Added on Thursday, June 1, 2006
Gary Hurley
Morehead City June 1, 2006
Matt, at Chasin Tails Charters, reports that Still good drum bite in marshes live bait and gulp, gold spoons. Small kings have showed up between 12- 15 pounds. Trolling spoons and yo-zuir’s working the best. Good friend of mind Dean On Just Little Bit caught some nice Spanish today on spoons bite was early before all the boat got out. Still some flounder being caught still on the small side but starting to heat up. Lot’s of blues mixed in also.
George, at Carolina Bait and Tackle, reports good action nearshore with big cobia arriving. They have weighed some up to 64 pounds this week. The spanish are right on the beach in good numbers so troll clarkspoons or yozuri plugs for them. In the surf the warm water has arrived and so have the pompano. A 5 lb. 13 oz. flounder was weighed in that was caught in the inlet which is a good sign the big flounder are moving in from offshore. Big live baits such as menhaden carolina rigged on the bottom will tempt the bigger flounder. Offshore in the stream there have been some nice tuna caught and with the waters warming the dolphin will take over and keep anglers busy at the break.
Sportsman’s Pier reports that the water has cleared up. Blues and a few Spanish are being caught in the mornings, and then return in the evenings in greater numbers. Hogfish, spots, croakers, sea mullet, pompano, and an occasional flounder are on the bottom. Cobia are beginning to show up.
Joe, at Joe’s Pro Bait and Tackle, reports that PIERS/SURF
Spanish Mackerel are showing up in fair numbers. Good numbers of Bluefish are being caught also. Fair numbers of Pompano are being caught. Some Sea Mullet and Gray Trout are being caught. Some Croakers, Spots, and Black Drum are being caught. A few Flounder are starting to show up.
INSHORE/NEARSHORE
The Cobia are showing up, but for some reason not many are being caught at the hook. That was the hottest place to catch them for the last several years. One of my customers reported 91 and 43 pound Cobias behind Shackleford Banks on Thursday. I have reports of schools of 20 to 30 Cobia, migrating just off Bogue Inlet Pier, just out of range of the pier fishermen. My customer, Jay, caught a 20 pound Cobia on a Yozuri DD when he trolled by a buoy fishing for Spanish. My brother, Stuart Ward, caught a 50.10 pound Cobia in the Swansboro Tournament this weekend for 2nd place in the Cobia division. At the Cape Lookout rock jetty On Monday, he and my brother in law, John Kinlaw. lost an estimated 90+ pound Cobia at the boat on a King live bait rod. John fought the fish for over an hour.
In the unbelievable fishing stories category, my customer, John Polaski “Don’t Catch Many,” and his girlfriend hooked 3 Tarpon at the inner corner of the port wall next to Portside Marina. They were fishing for Flounder, but were catching a lot of Black Bass. The Tarpon were eating the Black Bass when they pulled them off the bottom.
Hatteras Bluefish are still being caught by the Cape Lookout lighthouse near the number 4 buoy and by Cobia fishermen at the hook.
The Flounder bite is getting better daily. I had a great day on Tuesday with my buddy, Chuck. We caught 15 flounder. My buddy, Bill Laughinghouse, limited out on Flounder easily on Sunday. Drift fishing and anchoring around structure are both producing good catches.
The Spanish Mackerel fishing has picked up with limits being caught at the Cape Lookout shoal and between Sportsman’s Pier and the Sheraton pier. Spanish are scattered down the beaches elsewhere and were on AR315 in numbers on Sunday. Spanish are increasing in numbers daily. Bluefish are in the same areas.
Red Drum fishing still continues to be strong in the marshes. Many of the local guides are using the Gulp Jerk Shad rigged on a flutter or worm hook. The hook makes it weedless, so the lure can be tossed in the flooded grass at high tide where the fish are feeding.
OFFSHORE
Dolphin fishing is excellent. One of my customers, Bob Nemson, caught a load of gaffer Dolphin up to 35 pounds at the Yellowfin hole. They had over 2 dozen Dolphin. Dolphin are in as close as 14 buoy and the fishing gets better from the 90 foot drop on out to the Big Rock. My buddy, Craig “Cabo” Frey, caught 7 nice gaffer Dolphin on the Commodore fishing south down by Swansboro hole with Captain Roy. They had quite a few more pull the hook at the boat.
