Carolina Beach May 11, 2006
Dave Tilley, at FryingPanTower.com, reports that the gulf stream has been consistent around the Same Ole. Yellowfin tuna are making up most of the early morning bite, with some scattered mahi and kings mixed in. Find the bait, and you will find the fish.
Offshore, king mackerel are now being caught in numbers in the 35-mile range, with some mahi and blackfin tuna mixed in. The kings are on the move toward the inshore waters now, with fish being caught from the Schoolhouse on out. Cigar minnows on skirts to drone spoons to rigged ballyhoo—they all will produce this time of year.
Inshore, some scattered spanish mackerel around Carolina Beach have started to show, but it is still too early to catch them in any numbers. Bonitas are being caught within 5 miles of the inlet on trolled Clark spoons or pitched lures like a Hopkins. This has been an early morning bite, so if you plan to go…go early.
The bluefish are plentiful and will supply a day’s action on any of the area rocks. A small Clark spoon slow-trolled deep will do the trick.
Red grouper are being caught in numbers in the 35+ mile range, with some really big ones coming in; however, you have to pick your day and go deep to catch these guys. Gags are scattered in the 15-25 mile range.
The black sea bass bite has been good as of late, with plenty of large pan-sized bass being caught on any of the offshore ledges.
Closer to shore, puppy drum and trout are being caught in numbers around some of the area rocks and inshore backwaters. Berkley Gulp and strip bait seem to be the ticket. Flounder are also being caught, but catching one in the keeper range has been tough. It’s still early for these guys, but don’t worry it will not be long.
Bruce Fields, at Flat Dawg Charters, reports that inshore there have been small blues caught right out of Carolina Beach Inlet and around the piers. Whiting in the 1.5-2 lb. range have been scattered up and down the beach.
Flounder are still small. It won’t be long, though, for the bite to turn on.
The magic water temperature for flounder is supposed to be 63 degrees. Right now the river and Snow’s Cut has been 63-64 degrees, and the inlet and just off the beach has been 61-62 degrees. He likes 66 degrees to really get the flounder waking up and moving around.
As for baitfish, the menhaden are plentiful. They’re running 3-5 inches. And there have been a few small finger mullet.
Mike Robertson, at Kure Beach Pier, reports good catches of bluefish and a few spanish mackerel on the end by the pluggers. The main factor has been to have clean water. When the water is dirty, the sea mullet are biting better on the bottom with shrimp or bloodworms.
A few flounder have been landed, though most are small. They should be arriving soon in bigger numbers, along with more and bigger spanish.
