Morehead City October 27, 2005
Lynn, at Carolina Bait and Tackle, reports that flounder are in the inlet, around the high rise bridge, and a few are on the beaches. The biggest they saw this week weighed 11 lbs.
Spots can be found inside at places like the backside of Radio Island, Taylor’s Creek, the Beaufort Draw Bridge, the 58 Road Bridge, and at the mouth of the White Oak River. The spots have been medium sized (not the big ones).
Speckled trout are picking up in the creeks and at the Cape Lookout rock jetty. They’re legal sized but not big. And puppy drum can be caught at the Haystacks.
Sea mullet and pompano are showing up in the surf.
Joe, of Joe’s Pro Bait and tackle, reports that big croakers were caught around the Beaufort Draw Bridge, along with good numbers of spots. The spots are biting well. Most are medium sized, with some yellow bellies mixed in. They’re biting in the turning basin, around the Coast Guard Station and Duke Marine Lab, and down the ICW. Sea mullet are increasing in numbers and size, with one weighed in at 2.4 lbs.
The gray trout fishing is very good around the high-rise bridges, Beaufort Inlet, and the turning basin. Good numbers are also being caught at the mouth of Taylor’s Creek on the Harker’s Island side.
The flounder fishing is doing well, with the Coast Guard Station producing good catches up to 3 pounds. There was also a 9.54 lb. flounder caught on the Atlantic Beach Bridge.
Red drum are scattered around the marshes and all the man-made structure in the sound.
Speckled trout are being caught around the Atlantic Beach Bridge on live shrimp and soft plastics, although not in great numbers. Fair numbers of speckled trout are being caught in the North River around the marsh shorelines. The middle marsh and creeks around Atlantic Beach produced multiple limits for a couple of anglers. The cold front that just passed should really get the speckled trout biting.
Bluefish are scattered everywhere, but the larger fall blues have not shown up in numbers. No reports of any spanish activity. The low salinity levels due to all the rain have sent them offshore. There was a report of a lot of spanish off the Cape Lookout shoals on Yozuri Crystal Minnows. The fish ranged from 3.5 to 6 pounds each.
King mackerel were caught in good numbers around the Barge Wreck, AR315, and the spoil buoy. They were also caught around Cape Lookout shoals.
The wahoo bite is awesome from the 90 Foot Drop out to the Big Rock. Some blackfin tuna and king mackerel are being caught, as well as a fair number of sailfish.
Lots of triggerfish and vermillion snapper have been caught recently, as well as an improved grouper bite and some black bass.
Larry, at Sportsman’s Pier, reports that they’ve been seeing some decent runs of spots. The runs aren’t every day nor all day, but they do happen. And for a couple of hours every other day they will see some big yellow bellies mixed in.
Sea mullet are biting, both at night and during the day. They’re also seeing small blues hitting early and late in the day. A couple of black drum have been hooked, and Sunday a guy put a 5 lb. 9 oz. red drum on the leader board.
Ken, at Triple “S” Pier, reports that spots were doing well, but now they’re only seeing short runs. Quite a few puppy drum are being landed. The best time is at nightfall and a little after, with the heaviest weighing up to six pounds.
Lots of black drum have also been caught. The biggest weighed in at 8 lbs. 2 oz.
Saturday saw a strong run of blues and some spanish. It was the first spanish they’ve seen in a long time.
The flounder action is decent, and they’re starting to see some speckled trout (from 10 to 14″).
And at night you can expect to hook some sea mullet (weighing up to 1.75 lbs.).
Paul, at Freeman’s Bait and Tackle, reports that spots are biting in the surf, on the piers, and around the Beaufort Draw Bridge. Most are the size of your hand, but you can find a few yellow bellies on the incoming tide at night.
Gray trout are in the turning basin. They’re running 14 to 18″, and try deep jigging with speck rigs tipped with shrimp.
The surf has been producing pompano and sea mullet. There are also blues, most small but a few big ones.
Offshore, the main bite is wahoo. Most guys are working the areas from the Big Rock south to the Swansboro Hole.
