Southport March 27, 2014
Luke Tierney (age 2) and his grandfather James Demyan with Luke’s first fish, a speckled trout he caught and released after it bit a mud minnow in the backwaters near Oak Island.
Jimmy, of Wildlife Bait and Tackle, reports that anglers are seeing the first decent push of sea mullet moving into the Cape Fear region, and the action should improve in the coming weeks as the water temperatures climb. Anglers are hooking the mullet while fishing from boats on the mud flats behind Caswell Beach, from the piers, and even a few from the surf. Shrimp on double-drop bottom rigs are highly effective on the tasty panfish. Surf casters also caught several just-short flounder from the beach last week.
Black drum are on the feed inshore around structure like docks, the Oak Island Bridge, and around oyster rocks in the Elizabeth River and other marshy areas. Cut shrimp and frozen sand fleas will attract attention from the striped crustacean-lovers.
Red drum are also looking for meals inshore around some of the same structure and in the creeks (some in the slot but many 16-18” in the mix as well). They’ll bite the same baits or live mud minnows and a variety of soft plastic lures.
Speckled trout are looking for meals in the creeks as well, with Walden and Dutchman creeks producing most of the action. Many of the fish are on the small side, but since they’re closed to harvest until June, they’re all providing catch and release fun. Mud minnows or a variety of soft plastics and plugs like MirrOlures will attract attention from the trout.
Clarence Whitley, of Greenville, NC, with his first red drum, hooked on a Betts Halo Shad near Bald Head Island while he was fishing with Scott Hampton.
Anglers typically see bluefish arriving in the area in early April, and the hungry blues will be some of the next available targets, feeding around the mouth of the river and just off the beach in the ocean.
Ryan, of Fugitive Charters, reports that anglers saw some of the year’s first decent king mackerel action around Frying Pan Tower last weekend. The fish should be feeding in the area for a good while, as long as the water temperatures are in the upper-60’s. While kings feeding nearshore typically key in on live baits, they’re not necessary early in the season around the Tower and other offshore spots, and anglers can hook up while pulling dead cigar minnows, strip baits, or Drone spoons behind planers.
There are still some legal black sea bass feeding around bottom structure within 10 miles of the beaches, with better numbers of larger fish a bit further out. Bottom rigs baited with squid or cut baits will produce fast action with the bass around any rocks, wrecks, or other structure in that range.
Anglers haven’t seen much action nearshore yet, but hopefully the area will have a good run of Atlantic bonito when water temperatures hit the 60-62 degree mark within a few miles of shore. When the bonito show, trolling Clarkspoons and other flashy lures or working casting jigs around fish feeding on the surface or diving birds will tempt them to bite.
Angie, of Dutchman Creek Bait and Tackle, reports that anglers are hooking some croaker and sea mullet from the piers and around the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Both are taking an interest in shrimp on bottom rigs.
Some black drum are feeding around inshore structure (like docks) and also taking an interest in shrimp.
Speckled trout are still feeding in the creeks, and a few anglers continue to pursue them successfully (catch and release) even though they’re closed to harvest until June.
Cathy, of Oak Island Pier, reports that anglers are starting to hook some sea mullet and small bluefish while bottom fishing from the pier, good signs that spring angling is just around the corner. Some pufferfish have been in the mix as well, and all the fish are taking an interest in bottom rigs with shrimp and other baits.
