Topsail June 24, 2004
Chris, at East Coast Sports, reports that the piers are seeing a few spanish early in the morning and a few spots and mullet at night. There have also been a few sheepshead, blues, and reds caught. None of the piers reported any king catches.
In the surf from New River Inlet to Surf City, there continue to be a few sea mullet in the sloughs. The surf from Surf City to Topsail Beach had lots of good size mullet, as well as a few blues. And the surf from Topsail Beach to New Topsail Inlet produced lots of ladyfish and reds at night, especially near the inlet.
In the waterway and inlet, big specks are still showing up all over New River. You can also find ladyfish at the drawbridge.
Kings have been reported at AR362. Also, there are plenty of dolphin showing up around 10 miles. Dave Gardner, of the “Vonda Kay,” got into the bailer dolphin about 5 miles off the beach. Chris suggests fishing for dolphin at 10 miles or further out. In the areas further out than 20 miles, there have been marlin in 800′ of water and tons of dolphin in 180′ of water.
Greg, at Seaview Pier, reports that 10 tarpon made their way to anglers’ baits, but only 1 tarpon was landed. It was a 53 lb. fish. The fish are making their way to Pamlico Sound, so with the warmer water there should be more tarpon sightings. Other catches included spanish mackerel, bluefish, and whiting. There was also a pretty good flounder bite, with fish up to 18 inches being tossed into coolers.
Eric, at New River Marina, reports a good offshore bite this week from 12 miles on out. King mackerel, cobia, and dolphin are all being caught, and they seem to prefer live menhaden on blue/white and chartreuse skirts. Spanish mackerel, along with a few bluefish mixed in, are still hitting Clark spoons. Sheepshead are biting fiddler crabs better this week, and they are a great meal if you can manage to land one. More keeper size flounder are in the river area, and there is plenty of bait around. The available bait includes shrimp in creeks and bays to menhaden in the channels. The mullet are also starting to pick up some size, and their increasing size is making them a better bait to flounder fish with. The speckled trout bite has slowed, but some are still hitting live shrimp. Red drum fishing in the river has been hit or miss this week.
