Southport June 24, 2004
Dave, at Ocean Crest Pier, reports a good gray and speckled trout bite early in the mornings this week. Live shrimp has been the best bait. The flounder action picked up this week with fish running up to 4 lbs. A 4 lb. 2 oz. sheepshead was landed on the 18th, and the sheepshead bite overall should pick up anytime. Angler Bill Cannon caught a 7 lb. 4 oz. citation spanish mackerel. The pier saw plenty of other spanish in the 4 to 5 lb. range. The 16th produced a 14 lb. 10 oz. king mackerel, and a 21 lb. king was landed on the 15th. Also, on the 16th there was a nice run of pompano. Look for this species to start biting better as it gets warmer. Whiting and spots were the catch late in the week when the water got churned up and the sportfish moved to clearer waters.
Tommy, at Long Beach Pier, had a rare catch to report this week. The pier recorded a tarpon estimated to weigh about 70 lbs. The fish hit a king rig and was beached to photograph and then released. King mackerel were landed on Monday and Wednesday along with spanish up to 5 lbs. The success here is attributed to clean, clear water being pushed in, but the weekend’s SW winds killed the bite. Live, small menhaden or live mullet light-lined caught the bigger spanish. Speckled trout are still hitting live shrimp very early in the mornings, and flounder weighing up to 4 lbs. are still coming over the rails. Live bait has been working well for the flounder fishermen, with a lot of 2 to 3 lb. fish being landed. After the dirty water moved in, the attention turned to spots and whiting which bit well on bottom rigs with shrimp or worms.
Billie, at Dutchman Creek Bait and Tackle, reports that spots and whiting are biting on the area piers. The flounder bite has slowed, but fish should turn on again any time. Speckled trout have still been scattered in the area and along the beach. They have been mostly caught on live shrimp. Spanish mackerel are still being caught just off the inlets, but they have been deeper down (to about 20 feet) with the warming water this week. Kings are still being caught around 10 miles offshore and further out.
Capt. Rick, at Bluewater Point Marina, reports a very strong spanish mackerel bite outside of Lockwoods Folly Inlet on gold or silver Clark spoons. They seem to be showing no preference between the two colors. He also reports a lot of juvenile kings mixed in which they had to throw back because they were under the minimum size requirement of 24″. Dolphin weighing up to 20 lbs. are hitting ballyhoo trolled with pink/white or chartreuse skirts or live cigar minnows. This spread has also been hooking school-size king mackerel. Amberjacks are showing around the Raritan Wreck, and bottom fishing has produced a good black sea bass bite.
Linda, of Southport/Oak Island Sportfishing Charters, reports that boats have been able to limit out on spanish just off of the beach. Most boats focused on the shoreline from Ocean Crest Pier down to the point. Yaupon Reef has been a hot spot for flounder. You can also find a nice flounder bite inside in the backwater and around the Southport waterfront. The inside is also still producing some nice speckled trout catches. The offshore bottom fishing has been spotty, with boats having trouble catching or even marking fish. The kings and dolphin have been fairly strong, with boats focused on the Shark Hole and the 18 Mile Rock areas.
John, of Haag and Sons Seafood, reports that not much has been happening from either the charter boats or the commercial guys. A strong current in the wake of the new moon on the 17th made it tough to get overtop of fish and get the baits in front of them. Guys did pick up a few grouper recently. There have been very few beeliners. The king fishing has also been slow, with catches of only a few kings and the sizes have been small.
