Morehead City June 30, 2005
George, at Carolina Bait and Tackle, reports that flounder fishing is picking up. There were a few 4 to 5 lb. class flounder caught in the inlet and off the piers. There’s plenty of sea mullet in the surf, but the pompano bite is scattered. Spots are being caught in the inlet and on the piers off of artificial bloodworms.
The artificial reefs close to shore have been hot, with gray trout, blues, and flounder reported. There have also been bigger kings moving in to these reefs, with many in the 20 to 30 lb. range and a few going heavier.
There’s a few cobia left in the area. Offshore, the dolphin bite continues to be hot. Many anglers are overshooting the fish by running all the way to the 90′ Drop. The dolphin are in closer.
Jas, at Sportsman’s Pier, reports that the main action is blues. They’ve caught some spots, but there are no size to them. Some spanish are still coming off the end in the early morning or early evening. They landed some good-sized sheepshead this weekend, with the largest weighing in the 6 lb. class. The flounder bite has improved. About half the flounder hooked are keeper size, and the best time has been starting about an hour before the high tide. There’s also been some gray trout landed recently.
Ken, at Triple “S” Pier, reports that blues have been biting. Most are small, but some weigh up to 2 lbs. The spanish bite has been sporadic, with no large numbers of fish and the sizes are small. Snake kings have been mixed in with the spanish. Lots of under-sized flounder were caught this weekend. Only a few were keepers. Bottom fishing has been producing a variety, including spots, spadefish, sheepshead, and hogfish. A lot of cobia have been hooked recently, but none have been landed. They did, however, land a 33 lb. king on Friday.
Joe, at Joe’s Pro Bait and Tackle, reports that big flounder have moved into the port, including an 8 lb. fish weighed in on Saturday. They are still in numbers at places with natural bottom and the artificial reefs within 10 miles of the beach. The spanish mackerel fishing has been bad for boaters trolling the beach. Catches of gray trout have been reported by drifting out the inlet by the Coast Guard station. Reds and speckled trout have been coming from the marshes and the creeks, particularly North River, Newport River, and the middle marsh.
The king bite was red hot on Saturday at the sea buoy. AR-330 was good earlier in the week, but it shut down after the wind switched to the east. If you get to a spot and don’t catch any kings quickly, then move to another spot.
Dolphin are the main offshore bite, with a few wahoo and tuna.
Paul, at Freeman’s Bait and Tackle, reports that they weighed in an 11.5 lb. flounder over the weekend. The fish was caught in the ICW just west of the Causeway Bridge, and it’s a sign that the flounder fishing is steadily improving. Most of the flounder action so far has been happening in the deeper water.
The reds and speckled trout are biting in the marshes, and it’s been mostly an evening fishery. The piers saw some kings over the weekend. The spanish, both off the piers and nearshore trolling, are disappearing. The bottomfishing in the surf has been sporadic, but there are fish being caught, including spots, croaker, hogfish, etc.
Offshore there continues to be dolphin, with some tuna and wahoo.
