Ocean Isle/Holden Beach – September 12, 2019
Jeff, of Ocean Isle Fishing Center, reports that there are plenty of redfish around. The fish aren’t picky, especially on the falling tide. Topwater fishing has been the most effective in the morning, but when the sun gets up and the topwater action slows down, the reds are attacking menhaden, Rat-L-Traps, Gulps, or just about anything else in your tackle box.
The redfish have been a mix of slot and over-slot.
There has been a nice black drum bite to take advantage of, and speckled trout have been readily available on the tail end of the falling tide.
Live and artificial baits have brought the flatties over the rails, while the black drum and trout prefer shrimp, with the latter tending to favor their bait suspended under a popping cork.
Matthew Slaughter with a slot red drum that munched on a small pogie while fishing near Bald Head Island.
Brant, of Ocean Isle Fishing Center, reports that big spanish mackerel are swimming in the 50-60’ range, while school spanish were found in 20-30’ of water (before the hurricane).
King fishing has been consistent in the 60-85’ range, but some are starting to make moves toward the beach.
Wahoo fishing is picking up from the Steeples to the Scarp. High speed trolling is the way to go, as this time of year is full of lots of undesirable species that will ignore high speed lures.
On the offshore bottom, scamp grouper have been chewing in the 110-150’ range.
Kevin, of Rigged and Ready Charters, reports that there have been a lot of spanish and blues attacking Clarkspoons just off the beach, and there’s some king mackerel action in the 10-20 mile range. Cigar minnows and live bait have been the consistent producer.
On the bottom, good grouper action can be found 45-55 miles offshore in 90-110’ of water. Beeliners, black sea bass, triggerfish, jacks, grunts, and big American reds have been mixed in as well, with live pinfish, cigar minnows, and menhaden producing the most bites.
Marty Adams, of Chapel Hill, NC, caught this 40 lb. cobia trolling with a Diawa Salt Pro Minnow off the beach near Oak Island.
Tripp, of Capt’n Hook Outdoors, reports that the hurricane has come and gone and left behind lots of nasty water. When fishing in the dirty water, redfish and black drum are the target of choice, as flounder and trout become very difficult to find. Use stinky baits, as the fish will be feeding more off of scent than sight.
For black drum, cut shrimp or broken crab will be the best bet. When targeting redfish, cut mullet, broken crab, or Gulp artificial baits should produce. Most of the redfish being caught right now are in the 25-30” range, and most of the black drum are in the 13-16” range.
Offshore, the dirty water extends to about 25 miles. If possible, get past the bad water, and then the fishing should be back to normal. The king mackerel are scattered everywhere this time of year, from the beach out to 100’. Live menhaden is the bait of choice.
Grouper are still biting in 125’, but it will not be long before the gags move in to the 60-80’ range.
Tim, of Tideline Charters, reports that the water is starting to clear up from the hurricane and the bite has continued to be great. Redfish have been biting well on Carolina-rigged live mullet on both falling and rising tides. The best places to look are shallow shell banks along the edges of creeks, as well as in deep holes along bends in creeks closer to the area inlets.
Trout fishing is still a little slow, but during early morning some keeper-sized fish have bit well on topwater plugs.
Kyle, of Speckulator Charters, reports that it’s the best time of the year to catch red drum, especially the big ones. A few big bull reds are already beginning to show, and we should only be a few weeks away from the large schools of them cruising along the beaches. At the same time, the reds in the creeks and backwaters should begin to school up more as well. Late September and throughout October is usually the best time to catch the skinny water reds, especially in the flooded grass.
The black drum will begin to school back up in the next few weeks, too, and fishing around submerged structure, docks, and bridge pilings (as well as oyster bars) can produce good catches of them from now throughout the fall. Live or fresh dead shrimp or chunks of crab soaking on the bottom are usually the go-to baits. Don’t be surprised if you find a few reds mixed in with the black drum.
The speckled trout bite has improve already, and it will continue to fire up as the temperatures cool.
Stewart, of Rod and Reel Shop, reports that drum fishing is really starting to heat up and sight casting should work to produce a fish, especially after the water clears. It’s hard to beat a Carolina-rigged mullet this time of year when choosing baits, though.
The water is getting cooler, which means that a few trout are starting to show up. The trout bite should only get better with clearer water and cooler temperatures.
There have been plenty of yellow butterflies around. As the old saying goes, a big spot run should be following, but the spots haven’t started biting hard yet.
Offshore, kings are getting closer to shore, with most of the action currently being found inside of the Jungle and around Lighthouse Rock.
David, of Ocean Isle Beach Fishing Pier, reports that some flounder, a handful of whiting and pompano, and a few spots have all been reeled in over the last two weeks.
