This winter has been up and down; really 74` one day and 47` the next day, am I seeing double??? The fishing overall even with this weather has been pretty good most days. I’ve said once, I have said it 1000 times; you really have to pick your fishing days during the winter months here in Southeast NC! Trust me give a day or two and the weather will be warmer and drier, just give it some time; you’ll see!
The Red fishing 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 creeks 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; I’m keeping the baits smaller. Colors that seem to work the best are pearl, molting and new penny; the new Fire tail colors work great too! When the rains come down and stains up the water try to go to darker color patterns, this will help you get more bites.
Try lighter jig heads like 1/16oz and 1/8oz when winter fishing; lighter jig heads help you to work the lure much slower and will still look natural. On warmer light wind days you can also find some nice schools of Reds in shallow water oyster flats and rocks. The Reds will sun on these dark colored bottom areas for a little extra warm up; this is also where you’ll see some bait fish doing the same thing (warming up). 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. If the Reds are hungry they break away from the school and eat your bait!
Surf Reds have been hit or miss; I believe that a lot of the Reds are still up in the creeks due to all the up and down weather this season. I have caught a few good days of surf Reds when the weather is just right. Casting Berkley Gulp Ripple mullets on 1/4oz and 3/8oz jig heads in colors Rootbeer gold and New penny’ or MirrOlure Catch 2000’s; don’t forget that fluorocarbon leader this time of year the water is super clear most days!
I’ve made quite a few trips to the Cape Fear River year; there are three different kinds of fish to chase in the Cape Fear, Catfish, Striped Bass and even a hand full of nice Redfish most all winter long. Here is a few ways to put a CFR Striper on your line. Try Berkley Gulp Jerkshad in five and six inch size; in pearl white or new penny colors and Berkley Havoc Grass Pigs. Work these baits slowly and always rig them weed-less; there are many hangs in the Cape Fear River. Try a Moaner swim bait hook with the Berkley Jerkshad or grass pig; this is a great hook at a great price. www.moanerhooks.com I use the weighted Stroker hook in 1/4oz 5/0. Look for Stripers on drop-offs, dock pilings and reed-grass lines. The Cape Fear River Striped Bass fishing is a closed fishery; all Stripers must be released.
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’!
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II & Conflict Spinning reels sizes 2500, 3000 & 4000 for the Redfish and Striped Bass. PENN Battalion in 6’6” & 7’ medium and med/hvy action; line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen pound; Berkley Pro Spec Fluorocarbon leader for my leader material.
If you have any questions about the tactics I use fishing the local waters please e-mail me or catch me on Face Book at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Capt-Jot-OwensJot-It-Down-Fishing-Charters-LLC/134340373310487
Thanks for reading and have a Happy New Year!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Fishing Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on December 30th, 2014
Where has this year gone??? Wow its November already, hey the good news is it’s time for another one of my favorites to fish for; Speckled trout. These fish are a challenge to catch “sometimes” and it’s a light tackle fishery! Here is how I catch trout and a few other species during November.
In early November I look for Speckled trout in the creeks and channels just off the ICW; any where water is moving with tide flow and bait. Speckled trout like current; whether it’s hard current in a main channel or light current up a creek. You need current flow to catch trout; rising and falling tide can be good for trout don’t let the tide keep you form going trout fishing! Marsh grass banks with oyster rocks that run in to a channel or along a marsh grass bank with oysters and drop-offs in channels are all good places to find Speckled trout in November. Later in November I start to find the trout in the above area as well as around the inlets in good numbers.
One key point to trout fishing I’ve found is that most days Specks will bite, but what are they hitting that day? I’ve found that hard baits work through November and catch all sizes of speckled trout. This is when you need to know where to start; what lures to try? One of my favorites is the good’ole MirrOlure; it’s been around a long time and it is still catching fish. The patterns I prefer are the Catch 2000, 17MR, 18MR, 52M and 52MR. Colors; MirrOlure makes a lot of different colors but here are some of my go too colors around Wrightsville Beach area waters. MirrOlure color codes: 11, 21, 26, 51, 704, CFPR, CH, EC and HP. Any local tackle shop can help you with these color codes or go to www.MirrOlure.com for a color chart.
If you have ever done any trout fishing at all you know that a grub (soft plastic) lures work very good for Speckled trout too! Berkley Gulp shrimp three inch is a great bait form Berkley, I really like these baits. The colors I prefer in the Fire tail shrimp are rootbeer/gold chart tail, Cajun purple/chart tail, watermelon red glitter/chart tail and glow white/glow chart tail. In non fire tail color I like sugar spice glow. Saltwater Assassin’s four inch sea shad in colors chicken on a chain, sweet pea, mullet, Green moon, rainbow trout and cantaloupe are all good choices in November as well. Remember when it comes to color; try light colors in clear water and darker colors in stained or dirty waters. The color chicken on a chain is great when the water gets stained from rain; which sometimes we get lots of in the fall around here!
Don’t count out live bait if you would rather fish with it. Try live smaller mullets, mud minnows and live shrimp. In shallow waters of two to five feet I like to float these live baits with a cork. In deeper waters of six to ten plus I rig them on light Carolina rigs with a small #1 J-hook. Just wait until you feel that trout take off with the bait and lightly set the hook, remember trout have very soft mouths.
The Redfish bite can be good during November, sometimes while trout fishing I find nice schools of Redfish. November can also be a very good mouth for large schools of Reds in the surf or the creeks. Casting lures to these Reds like Berkley Gulp Ripple mullets or five inch jerkshads will surely get you a bite! Most all the time when I find Redfish in November they are hungry and ready to bite.
The Flounder fishing starts to slow down in later November, but you can still catch some big ones during November. A couple of years ago I had a client put a eight and a half pounder in the boat while we were trout fishing during November; talk about a fight on very light tackle!
There will also be just about all the Bluefish you can handle during November as well. Just look for the birds and bait schools close to the local inlets and cast metal spoons at these bait schools. 99.9% of the time there will be Bluefish there, just about every cast! Don’t’ forget to beef up your leader when catching Bluefish; I use forty or fifty pound fluorocarbon or mono when casting to Bluefish. You surely do not want to lose those trout lures to a bluefish!
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II or Conflict Spinning reels sizes 2000, 2500 & 3000 for the Bluefish, Redfish and Speckled trout. Rods PENN Battalion 6’6” & 7’ med/light and medium action; line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in eight, ten and fifth-teen pound. Leaders: Berkley Pro Spec Fluorocarbon leader material in 20 or 30 pound.
*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, videos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Don’t’ forget to take a kid fishing and have a great Thanksgiving!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on October 31st, 2014
Well Folks, fall is trying to show and then it gets warm and wet! A real roller coaster of weather: one day with hot temps, breezy and wet; very next day cool and sunshine! Hey that’s what gets those fall fish biting so we can’t complain too much. With that said let’s talk fall fishing!
I’ve had some very good Spanish mackerel runs lately, most of the action has been a little off the beach in thirty to fifty feet of water (clearer water). Most of the Spanish are hitting Clark spoons on number one planners; a few nicer fish have hit live bait on top as well. I have also caught some on Fly’s and Hogy epoxy jigs casting when the Spanish get on top to feed. The Spanish are very nice in size; most fish are two to some over four pounds “nice fall size”. There has been a good amount of False Albacore mixing in as well, which are always fun on light tackle.
The Flounder fishing has been good for the most of the year, on some trips I’ve caught over eight keeper fish. The Flounder are mixed in size to just under keeper size to a few over five pounds. I have caught most of the Flounder on artificial baits and it seems that most of the bigger flounder are hitting bigger artificial baits. I’ve had the best luck with Berkley Gulp five and six inch jerkshad in colors pearl white and chart-pepper neon. I’m rigging these jerkshad on a red or black jig heads with forty pound fluorocarbon leaders for best results. I’m working the jerkshad slow, making sure the lure stays close to the bottom.
Redfish schools are starting to show up in the surf. You can find these schools of twenty to over a thousand Redfish around inlets, outer sand bars and jetties. Once you find these schools there pretty easy to catch if the weather is calm. I cast 1/4oz to 1/2oz jig heads with five inch Berkley Gulp jerkshad or four inch Berkley Gulp Ripple mullet; in colors new penny or pearl white. Be very careful in the surf if you’re in a boat, you really have got to watch the waves and try not to run over the school with your boat!
I’ve caught some bigger bull Redfish on hard/live bottoms just off the beach and around the local inlets. I’m catching Reds in the 24 to over 38 inch range, some days their over the slot some days there in the slot. Most of the Reds are hitting live mullets and fresh menhaden on Carolina rigs; using heavier egg sinkers with circle hooks 6/0 to 9/0. Don’t forget to keep your drag tight when using circle hook so the hook will do its 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. I see it over and over again; anglers using to light of tackle and they “release” a floating dead Redfish. Check to see if the Red has a tag in its back; there are a fair amount of tagged Bull Reds out there.
And last but Not least, Speckled Trout are starting to show and bite! The Speckled trout fishing has gotten better and better around this area every year! It looks like it will be the same this year as well; especially since we have seen a lot of fish already this year and there is plenty of bait around; “I Can’t wait, I love Trout fishing”! The best trout bites should be on grubs and hard baits, but good ‘ole live shrimp will work just as well too.
The best grubs I’ve luck with are Berkley Gulp three inch shrimp in colors pearl white, new penny, and new penny flick/chart tail. I also catch a good amount of trout on Saltwater Assassin’s four inch sea-shad in colors greenback shiner, chicken on a chain, copper head and silver mullet. I Rig the grubs and shrimp patterns on a red or black jig heads and I always use fluorocarbon leader for trout fishing!
Hard lures that seem to be bring the trout to the boat are Mirrolure’s 17MR, Catch 2000 Jr, 52M and 18MR lures in colors pink, chartreuse, and white. Most of the trout we have caught have been in the creeks and main channels connecting to the ICW and inlets as well as the Cape Fear River.
The Fishing gear I use:
Reds, Trout and Flounder: Reels PENN Battle II’s and Conflict spinning in sizes 2000, 2500 and 3000 Rods: PENN Battalion 6’6” and 7’ Med/light and Med. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast in 10, 15 and 20 pound. Bull Redfish reels: PENN Spinfisher V 5500 and PENN Fathom 15. Rods: PENN Rampage Jigging rods in 30 to 80 pound class. . Line: thirty pound Berkley Big Game mono.
*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, videos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!
Thanks for reading my reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Don’t’ forget to take a kid fishing!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on September 8th, 2014
Here we are in August and the weather has been so up and down this year! You name it we’ve had it; a hurricane, hot, warm, cool, rainy and dry! Welcome to NC summer weather, it can change in an hour or a minute! I’ve had to work a little harder this season with all the weather, but most days we are getting good numbers of fish in the boat. Here is my August Fishing Forecast/report.
The Flounder fishing has been good to very good this season with a fair amount of nice fish coming in over four pounds and three over five. 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 (when the water is stained). A bait I started to use last season 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 chartreuse.
When rigging the Jerkshad and Grass Pig baits, I prefer a long shank jig head to hold the baits on securely. Saltwater Assassin and Blue Water Candy both make a very good jig heads 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 in Berkley Pro Spec clear. 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 Hogy Epoxy minnow lures, these little casting jigs are just the right weight and size to get those fast moving Spanish to bite! All the colors that the epoxy minnow comes in seem to work, but I prefer the pink or blues ones best. Also the hook that comes on these lures is great, finally a good hook on a lure right out of the package!
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 and they are good to eat!
Tarpon fishing is starting to crank up around the area, with a good handful 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, mullet 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, mullets and menhaden. Hey give the Silver King a try sometime; you never know the fish god might hook you up with a Tarpon!
The shark fishing picks up very good during August! I’m not talking about one to three footers; I’m talking about four to seven plus footers, running fifty to two hundred pounds; on light tackle and fly rods. Don’t knock it till you have tried it! It’s a lot of fun; most of the sharks come right up to the boat and take the bait or fly. We catch Black nose, Dusky, Black tips and a few Hammerheads from time to time as well.
Best baits for the near shore sharks are, fresh and live Menhaden. When I use bait to catch the sharks I spinning or convection reels, with 300+ yards of thirty and fifty pound Spiderwire 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 an fifty pound swivel, then two to three foot of #9 SS wire and an 8/0 or 9/0 off set circle hook. 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!
I’m still catching a handful of Cobia and just like last year I think we are going to pick up some all summer long! The water has been stained lately from all the wind and rain; this makes it much harder to see cursing Cobias. With that said, try to look for clearer water pockets to see the Cobia especially around inlets. I throw big jigs, swim baits and live bait to the Cobia when I see them. Color really does not seem to matter, brighter the better; Blue Water Candy makes some very nice Cobia jigs, check them out at our local tackle shops! Tip your Cobia Jig with a four inch Shrimp or five inch Jerkshad from Berkley Gulp; this will help get that Cobia to eat that jig! 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.
Fishing Gear I use:
Reels: Redfish, Flounder and Spanish casting: PENN Battle II* or Conflicts spinning in sizes 2500, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Tarpon, Sharks and Cobia Fishing reels: PENN Spinfisher V 6500 & 7500, PENN Fathom 25N and Torque 15 & 25N. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Tarpon, sharks and Cobia Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: PENN Legion or Battalion* 6’6” or 7’ eight to fifth-teen pound class. Tarpon/Cobia Rods: PENN Bluewater Carnage CARB700M or PENN Rampage jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Tarpon/Cobia; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound. Berkley Pro Spec Fluorocarbon leader material. Cast nets: Betts ¼” mesh six foot net for finger mullet and small menhaden, Betts Super Pro 3/8” mesh eight foot net for larger menhaden and mullet. Great Quality Nets at a Fair Price; Betts knows Nets!
*New series
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, tackle reviews, 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 Forecast/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 July 22nd, 2014
