Ocean Isle October 1, 2009
Mike Long, of Oak Island, with a 24.3 lb. king mackerel he hooked on a live bluefish from Oak Island Pier.
Brant, of Ocean Isle Fishing Center, reports that the spanish mackerel bite has been incredible along the beaches lately. Anglers are hooking the spanish while casting metal jigs and other lures and trolling Clarkspoons, and the action’s been hottest around Lockwood Folly Inlet recently.
Pogies are plentiful between Lockwood and the Cape Fear River mouth. Anglers are finding a hot king mackerel bite in the same area, although the fish seem to be moving around from day to day, with the best action near Ocean Crest Pier one day, the river channel the next, and Yaupon Reef another day. Slow-trolling live pogies is the way to hook up with the kings (many up to 30 lbs. lately).
Good numbers of big spanish mackerel (3-5 lbs.) are in the same areas, and they’re so prevalent they can actually become a nuisance while king mackerel fishing.
Bottom fishing has been producing some solid gag grouper action around ledges and other structure in 75-100’ of water. Anglers venturing deeper are hooking up with some solid scamps in 100+’.
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William and Wendell Owens, Herb Cambpell, Benn McDonald, Albert Craig, and Tony Cameron, all from Fayetteville, NC, with amberjacks, dolphin, and a king mackerel they hooked in addition to a catch of bottomfish including beeliners and grunts while fishing offshore of Southport with Capts. Butch and Chris Foster of Yeah Right Charters.
Kyle, of Ocean Isle Fishing Center, reports that the cooler weather has turned on the fall speckled trout bite, and anglers are catching better numbers now than they’ve seen since spring. The action’s been best from the Sunset Beach Bridge south to the Little River Crossroads.
Anglers have also been finding some specks in the Shallotte River, but the bite to the south has been better. Live shrimp under floats, soft plastic baits, and topwater plugs have all been fooling the specks lately, and a good formula has been to locate the fish with topwaters, then cast soft plastics or live baits to hook up.
Some puppy drum are in the same places as the trout and feeding along the grass. There’s also been a good pup bite around the docks and rocks of the Ocean Isle residential canals. Live shrimp or finger mullet will fool the reds.
Some larger drum are feeding at the Little River jetties, and live finger mullet are fooling them there.
Flounder are on the feed as well, and anglers are hooking them around the inlets and in the backwaters on Carolina-rigged finger mullet. The flatfish bite on the nearshore structure has also been solid recently.
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Cody Banks (age 11) with a dolphin he caught on a slow-trolled pogy near Frying Pan Tower while fishing on the "Wild Rice."
David, of Capt. Hook Outdoors, reports that pogies have been plentiful along the beaches lately, and catching them is the first step to getting in on the hot king mackerel action going on right now.
The best fishing lately has been around the 90/90, the 10/10, and other holes in the 50-60’ range. Anglers are hooking up with kings (up to 25+ lbs.) and big spanish mackerel (4-5+ lbs.) while slow-trolling pogies in that depth range.
Some sailfish are also in the same areas, and they’ll also take an interest in the pogies.
Bottom fishermen are finding solid gag grouper action around bottom structure in 70-90’, and with the new one fish per person limit, limiting out hasn’t been much of a challenge.
Closer to the beaches, anglers are hooking up with some large flounder on the nearshore reefs while dropping live finger mullet and pogies on Carolina rigs.
There’s been a good red drum bite around the inlets and the jetties, with live mullet and pogies fooling the reds as well.
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Ian, of Ocean Isle Pier, reports that anglers are hooking decent numbers of spot on bloodworms.
Some flounder are also coming over the rails for anglers fishing small live baits on the bottom.
Plugs casters are catching plenty of bluefish and a handful of spanish mackerel.
