Southport June 10, 2004
Linda, at Southport/Oak Island Sportfishing Charters, reports that even with last week’s blow and scattered thunderstorms, fishing was still good. Kings and dolphin have been hitting offshore, with most working the area south of the tower. The bottom fish have been limited. There is a lot of trash coming up from the bottom, such as ringtails and sharks. Inshore, the spanish are still hitting very well. Guys have also been reporting catches of 5 to 7 lb. flounders in the creeks and the river. There hasn’t been a lot from the redfish, but the flounder have been keeping the inshore anglers busy.
Billie, at Dutchman Creek Bait and Tackle, reports speckled trout up to 3 lbs. are biting live shrimp in the creeks, and nice catches of flounder in the 3 to 4 lb. range have been reported. Small pogies, live mullet, or big live mud minnows will get the bigger flounder to bite. On the outside, the spanish are just off the beach and teenager king mackerel were caught at Yaupon Reef. On further out, there were good catches of small dolphin at 15 Mile Rock.
Tommy, at Long Beach Pier, reports flounder up to 5.5 lbs., with the bigger fish preferring big, live mullet as opposed to the mud minnows. Spanish were biting better on gold hook rigs than plugs, and they bit well into the afternoons. Early in the morning has been best for speckled trout, and live shrimp is a must for the trout. Bottom fishermen are still catching spots and whiting up to 1.5 lbs. on worms and shrimp. A big spadefish (3 lbs. 7 oz.) was reeled in this week by a fisherman using cut shrimp.
Dave, at Ocean Crest Pier, reports that conditions are improving for the kings to show back up, with menhaden and cleaner water returning to the area. Spanish mackerel are still biting gotcha plugs off the end of the pier, and flounder in the 2 to 3 lb. range are eating mud minnows and live shrimp. The first red drum for the pier was caught on a mud minnow and tipped the scales at 2 lbs. 8 oz. A few black drum are being caught on cut shrimp, and a few spots and pompano are also being picked up.
