Tidelines – December 2024
I thought my winter Tidelines was going to highlight this year’s “Fish Post Day on the Vonda Kay,” but high wind and seas postponed our second scheduled date (the first date was postponed to pay respects at the Jody Gay memorial—R.I.P. to a fishing icon, teacher, friend, innovator, and entrepreneur, but even more notable as a husband, father, and grandfather, among the many family roles Jody excelled in beyond the world of fishing).
I had Ocean City, MD, friends coming to town for the Vonda Kay trip regardless of postponement, so as soon as the need to reschedule was official, I got on the phone to try and find a couple of guide friends that could accommodate me, Wes, and Brad for Plan B, inshore fishing for speckled trout. Lucky for all three of us, Plan B played out like a Plan A, with a successful Friday morning full of speckled trout caught on artificials in the Wrightsville/Carolina Beach area, and then a just as successful Sunday of speckled trout falling for live shrimp under floats in Swansboro waters.
On our first day of fishing, we met Capt. Luke Moser, of Coastline Charters, at Wilmington’s Trails End boat ramp on a cold, blustery morning. The day before had been one of the many 70-degree November days, so while a significant drop in temperature certainly felt like trout weather, the overnight change also posed the potential problem of scattering the trout, making it something of a guessing game in how they would react.
The Carolina Beach Inlet was the first stop, and while a handful of spike trout might have given us a little confidence, the far greater numbers of aggressive bluefish made the decision to move to another location an easy one.
Gary Hurley (Fisherman’s Post), and Wes and Brad McCabe (Ocean City), with some of the keeper trout they found drifting live shrimp in Queen’s Creek. The trio were fishing with Capt. Jacob Boucher of Southern Tides Fishing Charters.
Another well known Carolina Beach speckled trout producer is the Carolina Beach harbor, so just short of the No Wake zone, Luke dropped the spot lock to allow us to work a series of docks. Last year, Luke had found the most success casting and working D.O.A. and Vudu shrimp inside and among the pilings, but on our morning, we quickly realized that the trout were hanging from just outside the pilings to about halfway back to the boat.
Though we were in water too deep for Luke to use his Power Poles for positioning, the wind and current complemented each other to hold the boat parallel to the docks, so Luke and Brad worked a zone off the back of the boat, while Wes and I stayed in the bow and targeted a different section.
Luke and Brad would catch 2-4 trout in a row, while Wes and I stayed quiet, and then we would enjoy setting the hook on 2-4 trout from the front while the back of the boat watched. The hypothesis, Luke explained, was that this school of fish was moving up and down the rows of docks, so we each just had to wait our turn.
A limit of 2-3 lb. trout later, we picked up to hit a couple of ICW docks on the way back to the boat ramp, hoping that the fresh bait shrimp on board would find a black drum bite. We did find a black drum, but only after one dock produced a couple of upper-slot red drum, and second dock did the same.
Following a trout almondine dinner one night and a fish fry the second, Wes, Brad, and I were headed to Dudley’s Marina in Cedar Point to meet up with Capt. Jacob Boucher of Southern Tides Fishing Charters for a similar but different morning of trout fishing.
Brad McCabe, Gary Hurley, and Wes McCabe with the red drum and trout they caught in the Carolina Beach area. They were soaking shrimp (for the red drum) and casting D.O.A. and Vudu shrimp (for the trout) while fishing with Capt. Luke Moser of Coastline Charters.
The day was similar in that we had to cover a little ground before finding all the keeper trout we wanted, but the day was different in the style of fishing. Jacob had a livewell full of shrimp and rods rigged with adjustable floats above a treble hook and a split shot weight.
After a very quiet first stop at a marsh area close to Bogue Inlet, and then a little less quiet stop in a channel around the corner from Brown’s Inlet, Jacob finally had enough water to bump our way past the shallows at the headwaters to Queen’s Creek to focus on the deeper water on the outside turn of creek bends.
The current in Queen’s Creek is always less than the current out along areas closer to the ICW, so out floats drifted but only drifted a little. Jacob adjusted the depths of our rigs to focus more on the bottom third of the water column, and the bites came almost immediately.
Brad’s float on one section of the bend would drop out of sight quickly, and the result would be a keeper trout in the net. Wes’s float might not disappear quite as quickly, showing more of a nibble, nibble, drop, and that result would be a black drum.
This pattern continued, with all three of us bringing in keeper trout (2-3 lb. fish) and black drum, as well as sheepshead and flounder, into the waiting landing net. Wes got everyone’s attention when a fish he hooked pulled more drag and took much longer to be coaxed in, resulting in a 4 lb. trout on the deck.
Wes’s big trout could have been the conclusion to this Tidelines article if not for our last stop and my last fish of the day. The final stretch of Queens Creek we targeted wasn’t actually on a bend but some deep-water holes leading up to a bend, and now it was my turn to have a fish pull more drag and take much longer to get to the boat. Jacob gave the big speck a good chance to go five pounds, but Dudley’s Marina would give it a 4.85.
The holiday season is also the season for speckled trout, so whether you enjoy a trout slamming an artificial, or the productivity and nostalgia of a disappearing float, make a point to get out on the water this winter.
Capt. Luke Moser, of Coastline Charters, is standing by at www.coastlinechartersllc.com or (336) 214-1968, as is Capt. Jacob Boucher of Southern Tides Fishing Charters at www.stfcnc.com or (910) 650-4654.
My advice? Book them both and enjoy two beautiful parts of the NC coast, two captains that are knowledgeable and good company on the water, and at least two delicious ways to turn those speckled trout into a wonderful dinner to enjoy with family and friends.
My second piece of advice? Don’t get caught up in the debate over which of the two styles of trout fishing is better. When you’re with Luke, agree with him, and when you’re with Jacob, say yes to him.
