Topsail – October 23, 2014
Zach Costas, of Wilmington, with a 24″, 6 lb. flounder that attacked an Egret Vudu Shrimp in a Topsail Island creek.
Chris, of East Coast Sports, reports that surf and pier bottom fishermen are hooking solid numbers of black drum, sea mullet, pompano, and a few spot right now. Shrimp and bloodworms are producing the majority of the action.
Flounder are also feeding in the surf and around the piers, and they’re falling for live finger mullet and mud minnows.
Inshore, anglers are seeing plenty of red drum action around the inlets, near docks, and in the marshy bays. The reds will bite topwater plugs, soft baits like Gulps, and a variety of live and cut baits.
Black drum are also looking for meals inshore around structure like docks and bridges, where they’ll take an interest in fresh or live shrimp fished close to their homes.
Anglers are also finding plenty of flounder around the docks and near local inlets, where they’ll bite the same things as in the surf (or artificials like Gulp baits).
Cooling water temperatures have kicked the speckled trout bite off, and anglers are hooking the specks on live baits along with topwater plugs, suspending lures like Rapala X-Raps, and soft plastics. The specks are moving out of the creeks and into spots in more open water, and the action should only improve at the water continues to cool.
Offshore, anglers are still seeing some excellent king mackerel fishing from just off the beaches out to the 10-15 mile range. Live menhaden are tough to beat for the kings, but anglers are also hooking up on dead cigar minnows, diving plugs, and other baits.
Buzz Gibson, of Willard, NC, with an 18 lb. gag grouper that bit a live menhaden near some bottom structure 16 miles off Topsail Beach.
Boats making the run to the Gulf Stream are connecting with plenty of wahoo while pulling skirted ballyhoo and high-speed lures.
Bottom fishermen are reporting plenty of action with gag grouper and smaller species like grunts at spots 10+ miles offshore. Dropping live, dead, and cut baits to bottom structure in that range should produce fast action.
Allen, of Breadman Ventures, reports that anglers are seeing some excellent speckled trout action at present (with quick limits on many days). Most of the fish are falling for soft plastic baits like TTF Hackberry Hustlers, along with suspending lures like MirrOlure MR17’s.
Some red drum are feeding in the same areas and will pounce on the same baits.
Big numbers of flounder are in the area, particularly near the inlets and in the shallow inshore bays, and anglers can convince the flatfish to bite soft plastics laced with scents like Pro-Cure Super Gel.
Earl, of Seaview Pier, reports that anglers saw some excellent spot runs last week, and the panfish shouldn’t be gone for the year yet. Anglers are also connecting with a few sea mullet, and both are taking an interest in shrimp and bloodworms.
Plug casters are hooking some bluefish while working Gotchas from the pier.
And live-baiters fishing from the end of the pier continue to see some king mackerel action.
Jim, of Surf City Pier, reports that anglers are connecting with good numbers of bluefish and an occasional spanish mackerel while working Gotcha plugs and other casting lures from the pier.
Paul Gilbert, of Wilmington, holds a slot red drum and a speckled trout he hooked on live finger mullet in the Topsail Beach surf while Mike Schuster fights another red in the background.
The king bite continues, and anglers have put several on the deck over the past week. Live baits like bluefish are producing most of the action.
Anglers bottom fishing from the pier have seen some excellent spot runs over the past week, with some of the best action at night. Live and artificial bloodworms are fooling the majority of the spot.
Fishing small live baits around the pilings is attracting attention from some flounder (a few 4+ lbs.).
Robin, of Jolly Roger Pier, reports that anglers are still landing approximately one king mackerel a day (some 30+ lbs.) while live-baiting from the end of the pier.
Bluefish have been biting Gotcha plugs extremely well in the early morning hours recently, and anglers hooked some spanish mackerel towards the end of last week as well. False albacore are also chasing bait around the pier.
Bottom fishermen are seeing a mixed bag of species including spot, sea mullet, and black drum while baiting up with shrimp and bloodworms. A few red drum have been biting finger mullet and shrimp on the bottom.
