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
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