I hope everyone is enjoying some of this warmer weather lately and now if the wind would just lay down a little bit, we go fishing even more! It will not be long before its ninety degrees and no wind at all. For those of you who are loyal readers, I’m sorry for the break in regular fishing reports, I have been very busy this winter with seminars, fishing schools, tackle sales and my fishing trips mixed in too. I’m back now and will keep the fishing reports coming bi-weekly as normal. Here it this weeks fishing report>>>
The Redfish and Black drum bite in the ICW and creeks just off the ICW has been good. I’m starting to see a few smaller Reds 14” to 21” in some of the creeks on warmer days; a few over slot fish mixed in as well. Most of the reds and black drum are hitting mud minnows and “fresh as you can get shrimp”. I use two hook bottom rigs with 2, 1 & 1/0 bait holder hooks, with the fresh shrimp, when fishing for the black drum and reds. If you would like to go the artificial root, I would recommend using scented grubs. The best luck baits have been Berkley Gulp and Berkley Powerbait shrimp in colors Pearl, Molting and New Penny. Jigs heads for the grubs in 1/8oz to 3/8 oz, colors red and black seem to be the trick. Work’em slow around docks and drop-offs on grass lines and oyster rocks. The best tides have been falling or raising but fishing closer to the lower parts of the tides.
Something that I love to do this time of year (late March to early June) is go up to lock & dam #1 and fish for Shad. These fish are so much fun to catch; they run, jump and run some more. Light tackle and fly fishing is the name of the game here! I see so many people fishing for shad use to heavy of tackle. Lighter tackle equals more bites and more fun! All you need is a light rod and reel; I use a Pflueger Echelon combo PFLECHSP502CB2 loaded with six pound Berkley Fireline crystal braid. A two shad dart rig with Fifth teen or twenty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader; darts in colors pink and green. On our last trip we caught well over fifty shad. If you have not ever tried it; you need too! Also while your shad fishing you can put out a catfish line and sometimes catch a very nice Blue catfish.
False Albacore fishing has been good the days I can get out for them. I’m finding the Albacore from five to twenty miles offshore. There has been a few Bonita mixed in with them form time to time as well. It should not be long before we are catching good numbers of Bonita around the area waters. The #0 and #1 pink flash, silver and gold Clark spoon has caught most of our fish lately. Trolling these spoons on #1 or #2 planner; with thirty to forty feet of forty pound Berkley big game mono as leader on the planners is the way to go. On the bird rig for the surface fishing; I rig it with five to six feet of leader to the spoon. Don’t forget to put a ball bearing swivel on the bird and planner; this will keep tangles from happing (well most of the time!)
When the Bonita and Albacore are on top feeding; cast Maria and Sea striker jig-spoons. The colors that seem to work the best are pink, green and blue. I use a forty pound Fluorocarbon leader; about fifth teen to twenty inches long. I really like Stren’s tinted (gunsmoke) fluorocarbon leader material for clear water conditions; “this stuff really works”! A light weight 7’ rod and a Penn Battle 3000 loaded with ten to fifth teen pound braid is important for casting to these fast fish. The reason for this is the further you can cast equals more chance’s you will hook up. When there are a lot of boats chasing the Bonita, they get wearer of boats. If you can cast farther; you will catch more of these fish!
Fishing Gear we use:
Reels Penn Fierce and 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, Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. Leader material: Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon. Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.
Thanks for reading this report, if you have any questions just let me know! If you would like to go fishing drop me a line; I’m booking now for this coming summer fishing season and don’t forget to take a kid fishing!
Good Luck,
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
Wow, what a difference some warm weather makes on fishing! This has been some of the best February weather I’ve ever seen around southeast North Carolina in a very long time! The great thing it has really gotten the fish moving and starting to feed some around the local waters. And that’s what I’m going to go over in this fishing report.
I love saltwater fishing but, I like any kind of fish pulling on my line salt or fresh and this time of year you can catch some really nice fresh water fish. I have run a few fresh water trips in the last few weeks with some pretty good success; we even got a few very nice bass on a fly rod early last week that went just over six pounds. Fishing local lakes, ponds and the Northeast Cape Fear River has been producing good catches of large-mouth bass. The best baits lately have been Berkley Powerbait 5” Sinkworms in colors green pumpkin/watermelon, black with red flake and watermelon. I’m rigging these worms Texas and wacky style on 4/0 wide gap worm hooks. When we are casting the fly rod we are using; six to eight weight rods with floating line and eight to twelve pound tippets.
One fish that has just been waiting for the water to warm up just a bit is the good’ole Redfish; they are on the move and biting! We are seeing the Reds on the shallow mud and oyster flats now in good numbers. Capt Jeff Wolfe and I gave it a shot last week and ended up with just over forty-five Redfish for the day. All the Reds hit Berkley Gulp 3” shrimp in colors natural and molting on 1/8oz and 1/4oz jig heads with twenty pound Stren tinted tannic fluorocarbon leader. There have been a few schools of Reds around the local inlets and just off the beaches if we can get the weather to go get them!
The Cape Fear River Stripers are biting from time to time; it got a little cold for them but with this nice warm up they should start biting. The Stripers are hitting Berkley gulp jerk shad 5” in colors pearl, new penny and electric chicken. We rig the jerk shad Texas style, with a large 5/0 worm hook. Rapala X-raps work too, in colors glass ghost and green back. Remember, still work the lures slow for the water is warming up but it’s still a little cold.
I would like to thank everyone who has attended the fishing schools, seminars and boat shows I’ve spoke at this winter, it always good to see everyone. There have been some very good seminars/schools this winter and the turnouts have been great, thanks again for attending. If anyone has any questions about any of the classes I spoke at, please feel free to e-mail the questions any time to captainjot@yahoo.com There are a few more good fishing functions you can attend this spring, here are a few more I’ll be at in the near feature.
February 25th, 26th and 27th Bass Pro Shop 2011 Spring Fishing Classic, Myrtle Beach, SC. I’ll be answering any questions you have about products made by Penn, Spidwire, Berkley, Fenwick, Minn Kota, MirrOlure and many others you want to purchase at this sale. Bass Pro is also offering there Reel Trade-Ins program for you to save money on your new reels purchased from Bass Pro.
March 26th: Tex’s Tackle Spring Sale and Fishing Seminars. Yes it’s that time of year again Tex’s big spring sale, Tex will have all kinds of good deals on tackle to get you started for this upcoming fishing season. I’ll be to help you with any questions you have about tackle and I’ll also being doing a seminar or two on inshore fishing.
*If you know any one or your looking for a Bay boat my 2008 Ranger Bay 2200 is for sale please look at this link for all the info on this well maintained Ranger. http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2008-Ranger-2200-Bay-97953352 If you have any questions or would like to see/test drive please let me know.
Fishing gear I use:
Gear used: Redfish, Bass and Striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF for Redfish, Bass and Striped Bass. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.
Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello.
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
I hope everybody is making through this winter so far, the weather been up and down and that is an understatement! There are some fish biting but you just need to go on the right days to catch them. If you’re settled down for the winter and don’t feel like fishing, hit a local or regional fishing school or boat show; you never know what you might learn or see!
The Redfishing lately has been pretty good most days when the wind is not howling and we’ve seen some nice schools of Reds. Warmer, sunny and lower wind days can be the key to catching these inshore winter Redfish. It’s not hard to catch them once you find’em, look for these Reds in creek with dark colored bottoms and oyster rocks never hurt. Scented soft plastics like Berkley Gulp should do the trick to get these Reds to hit. Patterns in Gulp like Shrimp in sizes 2” and 3” are my go too, colors that seem to work the best are pearl, molting and new penny. Try lighter jig heads like 1/16 and 1/8 when winter fishing; lighter jig heads help you to work the lure much slower and still look nature as possible.
I’ve made quite a few trips to the Cape Fear River year; there are two different kinds of fish to chase in the Cape Fear, Catfish and Striped Bass most all winter long. Here is a few ways to put a CFR Striper on your line. Try Berkley Gulp and Powerbait Jerkshad in 5’ size; in pearl & new penny colors. Work these baits slowly and always rig them weed-less; there are many hangs in the Cape Fear River. Look for Stripers on drop-offs, dock pilings and reed-grass lines.
If you would like to give the Catfish a try, use baits like cut mullet, chicken livers and cut eel. I use heavy Carolina rigs when I fish for catfish. Try an Eagle claw L42 2/0 to 4/0 hook with fifty or eighty pound mono leader to make your carolina rig. Look for the catfish on drop-offs from five to twenty feet of water. We have seen some blue cats over thirty pounds caught in the river so try not to use to light of tackle; these are not always your ‘farm pond channel cats’!
*If you know any one or your looking for a Bay boat my 2008 Ranger Bay 2200 is for sale please look at this link for all the info on this well maintained Ranger. http://www.boattrader.com/listing/2008-Ranger-2200-Bay-97953352 If you have any questions or would like to see/test drive please let me know.
Fishing gear I use:
Gear used: Redfish and Striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. Catfish Fenwick HMG GS 70MH-MF. Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF for Redfish and Striped Bass. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.
In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar/school season. Here are some of the shows I plan to speck at or appear at.
February 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011 – Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show – Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world. I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.
February 12th Fisherman’s Post 6th Annual Saltwater Fishing school. www.fishermanspost.com/fishing-school I look forward to this school, I’ve wanted to participate in this school in the past but my winter schedule did not allow me to. I’ve herd many good things about this school in the past. There will be more than twelve local captains at this year school to help you learn all there is to know about any kind of local saltwater fishing.
February 19th, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest. www.capefearsportsmen.org/fishfest This is a great free event! I’ll be speaking on two topics this year; Cape Fear River Striped Bass fishing and my very popular MirrOlures with success seminar.
February 25th, 26th and 27th Bass Pro Shop 2011 Spring Fishing Classic, Myrtle Beach, SC. I’ll be answering any questions you have about products made by Penn, Spidwire, Berkley, Fenwick, Minn Kota, MirrOlure and many others you want to purchase at this sale. Bass Pro is also offering there Reel Trade-Ins program for you to save money on your new reels purchased from Bass Pro.
Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello.
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
Folks this winter will not give up with out a fight, right when it looks like its going to get warmer; we get snow and nasty cold weather! So what are we going to do if we live to fish; of course GO Fishing on the ‘right’ days! With this winter being cold and last winter not any better, I’ve found you can catch fish but you just have got to go on the right days. So you ask what are the right days? Warmer, sunnier and lighter wind days are your best shot to catch fish this time of year. Any thing that will give you an advantage when it’s cold out side, here are a few winter fish that can get you through the cold winter of fishing.
If you like to chase Red’s the Redfishing in the winter can be some of the best of the year for catching numbers of fish; the deal breaker for this fishery is you have got to good weather, clam seas and bright sunny skies. I use Berkley Gulp Ripple Mullet in colors Pearl/chart tail, New Penny and Rootbeer gold/chart tail; also the Berkley Gulp 5” and 6” Jerkshad work well too, when looking for surf Red schools. Work these baits slowly in front of the Redfish schools not right through the school, all this will do is spook the Reds and will make it very hard to catch them. Don’t count out a Reds inshore this time of year, look for Reds on dark color (black, brown) mud flats. The Reds love to get on these flats to warm up a bit when it gets cold.
Cape Fear River Striped Bass are not the easiest winter fish to catch but they will bite right through the winter, the colder it gets the harder they are to catch. Taking your time and fishing hard you can catch Cape Fear River Striped Bass. Here is a few ways to put a CFR Striper on your line. Try Berkley Gulp and Powerbait Jerkshad in 5’ size; in pearl & new penny colors. Work these baits slowly and always rig them weed-less; there are many hangs in the Cape Fear River. Look for Stripers on drop-offs, dock pilings and reed-grass lines.
Fishing gear I use:
Gear used: Redfish and Striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. *New Rod Line I’m using: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF for Redfish and Striped Bass. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.
In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar/school season. Here are some of the shows I plan to speck at or appear at.
It was good to see everyone at the NC Bass and Saltwater Boat Show and Expo this last weekend. This was a great Expo and there were a lot of people there this year. Those of you how came to one of my seminars, thanks for dropping in and if you have any follow up questions about any thing I spoke about; feel free to e-mail the question at captainjot@yahoo.com
January 18, 2011 – Bass Pro Shop in Charlotte, NC I will have a seminar at 7:30pm on Tuesday night; Speaking for the Piedmont Chapter of NC Waterman which meets at Bass Pro Shops the third Tuesday of each month . The topics I’ll be speaking on are Speckled trout, Redfish and Cape Fear River Striped Bass. If you live in the Charlotte area come on by that night.
January 29th 2011 – Saltwater Sportsman National Seminar Series. BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE-Odell Williamson Auditorium. www.nationalseminarseries.com I’ll be there with Penn Fishing tackle showing all the new Rods and Reels from Penn.
February 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011 – Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show – Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world. I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.
February 12th Fisherman’s Post 6th Annual Saltwater Fishing school. www.fishermanspost.com/fishing-school I look forward to this school, I’ve wanted to participate in this school in the past but my winter schedule did not allow me to. I’ve herd many good things about this school in the past. There will be more than twelve local captains at this year school to help you learn all there is to know about any kind of local saltwater fishing.
February 19th, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest. www.capefearsportsmen.org/fishfest This is a great free event! I’ll be speaking on two topics this year; Cape Fear River Striped Bass fishing and my very popular MirrOlures with success seminar.
Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello.
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
Man it’s been cold around here lately, where did fall go? We have had some kind of weather around here in the last; oh-I’ll say over a year! Cold, hot and cold again, what a year!?!? It has played havoc on the local fishing but I’m not one to set around and wait for it to warm up, I like to fish! So here is the fishing report of what I’ve been trying to catch (with some success) during this cold December we are having.
Speckled trout fishing got a little harder in the last few weeks and I’ve caught a few but worked hard to catch’em. Working baits like MirrOlures and Berkley Gulp very slow has been the best success lately. The trout seem to be sitting deeper whether it’s in the creeks or around the inlets; the trout are feeding in the five plus feet of water. When the trout starting doing this, it’s usually a little later in the year; I use baits that sink very slow. The MirrOlure 52M, 52MR and TT series are some of the best for the slow pattern I look for during the cold fishing mouths. When I use soft plastics like Berkley Gulp I use lighter jig heads in weights of 1/16oz, 1/8oz and 1/4oz. This lighter jig heads make it much easier to work grubs much slower when trout are lethargic form cold water. Any days when we have mostly sunny skies or warmer air temps; these are the winter days you need to try to go Speckled trout fishing.
When the cold weather hit us and decided not to leave, I knew it was time to go try for some Cape Fear River Striped Bass. Cape Fear Stripers can be a hit and miss fishery but not to say you can’t go catch a few most days. I look for the Striped bass in the CFR to be in around five to twelve feet of water; when its warmer they are shallower and when it’s colder they are usually deeper. Casting soft baits like Berkley Gulp jerkshads and pogy patterns are a good choice for the Stripers. Colors I prefer are pearl, new penny and Arkansas shiner. When the CFR Stripers are very active, I like hard baits like MirrOlures L29M in colors 11, 18 and 808. Always with any winter fishing, work baits slower in cold water for better results.
One thing we have not had much of this season is nice enough weather to get out and chase the winter Redfish, one of my favorite winter pass times! The Reds are there all we need is the weather to go get’em. When I fish for winter Redfish I use lots of Berkley Gulp! You can’t go wrong with scented lures when the water gets cold. Berkley Gulp Ripple Shad, 3” Shrimp and five inch Jerkshad should do the trick. Another trick for winter Redfish is to look for dark/black mud bottoms in creeks; on warmer sunny days the Reds love to get on these flats to warm up a bit. We all know if a fish warms up any at all they will usually bite a hook!
Fishing gear I use:
Gear used: Speckled trout, Redfish and striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. *New Rod Line I’m using: Fenwick HMG series in sizes GS 70ML-F for Trout and GS 70M-MF for Redfish and Striped Bass. Locally Intercoastal Angler carries the Fenwick line of rods. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound for trout and thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.
In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar/school season. Here are some of the shows I plan to speck at or appear at.
January 7th, 8th and 9th, 2011 – Raleigh Bass & Saltwater Fishing Expo NC State Fairgrounds – Raleigh, NC. www.ncboatshows.com This is a GREAT show, with over 160 booths offering everything from the latest lures, plastics, jigs, custom rods, apparel, knives, product sample booths, hard-tops, saltwater fishing guides, fresh water guides, cast nets, gaffs…..by far one of the best shows of its kind in the Carolina’s and Virginia. I will be there along with other Ranger and Pure Fishing pro staff members, as well as many others fresh and salt water pros! I’ll be there all three days and doing two different seminars on fishing MirrOlures the right way and near shore light tackle King Mackerel Fishing.
January 29th 2011 – Saltwater Sportsman National Seminar Series. BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE-Odell Williamson Auditorium. www.nationalseminarseries.com I’ll be there with Penn Fishing tackle showing all the new Rods and Reels from Penn.
February 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011 – Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show – Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world. I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.
February 12th Fisherman’s Post 6th Annual Saltwater Fishing school. I look forward to this school, I’ve wanted to participate in this school in the past but my winter schedule did not allow me to. I’ve herd many good things about this school in the past. There will be more than twelve local captains at this year school to help you learn all there is to know about any kind of local saltwater fishing. Learn more about this school at: www.fishermanspost.com/fishing-school
February 19th, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest. www.capefearsportsmen.org/fishfest I don’t know what topics I’ll be speaking on yet, but as soon as I know I’ll let you know! For more info on the day, check out this link!
Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello!
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
