Southport – September 1, 2016
Jimmy, of Wildlife Bait & Tackle, reports that the inshore fishing remains steady, with citation flounder still being weighed in. Throwing artificials or using live mullet on a Carolina rig will fool the flatfish. Those looking for flounder should target the usual places, such as the waterfront, the nearshore reefs, and the back creeks.
Speckled trout are hanging out in the same areas as the flounder, and the bite is best in the mornings and evenings when the heat is less. Topwater is the best way to connect with the fish, and Spooks are hooking the most, with a few 4-5 lb. fish weighed in.
The sheephead bite is still strong, with the crustacean-loving fish taking mostly live fiddler crabs, sand fleas, and barnacles. Drop baits straight down pilings to tempt bites, and expect some size to the catch (between 4-5 lbs.). A 10 lb. sheepshead was weighed in recently, so bigger ones may be lurking, too.
In the back creeks and rivers, black drum are continuing to bite, with live and fresh shrimp tempting these fish.
The spanish are still off the beach. The smaller kings have moved out away from the schools of spanish, so anglers should mostly just be hooking the targeted species. Citation sized fish are now being commonly found, and they will hit trolled Clarkspoons.
Valerie Davenport with a 17” flounder caught on a live mud minnow fishing the Oak Island area.
Angie, of Dutchman Creek Bait and Tackle, reports that anglers are connecting with spanish off the piers. Mixed in with the spanish are scattered blues, and they are both being hooked predominantly on Gotcha plugs.
There are also a few scattered sheepshead and flounder off the pier, and they can be targeted with live crustaceans and mullet respectively.
Boats trolling Clarkspoons off the beach have been hooking spanish.
Flounder have been hanging around the nearshore reefs, and tipping a bucktail with live bait or a soft plastic will do the trick to hook the flatfish.
Brandi Sears with a 24” speckled trout that fell for a Carolina-rigged finger mullet near Oak Island.
Mark, of Angry Pelican Charters, reports that the cooling water temperatures have pushed bait back into waters along the beaches. The flounder are biting on the nearshore reefs, and they will take both Gulp tipped bucktails and live baits.
Light lining live bait on the reef has produced large spanish mackerel. Anglers should use light wire with #6 treble hooks and a large mullet to hook these fish.
Trolling for spanish mackerel along the beach continues to produce nice-sized fish, although there are still small king mackerel mixed in with the spanish.
In the backwater, higher than normal water temperatures still persist, but the flounder and speckled trout bite remains steady. Go with the freshest baits possible, and be prepared to experiment on different segments of the tide to find active fish. Live shrimp and finger mullet will work on both specks and flounder, and anglers are seeing the most success with small to medium sized mullet rather than the larger baits.
Wally, of Oak Island Charters, reports that fall fishing is finally here, and there are a lot of red drum in the backwaters. Many of the fish are overslot, and they will fall for cut bait, such as mullet. The flounder fishing in the ocean is hot right now, with fish between 2-4 lbs. hitting live mullet minnows.
Citation sized spanish mackerel are off the beach, and they can be caught on live bait, too (like mullet minnows).
Offshore, the grouper fishing has picked up with many large fish landed recently.
Ryan, of Fugitive Charters, reports that nearshore the spanish are still running off the beach. There are a lot of throwback spanish, but a few 3-5 lb. fish are mixed in. The larger spanish are falling for live bait.
Tarpon schools have been spotted working the bait off the beach as well.
Offshore bottom fishing has been consistent, with large black sea bass being hooked regularly and the grouper bite picking up.
Conditions are right for the kings to return to the beach any day, so expect them to roll in soon.
Tommy, of Oak Island Pier, reports that anglers are hooking up with panfish, such as whiting, croaker, and pompano. Anglers are also connecting with flounder, bluefish, and speckled trout.
The water temperature is in the low 80s.
Steve, of Ocean Crest Pier, reports that the hot weather has kept the bite slow, but anglers are connecting with a few spanish using mullet minnows, MirrOlures, and Gotcha plugs.
Anglers dropping down shrimp on bottom rigs have connected with trout and the occasional flounder, as well as whiting.
