Morehead City October 13, 2005
Joe, at Joe’s Pro Bait and Tackle, reports that the red drum are thick in the haystacks, middle marsh, and in Ward’s Creek down towards Harker’s Island. The trout fishing has not been very good locally, but there are good numbers of them around Raccoon and Swan Island in the Pamlico Sound. These fish should migrate to the Morehead area soon.
Flounder fishing was good before all the rain, but the muddy water is going to slow them down over the next week.
Spots have been caught in good numbers in the turning basin, around the Coast Guard station, and the Beaufort draw bridge. Some sea mullet and gray trout have also been caught.
King mackerel have been in close, with most of the fish in the teens and twenties.
Offshore, wahoo are being caught in good numbers from the 90 foot drop to the Big Rock. And most boats are getting at least one shot at a sailfish.
The vermillion snapper bite is still as good as it has been in recent years, and grouper activity has picked up.
George, at Carolina Bait and Tackle, reports that most of the fishing action recently has been found in the surf and in the inlet. Guys are finding spots, blues, and some sea mullet.
There’s also been some catches of gray trout and flounder in the inlet area.
Inside, there’ve been some reports of speckled trout at the haystacks.
Paul, at Freeman’s Bait and Tackle, reports that during all the recent rain there were periodic runs of the smaller spots. They were being found at the Beaufort draw bridge and off the area piers. The spot bite improved after the rains stopped.
Lots of slot-sized reds are in the surf and on AR 315 and AR 320.
The king mackerel pre-fishing on Sunday for the FLW was slow, with very few boats reporting any catches.
Otherwise, there’s been very spotty catches of grays.
Larry, at Sportsman’s Pier, reports that Thursday produced a good spot run, and then all the rain started and slowed down the fishing. The spots came back after the rains moved off. They’re biting from about mid-way to 2/3 of the way down the pier.
There’s plenty of puppy drum in the surf and rough water. Most have been under-sized, running about 15 inches. A few speckled trout are being caught at night.
During lulls in the storm guys were picking up some black drum fishing the surf area.
Ron, at Triple “S” Pier, reports that the spots are running well. There was a strong bite before the storms, then guys were picking at them during the rains, and now the bite has picked back up. Expect the spots to be in the 1 to 1.5 lb. range, and the high tide has been the best time to fish for them.
The puppy drum bite in the surf area has been doing well. There’s been sporadic catches of blues and spanish, but it’s very sporadic.
The flounder started biting after the storm, with many throwbacks and the keepers running just at 14-15 inches.
