Morehead City August 4, 2005
George, at Carolina Bait and Tackle, reports that kings are in close, and they’re bigger this week. Fish from 20-30 lbs. were caught in the inlet to a couple of miles off the beach. The dolphin bite has slowed down in close, probably because of the warmer water temps. To target dolphin, head out 10-12 miles and look for weedlines.
The surf has been producing pompano, spots, and a few sea mullet.
The flounder bite has been real good whether you go inside or off the beach. A 7 lb. fish was weighed in this week that came from the Haystacks, and good-sized flounder also came from the AR’s.
The bite for flounder has been better on mullet minnows than anything else, especially for the bigger fish.
Joe, at Joe’s Pro Bait and Tackle, reports that dolphin were at the sea buoy this week, both peanuts and gaffers. There has also been a good king mackerel bite at the sea buoy, and expect to find some large spanish mackerel in the mix. Both kings and dolphin are in close, but they are moving about with the bait schools.
Sailfish continue to make appearances inshore. One was caught at the sea buoy on Friday morning. Several people have seen them in close, but very few have hooked up.
Spanish and blues are biting early and late in the day down the beaches out to the Cape Lookout shoal.
Flounder up to 4.8 lbs. have come from the Coast Guard Station. The flounder are in the deep water around the manmade structure, particularly around the port and Radio Island (including the high rise bridges). There has also been a good number of keeper flounder caught drifting the deep channel out the inlet.
Some gray trout have also been caught, along with sea mullet, in the same area. The sheepshead bite continues to be excellent.
Offshore, dolphin fishing continues to be good from the Knuckle on out past the Big Rock and north of the Big Rock. More wahoo are being caught in the mix. The billfish bite continues to be good with large numbers of whites and sails caught at the NE corner of the Big Rock and northward.
Jimmy, at Triple “S” Pier, reports that they’ve seen some blues and spanish in the mornings and late afternoons. Bottom fishermen have been picking up a few pompano, spots, and sea mullet. The flounder bite did a little better this week, but it’s still slow.
Larry, at Sportsman’s Pier, reports that the blues have been biting in the mornings and late afternoons. The bite has been real sporadic during the day. There have been some spanish mixed in with the blues.
A 16 lb. king came over the rails on Sunday. Sunday also saw some keeper flounder during the day. Mullet minnows and mud minnows were producing fish from 14 to 18 inches, with the largest of the day in at 3 lbs.
J.J., at Freeman’s Bait and Tackle, reports that kings improved in quality this past week. Bigger fish were landed, with more 25-30 lb. fish coming in good numbers. The better areas seemed to be the inlet, the shipping channel, AR-315, and the Dead Tree Hole.
The spanish bite has been in and out. There’s been good sized ones, with most fish well over the minimum size requirement.
Tarpon have been reported up in the Pamlico, around Brown Island and Washington.
The flounder bite has been good at AR-315. Off the beach has been better than inside.
Inside, you can look to find sheepshead around the pilings and the walls. A couple of fish came in this week over 10 lbs.
Offshore, there have been great numbers of sailfish reported in close.
