September is the start to Fall; one of the best times of the year to go fishing around Wrightsville Beach. When cold fronts start to make their way across Southeast North Carolina, fishing really picks up. Most of the fish we catch around Wrightsville in the summer are still biting during September but they are biting better. Nice cool temps and light morning breezes; make for some great fishing weather. Another great thing about September is much less boat traffic!
When the water starts to cool down the Redfishing will heat up. 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 larger carolina rigs with TroKar 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 hook so they will do their 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 Flounder fishing has been good this season so far, with this said it looks like September should be a great mouth for Flounder too. We look for Flounder in the fall around the inlets, in the creeks; up and down the ICW. We also will find some very nice Flounder just offshore of Wrightsville/Topsail on live/hard bottom as well 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 EC 042 1/0 hooks is a good choice of rigs for Flounder. If you prefer to use artificial baits; scented and none scented grubs 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.
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 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. We 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. We use spinning 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 will wind on to the reel. Connected to the 80 pound mono is a fifty pound swivel, then Two to three foot of #9 SS wire and an TroKar 8/0 or 9/0 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 weight set ups; have lots of extra flies with you!
Good September fishing to you, don’t forget to take a kid fishing and thanks for reading!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 31st, 2016
August fishing around Wrightsville Beach can be pretty good, but with hot temps and little rain “most years” you need to change up things just a little to get more bites. Going earlier in the morning or later in the day will make a difference, cloudy days or even those light rain days can be the key to more bites! Remember fish get lethargic from hot water temps just as much as cold water temps.
Flounder are a great hot weather fish because it really does not seem to matter how hot it gets they still bite! Live bait can be a good choice for catching higher numbers of Flounder, but if you want to catch bigger Flounder try artificial bait. Mud minnows, small menhaden and small finger mullet will be the best live baits for Flounder in August. Rigging the live bait on carolina rigs with Eagle Claw L42 #1 or 1/0 hooks is a good choice of rigs for Flounder. If you prefer to use artificial baits; scented and none scented grubs as well as spinner baits will do the job. Berkley Gulp Jerkshad in five and six inch and colors of new penny, pearl white and chart pepper neon are all my “go to” flounder lures. Also try Berkley’s Havoc Grass Pig lure in colors, chartreuse, pearl white silver and swamp gas. I rig these lures on jig heads in 1/4oz, 3/8oz, 1/2oz and 3/4oz (ocean) weights in colors red, gray or white.
Look for the bigger flounder around deeper water docks with good current, bait fish and lots of structure inshore. The inlets, offshore reef and ledges are all good places to find hot weather flounder. What do all these places have in common; deeper water (may be close to shallow water), current and structure……….Hint………
One fish that is always on my hot weather list is the Sheephead. The Sheephead is a good challenge to catch and they fight hard, but they are also good to eat! Another great thing about Sheephead fishing when it’s hot outside is that you can hide under a bridge out of the sun to catch them. Just think; fishing somewhere out of the sun and you’re catching great eating fish! All you need is some fiddler crabs or sand fleas for bait. A medium/heavy action spinning or casting rod with Spiderwire twenty or thirty pound braid for line will help you bring in that big Sheephead in. Tie on a short carolina rig with forty or fifty pound fluorocarbon leader and a small live bait J hook (sharp/strong)! Drop that fiddler crab down beside a piling on the carolina rig and when you feel that little bump; set the hook and hold on! PS: they are great eating in the two to six pound range!
North Carolina is not really known for Tarpon fishing but we do see a few pushing just off Masonboro inlet and the lower Cape Fear River form time to time. If you want a good challenge, give Carolina Tarpon fishing a try this August. The best times are very early morning or late afternoon and in to the night. I fish for Tarpon on the bottom or free lining, using live and fresh dead baits like; spots, mullet and menhaden. I rig these baits on fish finder rigs, with three to five feet of 80 to 100 pound fluorocarbon leaders. Circle hooks are the best bet for good hook ups and landings for Tarpon in hook sizes 7/0 to 9/0 depending what hook series you like. I prefer TroKar TK3 or TK5 9/0 circle hooks, super sharp and super strong! It not easy to catch a NC Tarpon, but I promise if you do or even just jump one off its still really cool to see!
I also enjoy shark fishing later in the summer (late July to early September). 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 offshore. I rig these baits with a 7/0 to 9/0 TroKar circle hook (barb pushed down for easy release) 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, with a few bigger ones mixed in!
Last but certainly not lest is Bull Redfish (big Red Drum). The Bull Reds will start showing up in good numbers around inlets and hard/live bottoms just off the beach to about ten miles out in early August. Live or fresh dead bait is the key to catching these brutes. Most fish will be twenty-eight to over forty inches in length, very fun to catch size! It’s not hard to rig for the Bull reds; short carolina rigs with a 7/0 to 10/0 TroKar circle hook will do the trick. Remember if your catching larger Drum, please use heavier tackle; these Drum will work so hard when the water is hot and it is easy to kill them using to light of tackle (fighting them to long).
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Fishing Tackle Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on July 28th, 2016
It’s June, summer is really here and the fishing is starting to come to its summer peak! June is one of my favorite fishing months around Wrightsville and can be the best one! By June the bait has shown up in good numbers and the game fish are looking for an easy snack! Here are some of my “goto” target fish for June around Wrightsville Beach.
Everybody loves to catch and eat Flounder; they are really getting their act together by June. You can find Flounder just about anywhere when June rolls in, just knowing where to look to find the keepers is the key! In the Wrightsville area, I look for keeper Flounder around deeper channel drop-offs; in waters of five to fifth-teen feet deep. The local inlets, Carolina Beach, Masonboro, Mason’s and Rich’s inlets are always a good place to find some keeper size Flounders. Last but certainly not least, are the artificial reefs, ledges and hard/live bottoms from one to ten miles off the beach, these areas always hold very nice Flounder in June.
Once you have found some Flounder you need to know how to catch’em. If you want to go the artificial root, try bigger baits; this will greatly help you catch more keeper size Flounder. I prefer Berkley Gulp five and six inch Jerkshad in colors pearl white, chart pepper neon and new penny. Another great Flounder bait is the Berkley Gulp 4 inch shrimp pattern, this bait is great for cast up and down inshore drop-offs in creek channels. I rig these baits on jig heads in sizes 1/8oz to 5/8oz for inshore and 1/2oz to 3/4oz for ocean fishing; in colors red, gray and white.
If you would like to go with live bait for the Flounders, try mud minnows, small mullets or small menhaden as live bait. Rig these live baits on Carolina rigs with an Eagle Claw L42 1/0 hook, eight to fourteen inches of thirty to forty pound fluorocarbon as leader. I prefer egg sinkers as my weight, the secret to how much weight you use is ‘as much as you need to stay on the bottom but as least as you can get away with.’ You need to be on the bottom for Flounder but going lighter will always get you more bites!
Redfish are in there summer trend by June and the trick to summer Reds is go early before that sun is high and hot in the sky. Topwater lures and rattling corks in the shallow waters earlier mornings and afternoons will produce Redfish. I prefer MirrOlure Top dog Jr’s and Top Pup’s for great ‘walk the dog action’. Working grubs like Berkley Gulp later in the day in deeper waters will also produce Reds for you. Slow rolling spinner baits with a Berkley Gulp Ripple Mullet (four inch) in the color root-beer gold/chart tail as the trailer has produced me some nice Reds when the water heats up. Sometimes it can be just like colder mouths, slow down your presentation a little when the water gets hot. Give the Redfish a little more time to catch up with your bait when the water temp is over eighty degrees.
Last but never least; Cobia fishing is in full swing by early June and should be good until early July; it’s already been a great year! 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 clear most of the time in June it should easier to see those brown logs in the water. I like to throw big jigs, swim baits and live bait to the Cobia. Color really does not seem to matter, but (go bright); Blue Water Candy makes a great Cobia jig but I always add a Berkley Gulp six inch grub! 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 and Rays will come in numbers!
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II & Clash Spinning reels 2500, 3000 & 4000 sizes for the Redfish and Flounder. Cobia: PENN SpinFisher V & Clash 6000 & 7000 and PENN 20LW Fathom casting reels. Rods PENN Battalion and Regiment 6’6” & 7’ medium and med/heavy for the Redfish and Flounder. Cobia Rods: PENN Rampage or Carnage II Jigging series 50 to 100 class casting and spinning. Line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen pound and Berkley Pro Spec Chrome mono in twenty and thirty pound for the Cobia; that is great line!!!
I hope summer fishing is good to you and thanks for reading!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Reels Elite Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on June 7th, 2016
May around Wrightsville Beach in my mind is when “summer” fishing really gets going. Warmer days and most important less wind, we hope! May brings new fish species to target and also the fish start to settle in their summer locations. Here are some of my favorite fish to target during the month of May around Wrightsville Beach.
As the weather stabilizes and the temps go up in May we see a lot more days where we can get out in the ocean and look for those high speed, and good eating Bonita in earlier May (even later April this year) and Spanish mackerel all May long. 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 or using fly gear in weights six to eight can make for a great challenge on this light tackle. Look for these fish to be hanging around near shore artificial reefs, ledges and inlets. Trolling Clark spoons and small deep driver lures can be the key to success some days for the Bonita and Spanish mackerel. 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. You might come over a few False Albacore and Bluefish mixed in with the Bonita and Spanish from time to time; sometimes too many bluefish mixed in!
Redfish and May go hand and hand, this month is a favorite for casting artificial lures to them. Reds really start to settle down in their summer spots by early May. Casting Berkley Gulp Shrimp in three inch size on light jig heads is one of my go to baits for May Redfish. My go to colors are sugar spice glow, new penny, Rootbeer gold/chart tail and natural. Saltwater Assassin Sea shad lures in colors copperhead and 10W40 chart tail work well too. Another fun way to catch Redfish is casting top-water plugs like MirrOlure’s Top pup or the new Poppa Mullet. You can also cast popping or rattling corks in these shallow areas with a Berkley Gulp three inch which will catch the Redfish too. If you would rather go the bait route; try some fresh cut Mullet or Menhaden on a light Carolina rig. Try fishing fresh cut bait around docks in the ICW or along creek mouths when the tide is moving.
May is a great month for gator (bigger) Speckled trout; some of my personal largest Specks have come in May! Most of the bigger trout I see in May come off top-water plugs. My favorite is the MirrOlure Top dog, She dog and Poppa mullet; these noisy baits really make the trout come right out of the water after them! Another great bait for bigger trout is the Berkley Gulp five or six inch Jerkshad in colors pearl white and new penny; rigging on light swim-bait hooks. Live Shrimp, small Mullets and Menhaden on float rigs or very light Carolina rigs will also catch those gators!
By mid May the Cobia start to show up around Wrightsville; one of my favorites! I forecast that the Cobia will be here a little early this season. 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 (Blue water candy), 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, pinfish and mullet as bait. Sometimes a great bonus fish when fishing for Cobia is a nice bull Redfish. You can chum if you like, but the sharks and rays will come and they will come in numbers!
With the warmer weather the Flounder will finally start showing up in better numbers, there are still a lot of smaller ones inshore, but the bigger ones will really start showing up in May! Most of the Flounder fishing I’m doing is just off the beach and around the inlets. I’ve caught Flounder on both live and artificial baits in May, 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 will catch the numbers of Flounder. Berkley Gulp Jerkshad in five & six inch sizes will get the most keeper Flounder. I rig these Jerkshad on 1/4oz, 3/8oz and 1/2oz, 3/4oz (ocean) jig heads with longer hook shanks in red or gray color.
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II & Clash Spinning reels 2000, 2500, 3000 and 4000 sizes. Rods: PENN Battalions 6’6” and 7’ Med-light and Medium rods. Line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen pound. Cobia Reels PENN Fathom 20LW or 25LW casting or Clash & SpinFisher V in sizes 5000, 5500, 6000 or 6500 spinning reels, with a PENN Rampage Jigging rod 50 to 100 pound class.
Thanks for reading and good summer fishing to you!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on May 2nd, 2016
Winter really has been pretty good overall and things are running a week or two ahead of most springs around our area. Fishing looks to be pretty great this spring and if it stays spring for a while, I believe it could be an epic spring fishing season! Here are some of the fish I target around Wrightsville Beach and some other close areas too.
Another fish that really starts to show up around the inlets of Southeast North Carolina is the good’ole Bluefish and during April you can catch some bigger Bluefish too. These blues will hit Berkley Gulp 7” jerkshads in colors pearl and pearl/chart pepper; hard baits like big poppers and spoons like a Sea striker Jig-fish one ounce or bigger will also get these choppers to bite. Don’t forget the steal leaders for these fish or they will get a free lure form you every time! Try light single strand wire in sizes #2, #3 or #4 will keep your lures on the end of your line and not in a bluefish’s pocket! I catch Blues in the one to fifteen pound range during April.
Towards early to mid April the Bonita and False Albacore should show up just offshore of Wrightsville. Trolling Clark spoons and small deep driver lures can be the key to success some days for the Bonita and Albacore. 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 for me 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.
I know I talk about the Redfish (Red Drum) a lot, but hey they are one of my favorites to catch! In April we are going to see the Redfish really start to move around and one thing I’ve found is if they’re moving around they are looking for food. If they are looking for food then they are probably going to bite your hook! In April I rely on artificial baits or fresh cut bait to catch spring Reds. You cannot go wrong with Berkley Gulp three inch Shrimp in colors molting, sugar spice glow and new penny. Rigging the Gulp baits on light jig heads (1/8oz & 1/4oz) in colors reds and gray should get the Reds to bite for you. If you would rather use cut bait, rig fresh shrimp or mullet on a light Carolina rig with a L42 number one size hook. Look for the Reds on the edges of oyster rocks, mash grass edges, ICW docks and creek mouths.
There is one fish that a lot of anglers over look in April and that is the Black Drum. What I love about these fish is you can catch them in good numbers this time of year and there great to eat! On top of all that they are also easy to catch; use a light two hook bottom rig with number two or number three size eagle claw bait holder hooks. I make my own rigs with thirty pound fluorocarbon leader by making two overhand knots to put the hooks on. I prefer as fresh as I can get shrimp for black drum fishing. Fish these rigs around docks, oyster rocks and
inlets for Black Drum; you might even get a Redfish mixed in as well. I will sometimes catch two Black Drum at the same time on the same rig; that’s what I call good fishing!
Cape Fear River Striped Bass can bite very well in April too, but the fish move around a lot more during April, you’ll find them at one spot one day and the next day they have moved on. In April the Stripers will start to move in to shallower waters, I look for the Stripers in three to ten feet of water in the early spring. This is when you need to also shallow up your presentation, go lighter with you tackle. I prefer Berkley Gulp jerkshad six inch and Berkley Havoc grass pig lures; I use colors pearl, chart pepper neon and new penny (swamp gas). Using swim bait hooks size 5/0 in 1/8 to 1/4 ounce made by Moaner hooks should put a Striper on the end of your line! Look for Cape Fear River Stripers around mud-flat edges, bulk-heads and shallow reed-grass edges on sunny warmer days.
Also in the Cape Fear River I really enjoy heading to Lock & Dam #1 on the Cape Fear River during April to catch large American shad on light tackle and Fly tackle. Casting shad darts in bright colors and shad fly is the way to catch the shad. I use a double shad dart rig, this makes it easier to cast the light darts and sometimes you get two shad at the same time! The shad run in the one to a few over four pounds; super fun on fly and light tackle setups “poor mans Tarpon”!
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II & Clash Spinning reels (1000 shad fishing), 2500 & 3000 sizes. Rods: PENN Battalion rods 6’6” & 7’ medium and med/heavy action. Line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in (six pound shad fishing) ten and fifteen pound. Berkley Pro Spec fluorocarbon leader material for all my leaders.
Thanks for reading, good spring fishing & weather to you!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on April 7th, 2016
