Southport/Oak Island – July 19, 2018
Joe, of Dutchman Creek, reports that flounder, trout, redfish, and sheepshead are the biggest inshore species to target right now, if you can find bait.
High water temperatures have made that bait hard to come by, though mullet are just starting to run in better numbers.
The redfish are moving around a little bit more now that the weather has cooled a bit, but they’re not acting any hungrier than they were when the water was hot. Cut bait is the best option for catching them.
Nice trout have been biting, but they’re few and far between. A lot of smaller fish are still coming in.
Flounder (with some fishing going as heavy as 8-10 lbs.) are coming from inshore waters, the surf, and nearshore reefs.
Nearshore waters are also holding plenty of spanish. While the kings have slowed, some fish as big as 34 lbs. have been caught near Lighthouse Rock, so they’re still out there. Ballyhoo and cigar minnows are the best choices for bait.
Hailey Duncan displaying a 21″ flounder that she caught at the Southport waterfront on a Gulp bait.
Tim, of Wildlife Bait and Tackle, reports that a couple of tripletail have been caught in the Cape Fear River by anglers using live mullet. These fish only run for a few weeks out of the year, so now is the time to target them.
Flounder fishing is incredible right now, with nice fish coming from both the backwater and nearshore. Red drum and trout are also chewing steadily, with finger mullet and pogies proving to be the best bait. Using live shrimp may get a better bite from the trout, but shrimp has been hard to come by.
In the surf, pompano and whiting have made up most of the catch.
Nearshore spanish fishing has stayed strong, with 0 and 00 Clarkspoons still drawing the most strikes.
Kings have moved a bit closer in, and cigar minnows have been getting their attention. Troll them around Lighthouse Rock to find fish.
Dolphin have been hit or miss, with most of the fish scattered. They’re primarily biting in the morning, and the bite turns over to the kings later in the day.
On the bottom, black sea bass are chewing around the Tower and on out, while grouper, triggers, grunts, and pinkies can all be found in the 60 mile range.
Mark, of Angry Pelican Charters, reports that the nearshore bite has been off and on from the river channel to Lockwood Folly Inlet, with a mix of ladyfish, big blues, and some really nice spanish. Pink, green, and silver Clarkspoons have been effective, as well as red Almost Alive spoons.
For the most part, king mackerel have moved into deeper water over the last week. The majority of fish are coming from the 65’+ range, where cigar minnows behind Big Nic lures (or live bait) will draw strikes. Cobia, dolphin, and the occasional sailfish are feeding in the same areas. The bait is holding on structure, and so are the fish.
The bait pods along the beach have been scattered and holding in really skinny water. Tarpon and larger sharks are working these pods. Heavy mono leader in front of an 8/0-9/0 circle hook will produce more hookups than wire, but you will lose some fish.
Luke, of Spot On Charters, reports that the flounder bite is still on fire, with good numbers of 2-3 lb. fish coming in from Snows Cut, as well as the Cape Fear River from Southport all the way to downtown Wilmington. When fishing the river, it’s vital to do it on a falling tide, as flounder don’t bite in a slow current. Lower temperatures have kept the fish in shallower water, and first light is the best time to try and find fish.
Bait has been tricky, as the area mullet have been a little too small and the pogies have been a little too big.
The red drum bite continues to be good near the river mouth in Southport and the Bald Head area, though some nice fish are starting to bite a little farther upriver. Most of the fish have been mid- to over-slot.
Trout have been biting topwater lures on first light. The average size has been 2-3 lbs., but there have been some nice citation fish mixed in as well.
Alex Wood, of Raleigh, landed this 17.5″ black drum while fishing with live shrimp near Shalotte Inlet.
Robert, of Reelin’ Pelican, reports that flounder have been in the backwater creeks and hugging nearshore reefs, with fish between 16-18” seeming to be the norm. Carolina-rigged finger mullet have been drawing the most strikes.
Redfish between 20-25” and a lot of smaller puppy drum have been chewing inshore. Finger mullet on Carolina rigs have once again been responsible for most of the bites.
Specks have been biting here and there inshore, and it’s not hard to limit out on gray trout when fishing nearshore waters. Once again, a finger mullet/Carolina rig combo is hard to beat.
Big 4-5 lb. spanish have been active on the nearshore reefs, with plenty of kings (up to 15 lbs.) mixed in. The key to catching the kings is to use a single treble on a fluorocarbon leader with a 4” bite cable at the very end to avoid losing fish.
Offshore, mahi and blackfin tuna have been biting, with grouper and big black sea bass accounting for the majority of the bottom catch.
Ryan, of Fugitive Charters, reports that nearshore spanish fishing has slowed just a bit due to the storm that passed offshore last week, but there are definitely fish still out there, including multiple citations being caught on live finger mullet.
On the nearshore bottom, flounder have been hungry for peanut pogies and mullet. Just look for any kind of structure.
Kings have been biting nonstop in depths of 60-80’. They aren’t picky, as both dead and live bait will draw strikes, but the bigger fish are tending to gravitate toward pogies. Most of the kings have ranged from the small end of keeper size up to teenagers, with a few 20 lb. fish in the mix.
Some mahi have been swimming alongside the kings in the 60-80’ range, but the best bite has been on the bottom in 80-100’ of water inside of the Gulf Stream.
Bottom fishing has improved a little bit, with dead cigar minnows and cut bait bringing up limits of beeliners, plenty of black sea bass, pinkies, triggers, and a good number of scamp grouper.
Steve, of Ocean Crest Pier, reports that flounder are being caught on frozen shrimp, while the trout prefer live shrimp. The catch has been best in the mornings due to cooler water temperatures.
Also, some tarpon have come in on king rigs.
