It’s funny we had one of the coldest winters and this summer was the hottest on record. Not the best conditions known for good Speckled trout stocks but Speckled trout fishing has been great and should continue to be great till water gets cold. The last three weeks has been a rollercoaster of weather and the fishing has followed that rollercoaster too. Most days the Speckled trout fishing has been good to great with some bigger fish really starting to show.
The days we are throwing artificial lures like grubs and hard baits. The MirrOlure has been one of my (go too’s) this season and it has paid off well for me. The bigger trout seem to really like to 52M and 52MR this season. The colors of the 52 series that are working the best for me is: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, CFPR, CH and HP. I fish the 52 series in water deaths of four to ten feet and sometimes deeper if there are lighter water currents. The days we are fishing in waters of two to five foot deep, I’ve had luck with the 17MR and Catch 2000jr. The colors that are working in the 17MR and Catch 2000jr are 11, 26, 808, CFPR, CH, EC and BCH.
I’ve seen a lot of trout hit grubs this season but most of the Specks have been smaller, so what do you do when you want to cast grubs. Try bigger grubs like the Gulp Ripple Mullet or a five and six inch Gulp Jerkshad. Another trick I’ll try sometimes to make bigger trout bite is make a double grub rig. When you work a double grub rig, you need to work it a bit faster so the grubs just don’t sink to the bottom. And always with any Speckled trout leaders use Fluorocarbon leader, trout have very good eye sight and this time of year the water can be very clear. I prefer Stren’s tinted Fluorocarbon leader in twenty pound in gunsmoke tint, this stuff works!
So you like instant gratification fishing, give live shrimp a try. 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 (gunsmoke tint) 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’ve started to see some large schools of Redfish getting there act together over the last few weeks. The Reds are starting to show there winter trends and this can make for some very good Redfishing. 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. I rig all these baits with fairly light jig heads so the baits will not just sink to the bottom.
Seeing large schools of winter Reds is not hard but scaring a school is also easy to do. Here are few things that will help you catch more schooling Reds and help you not to make everyone around you mad at you! Long distance casting will catch you more fish! Try a 7’6” spinning or casting rod but don’t go to heavy. If the lures are too heavy, the noise they make hitting the water can spoke the Reds. One thing I see a lot of anglers do is run there boat over the school, do all you can to not let this happen. If your boat is drifting towards the school, move before you spoke or run over the school! If you spoke the school you’re only going to hurt the fishing for you and the other anglers. If the school leaves your all out of luck!
In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar season. Here is 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 MirrOlure’s 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 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!
Fishing gear I use:
Gear used: Speckled trout and Redfish: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 spinning reels. *New Rod Line I’m using: Fenwick HMG series in sizes GS 70ML-F for Trout and GS 70M-MF for Redfish. Locally Intercoastal Angler carries the Fenwick line 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 test.
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
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! The good part of this is no more hot days and but lots of HOT fishing and the fishing has already been great and will even get better with this cool weather!
November is a great mouth to catch Speckled trout 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 we have picked up some very nice Speckled trout as well as good numbers of smaller ones.
Here is how I’m catching the Speckled trout lately. On the artificial side of things; MirrOlures are working very well for me this season so far. I’ve got to say we are catching them on the new ones like the 17MR and 18MR but some of the bigger ones are hitting the good old 52M&MR this season. My clients this last weekend found this out when the biggest trout of the trip hit a 52M; plus six more between two and four pounds. So colors of MirrOlures you ask? 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, HP and one I call ‘Hatteras Light’ we’ll leave it at that…
Soft baits are always a winner for trout fishing and you can catch good numbers of Speckled trout on grubs etc. Berkley Ripple Mullets are a newer bait 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. These baits are a bit big so I rig them with light 1/8oz jig heads and use the Ripple mullets in shallow/light current areas. Berkley Powerbait shrimp will catch the specks. I prefer colors, natural, pearl white and new penny, rigging with red or brown jig heads. 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.
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 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 29th and 30th was the Cape Fear Red*Trout 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 and General Division Champion. Our team came in 3rd over all in points. This is a tournament to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis; I look forward every year to fishing this tournament of a great cause.
Don’t forget it’s almost boat show and tackle show time of the year! I’ll have the shows listed here on my next fishing report to let you know where I’ll be speaking at this winter.
Thanks so much for reading this report! Booking now and booking up fast for trophy Speckled trout trips Mid November to Late December. Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!
Fishing gear we use:
Gear used: Speckled trout and Redfish: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 spinning reels. Rods: All Star ASR 7’ Trout (med-light) and/or Redfish (med) series. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Bull Redfish: Penn Battle 6000 or 7000 and Penn Conquer 7000 spinning reels. Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Jigging 6’6” spinning. Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound test.
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
Well folks fall is finally here and the weather is holding just the way I like it. The rains have finally almost drained out of the back waters and creeks. “I did not think it was ever going to finish draining!” The fishing has really gotten great over the last few weeks!
Bigger Reds and a few Bulls has been the story lately as far as Red Drum fishing goes. This has been one of the better years for fall Red fishing. Most fish have been caught on live and fresh cut bait. I have got a few on Berkley Gulp Ripple mullets and 5” & 6” Jerkshad. When I rig for bigger Redfish I use only circle hooks. I’m a true believer in the circle hook; in the last mouth we have caught well over 110 Redfish and everyone was hooked in the side of the mouth. No throat or gill hook sets! I prefer 7/0 Gamakatsu circle hooks for live and cut bait fishing.
When I throw artificial baits for the bigger reds, I use a little heavier jig heads for the Berkley Ripple mullets or Texas rig the Berkley Gulp jerkshad. I rig the Ripple mullets with 1/2oz, 5/8oz and ¾oz jigs heads in colors red and lead gray with forty pound mono or fluorocarbon leaders. The leaders are about fifth-teen to twenty inches long with no swivel, I prefer an Albright knot to connect my leader to my main line. When using Berkley Gulp jerkshad I rig them Texas style with a 5/0 wide gap worm hook and bullet weights of 1/4oz to 1oz.
The False Albacore, Bluefish and Spanish mackerel have been very active over the last few weeks just off the beaches to about three miles off shore. All of these species are fun to catch on light tackle as well as fly gear. Some days the schools have been large and very easy to catch. Just remember not to run right through the school for this will just end the bite and make everyone around you very mad!
Rigging for these schooling speed fish is easy, all you need is a lure that is bright, small and work it fast. One of my new favorites is the Sea striker Jigfish series in 1/2oz and 3/4oz. You can easily cast these lures a county mile and they won’t break the bank when you buy them. I prefer blue, green and pink as colors and rig them with thirty to forty pound mono leaders, fluoro if you prefer. Keep your eyes peeled on the water for birds and busting fish, if you see porpoises working the area move on to another school. The porpoises usually mean its just bait in the water not predator fish that you are trying to catch.
And last but certainly not lest, Speckled trout. I have had a few good number days of Specks lately. It has been a little hit and miss on numbers but this will change with cooler fall weather coming our way. If you read my reports you know what I like for Speckled trout fishing lure wise but here is a run down. One of my favorites is the good’ole MirrOlure; some of my favorite styles are the 17MR, 27MR, 52M & MR. Colors you ask: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, BNSBO, CFPR, CH, EC, HP, BKGCH, BCH. I’ve been playing with the 14MR & 18MR and I think they both will have there place in my tackle box; I’ll let y’all know soon!
Soft baits are always a winner for trout fishing and there are many on the market, so here are a few good ones to get started with. Berkley Powerbait shrimp will catch the specks. I prefer colors, natural, pearl white and new penny, rigging with red or brown jig heads. One thing I always use for Speckled trout fishing is fluorocarbon leader trout have very goo eye sight and the water can get very clear in the fall. Give Stren’s tinted fluorocarbon leader material a try. I like gunsmoke tint for clearer waters and tannic tint for river or stained waters. I use twenty pound and thirty pound when the blue fish are around.
Thanks so much for reading this report, if you would like a guided fishing charter; give me call or drop me a line. Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!
Fishing gear we use:
Gear used: False Albacore and Speckled trout: reels Penn Sargus SG2000 and Battle 2000. Rods: All Star ASR 7’ Trout (med-light) and/or Redfish (med) series. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Bull Redfish: Penn Battle 6000 or 7000 and Penn Conquer 7000 spinning reels. Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Jigging 6’6” spinning
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
Well folks, the weather is showing fall a little bit here and there; we get one or two cooler mornings from time to time. The fishing on the other hand is showing fall big time! In the last few weeks fishing has been good to great! The mullet run is in full swing and the fish know it! To the Fishing Report>>>.
One of my favorites to fish for with my clients is Bull Reds (bigger Redfish). They fight good, are pretty easy to catch and most of the fish we have got to release do to size (over slot). We find bull reds around inlets, sand bars, and hard/live bottom just off the beach to ten miles. The baits that work the best for us are live and fresh cut Menhaden and/or Mullet. Rigging for these fish is not hard, but there are a few points you need to learn when fishing for these older Reds.
We always use circle hooks while using live or cut bait for Redfish, this is very important! Reds will swallow your bait to the point where you can not got it out of there throat and many times this will kill the fish. We prefer 7/0 to 9/0 circle hooks with eighty pound Berkley Big Game clear mono for our leaders. My rig is really a big Carolina rig with a leader about two to three feet long. It’s a good idea to use a little heavier tackle when fishing for these fish; this is so you don’t fight the Redfish to long to the point it can not be revived. We use a 6’6” Ugly Stik Tigger lite jigging series med-hvy action and a Penn Conquer or Battle 6000 or 7000 size spooled with thirty or fifty pound Spiderwire braid.
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 fishing has put the most flounder in the boat for us. Carolina rigs with Eagle Claw L42 #1 size hooks and forty pound BBG clear mono leader works well. Small finger mullets, small menhaden and mud minnows are our choice live baits. 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.
As the weather cools off we will see some bigger Spanish mackerel and Albacore close to the beach. We saw a good run of nice size Spanish and Albacore this last week. We even got few Albacore to hit a fly and that was a lot of fun. Just keep your eyes on the water for birds and jumping fish, it’s not hard to catch these fish, but if there are a lot of boats chasing them. I would go look for another school, trust me there is not just one school out there and it will pay off for you! As for as lures; keep it bright and small, jigging spoons and casting spoons in sizes of two to four inches will do the trick. If they will not hit what you’re casting; go smaller and try different colors!
Speckled trout are starting to show up here and there, most of the action for us has been south of Wrightsville Beach but I’ve caught a few trout here around the islands this last week. As the weather turns to fall we’ll see more trout every week in until December. In the early part of trout season when the trash fish (pinfish & lizardfish) are still around I prefer artificial lures. My favorite is the good’ole MirrOlure; some of my favorite styles are the 17MR, 27MR, 52M & MR. Colors you ask: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, BNSBO, CFPR, CH, EC, HP, BKGCH, BCH. I know this looks like code but check out www.mirrolure.com for a full color chart to match with there color codes.
Thanks so much for reading this report, if you would like a guided fishing charter; give me call or drop me a line. Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!
Fishing gear we use:
Gear used: Flounder and Speckled trout: reels Penn Sargus SG2000 and Conquer 2000. Rods: All Star ASR 7’ Trout (med-light) and/or Redfish (med) series. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Bull Redfish: Penn spinning reel 760L (Live Liner), Penn Battle 6000 or 7000 and Penn Conquer 7000. Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Jigging 6’6” spinning
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
Hello folks, I hope everyone is well and looking forward to some cooler weather, that we should have soon; I am! If we can just keep these storms away I think its going to be a good fall fishing season. The fall mullet run has started and with that the fishing should really pick up.
Flounder have been a big part of our charters lately. We are catching numbers and there size is
getting better too! We’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. 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.
My charters have had some good early Redfish morning and late afternoon bites. We are fishing mud flats and oyster flats in creeks and along the ICW. Top water plugs like the MirrOlure’s Top Pup and She Pup have done very well. Rattle and popping corks with live mullets have also been working well. The best rattlin’ corks for me have been the Saltwater Assassin’s “Kwik-cork” this is one of the loudest corks on the market. When the water has been a little stained form strong winds we are catching some Reds on spinner baits too.
There are some 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 we fish for Bull Reds, we use fresh cut or live menhaden and Mullet. We 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.
There has been a few Trout starting to show up around. Most that we have found are in the creeks and channels running along the drop offs to deeper water. The trout that we have caught are hitting grubs in colors chicken on a chain, copperhead and sliver mullet on red 1/8oz jig heads. Hard baits having all the luck are Mirrolure’s 17MR and 27MR in colors 11, 50, 808 and CFPR. Always remember to use a loop knot when fishing MirrrOlures this will give the lure a lot more life like action. Fishing on good days has produced fifth teen or more specks. Cooler weather will equal more good fishing for Speckled trout!
Thanks so much for reading this report, if you would like a guided fishing charter; give me call or drop me a line. Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fishing to ya!
Fishing gear we use:
Gear used: Redfish, Flounder and trout: reels Penn Sargus SG2000 and Conquer 2000. Rods: All Star ASR 7’ Trout (med-light) and/or Redfish (med) series. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound. Bull Redfish: Penn spinning reel 760L (Live Liner) and Penn Conquer 7000. Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Jigging 6’6” spinning Line: thirty pound Berkley Big game mono.
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
