder fishing does not seem to be a big deciding factor, but I stick with mostly gray and red. I prefer forty pound fluorocarbon leader from Berkley Pro Spec clear for clear waters and tannic for brown/river/stained waters. With the waters being pretty lately stained I have slowed down my presentation down, to give the flounder time to see the lure! Just remember when you hook that door mat Flounder to take your time and don’t pull its head out of the water, for the flounder may just shake that hook out and nobody wants to lose a nice flounder!
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. We were flounder fishing just last week and got a 44 incher on a PENN SpinFisher V 4500 reel; what a fight! When I fish for bigger Reds, I use fresh cut or live menhaden and mullet. I use fish finder rigs with 7/0 or 8/0 circle hooks and eighty pound Berkley Big game mono leaders. Don’t forget to keep your drag tight when using circle hooks so they will do there job. One tip I can give you when fishing for Bull 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.
The Spanish Mackerel are biting good most days, but the best bite has been earlier in the morning when the sun is lower in the sky; also the fish have been a little deeper in thirty to fifty feet of water for the last few weeks. Fishing deeper has helped us to find cleaner water with all the rain we’ve had. When you mark big balls of bait with your fish finder this is usually where you’ll find the most Spanish biting.
Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash behind number one planners. The Spanish hitting on top 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. Another lure that is working well for the Spanish when I’m casting to them is the River2Sea Sea Rock lure, these little casting jigs are just the right weight and size to get those fast moving Spanish to bite! The colors that I like to use are purple, white and blue; I prefer the two smallest sizes of Sea Rock in the number seven and four-teen. All so the hook that comes on these lures is great, finally a good hook on a lure right out of the package!
Tarpon fishing this season has been good already and it’s early! Florida had a good Tarpon season and these fish have come up from Florida, let’s hope they are still very hungry and ready to bite! Tarpon fishing is not easy; it takes patients and time, but the payoff can be very rewarding! I fish for Tarpon on the bottom or free lining, using live and fresh dead baits like; spots, bluefish, mullet and menhaden. I’m rigging these baits on fish finder rigs, with three to five feet of 80 to 100 pound fluorocabon leaders (Berkley Vanish or Pro Spec). 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.
Fishing Gear I use:
Reels: Redfish, Flounder and Spanish casting: PENN Battle or Conflict spinning in sizes 2500 (Conflict), 3000 & 4000 sizes. Tarpon & bigger Reds reels: PENN Battle 7000 & 8000, PENN Fathom 25N and Torque 25N conventional reels. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Tarpon Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: PENN Legion spinning 6’6” to 7’6” Med/light to Med /hvy. Tarpon Rods: PENN Bluewater Carnage jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Tarpon; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound.
*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, I have fishing trivia questions to win free tackle monthly. There is a link to my Facebook page on my website.
www.facebook.com/pages/Capt-Jot-OwensJot-It-Down-Fishing-Charters-LLC/134340373310487
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Good fishing to you, stay cool out there and happy forth of July!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Fishing Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on July 1st, 2013
