Can you believe it’s already March??? I have to say this winter has not been to bad overall, fingers crossed we make it through April mild and that would be a great start to the summer! The fishing has already been a little better with the milder weather; it really is looking good for this spring! Here are the fishing opportunities for March that I like to target.
In March the Redfish finally start to move around a little more than they have all winter. Not that they don’t move around in the winter; they just start to show up in place’s they like more during warmer times of the year. This is the time of the year you need to get out and find where the Redfish are going and showing up. In the cooler months I’ve seen crustacean patterns work better for Redfish; due to the fact that these baits are a little easier to catch, than say baits like fish patterns. A good handful of our local shrimp has wintered over because of the mild winter weather, also some of the little baitfish stayed too. All of this will make for a better March fishing scenario for sure!
On warmer days the crustaceans and baitfish will move more; these are the days you need to look for Redfish during March. Working scented baits like Berkley Gulp and Gulp Alive in patterns two and three inch shrimp, two inch peeler crab and 3” ghost shrimp should get the Redfish to bite. These baits don’t have paddle tails so you can work them very slow, which is still very important because the water still be pretty cool in March. Find those banks where the sun can warm up shallows just a little more than other places. Look for dark bottom banks and places with less current these are the areas where the water will be warmer and the Redfish will be feeding. Remember to keep your eyes peeled in the shallow water areas for Reds, March can be a very good sight fishing month; just make sure you work the baits a little slower with a fluorocarbon leader for those clearer spring waters.
March can be another mouth when Cape Fear River Striped Bass fishing will pick up. The Striper size is very mixed during early spring. In March the Stripers will start to move in to a little bit shallower waters, I look for the Stripers in three to eight feet of water during early spring. This is when you need to also shallow up your presentation, go lighter with you tackle. I prefer Berkley Gulp jerkshad and Berkley Havoc grass pig lures; I use colors pearl, chart pepper neon and new penny (swamp gas). Using swim bait hooks size 6/0 in 1/4 to ounce should put a Striper on the end of your line! You can also cast mid-water crank baits that dive three to eight feet, don’t let the lure drag the bottom to much or you will lose your lure to a stump or log! Look for Cape Fear River Stripers around mud-flat edges, bulk-heads, creeks and shallow reed-grass edges on sunny warmer days.
Don’t count out a nice Speckled trout during the month of March! But what is a trout going to hit in March? 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, but its cold so work them SLOW! The patterns I prefer are the 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, HP AND Capt. Jot Custom color (only found at Tex’s Tackle shop). Any local tackle shop can help you with these color codes. Best depths to use these lures; 17MR use these lures in two to six feet of water. 18MR, 52M & 52MR use these lures in four to fifth-teen plus feet of water.
There is another kind of fishing I like to try in March but there is no saltwater involved. I like to hit the upper Northeast Cape Fear River and Sutton Lake the do a little Large-mouth bass fishing. If you want to try something different try some bass fishing, they are a lot of fun to catch on lighter tackle. Most of the time I use heavy sink worms from Berkley Powerbait in colors black, red shad and blue-flick. Work these worms very slowly off banks and stump beds. If you like to fly fish, try slow sinking small minnow patterns along the grass flats in Sutton Lake on cloudy or foggy days.
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II & Clash Spinning reels sizes2000, 2500 & 3000 for the Redfish, Large mouth Bass and Striped Bass. PENN Battalion rods in 6’6” & 7’ medium and med/hvy action; line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen pound; Berkley Pro Spec Fluorocarbon for my leaders in twenty to thirty pound.
Thanks for reading, get outside and I hope March fishing is good to you!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Fishing Tackle Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on March 2nd, 2017
Really? Thanksgiving is over here comes Christmas??? Yes it’s December and December can be a good fishing month. Pick your days and the fish will bite! If we get a big cool down, give it a day to moderate a bit to a warmer trend; this will greatly help you to get more bites! I look for warmer days, sunny days and less windy days during December if possible for better bite rates around Southeast NC.
In December I catch some of the biggest Speckled trout all year, but you need to know which lures work better for bigger trout. Hard baits like MirrOlures have put some big trout in the boat for me and for many other anglers over the years. MirrOlure’s 52M, 52MR and TT series are great big trout baits. Try these lures in colors: 11 (redhead), 11FGO (Flo.orangehead), 21 (blackback), 26 (redback), 51 (white/white), 704 (pink/yellow), 808 (black/gold/orange), CFPR (chart/pearl), HP (hotpink), Capt. Jot Custom color only available at Tex’s tackle and for great night fishing; PD (purple demon).
Good looking scented lures that have been working very well for me are Berkley Gulp’s three inch shrimp and there newer four inch Ripple mullet. All the colors have worked well for me, but here is a few that I like for trout (shrimp pattern); Sugar spice glow, rootbeer/gold, pearl white and new penny. Berkley Gulp’s Ripple Mullet in colors glow/chartreuse, pearl, rootbeer gold/chart, and Chart pepper are all good trout baits. All of these baits have Gulps great scent, great action and come in some great colors too! Don’t forget the good’ole five inch pearl white jerkshad as well.
The grub (soft plastic) has been around forever in the fishing world! These days they come in so many different colors, here are few that work well for me when trout fishing. Saltwater Assassin makes a load of different grubs; I prefer the sea shad four inch pattern in colors chicken on a chain, rainbow trout, copperhead, green moon, sweet pea, pink diamond and silver
phantom/chart. I rig all these grubs with 1/8oz, ¼ oz and 3/8oz jig heads in colors gray, red and brown. Don’t forget that I rig all of my Speckled trout lures with fluorocarbon leaders; trout have very good eyesight and later in the season like December the water can get very clear! Get yourself a good fluorocarbon like Berkley Pro Spec or Berkley Vanish; both of these work great in twenty pound test.
Don’t count out live bait if you enjoy fishing 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 and a small treble hook. In deeper waters of six to ten plus I rig them on light Carolina rigs with a small number one J-hook (EC L42). Just wait until you feel that trout take off with the bait and lightly set the hook, remember trout have very soft mouths slow hook sets work best! Live bait will be harder to get and keep alive during later December, but on warmer days it will be a little easier to find and fish it.
In December another fish I really like to hunt for on sunny, warmer and light wind days is schooling Redfish. I find these schools on oyster rocks/flats, sand bars in the surf and shallow flats on the ICW. In December the Reds are not hard to catch when you find them, but some times finding them can be a challenge. My go to bait for the winter Redfish are scented grub like the Berkley Gulp Ripple Mullet or fire tail shrimp; Redfish love these things. Rig grubs with thirty or forty pound mono or fluorocarbon and a darker colored jig heads like red or brown should get the redfish to bite for you.
Not too far from Wrightsville Beach in historical down town Wilmington runs the Cape Fear River and in the Cape Fear there are some cold weather biting Striped Bass. These fish are not the easiest to catch, but they fight very well even in cold water. Working drop offs and grass lines on the edge of the river is where you can find the Stripers, using swim bait lures and Berkley Power Bait, Berkley Havoc Grass pig lures and Berkley Gulp Jerkshad should put a few Cape Fear Stripers on you line. Rig these lures on swimbait hooks for weedless fishing, (lots of hangs in the river). Fishing ares with not so many hangs, try a Rapala X-Rap X-10 size in colors Ghost white or green back. Don’t forget that the Cape Fear River Striped Bass Fishery is closed; catch and release only!
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II, Clash Spinning reels sizes 2000, 2500& 3000 for the Redfish & Speckled trout 2500, 3000 & Slammer III 3500 for Striped Bass Rods: PENN Battalion 6’6” & 7’ med/light and medium action; line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in eight, ten and fifth-teen pound or in eight, ten or twelve pound test for Speckled trout fishing.
Thanks for reading Marry Christmas, Happy New Year and good winter fishing to you!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on December 5th, 2016
November is the gateway to winter but don’t let that get you down! November is my month to really get some big’ole Speckled trout to bite! Weather in November can be tough some days, cold and rainy or sometimes just to warm. Only time will tell as far as the weather goes, but no matter what happens with the weather it’s a great month to fish around Southeast NC!
In early to mid 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; weather its 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 lines, oyster rocks that run in to a channel and drop-offs in channels are all good places to find Speckled trout in November. Almost any grass lines with oysters will hold some trout! Look for places where there is a slight current break and those trout will be close by! Later in November all of the above places will still hold trout and the inlets will start to hold more trout as the month goes on.
One key point to trout I’ve found is that most days Specks will bite, but what are they hitting that day? I’ve found that in early November hard baits work well. 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 lots of big fish. The patterns I prefer are the 17MR, 18MR, 27MR, 52M and 52MR. Colors; MirrOlure makes a lot of different colors but here are some of my go too colors around Southeast NC area waters. MirrOlure color codes: 11, 21, 26, 51, 704, CFPR, CH, EC, HP and Capt. Jot Custom color in 17MR & 52MR (only found at Tex’s Tackle shop) Any local tackle shop can help you with these color codes. Fishing Depths to use these lures; 17MR, 27MR & Catch 200Jr. use these lures in two to six feet of water. 18MR, 52M & 52MR use these lures in four to fifth-teen plus feet of water with current. If your lure is hitting the bottom a lot go to a shallower running lure.
If you have ever done any trout fishing at all you know that a grub (soft plastic) lures work very well for Speckled trout too! Berkley Gulp three inch shrimp pattern is one of my go-to lures. I prefer colors sugar spice glow, pearl white and pearl white/fire tail. Saltwater Assassin’s 4” sea shad in colors chicken on a chain, sweet pea, mullet, rainbow trout and cantaloupe are all good choices in November as well.
I rig all of my trout grubs on 1/16oz, 1/8oz and 1/4oz jigs heads in colors red, gray or black; always use a fluorocarbon leader when trout fishing, I use Berkley Pro Spec twenty pound in clear, thirty pound if the blues show up in numbers.
Don’t count out live bait if you enjoy fishing 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 and a small treble hook. In deeper waters of six to ten plus I rig them on light Carolina rigs with a small number one J-hook (EC L42). Just wait until you feel that trout take off with the bait and lightly set the hook, remember trout have very soft mouths slow hook sets work best!
Here is one of my best tips I can give you for Speckled trout fishing around the Wrightsville area in November. The water gets clear, sometimes very clear around Southeast NC in November. I always use Fluorocarbon leaders for Speckled trout fishing; for artificial as well as live bait fishing! You will catch more trout using fluorocarbon leader; trust me! I use Berkley Pro Spec fluorocarbon leader material in twenty and thirty pound test. Give it a try; you’ll be happy you did! *PS: Also keep your eyes peeled for trout with yellow or red belly tags, I’ve tag a fair amount from south Topsail to Carolina beach inlet this year and last. Yellow tags are worth $5 and Red tags are worth $100!
The bigger Reds start to show up in the ocean on hard bottoms and around the inlets during September and run until later November; this year has been a epic early fall Bull Red bite. You never know when you might hook one of these hard fighting fish. When I fish for bigger Reds, I use fresh cut or live menhaden and mullet. I use fish finder rigs with a TroKar AP 8/0 or 9/0 circle hook and eighty pound Berkley Big game mono leaders. Don’t forget to keep your drag tight when using circle hook so they will do their 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. Check to see if the Red has a yellow tag in its back; there are a fair amount of tagged Big Reds out there.
If you like to catch Bluefish there are just about as many as you like around during November. Fishing around and just outside of the inlets you can catch just about all the Blues you want in the one to four pound range. Casting metal jigging spoons or diamond jigs is a no brainer for getting some Bluefish. Just look for the birds working and cast in that area. Watch those teethe Blues they do bite hard!
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II & Clash Spinning reels sizes 2000, 2500 & 3000 for the Speckled trout. Rods PENN Battalion in 6’6” & 7’ med/light and medium action; line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in eight, ten and fifth-teen pound. Bull Reds PENN Fathom 20LW and PENN Rampage Jigging Rods.
Keep your eyes on my FaceBook page for I’ll be releasing the two dates of my inshore fishing school this month. I’ll have one school day on a March Saturday and one on an April Saturday. This school is limited to 32 anglers each date and it will sell out within two days of release date.
Thanks for reading, good luck fishing and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on November 2nd, 2016
It’s June, summer is really here and the fishing is starting to come to its summer peak! June is one of my favorite fishing months around Wrightsville and can be the best one! By June the bait has shown up in good numbers and the game fish are looking for an easy snack! Here are some of my “goto” target fish for June around Wrightsville Beach.
Everybody loves to catch and eat Flounder; they are really getting their act together by June. You can find Flounder just about anywhere when June rolls in, just knowing where to look to find the keepers is the key! In the Wrightsville area, I look for keeper Flounder around deeper channel drop-offs; in waters of five to fifth-teen feet deep. The local inlets, Carolina Beach, Masonboro, Mason’s and Rich’s inlets are always a good place to find some keeper size Flounders. Last but certainly not least, are the artificial reefs, ledges and hard/live bottoms from one to ten miles off the beach, these areas always hold very nice Flounder in June.
Once you have found some Flounder you need to know how to catch’em. If you want to go the artificial root, try bigger baits; this will greatly help you catch more keeper size Flounder. I prefer Berkley Gulp five and six inch Jerkshad in colors pearl white, chart pepper neon and new penny. Another great Flounder bait is the Berkley Gulp 4 inch shrimp pattern, this bait is great for cast up and down inshore drop-offs in creek channels. I rig these baits on jig heads in sizes 1/8oz to 5/8oz for inshore and 1/2oz to 3/4oz for ocean fishing; in colors red, gray and white.
If you would like to go with live bait for the Flounders, try mud minnows, small mullets or small menhaden as live bait. Rig these live baits on Carolina rigs with an Eagle Claw L42 1/0 hook, eight to fourteen inches of thirty to forty pound fluorocarbon as leader. I prefer egg sinkers as my weight, the secret to how much weight you use is ‘as much as you need to stay on the bottom but as least as you can get away with.’ You need to be on the bottom for Flounder but going lighter will always get you more bites!
Redfish are in there summer trend by June and the trick to summer Reds is go early before that sun is high and hot in the sky. Topwater lures and rattling corks in the shallow waters earlier mornings and afternoons will produce Redfish. I prefer MirrOlure Top dog Jr’s and Top Pup’s for great ‘walk the dog action’. Working grubs like Berkley Gulp later in the day in deeper waters will also produce Reds for you. Slow rolling spinner baits with a Berkley Gulp Ripple Mullet (four inch) in the color root-beer gold/chart tail as the trailer has produced me some nice Reds when the water heats up. Sometimes it can be just like colder mouths, slow down your presentation a little when the water gets hot. Give the Redfish a little more time to catch up with your bait when the water temp is over eighty degrees.
Last but never least; Cobia fishing is in full swing by early June and should be good until early July; it’s already been a great year! I look for Cobia around inlets, shoals and bait schools; near shore/offshore reefs and ledges are also a good place to look too. With the water being clear most of the time in June it should easier to see those brown logs in the water. I like to throw big jigs, swim baits and live bait to the Cobia. Color really does not seem to matter, but (go bright); Blue Water Candy makes a great Cobia jig but I always add a Berkley Gulp six inch grub! 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. You can chum if you like, but the sharks and Rays will come in numbers!
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II & Clash Spinning reels 2500, 3000 & 4000 sizes for the Redfish and Flounder. Cobia: PENN SpinFisher V & Clash 6000 & 7000 and PENN 20LW Fathom casting reels. Rods PENN Battalion and Regiment 6’6” & 7’ medium and med/heavy for the Redfish and Flounder. Cobia Rods: PENN Rampage or Carnage II Jigging series 50 to 100 class casting and spinning. Line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen pound and Berkley Pro Spec Chrome mono in twenty and thirty pound for the Cobia; that is great line!!!
I hope summer fishing is good to you and thanks for reading!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Reels Elite Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on June 7th, 2016
November; Fall has officially arrived at Wrightsville Beach and that means great fall fishing! When I think of November I think of Speckled trout fishing; November is the peak month around Wrightsville for trout! Here is the way I target Speckled trout and a few others during the month of 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; weather its 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 lines, oyster rocks that run in to a channel and drop-offs in channels are all good places to find Speckled trout in November. Almost any grass lines with oysters will hold some trout! Look for places where there is a slight current break and those trout will be close by!
One key point to trout I’ve found is that most days Specks will bite, but what are they hitting that day? I’ve found that in early November hard baits work well. 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 17MR, 18MR, 27MR, 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, HP AND Capt. Jot Custom color (only found at Tex’x Tackle shop) Any local tackle shop can help you with these color codes. Depths to use these lures; 17MR & 27 MR use these lures in two to six feet of water. 18MR, 52M & 52MR use these lures in four to fifth-teen plus feet of water.
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 three inch shrimp pattern is one of my go-to lures. I prefer colors sugar spice glow, pearl white and pearl white/fire tail. Saltwater Assassin’s 4” sea shad in colors chicken on a chain, sweet pea, mullet and cantaloupe are all good choices in November as well.
I rig all of my trout grubs on 1/16oz, 1/8oz and 1/4oz jigs heads in colors red, gray or black; always use a fluorocarbon leader when trout fishing, I use Berkley Pro Spec twenty pound in clear.
Don’t count out live bait if you enjoy fishing 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 and a small treble hook. In deeper waters of six to ten plus I rig them on light Carolina rigs with a small number one J-hook (EC L42). Just wait until you feel that trout take off with the bait and lightly set the hook, remember trout have very soft mouths slow hook sets work best!
Here is one of my best tips I can give you for Speckled trout fishing around the Wrightsville area in November. The water gets clear, sometimes very clear around Wrightsville Beach in November. I always use Fluorocarbon leaders for Speckled trout fishing; for artificial as well as live bait fishing! You will catch more trout using fluorocarbon leader; trust me! I use Berkley Pro Spec fluorocarbon leader material in twenty and thirty pound test. Give it a try; you’ll be happy you did!
The bigger Reds start to show up in the ocean on hard bottoms and around the inlets during September and run until later November; this year has been a epic early fall Bull Red bite. You never know when you might hook one of these hard fighting fish. When I fish for bigger Reds, I use fresh cut or live menhaden and mullet. I use fish finder rigs with 7/0 or 8/0 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 their 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. Check to see if the Red has a yellow tag in its back; there are a fair amount of tagged Big Reds out there.
Tackle run down: PENN Battle II & Clash Spinning reels sizes 2000, 2500 & 3000 for the Speckled trout. Rods PENN Battalion in 6’6” & 7’ med/light and medium action; line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in eight, ten and fifth-teen pound. Bull Reds PENN Fathom 20LW and PENN Rampage Jigging Rods.
Thanks for reading, good luck fishing and have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Capt. Jot Owens
PENN Reels Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Posted in Fishing Reports on November 2nd, 2015
