Carolina Beach – March 5, 2015
Ron, of Island Tackle and Hardware, reports that there’s been some action in local waters recently despite the cold weather, and with spring just around the corner, local anglers have plenty more to look forward to.
Mona, of Greensboro, NC, with an upper-slot red drum that bit a Gulp shrimp in a creek in the lower Cape Fear River.
Red drum are feeding in the bays and creeks off the lower Cape Fear River, where anglers have been successfully targeting them all winter long. The fish will get more active as the water temperatures climb a bit, so the action will only improve as winter becomes a memory. They’re feeding around oyster rocks and deeper holes in the creeks as well as roaming the area’s flats (particularly those with darker bottoms on warmer days). Scented soft lures like Gulps fished very slowly are the way to go for anglers trying to tempt the reds to bite artificials. Cut shrimp and mullet on jigheads and Carolina rigs are fooling plenty more of the fish, especially when they’re reluctant to bite artificials.
Anglers fishing further up the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear rivers are connecting with good numbers of striped bass around Wilmington and upriver. The stripers will fall for trolled diving plugs or a variety of jigs, plugs, and other artificials worked around shoreline structure and the edges of channels and drop-offs.
Hardee Rickenbacker with a red drum that fell for a chunk of shrimp near a Figure Eight Island dock while he was fishing on the “Nasty Boi.”
Mid to late March is typically when anglers find sea mullet feeding around the mouth of the Cape Fear River, but the water temperatures are somewhat colder than they were around this time last year, so the fish may be a bit behind schedule. Double-drop bottom rigs baited with shrimp, squid, and Fish Bites baits are tough for the mullet to turn down once they show up.
Anglers also generally see a run of large “chopper” bluefish begin in late March or early April, and the fish will show up around the inlets, in the surf, and occasionally at some surpising places well inshore. The big blues are voracious predators and will attack virtually anything they can fit in their mouths, but lures with plenty of action like spoons and diving plugs are some of the best artificials.
Not many people have been in the ocean recently, but bottom fishermen should be able to find some action with legal sea bass at structure from the 15 mile range on out. Jigging lures and a variety of baits on bottom rigs will get attention from the bass.
Several boats made it to the Gulf Stream a few weeks ago and found some excellent wahoo action along with a few blackfin tuna. Both should be present at local blue water hotspots as long as there’s some warm water along the break. Skirted ballyhoo and a variety of artificial lures will get attention from both predators (with smaller baits and lures more appealing to the blackfins).
Jeff, of Seahawk Inshore Charters, reports that there’s been some good red drum action recently for anglers stalking the bays and creeks off the lower Cape Fear River. Dead shrimp fished on jigheads have been producing most of the action, and fishing them nearly or completely still on the bottom is the best bet for anglers looking to hook up. A few of the reds have also been falling for white and molting-colored Gulp shrimp.
Anglers are also connecting with a few black drum while soaking shrimp for the reds.
Warmer days have been producing a bit of speckled trout action in the lower river as well, with the fish feeding around oysters, points, and rocky structure. Gulp shrimp and MR18 MirrOlures have been attracting attention from the specks.
Upriver, there’s been some decent striped bass action around downtown Wilmington and above. Most of the stripers are taking an interest in trolled deep-diving Rapala plugs or swimbaits and other large soft plastics that anglers are casting to shoreline cover and deeper structure.
