Carolina Beach August 15, 2013
Annette Winner with a 26″ red drum she hooked in Carolina Beach Inlet on a live finger mullet while fishing with Rob Reeves.
Ron, of Island Tackle and Hardware, reports that anglers have seen a run of king mackerel recently along the beachfront, including several large fish caught recently from the piers. Boaters are getting in on the action as well, and anglers are finding action with kings virtually anywhere they can find bait concentrations from the shore to well offshore. Live baits like menhaden and bluefish are fooling most of the mackerel, but anglers are also hooking a few on cigar minnows pinned to dead bait rigs.
Some tarpon have also been feeding and cruising along the beaches, and anglers are also hooking a few in the lower Cape Fear River.
Spanish mackerel are looking for meals within a few miles of shore. Casting lures like Gotcha plugs and trolled Clarkspoons are fooling the majority of the smaller mackerel.
Nearshore structure like reefs and wrecks are holding good numbers of flounder, gray trout, and some large red drum. They’ll bite live baits on Carolina rigs or bucktail jigs tipped with Gulp baits.
Bottom fishing a bit further offshore has been productive on gag grouper lately, with most of the fish falling for dead and live baits. Some black sea bass are feeding in the same areas, but the bass bite has fallen off a bit this week.
Anglers are finding action with dolphin from the 23 Mile Rock on offshore, and there was an excellent weedline in the 35 mile range last week that produced some solid catches.
More dolphin are feeding out in the Gulf Stream, and there’s still a decent wahoo bite going out there. A few blackfin tuna are mixed in, and all the fish are falling for ballyhoo paired with skirted trolling lures.
Andrew Fisher, of Greensboro, NC, with a 10 lb. sheepshead that bit a live shrimp in the lower Cape Fear River while he was fishing with Capt. Wes Barbour of Island Tackle and Hardware.
The inshore flounder bite has been solid recently, with the best action around Carolina Beach Inlet, but fish also coming from Snows Cut, the ICW, and the Cape Fear River. Anglers are tempting the flatfish to bite live finger mullet, menhaden, and soft plastic baits.
Red drum are feeding in Carolina Beach Inlet, and surf casters have been hooking them up-and-down the island as well. Cut and live baits are fooling most of the reds.
Anglers are also seeing some solid red drum action in the bays off the lower Cape Fear River, where natural baits and artificials like topwater plugs and soft plastic baits will get their attention.
There’s some good speckled trout action in the river as well, with the bays, grass islands, and creeks all producing. Live baits, soft plastics, and suspending hard lures are all good bets for the specks, and anglers may also be able to hook up on topwater plugs in the early morning hours.
Sheepshead are feeding around bridge and dock pilings and other inshore structure in the area. Live fiddler crabs and sand fleas are tough for the sheeps to turn down.
Robert, of Carolina Explorer, reports that anglers are seeing an improving flounder bite around nearshore structure in the ocean, where the flatfish are taking an interest in live finger mullet on Carolina rigs. Good numbers of gray trout are in the same areas and falling for the mullet as well.
Macie Hall (age 8), of Carolina Beach, with a 20″ flounder that struck shrimp in the Carolina Beach boat basin.
The spanish mackerel bite has been inconsistent, with some days producing hot fishing and the next almost nonexistent action. Trolling Clarkspoons behind planers and torpedo weights is the most effective way to connect with the spanish, but anglers may also be able to cast metal jigs with success when the fish are feeding on the surface.
Sharks are feeding around shrimp boats working within a few miles of the beaches, and it won’t take them long to find a cut or dead bait fished near (but out of the way of) the shrimpers.
Inshore, anglers are hooking up with some red drum in the bays off the lower Cape Fear River in the early morning hours, but the bite seems to slow down as the days heat up right now. Live baits are tough for the reds to turn down, but anglers may also be able to tempt them to bite topwater plugs, soft plastics, and other artificials.
Sheepshead and black drum are looking for meals around rocks, pilings, and other heavy structure inshore, where anglers are fooling them with shrimp and fiddler crabs.
Savannah, of Kure Beach Pier, reports that bottom fishermen are landing croaker, sea mullet, bluefish, and more on shrimp.
Some flounder are falling for small live baits under the pier.
Plug casters are hooking a few bluefish on Gotchas and an occasional spanish mackerel.
