Topsail / Sneads Ferry – October 2023
Jerry, of East Coast Sports, reports that inshore anglers have had a lot of success targeting flounder through this keeper season. The bottom-rigged mullet used to target the flatfish has also enticed strikes from some of the red drum scattered throughout the area. Speckled trout action remains spotty, though cooling waters in the coming weeks should see the trout feeding more consistently. Nearshore anglers have caught decent numbers of Spanish mackerel, with the occasional king mackerel mixed in. The offshore bottoms are holding some quality grouper, vermilion snapper, and big black sea bass.
Mike, of Native Son Guide Service, reports that inshore anglers have been able to find some nice flounder through the keeper season around docks and deeper holes near the inlet. The run of storms that moved through seems to have pushed the nearshore flounder bite a little deeper than it typically is this time of year. For fishing flatfish off the beach, a heavier (2 oz.) jig head matched with 5” soft plastics will help weed out some of the other species around these structures.
Schools of false albacore are showing up right off the beaches in the 25-30’ range. These fish have really been tuned into some of the smaller bait around, so anglers need to do their best to match with smaller metal lures when sight-casting to breaking fish. Back inside, the red drum action remains strong, with smaller groups of fish (3-5) scattered all through the marsh areas. Topwater plugs are getting strikes early, and then switching over to soft plastics or live baits can help stay on the action. Speckled trout are around, and cooler nights becoming more common in the coming weeks will really help to fire off this bite.
Ray, of Spring Tide Guide Service, reports that anglers have been finding quite a bit of good action on red drum back in the marshes. Topwater plugs have been a great bait and have produced some 15-20 fish mornings. The key has been using topwaters on the calmer days. On windier days, utilizing cut or live baits can help locate fish. Sizes of the reds have varied, though anglers have been pleased to see plenty of over-slot fish.
Flounder are mixed in the action inshore when fishing bottom-rigged bait. There are flatfish off the beach as well, though the nearshore action has been hit or miss with recent fronts having the conditions constantly changing. There hasn’t been much seen on the speckled trout front. The trout bite will be changing over the next month, though, as water temperatures cool. Nearshore runs are seeing sporadic action on Spanish mackerel, with trolling Clarkspoons being best for locating fish in these varying conditions. Anglers have started seeing some false albacore showing up, and this brings some great sight-cast fishing to those running off the beach.
Jim, of Plan 9 Charters, reports that the larger class of Spanish mackerel are starting to fill in along the beaches. King mackerel will begin to be all over the place. The traditional locations to start your searches are over structures from the beach out to 20 miles Schools of false albacore have been arriving and can be found feeding on the surface from the beach out to the nearshore wrecks. The bottom fishing action has been excellent all year. The 80-100’ bottoms are a great range to target fishing efforts.
Daniel, of Surf City Charters, reports that wahoo and sailfish are starting to settle in more along the break. The cooling water temperatures bring better numbers of fish together, versus being spread out as they have been all summer. King mackerel are scattered along the beach, with better numbers out in the 10-20 mile range, and anglers fishing along the beach for kings have also found some schools of tarpon off Topsail. Bull red drum are being caught over the local ARs. Anglers anticipate this bite sticking around a bit longer as the fish migrate out of the sounds to the north. The flounder also bit really well through the keeper season, with some quality fish caught at both the reefs and inshore.
Robin, of Jolly Roger Pier, reports that anglers have seen some king mackerel being caught (to 32 lbs.) before these storms stirred up the ocean. The king bite should continue moving forward once conditions settle. Some keeper flounder were caught during the open season. Anglers have found the bottom fishing action to be better in the evenings. The mixed bag of catches includes black drum, sea mullet, spot, and scattered puppy drum. Anglers sight-casting plugs to Spanish mackerel and bluefish are having the most success in the early morning and late afternoons.
Vinita, of Surf City Pier, reports that the pier is regularly seeing Spanish mackerel and good-sized bluefish (to 4 lbs.). Smaller crabs fished on bottom rigs have produced pompano and sheepshead, and the evening bottom fishing bite has also included spot and croakers. Some larger flounder (to 5 lbs.) were landed during this two-week keeper season. King mackerel were being seen (and a few caught) prior to the storms, and when water conditions settle again, the kings should show back up on the beaches. Tyler, of Seaview Pier, reports that flounder season has been pretty good to anglers, with some nice-sized flatfish (to 3.5 lbs.) landed. On days the ocean has been calmer, anglers have seen some speckled trout caught.
