Southport April 29, 2010
Denver Compton, Steve and Duck Lloyd, Stevie Ray, Jeff Overstreet, and Mike Neighbors with fat black sea bass and some pinkies they caught while on a bottomfishing expedition near Frying Pan Tower with Capts. Butch and Chris Foster of Yeah Right Charters out of Southport.
Butch, of Yeah Right Charters, reports that the water’s finally warming up after our brutal winter and the bait and fish are beginning to respond accordingly.
Inshore, red drum and speckled trout are feeding in the creeks and bays, and the trout fishing should only improve as spring wears on.
Some flounder are beginning to bite as well (with a few decent keepers mixed into the undersize fish).
Whiting are feeding in the river mouth and along the beaches.
Nearshore, the water’s hit the mid-60’s and, as expected, a few spanish mackerel have begun to show up on both sides of Cape Fear. Anglers searching for the spanish should keep an eye out for diving birds and jumping fish to clue them into the presence of the schools. Trolling Clarkspoons and mackerel tree rigs or casting metal jigs at the feeding fish is the way to get them to bite.
Bluefish are mixed in with the spanish and feeding along the inlet tide lines. Some schools of Atlantic bonito are also prowling for meals around nearshore structure, but they won’t be here for long. While they are, the same tactics anglers use for the spaniards will put bonito in the boat.
Offshore bottom fishing is still producing limits of fat black sea bass and other bottom feeders. Dropping bottom rigs baited with squid and cut baits around offshore structure like wrecks, rocks, and live bottoms will produce fast action.
King mackerel are still scattered, but boats are finding some action with them in the vicinity of Frying Pan Tower and other offshore structure. Plenty of false albacore are mixed in. Both will fall for trolled spoons or cigar minnows.
Deep jigging along the edge of the break is still producing plenty of action with amberjacks, some cobia, and a variety of other species.
Gulf Stream trollers found an excellent wahoo bite when they were able to make it to hotspots like the Steeples and Blackjack Hole last week. Good numbers of blackfin tuna are in the mix as well, and boats have seen the first dolphin of the year lately. Boats also found a few yellowfin tuna, but these fish are well offshore of the break.
Ballyhoo beneath skirted trolling lures are the best baits for the Gulf Stream predators.
Aaron White, of Boiling Springs, NC, with a 2 lb. black drum he hooked on shrimp from Oak Island Pier.
Tommy, of Southport Angler Outfitters, reports that the red drum bite is still on inshore. Anglers are finding the reds in the bays and creeks off the lower river and fooling them with soft plastic baits.
Some trout are beginning to show up as well, with the best action in the creeks. Live shrimp or shrimp-imitating lures are the way to go for the specks.
Offshore, some boats finally found the king mackerel last week, but they were still well offshore and on the east side of the cape. Drone spoons and dead cigar minnows are deadly on the springtime kings. As the water warms up, the fish should begin migrating closer to the beaches.
Cathy, of Oak Island Pier, reports that the whiting bite has been excellent lately, and anglers are hooking the tasty panfish on bottom rigs baited with bloodworms and fresh and frozen shrimp.
A few bait and just-larger sized blues are coming over the rails, and live baiters fishing the end of the pier had a strike from a chopper bluefish last week.
Dave, of Ocean Crest Pier, reports that plug casters have been steadily hooking up with bluefish (to 2 lbs.) recently, and the pier saw its first spanish mackerel of the year last week. Gotcha plugs are fooling the blues and spanish.
Anglers also picked up quite a few flounder last week, though most are still on the small side (a few keepers mixed in).
A few pompano have begun to show up, and anglers are hooking them along with good numbers of whiting on bottom rigs baited with shrimp.
