Southport June 7, 2012
Alice Cline, of Greensboro, NC, with an 11.4 lb. black drum that bit a piece of shrimp beneath Oak Island Pier.
John, of Dutchman’s Creek Bait and Tackle, reports that anglers celebrated the opening of black sea bass season by bringing home some fat ones this week (some fish to 24”). The fish are feeding on bottom structure from just off the beaches out to Frying Pan Tower. Anglers can hook them on bottom rigs baited with squid or cut bait, or work smaller vertical jigs to hook up.
Boats making the run further out to the Gulf Stream are connecting with some gaffer dolphin while trolling skirted ballyhoo.
Live-baiters fishing around Yaupon Reef are connecting with some king mackerel and cobia while slow-trolling or anchoring up with live menhaden baits.
The spanish mackerel bite was good until the ocean dirtied up last week, so the fish should be back when the water settles down. Trolling Clarkspoons behind planers and trolling weights within a few miles of shore is the way to connect with the spaniards.
Pier fishermen are hooking some speckled trout on Oak Island, primarily while baiting up with live shrimp in the early morning hours.
The speckled trout bite has also been good in the creeks and around hard structure in the backwaters. Live shrimp are still the best bets, but Gulp baits and other soft plastics, as well as suspending hard baits like MirrOlure MR17’s, will also tempt them to bite.
Flounder and red drum are also feeding in the marshes and around the Southport waterfront. Live menhaden or mud minnows on Carolina rigs or Gulp baits pinned to jigheads will tempt bites from both.
Jake and Kyle Little with a 3 lb., 10 oz. speckled trout and a 4 lb., 13 oz. black drum that bit live shrimp under Ocean Crest Pier in Oak Island.
Tommy, of The Tackle Box, reports that anglers have been finding decent speckled trout action around Southport, but they’re being tight-lipped as to where exactly. Live shrimp are producing most of the fish, but anglers are also hooking up while casting Gulps and other soft plastics and suspending baits like Yo-Zuri 3D Minnows and Shrimp.
The full moon high tides last week produced some solid opportunities to target red drum on flooded grass flats in the area. When the tides are lower, anglers should be able to find them feeding around oyster beds and grass banks in the area. Topwater plugs, Gulp baits, live baits, and flies will all fool the reds.
Flounder fishing has been a bit slow, but anglers are still connecting with some flatfish around the Southport waterfront and other inshore structure in the area. Live menhaden and mud minnows are top baits for the flounder, and they’ll also take a strong interest in Gulp baits on jigheads or bucktails.
Laura Pease, from Cincinnati, OH, with a 25" citation speckled trout that inhaled a live menhaden near Bald Head Island while she was fishing with Capt. Greer Hughes of Cool Runnings Charters.
Tommy, of Oak Island Pier, reports that anglers are still catching solid numbers of black drum (some pushing 10 lbs.) and sheepshead off the pier. Sand fleas, fiddler crabs, barnacles, and shrimp will tempt bites from both.
The water clarity has been up-and-down lately. When it’s clean, good numbers of spanish mackerel and bluefish are falling for Gotcha plugs worked from the pier.
When the water’s dirty, the sea mullet bite seems to turn on for anglers soaking shrimp and other baits on bottom rigs.
Some flounder are falling for live baits fished on the bottom under the pier.
Speckled trout have shown up, and anglers are hooking decent numbers on live shrimp fished beneath floats or on rigs that suspend them up off the bottom. The bite’s been best in the early morning hours, but has stayed steady through the afternoon on some recent days.
