Topsail November 11, 2010
Jennifer King, from Sanford, NC, with her first red drum, a 31" fish she caught and released on a cut bait in the Topsail surf.
Chris, of East Coast Sports, reports that pier and surf fishermen have found a solid speckled trout bite lately. MirrOlures and pink Gulp baits have been producing most of the fish.
The red drum bite has also been solid for anglers fishing the surf zone. They’re landing most of the fish on cut baits, live finger mullet, and gold Hopkins spoons.
Whiting are feeding strong in the breakers, and a few black drum are nearby as well. They’ll both take an interest in fresh shrimp.
A few chopper bluefish have begun to show up along the beaches.
Inshore, the speckled trout bite has been excellent in the sounds, around the bridges and other inshore structure, and in the creeks and inlets. Live shrimp, soft plastics, MirrOlures, and other baits will fool the specks.
Red drum are feeding hard in anticipation of the coming winter, and anglers are finding them in many of the same places they’re hooking specks inshore. Live baits, Gulps, and a variety of other lures will tempt bites from the reds.
Off the beaches, the grouper bite is still on when the winds allow boats to get out of the inlets. Anglers are finding good action with gags inside the 10 mile mark, with fish spread out from there into structure in 80-90’. Live and dead baits on Barefoot Decoy jigs and baitless Blue Water Candy Roscoe jigs have been rather effective on the gags lately.
King mackerel are still feeding nearshore when anglers can get out, though the fish will be making a move offshore as the temperature continues to fall.
Ennett, of New River Marina, reports that anglers are catching decent numbers of whiting out in the ocean and from the surf. Shrimp and bloodworms on bottom rigs will tempt bites from the bottom feeders. Some whiting, spot, and croaker are also feeding in deeper areas inshore.
The speckled trout bite has been on inshore, and anglers are catching the fish off the ICW, the New River, and in the area’s creeks. Deeper holes and structure are the keys to finding the specks. When anglers locate the fish, they can tempt them to bite live shrimp or a variety of lures.
Anglers are hooking up with some red drum in the bays and along the waterway. They’ll fall for live baits, Gulps, topwater plugs, and more.
Brian Gellenbeck, of Jacksonville, with a 9 lb., 6 oz. speckled trout he hooked in the Topsail surf on a MirrOlure. Photo courtesy of East Coast Sports.
Wayne, of Last Resort Charters, reports that the speckled trout bite has been excellent lately. Anglers are hooking the fish near the inlets, in the creeks and marinas, and around inshore structure like bridges and docks. Live shrimp are fooling most of the fish, but anglers can also hook up on a variety of lures.
There are still some flounder around, but they’re becoming a little scarcer than in the warmer months. Fishing live baits around the inlets and deep nearby structure is the best flounder strategy right now.
Richard, of Seaview Pier, reports that anglers are seeing spot runs most days, though some are better than others. Bloodworms have been producing most of the fish.
Good numbers of whiting are falling for shrimp and bloodworms.
Anglers are also hooking some speckled trout (to 6 lbs.) on shrimp and bloodworms on bottom rigs.
Some black and red drum (many undersized) are in the mix as well.
Jan, of Surf City Pier, reports that anglers are still catching good numbers of spot and some whiting. Shrimp, bloodworms, and artificial bloodworms on bottom rigs are fooling both fish. A few black drum and pompano are mixed in.
There are still some bluefish around, and they’re biting plugs and bottom rigs.
Anglers fishing live baits and lures are catching some speckled trout and flounder.
Debbie Wren with her first speckled trout, a 3 lb. fish she hooked on a MirrOlure near Rich's Inlet.
Floyd, of Jolly Roger Pier, reports that there have been some solid catches of whiting recently for anglers baiting up with shrimp and bloodworms.
The spot fishing has been up-and-down, with some days seeing nice runs.
Some flounder, puppy drum, and speckled trout are falling for live baits.
