Swansboro July 6, 2006
Stan, at Captain Stanman Fishing Charters, reports that a weedline about 1.5 miles long located 7 miles to the north of the 90 Foot Drop provided for some good dolphin action for those that found it early in the morning. There is still plenty of dolphin in the 90 Foot Drop area and the 14 Buoy, with an occasional wahoo mixed in.
Many of the dolphin have moved inshore to Southeast Bottoms, Sponge Rock, and Honeymoon.
Small kings continue to please area anglers. There is word of some teenagers being caught (which is also good news). In addition to all the areas mentioned in the dolphin report, the Alphabet Buoys are also producing.
The jig bait is here today and gone tomorrow. Be prepared and take some dead cigar minnows.
Bottom bouncers are still plagued by the over abundance of sharks. Some have had better luck within 20 miles rather that running 30 to 40 miles.
Jeff, of FishN4Life Charters, reports that there are still some small brown shrimp around the mouths of the feeder creeks off of Bogue Sound, White Oak River, and Queens Creek. The small menhaden (3 to 6”) are all over these same areas along with mullet minnows (2 to 4”).
The summer/southern flounder bite has been decent this week with a lot of small flounder (under 2 lbs.) and an occasional big flounder (at 4 or more pounds) along the internal waters. Live mullet minnows and peanut pogies fished on a Carolina rig are the best bet, whether drifted along the inlet channels or worked around docks and other structure.
There are still amazing numbers of redfish being caught all over the internal waters. Most of these fish are ranging from 16 to 27”, with some fish up to 30+ inches.
The best bet during the higher tides is to work the flooded marsh areas. As the tide falls, the fish will tend to hold at nearby oyster beds or deeper channels in these areas. There will also be reds caught around ICW dock pylons. The reds are holding around the mouths of the inlets well on the falling tide, especially around dusk and dawn.
The sheepshead bite has been good with the drop in salinity. Excess rain decreases the salinity level in the river and forces good numbers of sheepshead off the flats and oyster beds in the river and toward the mouth of the river and closer to the inlets. The fish have been ranging from 3/4 lb. to 6 lbs., and some fish working the pylons are exceeding 8 lbs.
There are many more black drum in the Swansboro area this summer. Most of these drum are between 1 and 2 lbs., and they will be found around pylons and oyster rocks. The best bait for black drum will be small crabs and live or fresh shrimp. Try fishing live shrimp under a float cork around the shallow oyster rocks for the black drum.
The summer flounder bite is back on from the beaches out to three miles. Most flounder around these areas fall between 1.5 and 4 lbs., with a few both smaller and larger.
The nearshore spanish and king mackerel bite has been off and on, with many more small spanish (under 2 lbs.) than large spanish or kings being landed. The best bet for spanish so far this season has been to troll small clark spoons and spanish tree rigs along the inlets and beaches wherever bait is present. A few larger spanish (3 to 6 lbs.) and some small kings (5 to 15 lbs.) have been biting around the nearshore ledges and AR’s, but the better bite this week on the king mackerel has been 10 to 20 miles offshore.
There are still some cobia biting along the beaches and nearshore AR’s, along with some small dolphin in the 3 to 10 lb. range. The best bet is to slow troll live menhaden or threadfin herring around any flotsum, including buoys and driftwood.
There are plenty of spadefish around structure along the AR’s. Try fishing fresh clams or the skirt of the common ball jellyfish on a small circle hook and a light egg weight under the boat while anchored over the structure that these fish are holding.
Molly, at Bogue Inlet Pier, reports catches of small pompano, with a few whiting and spots mixed in. They’re biting shrimp and sand fleas on the bottom.
Bluefish and some spanish mackerel are biting plugs in the early mornings and evenings.
Several king mackerel were caught this week, with the largest weighing 22 lbs. (even after its tail section was bitten off by a shark).
The water temperature at the pier is 84 degrees.
