Ocean Isle – March 26, 2015
Kevin, of Rigged and Ready Charters, reports water temperatures are staying steady at around 56 degrees inshore, and the spring bite should turn on a bit more when they warm a few more degrees. There has been some solid black drum action along the ICW recently, with most of the fish feeding around oyster bars and structure like docks. The drum are biting shrimp on the bottom, and clams are an even better offering if anglers can get their hands on them.
Joe, from Supply, NC, with a fat black drum that struck a chunk of shrimp at some ICW structure near Ocean Isle while he was fishing with Capt. Kevin Sneed of Rigged and Ready Charters.
Nearshore, the local AR’s and reefs are stacked with black sea bass, but anglers must weed through plenty of undersized fish in order to find a keeper. Big numbers of dogfish are in the same areas, and both will pounce on a wide variety of natural baits.
Katelyn Kincer with her first golden tilefish, hooked 90 miles off Shallotte Inlet while she was fishing with Capts. Brant and Barrett McMullan of the Ocean Isle Fishing Center.
Kyle, of Speckulator Inshore Fishing Charters, reports that anglers are connecting with some speckled trout in the area, but the water needs to warm a bit before the spring speck action turns on in earnest. They’re feeding in some of the typical places along the ICW like Sunset Beach and Calabash, and the most consistent action lately seems to have been in the Ocean Isle canals. Soft plastic shrimp imitations like Vudu, Storm, and Halo baits have been producing the lion’s share of the action with the specks, and they’ve also been fooling a few stray flounder in the canals.
Most of the area’s red drum are still in their shallow wintering holes and feeding intermittently at best. More are filtering out into the ICW by the day, however, so the bite should be improving. Docks along the ICW and other structure like the Sunset Beach Bridge are the places to look for the reds right now. Some black drum are mixed in with the reds around the same structure, and both fish will pounce on cut shrimp or chunks of crab for anglers who can find the crustaceans.
Not many people have been fishing the Little River jetties recently, but anglers should be able to find some action with larger reds around the rocks. Drifting live mud minnows beneath floats is the most effective tactic for the spring reds and may also fool some healthy trout feeding near the jetties.
Brant, of Ocean Isle Fishing Center, reports that anglers are seeing excellent black sea bass fishing off Ocean Isle right now. The best bite has been in the 70-80’ depths, where limits of healthy keepers have been easy to come by. Squid and cut baits on double-drop bottom rigs are the way to connect with the bass.
Water temperatures in the 70-80’ range have been in the upper-50’s this week, so anglers will need to go substantially further in order to find the upper-60’s water that will likely be holding king mackerel.
