Fall is really starting to show its face around Southeastern North Carolina these last few weeks. Some warm days, some cool days and a few colder days with rain mixed in from time to time, but over all good fishing weather. The good part of this is no more hot days but lots of hot fishing to come!
October and November are great mouths for Speckled trout fishing and one of my favorite to fish for. They are good to eat and a lot of fun to catch on light tackle. It really does not matter if you like to fish artificial bait or live bait you can catch lots of Specks either way! So far in the last two weeks I have picked up some very nice Speckled trout as well as good numbers of keeper size trout. The gator trout (big ones) are starting to show up too and more will come with this cool weather we are having.
Here is how I have been catching the Speckled trout lately. On the artificial side of things; MirrOlures and Sebile’s Stick Shadds are working very well for me this season so far. I’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.
Soft baits are always a winner for trout fishing and you can catch good numbers of Speckled trout on grubs etc. Berkley Ripple Mullets and Fire tail shrimp are two newer baits on the market and have been real good baits for Redfish but I’ve caught a few very nice trout on them lately. The colors I’ve had the best luck with are Goby magic/chart tail, Root-beergold/chart tail and glow/chart tail in the Ripple mullets. In the fire tail shrimp pattern colors of rootbeer gold, watermelon red fleck and new penny are working great. Saltwater Assassin makes a very large selection of great trout grubs, give one of these colors in the sea shad pattern a try on your next trout outing; chicken on a chain, copperhead, S&P silver phantom/chart, chart/diamond, sweet pea, 10w40/limetail and greenback shiner.
I rig all of these grubs on high quality jig heads in colors red, gray and brown; in sizes 1/16, 1/8, ¼ and 3/8oz. When I say high quality; I mean a jig head with a strong yet very sharp hook, a good jig head makes a big difference in how many fish you catch and don’t miss; trust me! Check out jig heads by Sebile, Bluewater Candy and Saltwater Assassin; all of these companies make great high quality jig heads!
So you like to catch trout on live bait, well give live shrimp a try. The trick to live shrimp is knowing when to stop feeding the trash fish like; pinfish, lizard fish, and small bluefish. Using live shrimp can get expensive but you can catch some good numbers and size trout with live shrimp. I rig live shrimp a two different ways; in shallow water two to six feet I use a float rig. My float rigs consist of twenty pound Stren or Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon about twelve inches long and a number six treble hook for a live shrimp. When I fish deeper waters (five foot plus) or with stronger currents I use a light carolina rig. These rigs consist of a very small swivel, fourteen to twenty inches of fluorocarbon and a number one L42 Eagle claw hook. The sinker for this rig needs to be light 1/16oz or 1/8oz split shot and 1/8oz or 1/4oz egg sinkers should do the trick.
I’m still seeing the Redfish around and a few Bull reds are still biting from time to time around the inlets. There have been a few schools of Reds in the surf but due to very high winds and seas not much action there lately. On some sunny days I’ve caught a good number of Reds along the ICW and oyster flats in local creeks north and south & North of Wrightsville Beach. Live finger mullet and fresh cut bait will catch’em but, give a Berkley Gulp 3” new penny shrimp or a root-beergold/chart tail Ripple mullet a shot and I bet you’ll have no problem catching a few redfish.
In other fishing news, the weekend of October 22nd and 23rd was the Red Bone-Cape Fear Red*Trout Tournament Series. This year again Adam Meyer and Liz Pitts of Charter Lakes Insurance Group fished with me. Liz did very well again this year taking home Grand Champion Lady Angler General Division Champion and Most Speckled trout Champion. Our team came in 1st over all in points, but the elusive keeper size Redfish was no where to be found; we got one as close at 171/2 inches (yes that hurt)! So we could not bring home Grand Champion Angler for Liz; hey there’s always next year! This is a tournament to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis; I look forward every year to fishing this tournament of a great cause.
Fishing gear I use:
Speckled trout and Redfish: Reels Penn Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70ML & GS 70M-MF Line: *new line I’m using and really enjoying for Trout fishing is NanoFil from Berkley, this line is for spinning reels and its very smooth casting line! I prefer eight and ten pound for trout fishing. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound test.
If you are in or around the Morehead City area come by for the Grand Opening of Dick’s Sporting Goods in Morehead City on November 12th. I’ll be there with Berkley, Penn, Fenwick, Sebile and Spiderwire to help answer any questions you have about products or fishing. If you come by, please stop and say hello.
Dick’s Sporting Goods
Crystal Coast Plaza
5130 Highway 70 West
Morehead City, NC 28557
*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! I’m booking now and booking up fast for trophy Speckled trout trips November to mid December. Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on October 29th, 2011
Fall is trying so very hard to show up around the area but, with these weather changes comes ‘weather’ and for the last weeks it’s been in the form of rain. One thing I can tell you is that this is no different than most falls around this area; we get rain around here in the fall. Some years its light some years it’s heavier, every season it different and that is one of the reasons I live here, we (most years) have seasons here! Rain is not always a bad thing you just have got to adjust how you fish when the water gets stained form fall rains!
Well the good news is since my last report one of my favorites is starting to show; the good’ole Speckled trout and I love fishing for these guys! A cool morning in the fall; fishing for Speckled trout is one of the many highlights of my fishing season every year! They are a challenge to catch, but some days you can catch over 100 and you never know just what kind of day you are going to have when fishing for Speckled trout. Trout fishing will only get better as the local waters cool down this fall.
I love to catch Speckle trout on artificial lures and you can catch big Speckled trout on lures, another reason they’re fun to catch. My easy break down of what lures I use are by current flow and water death. I prefer baits like MirrOlure’s 17MR, catch 2000jr and Sebile’s Flatt Shad in waters of two to six feet deep with light or no current. In deeper waters of three to fifth teen plus with or with out current I prefer MirrOlure’s 18MR, 52M & MR and Sebile’s Stick Shadd 90, 114 series. I will use grubs in any water death or current when trout fishing, but I’ll adjust the weight of the jig head for the death or current of the water I’m fishing. Try lures like the Berkley Gulp Fire Tail 3” shrimp or the Ripple Mullet for Speckled trout. Another lure that works well for trout is Saltwater Assassin’s Sea shad series, try colors like chicken on a chain, chart/diamond, copperhead or 10w40 with lime tail.
The Bull Reds are really starting to show up in the ocean on hard bottoms and around the inlets. You never know when you might hook one of these giants! When I fish for Bull Reds, I use fresh cut or live menhaden and mullet. I use fish finder rigs with 8/0 or 9/0 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 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.
This has been one of the better Flounder years we’ve seen around this area in a while and for that reason I’ve run a lot of Flounder trips this season with good success. One thing we have seen this year is that the Flounder fishing has been good inshore as well as the ocean this season, giving us lots of opportunities to flounder fish. Live bait as well as artificial lures has put lots of flounder in the boat for us. Carolina rigs with Eagle Claw L42 #1 size hooks and forty pound clear mono leader works well. Small finger mullets, small menhaden and mud minnows are our choice live baits. Berkley Gulp Jerkshad in 5” & 6” colors pearl, chart pepper neon or new penny work well too! The flounder are hanging around inlets, channel drops and creeks inshore. In the ocean near shore artificial reefs, ledges and hard/live bottoms are holding some nice numbers of flounder too.
Fishing Gear I use:
Reels: Speckled trout and Flounder: Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Bull Reds Fishing reels: Penn Battle 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD and Torque 12 & 15. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Bull Reds Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF. Bull Reds Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series or Penn Torque jigging series in 30-80 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Bull Reds; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound. Stren 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 of Fans for free tackle!
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Don’t’ forget to take a kid fishing!
Good Fishing to you and have a great fall,
Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on September 27th, 2011
Well folks fall has really tried to show its self around the area lately, but as normal we start to enjoy drier cooler air and here comes the muggy warm air again! Hey welcome to southeastern North Carolina; that’s the weather around here always changing! The good aspect to this is the fish really seem not to care; the weather really does not change in the water to much. Another positive to the cooler are is that it cooled the water down just a little bit and it’s been hot all summer, with this small cool down a few things have changed around the local waters. I don’t know if this means a early fall, but I’m already seeing lots of mullets running south and the fall trends of fishing are really starting to show!
When the water started to cool down a bit, I knew it was time to go look for some shallow water Redfish and with the higher moon tides it would be a good time to go looking! Fishing Reds in shallow waters in the late summer and early fall can be very good and very fun fishing. There is nothing like seeing a Redfish hit a surface bait! I look for shallow water Redfish around marsh grass lines, oyster rock edges and creek mouths with a shallow break. Now not every place you look at like these places will have Reds, the one other thing you have got to have is bait/food for the Redfish; if you put these things together you will find shallow water Redfish!
Here are a few of my favorite lures and rigs for catching shallow Reds; top-water lures are a blast to catch shallow Redfish! One thing I have learned over the years using top-water lures is that color is not the most important aspect of top-water lures; the most important aspect is action! If you don’t good action you are going to have a hard time getting that Redfish to come get your lure! Learning the proper way to work a top-water is very important to catch Redfish. Try a MirrOlure Top-pup or She-pup for a simple top-water action lure to learn with. If you want to try something new or a little bit of a challenge try Sebile’s Ghost Walker lure in calm waters or a Sebile Slim Stick is choppy or stained water applications. If you would like to go with live bait; try a Saltwater Assassin Kiwk-kork set up with a ten to fourteen inch leader and a live mullet or small menhaden.
The Flounder fishing has been very good this year and continues to be pretty good with some very nice fish over four pounds mixed in most trips. Most of the Flounder fishing I’m doing is just off the beach and around the inlets, I’m catching a few in the creeks, but most of the flounder coming out of the creeks are smaller. I’ve caught Flounder on both live and artificial baits lately, what I have seen is more numbers on live bait, but more keepers on
artificial baits. Mud minnows and mullets on light Carolina rigs with #one L42 Eagle Claw hooks are catching the numbers of Flounder, Berkley Gulp Jerkshads in five & six inch sizes are getting the most keeper Flounder. Tip of the day: In most cases bigger bait will catch you bigger Flounder, but you will catch less numbers of Flounder by going with bigger bait.
Casting and trolling for Spanish mackerel has been very good lately, when you find cleaner/clearer waters; I’m seeing Spanish and Blues all up & down the beaches in fifth-teen to forty-five foot of water as well as around all the local inlets. There has been a few very nice Spanish in the three to six pound ranger caught around the area too. Spanish mackerel have very good eye sight and to the catch the bigger ones you really should try a fluorocarbon leader, you would be surprised how this can make a difference sometimes!
I’ve had the best luck with deeper spoons on number one planners, yes I’m seeing a few on the top line but the best has been deeper. Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash. The Spanish hitting the top baits 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. When the Spanish are jumping I’m casting spoons in sizes one to three inches long with a fast retrieve and keeping my rod tip low to the water to keep the spoon just under the surface.
Fishing Gear I use:
Reels: Redfish, Flounder and Spanish mackerel casting: Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF. Stren 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 and you will be entered in to the monthly random drawing for free tackle!
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Don’t’ forget to take a kid fishing!
Good 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 September 7th, 2011
I hope everybody is enjoying there summer so far and I don’t know about you, but I’m happy to see a little cooler and drier air coming in! It will not be long before we know it and it will be fall; I can’t wait!!! It’s still warm and the summer fishing is good; here is all that info in this months fishing report!
I have got to start with a favorite of mine due to the fact we finally got one to the boat season. The Tarpon fishing has been good this year, but I’ve had a real problem getting hooked up with these high flying, hard pulling and hook proof fish! On August 15 my friend and client Lewis Dunn got his first Carolina Tarpon, the fish was sixty-four inches and around eighty-five pounds. Congrats Lewis!
Tarpon fishing takes time and patients, but put in your time and you’ll get one! I fish for Tarpon on the bottom and free lining, using live and fresh dead baits like; spots, mullets, 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 especially in the ocean.
Flounder have been a big part of our charters lately. We are catching numbers and there size is getting better too! I’ve caught a few Flounder in the last two weeks over five pounds. Most of the action is coming off
Mud minnows and small finger mullet have been the best baits for us lately; there is a lot of bait around now too! Rigging the live bait on carolina rigs with EC 042 1/0 hooks and thirty to forty pound mono or Fluorocarbon leaders. On the artificial side of things; jig heads rigged with Berkley Gulps new Mud minnow/croaker pattern have been great for our Flounder trips in the last few weeks. Also the Gulp Ripple Mullet and the Gulp Jerk shad have caught some bigger Flounder too.
Another bait that is new to the market I just started to use for Flounder that has a good price tag on it is the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig soft plastic lure. This is a bass (fresh water) bait but man when you see this thing you’ll know it is sure to catch Flounder as well as Redfish too! The colors I’m using in the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig are pearl white silver fleck, swamp gas and california. Just remember to work those jigs slowly to cover the bottom well and the Flounders will not be able to resist your lure! The Bull Reds starting to show up in the ocean on hard bottoms and around the inlets. You never know when you might hook one of these giants! When I fish for Bull Reds, I use fresh cut or live menhaden and Mullet. I use fish finder rigs (larger carolina rigs) with 7/0 to 9/0 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 there job. When you catch one of these Reds keep your eyes peeled for a yellow tag coming out of the back of the Red. Lots of Bull Reds in NC are tagged and you can get a little reward for turning in the info on you Red.
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!
Fishing Gear I use:
Reels: Flounder and Sheephead casting: Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Tarpon and Bull Reds Fishing reels: Penn Battle 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD and Torque 12 & 15. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Tarpon and Bull Reds Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF. Tarpon and Bull Reds Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series or Penn Torque jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Tarpon and Bull Reds; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound. Stren 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 of Fans for free tackle!
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Don’t’ forget to take a kid fishing!
Good Fishing to ya!
Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 20th, 2011
Well folks the hot weather continues, but the fishing has been pretty good for the last few weeks; going a little earlier in the day will keep you cooler! As far as fishing goes not much has changed since my last report as far as what I’m catching, I will in include a little more rigging info in this weeks report for you.
The Flounder fishing has been good to very 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 Berkley Gulp five and six inch Jerkshads in colors pearl white, chart pepper neon and new penny. A new bait I just started to use for Flounder that has a good price tag on it is the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig soft plastic lure. This is a bass (fresh water) bait but man when you see this thing you’ll know it is sure to catch Flounder as well as Redfish too! 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 with this design of a longer shank. Colors of jig heads for Flounder fishing does not seem to be a big deciding factor, but I stick with mostly gray, red and white (pearl). I prefer forty pound fluorocarbon leader from Stren’s tinted line in Gumsmoke for clear waters and Tannic for brown/river waters. Just remember when you hook that door mat Flounder to take your time and don’t pull his head out of the water, for she may just shake that hook out!
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. 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 new 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. 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 hot, with lots of fish being hooked and caught off many of the local piers and just off the beach in boats. 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. Hey give the Silver King a try sometime; you never know the fish god might hook you up with a Tarpon!
Fishing Gear I use:
Reels: Redfish, Flounder and Spanish casting: Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Tarpon Fishing reels: Penn Battle 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD and Torque 12 & 15. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Tarpon Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF. Tarpon Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series or Penn Toarque jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Tarpon; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound. Stren 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 of Fans for free tackle!
The first tackle give away will be on Monday August the first!
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Good fishing to you and stay cool 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 18th, 2011
