Southport/Oak Island – October 2024
Mark, of Angry Pelican Charters, reports a larger class of spanish mackerel have started showing up, and they’re feeding on cigar minnows, menhaden, and mullet. The spanish are anywhere from the beach on out.
Scattered king mackerel, big red drum, and cobia are moving into the nearshore areas. The numbers on all of these species will pick up with cooler water temperatures.
Bottom fishing over the deeper structure (90-120’ range) should find plenty of action with the typical species when using live bait, jigs, and cut bait.
Mahi are still around, and the blackfin tuna bite nearer to shore should be improving quickly. The fall presents the rare opportunity to catch these fish within sight of land.
TJ, of Dutchman Creek Bait and Tackle, reports that surf anglers have been mostly having success with the smaller summertime bottom species (croakers and pinfish), with some slot red drum starting to mix in.
Nearshore anglers have been happy to see the spanish mackerel action picking back up.
Inshore anglers have been doing well targeting red drum along the ICW, and some speckled trout are beginning to cooperate more often.
The inshore hard structures are holding sheepshead and black drum.
Joesph Newton, of North Wilkesboro, NC, found this 6 lb. trout in Buzzards Bay using a live pogie.
Josh, of Oak Island Sporting Goods, reports that surf and pier anglers are seeing better numbers of bluefish and spanish mackerel showing up in the area.
The pier saw a king mackerel caught, and hopefully this is a sign the kings are starting to push in.
Bottom fishing from the pier has generated slot and upper-slot red drum.
Anglers fishing in the backwaters are catching sheepshead and black drum around hard structure.
The speckled trout action has started to pick up.
Offshore anglers are now targeting wahoo and blackfin tuna.
Robert, of Reelin’ Pelican Fishing Charters, reports that the red drum bite has been awesome, and speckled trout are showing in better numbers.
Inshore structures are holding big sheepshead.
The black drum action is picking up, with a majority of the better quality fish being caught at the nearshore reefs and wrecks.
Off the beach, anglers are finding some big red drum schooled up around bait balls and out around the shoals. Those looking to target these fish will do best by bait fishing around nearshore structure.
A bunch of bluefish are just off the beach, and spanish mackerel are beginning to make a good showing.
Some king mackerel have moved in, with catches both off the piers and in the river mouth.
Hunter, of Dockside Fishing Charters, reports that the speckled trout have started to fire up. Anglers have found most of the trout are striking live shrimp drifted under a cork. Set these baits anywhere between 4-7’ down when targeting the deeper areas.
The red drum bite has been steady. Anglers are having the best success targeting these fish with live mullet fished under docks and around oyster banks.
The bull red drum should be showing up any time now.
A few king mackerel are in close, but the bite remains hit-or-miss.
Ginger Lakey, of Oak Island, caught this sea mullet from the Ocean Crest Pier using live shrimp.
Steve, of Reel ‘Em Up Fishing Charters, reports that anglers are doing well targeting red drum and speckled trout. These cooler mornings have helped the bite, especially for those fishing topwaters in the early hours. As the day moves on, anglers are finding speckled trout while fishing live shrimp under corks. Set the shrimp to the mid-water column and focus on areas with good current.
Red drum are staged up around oyster beds and along grass banks. A Carolina-rigged mullet is the best choice for the reds.
The area is seeing a good number of sheepshead being caught on live fiddler crabs or shrimp.
Anglers should keep an eye out for the bigger “old” red drum showing up around the inlet and on nearshore structure.
Ryan, of Fugitive Charters, reports that the king mackerel action has started to pick up from the beachfronts out to 10 miles. Anglers are already seeing a nice class of these teenage-sized king mackerel (in the low 20 lb. range).
Some of the larger spanish mackerel (3-5 lb. class) have made a showing. These bigger spanish can be caught with live baits, though the better bite so far has come from pulling spoons.
Some schools of over-slot red drum (30-40”+) are out along the beaches. Anglers can find schools around bait pods and over nearshore structure.
Offshore bottom fishing has produced catches of triggerfish, vermilion snapper, and bigger black sea bass. Also mixed in the action are scamp, red hind, and strawberry grouper.
Anglers trolling offshore should be focused on chasing wahoo. This is a great time of year to find some quality fish starting as close as the 25+ mile range (80-120’+).
Mixed in this trolling action will be blackfin tuna and the occasional sailfish.
Troy, of Ocean Crest Pier, reports that bottom fishing is picking up, with catches of black drum and a few reds showing in the daily counts.
Croakers and pinfish are feeding on bottom-rigged cut shrimp or artificial bait strips.
A few spanish mackerel are just starting to show for anglers casting plugs.
Steve, of Oak Island Pier, reports that bottom fishing has been producing a lot of the “small stuff,” such croakers and pinfish, but the spanish mackerel bite has been steadily improving.
