Morehead City July 28, 2005
George, at Carolina Bait and Tackle, reports that sea mullet are being caught in the inlet. Spots are coming off the pier and in the surf. The surf has also seen an improved flounder bite, and they’re also in the inlet.
Only a few grays and specks are being caught inside.
The kings are very plentiful from 0-4 miles off the beach. Many are in the 20 lb. class, but also expect plenty of smaller ones. Small dolphin (from peanut to 20 lb. class) are also in close. There have been a few weedlines in this area, and they’re holding well.
Joe, at Joe’s Pro Bait and Tackle, reports that inshore the king mackerel bite was good past the Hutton on Saturday. Anglers had success in the mid-range areas when they found the bait schools.
Small to medium dolphin are also in the mid-range areas. There have been a fair number of sailfish sighted and/or caught nearshore. The small spanish are everywhere (they are targeting small baits), and there have been a lot of blues caught trolling.
Several good-sized flounder are being caught inside the sound. On the Atlantic Beach Bridge at slack tide, a diver said there were tons of very large flounder in the holes behind the pilings on the down current side. More keeper flounder are being caught around the manmade structure in the sound, but there aren’t many flounder on AR-315. The sheepshead bite is getting better, and the red drum fishing in the Haystack area is still good.
Offshore, the billfish bite on Saturday was nothing less than spectacular, particularly at the NE corner of the Big Rock and up to the 800 line. The dolphin bite also continues to be good with a fair number of gaffers and large numbers of small ones being caught.
J.J., at Freeman’s Bait and Tackle, reports that bigger spanish (including a 7 lb. fish) were caught this week. Many came from Cape Lookout by the lighthouse.
The flounder have been in the deeper water, such as the turning basin, the shipping channel, and the inlet.
Plenty of kings are also in the area. There have been up to 20 lb. class kings in the turning basin, and up to 25 lb. kings in the inlet and shipping channel. For bigger kings, lately they’ve been on the east side, such as Drum Inlet, East Rock, and Four Mile rocks.
Inside there’s been just a few grays and specks. Some reds have been found in Core Creek and the tributaries coming in, but they’re not the bigger reds that will show later in the season.
Jaz, at Sportsman’s Pier, reports that just about everything being caught this past week was stuff that was only 4 inches long. It’s been slow, with some spanish at night and early morning. Anglers have spotted big schools of spanish swimming by, but they haven’t been biting. And they’ve picked up the occasional flounder and at least one small king.
Jimmy, at Triple “S” Pier, reports that it’s been slow on the pier. Guys have been picking up a few blues and spanish by plugging, and one night they found a good spot bite. Otherwise, there’s been little action.
