Topsail Island – March 5, 2015
Kathy, of East Coast Sports, reports that fishing opportunities have been limited over much of the winter, but water temperatures are still around 50 degrees and it won’t be long until there’s much more going on.
Capt. Allen Jernigan, of Breadman Ventures, with a slot red drum that struck a Salty Bay Baits Cigar Minnow while he was fishing a New River bay near Sneads Ferry.
Anglers are hooking some red drum in the backwaters of local bays and creeks. The fish aren’t terribly active in the cold water, so anglers should either slow down presentations of artificial lures or fish cut baits and shrimp still on the bottom to tempt them to bite. Anglers can expect the reds to get more active and spread out from their wintering holes as the water temperatures climb a bit over the coming month.
Prior to the cold snaps over the last few weeks, some flounder were also surprisingly taking an interest in anglers’ offerings. The flatfish tend to go dormant when the water temperatures drop, but anglers may be able to tempt a few to bite after a stretch or two of decent weather. Scented soft plastics are tough to beat for fooling early season flounder.
Jenny Carraway with a winter red drum that struck a live mud minnow on a drop shot rig while she was fishing a Careteret County creek with her husband Grant.
Surf anglers have also found action with a few speckled trout in recent weeks, and like the other fish, they should be getting a bit more active as winter fades into spring. MirrOlures and soft plastics pinned to jigheads are the best bets for the specks in the surf, and anglers can find them feeding in sloughs between the beachfront sandbars.
Surf bottom fishermen have primarily found action with dogfish over the past few months, but climbing water temperatures should bring some sea mullet in to join the action. Anglers fishing from the ends of the piers will generally see the first of the action with the mullet, with surf casters joining in a few weeks later. Bottom rigs featuring small hooks baited with shrimp or Fish Bites are the best bets for the mullet.
Bluefish will be next to arrive off the surf and piers, and they should be biting bottom rigs before they start actively chasing casting lures.
Few anglers have made it out into the ocean over the past month, but black sea bass should be feeding around bottom structure starting in the 10 mile range at present. Bottom fishermen who get further out towards the break will find beeliners, triggerfish, and other reef dwellers mixed in with the bass. Squid and cut baits will fool all the bottomfish.
Trollers who get weather to make it out to the Gulf Stream can often find some action with wahoo and blackfin tuna in winter and early spring, and pinpointing warmer water on surface temperature shots is the way to decide where to fish and when to go. Both ballyhoo and artificial trolling lures will get attention from the tuna and ‘hoos.
Allen, of Breadman Ventures, reports that there’s been decent action with red drum along the marshes, bays, and creeks off the New River and ICW near Sneads Ferry lately. Many of the fish are feeding very shallow, and anglers are tempting them to bite Flats Intruder spoons and scented soft plastics like Salty Bay baits.
Some speckled trout are around as well ,although a few fell victim to the frigid weather in recent weeks in the shallower bays and creeks.
Warm days have been producing the best action with the specks and reds, and the consistently warmer temperatures on the way will improve the action much further.
