Swansboro July 14, 2005
Herb, at Bogue Inlet Pier, reports that Sunday was a good day for keeper flounder, with some groups pulling in multiple catches. They also landed some croakers, a few sea mullet, and some pompano weighing between 1 and 2 lbs. The last king on the pier was a 21 lb. class fish on July 6. And just before the weekend there was a new spanish put on the leader board-a 6 lb. 7 oz. fish.
Dale, at Reel Outdoors, reports that flounder are now on the Key Post. There was a 5 lb. flounder caught there on Sunday, so that’s a good sign. They’re also still catching small flounder in the sound and off of the pier.
Drum fishing is also good in the sound, and this week they started picking up some in the surf as well. Nothing on trout this week, but there were a couple of good spot runs. The surf also saw some pompano caught this past week.
Dolphin and kings are still fairly close to the beach, and expect some barracuda mixed in.
Jeff Cronk, of FishN4Life Charters, reports that the mullet minnows are now from 3 to 4″ long. There are still 3 to 4″ threadfin around the area bridges on the down current side of the bridges. Shrimp can be found in the mouth of both White Oak River and Queens Creek near the creek mouths.
The southern and summer flounder can be caught along ICW structure including docks, ledges, creek mouths, and rocks. Drifting connecting inlet channels or anchoring near inlet holes and structure will produce more summer flounder which are currently averaging 12 to 18″ in length Targeting structure in the rivers and creeks will produce more southern flounder. These fish are currently ranging from 12 to 20″, with the possibility of an occasional fish from 5 to 10 lbs. The summer flounder bite along the beaches, live bottoms, and AR’s has been a little slow. Fish can be caught on a steady basis, but they haven’t proven to be as plentiful as the past few years.
Although the sheepshead bite has slowed with water temps. hovering at 83 degrees, there are still sheepshead working area docks and bridge pylons. Fiddler crabs and sand fleas will produce the most strikes, but breaking the spines off a sea urchin and fishing them on or near the bottom around the same structure will draw the strikes of the big fish from 5 to 10+ lbs.
An excellent king and spanish mackerel bite continues along the nearshore live bottoms and artificial reefs. Station Rock, Tom Smith Rock, AR 342, 45 Minute Rock, as well as others have been steadily providing action. Many kings into the teens and a few into the 20’s (along with citation size spanish) are being landed on a daily basis by most boats fishing the area with live baits. Pulling spoons and other artificials will catch more of the smaller spanish and kings.
