Nice Speckled Trout
Hello from southeast North Carolina! I hope everyone had a great
Thanksgiving, I enjoyed mine! The fishing has been quite good for the last two weeks, with lots of Speckled trout and a few other species mixed in as well to keep things fun. The big speck this week was six pounds and three ounce’s; we also caught a few over five and many more over four pounds. This is no doubt this going to be another big trout year! To the fishing report>>>
Not much has changed as far as how we are catching the Speckled trout. We are still catching quite a few nice Gary trout mixed in with the specks. The grays are hitting grubs and jigging spoons. Saltwater Assassin grubs in colors Chart-diamond glitter and Salt-pepper with chart-tail have worked well for the grays. The specks are hitting chicken on a chain, 10w-40 with chart tail and Salt & pepper with chart tail. The body shape that has worked for us is the sea shad in four inch size. In the last few trips we have got a few nice specks off Saltwater Assassin Blurp in shrimp pattern. The colors in blurp that are working are molting, good penny and rootbeer. We have also caught some trout on Berkley gulp new ghost shrimp in new penny color. This is the first gulp shrimp to have some real leg action; check’em out! We are using jig heads in colors pink and red; in weights 3/8oz and ½ oz for the grays and 1/8oz and 1/4oz for the specks.
We have started to use live shrimp as well for the specks. At this time on Tuesday 12-1 the water temp around Wrightsville Beach was 58` to 60` inshore and the inlet was around 60` to 62`. With this said it’s still warm and the trash fish are still eating up a lot of our live shrimp. This is going to change very soon with a good shot of colder air coming in this week. When we are using live shrimp, I rig them two different ways. We use float rigs and light Carolina rigs. On the float rig we use a #6 red or brown treble hook, for the Carolina rig we use a #1 L42 eagle claw hook. For both of these rigs, I prefer Stern’s tinted fluorocarbon leaders in 20# (Gunsmoke) tint. This stuff really works for our super clear water around the area!
There have been a few good by-catches while we are trout fishing; these include some Tautogs, Sheephead, Flounder and Black & Red drum. These by-catches are hitting the grubs and live shrimp we are using for the trout. The great thing is they are all good eating! My favorites are the Tautogs and Sheephead. It your bait gets close to the bottom, you’ve got a good chance at picking up one of these guys.
There still has been some False albacore fishing when the ocean is calm enough for us to get out. Marie jigs have been the best bet for the albacore. We are using a forty pound mono leader with a loop knot tied to the Marie jig. Colors and size’s; color green and pink in sizes 7gram and 14 gram. These albacore are a lot of fun on light tackle and fly; they are real drag screamers! Keep your eyes peeled for breaking fish and birds!
Fishing Gear we use:
Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”
Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!
Good Luck,
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats and
Pure Fishing Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
A very nice 7.2 pound Speckled trout caught around Wrightsville Beach, NC
Well folks it is Trout Time and I love it! With cooler water temps and a little lighter winds fishing has been pretty good this last week and the start of this one. We did gat a lot of rain but, the water is in good shape for the most part. We are really starting to see some very nice Speckled trout around the area. We caught a 7.2, 5.5 and a half dozen over four pounds this week so far. It was nice to see the 7.2 in the net; the biggest trout I’ve seen in my boat this year. Let’s talk about how we have caught some of these nice trout lately in this weeks fishing report.
Grays and Specks are feeding well around in creeks, channels and inlets. The grays are hitting grubs and jigging spoons. Saltwater Assassin grubs in colors Chart-diamond glitter and Salt-pepper with chart-tail have worked well for the grays. The specks are hitting chicken on a chain, 10w-40 with chart tail and Salt & pepper with chart tail. The body shape that has worked for us is the sea shad in four inch size. In the last few trips we have got a few nice specks off Saltwater Assassin Blurp in shrimp pattern. The colors in blurp that are working are molting, good penny and rootbeer. We are using jig heads in colors pink and red; in weights 3/8oz and ½ oz for the grays and 1/8oz and 1/4oz for the specks. Colors for the jigging spoons that have worked well for the grays are Pink, Green/blue, and gold.
My charters have caught specks on a wide range of “hard” lures this season; some new and some good ole’ timer’s. Mirrolures that are working well for us are the Catch 2000 Jr, 52M and the 17MR. The best Mirrolure colors that are catching the trout are; pink, white on white, chartreuse and silver. Rapala’s X-rap in colors glass ghost and pink have all so been a hit this season. And of course don’t forget those live shrimp; they really do catch the trout! I rig all live bait, grubs and hard lures with fourteen to eighteen inch’s of twenty pound fluorocarbon. Trout have good eye sight and with the mostly clear water around this area, this seems to help us get more bites out of the trout. I really like Stren’s new tinted fluorocarbon leaders, we use gunsmoke tint for clear water apps.
We have caught some nice Flounder while Flounder fishing and also caught some while trying to catch trout lately. The Flounder are running about thirteen to twenty inch’s with a few bigger ones as well. The Flounder are hitting grubs in colors morning glory, chicken on a chain and molting in the blurp grub. When we are just targeting Flounder we are using live bait on Carolina rigs. Finger mullet and mud minnows are doing the trick for those flat fish. Most of the Flounder we are catching are in the creeks and around the inlets.
The red and black drum are showing around the area too. We’ve seen reds and blacks in the waterway (ICW) around docks and oyster rocks. There have been a few reds and blacks around the jetties as well lately. These drum are hitting scented grubs and live bait on the bottom. This week we caught a few black drum over seven pounds around the inlets on blurp grubs.
The trout fishing will only get better; we had lots of fish over four pounds last year. It looks like its going to be another great trout season, I believe that some body will catch a Speckled trout over ten pounds in the Wrightsville beach area this season! Let’s go Trout fishing>>>!
Fishing Gear we use:
Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”
Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!
Good Luck,
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats and
Pure Fishing Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
I hope everybody is enjoying the fall weather; it did get a little warm for a couple days. I think that is over for the most part, I’m ready for more fall weather! Now that the weather is getting back to normal; fishing has really picked up in the last couple of days! With that said here is the fishing report!
Trout has been the story for the most part lately. Grays and Specks are feeding well around in creeks, channels and inlets. The grays are hitting grubs and jigging spoons. Saltwater Assassin grubs in colors Chart-diamond glitter and Salt-pepper with chart-tail have worked well for the grays. The body shape that has worked for us is the sea shad in four inch size. We are using jig heads in colors pink and red; in weights 3/8oz, ½ oz and 1oz. Colors for the jigging spoons that have worked well for the grays are Pink, Green/blue, and gold. Going with bright colors is a good “go too” choice when fishing for gray trout.
The Speckled trout fishing is really getting good and will continue to pick up. We have already caught some very nice trout in the four and five pound range on live and artificial baits. My charters have caught specks on a wide range of lures this season; some new and some good ole’ timer’s. Let’s start with the hard baits. Mirrolures that are working well for us are the Catch 2000 Jr, 52M and the 17MR. The best Mirrolure colors that are catching the trout are; pink, chartreuse and silver. Grubs and soft baits; in the grub style baits colors chart-diamond, silver mullet and chicken on a chain. Yes that is the real name of this grub color.
In the shrimp style grubs the colors we are using; Arkansas glow, clear and bone-diamond. We are rigging the Saltwater Assassin shrimp with worm hooks and Texas style worm weights. We are also using Berkley Gulps new ghost shrimp in New penny color. To the live bait; it’s hard to beat the good ole’ live shrimp, they just work! Rigging the live shrimp on float rigs has worked for us. Don’t forget all you Fly fishermen out there, trout are fun and pretty easy to catch on a fly. Try shrimp and clouser patterns in natural colors and chartreuse & red/white.
False albacore fishing has been good on days when the ocean is calm enough for us to get out. Marie jigs have been the best bet for the albacore. We are using a forty pound mono leader with a loop knot tied to the Marie jig. Colors and size’s; color green and pink in sizes 7gram and 14 gram. These albacore are a lot of fun on light tackle and fly; they are real drag screamers! Red fishing is starting to change around the area; the Reds are starting to move around some with the cooler weather. On lighter wind and sunny days we’re finding fish on the oyster flats. When we find these fish we are using rattling corks with finger mullets to catch them. We’ve also caught some Reds in the ICW around docks and boat landings. Carolina rigs with finger mullet are working well for the dock Reds. On days when I’m using just using lures to catch Reds, we’ve caught Reds on Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in the shrimp pattern, color good penny and pearl.
My charters have caught lots of bluefish while we have been Trout fishing; there really has been all the bluefish you can deal with lately!! If you like catching blues; Go Fishing! Flounder are biting as well, we’ve caught a good number while trout fishing. Some of the flounder are in the three to five pound range; a nice bonus while trout fishing.
Fishing Gear we use:
Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”
Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!
Good Luck,
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats and
Pure Fishing Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
Nice Ocean Red
Liz with her nice Speckled trout.
Hello from very cool Southeast North Carolina! I said it last week but, I really mean it this week; fall is REALLY showing this week! Very cool temps and lots of wind, but Fishing is good and getting better every day with the fall weather!
The Speckled trout are really starting to show and we are seeing some bigger fish around the area. The best trout bites lately have been on hard baits. Mirrolures in patterns 17MR in colors; pink, chartreuse and bone have been very productive for us. We are also catching some of the trout in deeper water with grubs. The best grub colors for us have been; chart-diamond, greenback shiner, chicken on a chain and silver mullet. In the Shrimp pattern colors; clear, bone-diamond and root beer. Rig the grubs and shrimp patterns on a red or black jig head for best results.
Red fishing is starting to change around the area; the Reds are starting to move around some with the cooler weather. On lighter wind and sunny days we’re finding fish on the oyster flats. When we find these fish we are using rattling corks with finger mullets to catch them. We’ve also caught some Reds in the ICW around docks and boat landings. Carolina rigs with finger mullet are working well for the dock Reds. On days when I’m using just using lures to catch Reds, we’ve caught Reds on Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in the shrimp pattern, color good penny and pearl.
We are still catching Flounder around the inlets and in the creeks. Most of the fish in the creeks are running a little smaller but there are some keepers still. The Flounder around inlets are running a little bigger than the inshore fish. Most of the Flounder are eating Mullet and Mud minnows on light Carolina rigs. We have caught some Flounder on Artificial baits as well. We have had the best luck with Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in molting and pearl colors. In none scented grubs; colors like chicken on a chain, chart-diamond and morning glory are working well for the Flounders.
Gary trout have been biting well this last week. We are seeing the grays around the inlets and just off the beach on live bottom and small ledges. We are catching most of the Grays the same way we’ve been catching the Flounder; Carolinas rigs and live bait. My favorite live bait for Grays is finger mullet. If you would rather use lures, small jigging spoons and grubs will work just fine. I like to put a shot of scent on my grubs; “Bang’s” shrimp, crab, and Taxes tea are some of my favorites.
Lots of Bluefish are showing up all most everywhere; creeks, ICW, inlets and the ocean. Blues are easy and fun to catch; bright lures, silver, gold and pink are my favorite colors “go bright”! We are casting jigs and spoons around the inlets and/or when the birds are working the surface. They are also fun on a light fly rod and one of the few fish that are easy to catch on a fly rod!
The Fishing gear we use:
Reds, Trout, Blues and Flounder: Reels Penn Sargus and Conquer spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Rods: All Star ASR inshore series 7’ med action and Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. Fourteen pound Berkley Fireline Crystal.
In other fishing news: The 2009 Cape Fear Red-Trout Celebrity Classic to benefit Cystic fibrosis was held this last weekend 10-15 to 10-17. I really enjoy fishing this tournament year after year. It’s fun and there are a lot of very talented guides that fish this tournament. I had the pleasure fishing with Adam Meyer and Liz Bielski with Charter Lakes Insurance group again this year. I’m very happy to announce that team Charter Lakes took: Runner-up Grand Champion Angler, Lady Angler Grand Champion and the Largest Trout divisions. Liz caught more fish than Adam again this year, congrats Liz, great job! I look forward to fishing this tournament again next year.
Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fishing to ya,
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger boats and
Pure Fishing Pro staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
Well Folks, fall is really showing strong this week! A real roller coaster of weather: one day with hot temps and light winds the very next day very windy and rainy and then cool temps. Hey that’s what gets those fall fish biting so we can’t complain too much. With that said lets talk fall fishing!
We’ve had some very good Spanish Mack runs lately. Most of the Spanish are hitting Clark spoons on number one planners, a few fish have hit on top as well. We have also caught some on Fly’s and Marie 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”. They are biting just off the beach to about two miles off the beach. I don’t know how much longer they will be here with the cooler air moving in; will just have to see!
The Flounder fishing has been good for the most part, on some trips we’ve caught over twelve keeper fish. Most of the Flounder are eating Mullet and Mud minnows on light Carolina rigs. The Flounder are mixed in size to just under keeper size to a few over five pounds. We have caught some Flounder on Artificial baits as well. We have had the best luck with Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in molting color and “Chicken on a chain” color grubs. Rig the grubs on a red or black jig head for best results.
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. We cast half once and one once jig heads with five inch Saltwater Assassin jerk shads in colors molting and pearl. You will need a good pair of polarized sunglasses to see these Reds in the surf!
We’ve caught some bigger bull Redfish in and around the local inlets. We are catching Reds in the 24 to over 32 inch range, some days their over the slot some days their in the slot. Most of the Reds around the inlets are hitting mullets and fresh menhaden on Carolina rigs; using heavier egg sinkers with circle hooks 9/0 to 11/0. On some days we have had some luck on Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in colors molting and pearl; using heavier jig heads.
And last but Not lest, 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; “I Can’t wait, I love Trout fishing”! The best trout bites lately have been on grubs and hard baits, but we have caught some on the good ‘ole live shrimp as well. The best grub colors for us have been; chart-diamond, greenback shiner, chicken on a chain and silver mullet. In the Shrimp pattern colors; clear, bone-diamond and root beer. Rig the grubs and shrimp patterns on a red or black jig head for best results.
Hard lure’s that seem to be bringing the trout to the boat are Mirrolures and X-raps 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.
The Fishing gear we use:
Reds, Trout and Flounder: Reels Penn Sargus and Conquer spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. Fourteen pound Berkley Fireline Crystal. Bull Redfish: Penn spinning reel 760L (Live Liner) and Penn Torque 100TRQ. Rods: Penn Torque 6’6” 30-80 class spinning and Torque 6’ 80-130 casting. Line: forty pound Spider wire Ultracast.
I’m writing on a new and great web site: www.proanglersjournal.com take a look at the site lots of good fishing info and insight!
Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fishing to ya,
Captain Jot Owens
Ranger boats and
Pure Fishing Pro staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
* Our prayers are with the family of the young man who died working on a boat at a local marine dealership.
Posted in Fishing Reports on August 18th, 2011
