Topsail – April 9, 2015
Doug, of East Coast Sports, reports that anglers are connecting with decent numbers of sea mullet and black drum while surf fishing from Topsail’s beachfront. Some bluefish and a few spot are joining in the action and will become more numerous in the coming weeks. Shrimp and bloodworms are fooling most of the panfish in the surf.
Raymond Brittain with an upper-slot red drum he hooked while fishing a bay off the New River with Capt. Allen Jernigan of Breadman Ventures. A Salty Bay soft plastic fooled the red.
A few red drum are also falling for anglers’ baits just off the beaches, but the red bite has been better at Lea Island lately.
Surf casters and inshore anglers are starting to see some of the first flounder action of the year as well. The flatfish will begin to feed more aggressively as the waters warm, and anglers can target them around the inlets and in the marshes and creeks over the coming month. Live baits or scented soft lures like Gulps will attract attention from the flounder.
Speckled trout and red drum are still feeding in their winter areas up the creeks and in the backwater bays off the ICW and New River. Casting soft plastics or suspending lures like MirrOlure MR17’s is the way to fool both fish when anglers can locate a group of them.
Not many people have been out in the ocean recently, but bottom fishermen should be able to find some black sea bass action in the 10-20 mile range at present.
As water temperatures push into the consistent low-60’s, Atlantic bonito will begin feeding around nearshore structure like the AR’s and Diver’s Rock. Anglers can tempt the bonito to bite small metal casting lures worked around diving birds and other surface activity.
Mike, of No Excuses Charters, reports that false albacore are feeding from just off the beaches out to the 30+ mile range. Anglers can find the school by looking for terns working or hovering near the water and then hook up with the speedy fish on a variety of small artificials.
Inshore, upper and over-slot red drum are moving from the beachfront to the inshore marshes and bays, and anglers can find some very large schools in backwater areas near the inlets. It can be tough to get the reds to bite right now, but smelly lures like Gulps or other soft plastics laced with Pro-Cure or Bang scents worked very slowly will up anglers’ odds of a hookup. There’s a lot of bait moving into the marshes, so it shouldn’t be long before the bite improves.
Speckled trout are also on the move and have been tough to find in numbers recently. When anglers find fish, most have been large, however. Targeting areas around the inlets near dawn and dusk will help anglers’ chances of connecting with the specks.
Allen, of Breadman Ventures, reports that anglers are still catching decent numbers of mid to over-slot red drum in the creeks and bays off the New River and ICW. Finding the fish has been easier than getting them to bite on many recent days. Working Salty Bay soft plastics slowly around schools of fish that anglers spot has been the most productive way to tempt them to bite.
Some large trout are also looking for meals in the backwaters, and they’re falling for the same soft plastics along with suspending baits like MR17 MirrOlures.
Giggers are still putting plenty of flounder in the boat, but the hook-and-line bite hasn’t taken off yet.
Richard, of Seaview Pier, reports that anglers are hooking some black drum, sea mullet, pufferfish, croaker, and small bluefish and flounder while bottom fishing with shrimp and bloodworms. The mullet and croaker have been biting better at night.
A few speckled and gray trout are also coming over the rails.
Ed, of Surf City Pier, reports that anglers have seen some decent sea mullet runs lately, and southwest winds seem to be producing solid fishing whenever they blow. Some bluefish, gray trout, and black drum (a few to 6 lbs.), along with plenty of dogfish and skates, have been mixed in. Shrimp on double-drop bottom rigs are fooling most of the fish.
April, of Jolly Roger Pier, reports that sea mullet and pufferfish have been producing most of the action for pier anglers recently. Both are falling for shrimp fished on the bottom.
