Carolina Beach June 17, 2004
Steve, at Seagull Bait and Tackle, reports that a few pompano have showed up in the surf again. One guy weighed in a 3.25 lb. pompano this past week. The surf and piers have also been full of croakers and small blues. This area is still seeing a few Virginia mullet and occasionally a small school of spanish will move through. The red drum bite hasn’t been strong recently. The big flounder bite has also seemed to slow. There are plenty of smaller ones, but not many big ones were weighed in this past week. In fact, the store didn’t see a flounder over 7 lbs. The wall at the south end of the island has still been producing some speckled trout. The inlet has only produced a few (key word being few) trout over the past week.
Kelly, at Cape Fear Marine and Tackle, reports that the offshore activity is still present with dolphin, amberjacks, and an occasional tuna. The dolphin have continued to move in very close with reports coming from 23 Mile Rock to the Red and White. The best results are coming from using ballyhoo or live menhaden. The flounder fishing is in full swing, with flounder being caught from the Carolina Beach Inlet to the Cape Fear River. Most of the flounder are averaging around 3 lbs.; however, you can definitely find an occasional fish in the 6 to 10 lb. range. The drum and trout fishing seems to be a bit scattered, but for most of the action with these two species you should head to the Cape fear River.
Capt. Freddie, of Musicman Charters, reports that when it’s not blowing or there’s no thunder and lightning he’s been successful at finding fish in the gulf stream. The best bite has been the dolphin. Most are gaffer size, ranging anywhere from 6 to 35 lbs. Other than dolphin, you can find a wahoo bite or two and an occasional yellowfin. The yellowfins right now are running large, in the 45 to 60 lb. range. The yellowfin bite, however, has been very sporadic. Billfish bites and sightings have been improving as we head into Big Rock tournament time. His boat released two sails this past week. There have been multiple sails, some whites, and a few blues reported in our area.
Capt. Dave, of Wild Rover II Charters, reports that the gulf stream around the Same Ole had great catches of dolphin this week, with a few tuna mixed in. Sailfish catches and sightings have increased along with the water temperature. Grouper and snapper catches this week were great, with a lot of nice fish brought back on about every trip. Whole squid seems to be the bait of choice. Gags are as close as 15 miles, and catches of reds and scamps are from 25 miles on out. Inshore, the spanish bite has been excellent with many boats limiting out in short order. Clark Spoons, size 00, work about every time, but the 01’s are producing the nicer fish. The bluefish have been everywhere and have showed some size increase recently. A lot of small king mackerel have been caught on these inshore trips, so make sure you know what you are catching.
