Well the warmer temps have come back to the Cape Fear Coast and I like it! Got out on the water with a good friend and fishing partner of mine Duane Auman. Duane and myself headed up the Cape Fear River to try a little late season Striper fishing on a beautiful February day. The weather could not have been any better!
We put out a few swallow diving X-raps and started trolling, we trolled for a good hour with no bites so we decided to do a little jigging. We got out some pearl in color Saltwater Assassin Blurps and long shank Assassin red jig heads. We use the long shank to rig the baits weed less, there are a lot of hangs in the Cape fear.
We jigged around a few different creek mouths and drop offs up and down the river. On the next stop Duane got a fish the first cast, I got the net; looked down in the water it was a Redfish! Not to bad for a first cast, so I dropped my jig down. Bang I got one too, another Redfish.
We kept jigging for a while with a few hits but no more hook ups on the jigs. I got out an X-rap “Green back” and made a few cast, and bang got a small Striper. Duane did the same and got one too. After a few hours and a few more small Stripers we called it a day and headed for the ramp.
We were happy with a few Reds and Stripers on a warm winter day. It was just great getting out on the water!
Gear used: Pflueger Contender Low profile bait casters with 20# Ugly braid, Rods were Pflueger Trion 7’0” Med-Heavy Act.
Thanks for reading this report, good fishing to ya,
Capt. Jot Owens
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
I think winter is finally here, I’m already looking forward to spring! Cooler temps have invaded the southeast Carolina coast, rainy and cold one day; cold and sunny the next. Sometimes we get a lucky 60` day mixed in, “I like those”! Spring will be here before we know it.
The new boat is here!!! I got to see it for the first time today, she is beautiful. I am really looking forward to fishing one of the finest bay boats in the world. The Ranger Bay 22` is a truly fine fishing weapon, built to fish, fish and more fishing. This will be one more very important weapon to catch those sneaky fish around here.
To the fishing report, a few Trout are biting. The key here is patience; take your time when the water gets cold. Cold water Trout fishing; slow jigging and slow retrieve will catch you more Trout. When the water cools down, I mostly fish Grubs and Mirrolures. It is easier to fish these lures slower, than other lures on the market. If you can get live bait, please use it!
The grubs I like in the winter mouths are Saltwater Assassin sea shad in 4”. Colors silver mullet, chart diamond, and salt/pep shad. I like to use shrimp Bang scent in the winter too, this helps because there is not much bait in the water. I don’t use a lot of scents for Trout, but in the cold winter it can really help. Mirrolures elect. ckin and chart and sliver belly colors. Work them SLOW!
Redfish are schooling well in the surf, if we can get a nice day to get out and get’em. They are pretty easy to catch; you just got to find them. That part can be a bit harder, trust me! A sunny, light wind day and good polarized sunglasses are the keys to catching these Reds.
Grubs seen to be the easy go to bait for surf Reds. Saltwater Assassin “Blurps” in pearl color work very well. You need to use heavier jigs heads, ½ and 5/8 plus for casting. Color of the head is not a big deal Red, white and black all work just fine. Hold on tight, they fight great even in cold water!
Let’s not forget those Cape Fear River stripers; they should bite right on to the end of February. That is if it does not get to cold, so far so good. . Most fish are eating shrimp jigs “Blurps” in pearl and molting have done well. Also Rattle traps and mid water diving plugs are catching a few too.
That is the report; keep an eye on the web page. As soon as I get photos of the new boat I will put hem on the web site. Thanks for reading this report, good fishing to ya!
Capt. Jot Owens
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
Offshore – Inshore Report Captian Jot Owens
Warm-Cold-Warm>>>>>> that has been the weather around here lately.
It can make it hard to catch fish when it’s like this, the fish don’t know what season it is! As fishermen we still get out there and try to catch’em even if they are not biting. So that brings me to my report.
The Trout have still been biting some, not as well as this late Fall but biting. Most fish are around the inlets and beaches; the recent cold snap has kept them out of the creeks. Most fish are hitting live bait “if you can get it”.
Live shrimp and small minnows on float rigs have worked the best. Also try working a grub like a Saltwater Assassin Blurp. Work the grub very slow, the colder the water the slower you need to work it.
In the surf there has been large schools of Redfish, these Reds should stay in the surf until spring. The water is very clear here in the winter. The Reds are easy to see in the surf, by boat or walking on the beach. Don’t forget your polarized sunglasses; you’ll need them to see them! The best baits for the surf Reds, Mirrolures and Blurp grubs with heavy jig heads 5/8 and ½ oz.
I headed out to the Gulf Stream on the boat “Work Release”, Saturday (1-5) to do a little Wahoo fishing. Great weather, calm seas, a little warmer air temps. Left the dock at 4:30am got to the first spot around 6:30am and started trolling. We put out the spread, mostly light wire ballyhoo rigs “hot shots” using Blue Water candy skirts. For baits we used Medium ballyhoo and we also had out one horse ballyhoo with a Blue Water candy “Jag” in black and purple.
The water was a little to cold for what I like to see in the area we were fishing, 70 dig. We fished for a couple of hours with a few hits on the down rigger, mostly False Albacore. So we turned the boat for deeper and hopefully warmer water. We got out to 650 feet and what do you know the long rigger snapped off like a BB gun. I look back and a small but happy to see Blue Marlin. I could not believe my eyes; I even thought I saw he had a jacket on in that cold water!
It did not last long, he turned over real quick and drop the bait “that’s fishing”. Good to see him tough, sure got our hearts racing on a slow fishing day.
We got out to about 800 feet and decided to do a little deep dropping for some Snowy Groupers. Headed over to a wreck we fish from time to time. Got out the deep drop rod, and made a drop on the wreck. Got a hit right away reeled it up; nice snowy! We caught a few more and headed to the hill “home”. This was one trip I was glad I had other gear on the boat for different kinds of fishing. It can save the day!
One last quick note, I will be at the Bass & Saltwater Fishing Expo this coming weekend 1-11 to 1-13. I’ll be there with Ranger boats and Collins Inc. in the Jim Gramham building. Come by and say hello, I will be happy to answer any questions you have about fishing or the boats. I’m going to have some tackle with me and some great tips for ya!
Thanks so much for reading this report, get out there and take a kid fishing!
Capt. Jot Owens
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
Capt. Jot Owens, Wrightsville Beach NC Trout, Redfish, and Blues
Happy Thanksgiving to All!!! I hope every body can get out and do some fishing on this Thanksgiving, weather looks GREAT next couple of days. Hey and the fish are bitting! Fishing has been good to very good last few trips, slowest day for us was 8 trout and over 30 Blues “I stopped keeping track.
The trout are bitting Mirrolure’s and jigs. I’ve had the most luck with red and black 1/4oz jig heads, with saltwater Assassin seashads in colors (pearl flake, chart. diamond, silver mullet). And don’t forget those live Shrimp!!!
Redfish are in the surf in good numbers, I’ve seen schools in the 50 to 200+ fish “easy to see”! Jigs have been the real key for the drum, 5/8 and 1/2oz red heads. Saltwater Assassin “Blurps” in colors white “pearl” and Molting have seen to work the best.
Bluefish they have been around the inlets in big numbers. Lures, about anything you throw at them. We’ve been casting metal spoons and catching all we want!
Thanks for reading this report, have a great Thanksgiving! Want to go fishing, give me a call 910-233-4139.
Good fishing to Ya! Thanks, Capt Jot Owens
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
