Morehead City Winter 2013-2014
Kelly Styron, of Morehead City, with a 6 lb. speckled trout that he hooked in a North River creek while kayak fishing. Weighed in at Chasin’ Tails Outdoors.
Tim, of Chasin’ Tails Outdoors, reports that speckled trout and puppy drum are providing plenty of action for anglers around Morehead City right now. Anglers are finding both fish in the Haystacks marshes, and they’re fooling them with live shrimp under popping corks and artificials like Vudu Shrimp, Gulp baits, and suspending MirrOlure and Rapala hard baits.
More specks have been feeding in South River and the creeks off the Neuse River (with big numbers of small spike trout but some solid fish mixed in).
More specks and puppy drum, along with big numbers of gray trout, are feeding around the Cape Lookout rock jetty, and the speck bite seems to just be getting started out there. Live shrimp, mud minnows, and Gulp baits have all proven effective at the jetty.
Anglers are also connecting with some specks while wade-fishing the Radio Island and Fort Macon jetties.
As the water continues to cool, the specks will make their way to the backs of area creeks and out to the surf zone, where anglers wading at Cape Lookout at night catch some of the largest fish of the year in January and February.
Surf casters around Fort Macon are hooking some black and puppy drum, sheepshead, and small flounder on shrimp and cut baits.
The flounder action inshore has slowed, but anglers are still hooking flatfish while working 2 oz. bucktails at nearshore structure in the ocean like AR-315 and 320.
Hayes Wicher, of Greenville, NC, with a 29″ gag grouper that bit a live bluefish east of Cape Lookout shoals while he was fishing with Capt. Chris Kimrey of Mount Maker Charters.
Bottom fishermen are finding legal black sea bass in some of the same areas, with gag grouper mixed in around the Big 10/Little 10 and further offshore. Squid, cigar minnows, and mackerel are all solid baits for the bottom dwellers.
Not many boats have been blue water fishing with all the wind lately, but anglers can expect sporadic action with wahoo and blackfin tuna all winter long when it’s calm enough to run to offshore spots like the Big Rock. Both will fall for ballyhoo and skirted trolling lures.
Paul, of Freeman’s Bait and Tackle, reports that the speckled trout action is still good in the creeks and rivers along the Crystal Coast, where anglers are hooking the fish on live baits, soft plastics, and suspending hard lures like MirrOlure MR17’s.
The bite hasn’t turned on much in the surf yet, but it’s likely due to the unseasonably warm temperatures. Once the water cools significantly, the fish should head for the ocean and begin feeding in sloughs just off the beachfront. Anglers wading from the beaches can hook the specks on MirrOlures and soft plastic baits once they show up.
There’s been sporadic action (and big numbers of small fish) with specks around the Cape Lookout rock jetty but, like the surf, the bite should heat up as the water grows colder.
Surf casters fishing from Atlantic Beach are connecting with a mixed bag of sea mullet, pufferfish, and an occasional speckled trout or puppy drum.
Adam Alberson, of Greensboro, NC, with a 45 lb. wahoo that bit a rigged ballyhoo while he was trolling the Gulf Stream of Morehead City with Capt. Thomas Wood on the “Dancin’ Outlaw.”
Not many boats have been fishing the ocean recently, but there’s been a bit of a king mackerel bite around the Atlas Tanker and other spots east of Lookout Shoals.
Chris, of Mount Maker Charters, reports that anglers are seeing some solid speckled trout action around Morehead right now, with good fish coming from the inshore waters, the Cape Lookout jetty, and a few in the surf. Puppy drum are in many of the same places, and both will bite live baits, soft plastics, or hard plugs like MirrOlures.
Some false albacore are still feeding around Cape Lookout shoals, but they’re further from the beach than over the past month. Anglers who can find the first solid temperature breaks offshore should run across the albacore, and small metal casting jigs or flies will tempt them to bite.
Schools of large red drum often feed on the east side of Cape Lookout over the winter months. Anglers can search for schools of menhaden and troll mojo rigs or diving plugs around the bait to find the drum. Once a school is located, jigging and even casting flies at the big fish can be effective.
The king mackerel bite has been off and on around Cape Lookout over the fall, but anglers stand shots at kings all winter as long as water temperatures remain in the upper-60’s at spots on the east side like the Atlas Tanker. Live and dead baits will both fool the kings.
Wahoo are also potential winter targets for anglers making the run to blue water hotspots like the Big Rock, as long as warm water is pushing over the break. Ballyhoo rigged under skirted trolling lures are the way to go for the wahoo.
