Carolina Beach July 7, 2005
Dave Tilley, of FryingPanTower.com, reports that the dolphin have been red hot just inshore of the break. Blue-white and pink-white seem to be the colors of choice.
Offshore, the king mackerel bite has been steady in the 20ish mile range. Find a temperature break, then find some bait on that temp break, and you’ll find the kings. The dolphin have been pretty steady in this same range, with some nice fish but mostly peanuts. If you get one hooked., keep him in the water so his friends will come around and then hook another one.
Anywhere from 20 plus miles out you should able to find a good grouper bite. Some big bluehead sea bass have been caught recently as well, and the American reds have been caught in numbers this past week.
Inshore, the spanish have been on and off with bluefish making up the difference.
Robbie, at Seagull Bait and Tackle, reports that Virginia mullet and small blues were cuahgt in the surf this past week. The surf also saw a few catches of flounder and black drum. Flounder fishing in the Inlet and ICW was good again this past week, with several fish caught in the 3 lb. class and above. The fish are scattered, though.
Spanish and kings are right on the beach. Some boats were getting limits of spanish, and others were only landing a few fish. The king bite has been good close to the beach. Kure Beach pier had a couple of kings in the 30 lb. class, and boats in the inlet found several big kings (including the Jolly Mon winner).
Barry, of Cape fear Marine and Tackle, reports that the flounder fishing continues to do well in such areas as the ICW and the river. Fish up to 8 lbs. were recorded this week. The trout fishing down the river has also been really good, with many fish in the 3 to 6 lb. range caught, as well as a few in the 7 lb. class. Red drum are also down the river and along the docks in the ICW.
The nearshore fishing (within 10 miles off the beach) has been excellent. Numerous kings have been caught on cigar minnows and deep-diving y-zuris. They’ve also been catching plenty of spanish, cobia, and a few dolphin. Ther’s been some warmer water towards the Dredge Wreck and then on to the shoals, and this has produced a couple of sailfish. Warm water has been on this side of the 10 fathom curve, so it’s been a great place to target.
Further offshore, guys are catching bigger dolphin and more of them. The bottomfishing has also been good in the 25 to 35 mile range, with red snapper excellent and grouper fishing good.
