Swansboro June 23, 2005
Jeff Cronk, of FishN4Life Charters, reports that this year’s stock of newly spawned mullet minnows are about 2″ long. Another week or two and you will be able to land them with the cast net. Currently, there is a great number of threadfin herring along the Swansboro waterfront. There are also shrimp showing up in the mouth of the Whiteoak River and Queens Creek, along with plenty of 3″ to 5″ peanut shad.
There are plenty of southern and summer flounder biting inside. Most of these fish are from 12″ to 15″ long. For better fish, try working along structure around the creeks and waterway, as well as the oyster beds in the river and sound.
The sheepshead are biting best on the change of the tides. Live fiddlers, sand fleas, and shrimp will be the best bet.
There are still some grey trout around the inlets. They’ve recently had some up to 5 lbs. caught on live threadfin herring. These fish are holding in the deeper water near the inlets.
Reds are everywhere right now. They’re being caught along oyster beds, shelly bottoms, and structure near the inlets, ICW docks, the grass flats around Emerald Isle, the creeks behind Bear and Brown’s Islands, and along the surf near the inlet points.
Ladyfish are beginning to show around the inlet shoals on the higher part of the tide in the green water. Try working the edges of the shoals with topwater baits and live baits on float corks.
Steve, of FryingPanTower.com, reports that they are moving into the summer time patterns now. There are good number of dolphin that are starting to place themselves on structure in the 10 to 15 mile range. Cobia are still in the same areas as well. Several boats came back with 2 or 3 cobias each. They are still hanging around hard bottom and structure like the alphabet buoys and Divers Rock.
The king action is starting to pick back up as well. The small snake kings are still around, and they are starting to see some 34″ to 36″ fish being caught. Live menhaden seems to be the bait of choice for the offshore fish, with yo-zuri plugs being next in line. Black bass and other bottom dwellers are now being caught with some size to them. The best range to find the bigger bottom fish right now is in the 5 to 8 mile range.
Rhonda, at Bogue Inlet Pier, reports that the pier has been catching some blues, but they’re all small now. The spanish are scattered. On Saturday, they landed a 17 lb. barracuda and a 24 lb. cobia. A king weighing 14 lbs. 7 oz. came over the rails on Sunday. They also picked up a couple of flounder and a few pompano this weekend.
