Morehead City – October 23, 2014
Kathy Bernstein with her first red drum, an upper-slot fish that bit a live shrimp under a Bomber Paradise Popper in a Morehead-area marsh.
Matt, of Chasin’ Tails Outdoors, reports that anglers are still seeing plenty of action with spot around Beaufort and in the turning basin. Live bloodworms seem to be producing the most action, but anglers are also hooking up on artificial bloodworms and shrimp.
Sea mullet and croaker are also feeding in the turning basin and biting shrimp.
Gray trout have been looking for meals around the railroad tracks and the Atlantic Beach Bridge, and they’re falling for live shrimp, soft plastics, and jigging lures like Stingsilvers.
Speckled trout are beginning to feed in in many of the creeks around Morehead and in the Haystacks marshes. Anglers are hooking the fish on a wide variety of artificial lures, but live shrimp fished under floats are tough to beat when it comes to putting numbers of trout in the boat.
Red drum are feeding in the same areas as the specks and pouncing on the same lures. Topwater plugs have also been drawing plenty of bites from the reds lately, particularly early in the morning.
Flounder are beginning to move to the ocean, but anglers are connecting with big numbers around the local bridge pilings and the port wall (many 3-5 lbs.). Live mud minnows and finger mullet are producing most of the action with the flatfish. Anglers are also hooking good numbers at nearshore structure in the ocean like AR-315 and fooling them with Gulp baits pinned to 2 oz. bucktails.
Spanish mackerel are still on the feed off Beaufort Inlet, and some large fish (to 7 lbs.) have been biting live finger mullet around the same structure where the flounder are feeding. Anglers are connecting with smaller spaniards closer to shore while trolling Clarkspoons and casting small metal jigs at schools chasing bait on the surface.
The king mackerel bite remains strong, with fish coming from the shipping channel, nearshore AR’s, and Dead Tree Hole. Live baits are top choices for the kings, but anglers are hooking plenty of fish on dead cigar minnows as well.
Offshore anglers are still seeing excellent numbers of wahoo while trolling blue water spots like the Big Rock and Swansboro Hole. Some larger fish have also been feeding around king mackerel spots east of the shoals like the 1700 Rock and Atlas Tanker. Ballyhoo paired with skirted trolling lures are fooling the ‘hoos and a few blackfin tuna and dolphin feeding in the same areas.
Guy Whilden with a gag grouper that inhaled a ballyhoo-tipped jig near the Big 10/Little 10 while he was fishing with Bill Hogg on the “Another Option.”
Paul, of Freeman’s Bait and Tackle, reports that surf casters are finding good numbers of sea mullet along Atlantic Beach’s beachfront, along with plenty of pinfish and a mixed bag of other bottom feeders. Shrimp and bloodworms are producing action with the panfish.
The spot bite remains strong inshore around the Duke Marine Lab, Gallants Channel, and Beaufort. Live and artificial bloodworms are top choices for the spot, but fresh shrimp can also be effective.
Anglers are seeing the speckled trout move out of the area’s creeks and marshes into more open water, but they haven’t made a big push to the surf yet. The Radio Island rock jetty, Haystacks, and area around Chimney Island are good places to look for the specks at present, and anglers can tempt them to bite MirrOlures, soft plastic baits, or live shrimp and mud minnows fished under floats.
The spanish mackerel bite was hot last week but has slowed a bit due to dirty water. Anglers will likely see some more solid spanish action before the fish head south for the winter, however. Trolling Clarkspoons and casting metal jigs like Shore Lures around working birds and fish feeding on the surface is the way to connect with the spaniards.
King mackerel have been biting well in the shipping channel and Dead Tree Hole, with some larger fish feeding around hotspots east of the shoals like the Atlas Tanker. Live menhaden and bluefish are tough to beat for the kings, but anglers can also hook up while trolling dead cigar minnows.
Offshore anglers are still seeing big numbers of wahoo at the Big Rock and other local blue water spots, with scattered dolphin, blackfin tuna, and other pelagic predators mixed in. Ballyho paired with skirted trolling lures are fooling the ‘hoos.
Chelsea Frey, of Stem, NC, with a 26.75″ red drum that bit a live finger mullet just off Atlantic Beach.
Chris, of Mount Maker Charters, reports that anglers are connecting with solid numbers of king mackerel from the beachfront to spots in the 15-20 mile range right now. Most are falling for live menhaden.
False albacore and bluefish are chasing bait a bit closer to the beachfront, and they’re taking an interest in metal casting jigs that anglers are tossing around working birds and surface activity.
Wayne, of Oceanana Pier, reports that anglers saw some excellent spot action last week, but the bite has been a bit slower in recent days. Most are falling for live and artificial bloodworms on double drop rigs.
Some black drum have been biting shrimp on the bottom.
Last week also saw some solid spanish mackerel and bluefish action for anglers working Gotcha plugs from the planks.
A few cobia were also seen and hooked from the pier last week.
