Southport December 5, 2005
Jimmy, at Wildlife Bait and Tackle, reports that local anglers have been wearing out the speckled trout. You can find them in just about every area creek, and most people have been using live shrimp under a cork. As for artificials, go with Sea Striker smoked metal flake 4″ curly tail grubs, or you can use Mirrolures TT750 and TT808.
There have been plenty of specks caught, and the sizes have been impressive. Most are in the 2-3 lb. range. You can also find several in the 3-4 lb. range, and the bigger fish have weighed in at up to the 7 lb. class.
Gray trout have been coming from McGlammery Reef and the Wofes. Guys are bouncing fish darts and stingsilvers on the bottom. They bring it 3-4′ off of the bottom and then let it drop. The bigger grays are weighing in at 4 lbs., but expect most grays to be small or just over the legal size.
This jig bouncing technique will also produce large red drum (20-40 lb. class).
Dave, at Ocean Crest Pier, reports water temperatures still hanging around 63 degrees. It’s moving some fish out, but it’s not cold enough to move the trout into the surf. They are still being caught in the creeks and waterways of Oak Island.
Those who are fishing the pier are finding some lingering flounder with all the mullet still running the surf. An occasional black or red drum is also being hooked and landed.
Whiting has been the main catch lately, with very few spots mixed in.
Tommy, at Long Beach Pier, reports the flounder have moved out with the cooler water temperatures, and most of the catches are now whiting and the occasional spot. The trout have yet to move into the surf, with many anglers weighing in fish caught in the area rivers and creeks.
Billie, at Dutchman Creek Bait and Tackle, reports good speckled trout fishing in all the creeks. Gulp shrimp have been the best producers. A few redfish are still biting well in the same areas.
Some big whiting are still hanging around the area. They’re mostly eating shrimp.
Sea bass and grouper are holding offshore (if you can get to them), and kings are biting well 25+ miles out on dead cigar minnows.
Valerie, at Yaupon Pier, reports that the end of November produced a great whiting bite. They were seeing numerous fish, and the fish were big and heavy. They have also recently seen several keeper-size flounder and some small spots. A few speckled trout were landed on artificial bloodworms and shrimp, but most of the trout must still be inside. And the end of November also saw some sea bass caught.
