Wrightsville Beach April 1, 2010
Jason Peecock, of Baltimore, with an early 22" flounder he hooked near a Figure Eight dock on a Gulp shrimp. He was fishing with Capt. Mike Pedersen of No Excuses Charters.
Arlen, of Tex’s Tackle, reports that anglers are finding some red drum and large speckled trout in deeper holes in the backs of the creeks. MirrOlure MR17’s and Gulp swimming mullet are producing most of the action with both species.
More reds and some black drum are feeding beneath docks in the ICW and the creeks, and anglers looking for the drum have had their best success with cut shrimp and live mud minnows.
Bluefish have begun to show up along the beach despite the cold weather, and anglers are seeing them around the jetties and to the south. No reports of Atlantic bonito have come in yet, but the fish should begin feeding at nearshore structure like the Liberty Ship shortly. When they do show, casting metal jigs around breaking schools of fish will produce bites.
False albacore are feeding from the five mile areas on out, and anglers can hook up with them while casting the same metal jigs.
Bottom anglers are putting together good catches of sea bass at structure in the 20-30 mile range, and both bait fishermen and jiggers are getting in on the action.
King mackerel have shown up, but they are still holding 45+ miles offshore as the water’s still a little cool for them to begin working their way nearshore.
Gulf Stream anglers have been finding a fairly tame trolling bite, with a slow to steady pick of blackfin tuna and wahoo. Anglers vertically jigging in the deep blue water, however, have been finding fast action with amberjacks, African pompano, cobia (some to 75 lbs.), and more.
Matt Clark and Kevin Neely with an early season inshore slam--two reds, a trout, and a flounder they hooked on Saltwater Assassin soft plastics. They were fishing inshore of Wrightsville Beach with Capt. John Renn of In the Mouth Charters.
Frank, of Intracoastal Angler, reports that there are still schools of drum feeding in the surf around the inlets, and anglers who find the schools can hook up on a variety of baits.
Red and black drum and a few sheepshead are feeding around hard structure, like rocks and docks in the ICW, to the south of the area. Live shrimp will fool all three fish.
The speckled trout bite around Wrightsville and Topsail is improving, and anglers are finding the fish in the deeper holes of the creeks and around inshore structure. Live shrimp are top baits for the specks, but anglers have been catching most of the fish recently on Saltwater Assassin soft plastics.
A surprising number of flounder for this time of year are also being reported inshore.
Offshore, anglers have found some action with king mackerel 25-35 miles out, mostly while trolling spoons and other lures.
The area Gulf Stream spots have been inundated with bad water lately, but trollers have caught a few wahoo to the north of the area. Anglers dropping jigs along the break have been bringing home some African pompano, cobia, and battling plenty of amberjacks.
Rick, of Living Waters Guide Service, reports that the Gulf Stream water quality has been improving, with more current and cleaner water, which should portend an improving trolling bite over the next few weeks.
As it is, jigging has been far outproducing trolling in the Stream. Anglers bouncing heavy vertical jigs around bottom structure in 150-300’ are finding action with amberjacks, grouper, African pompano, cobia, and many more species.
Matthew Stokely with a fat African pompano he hooked on a Blue Water Candy Roscoe Jig 60 miles off of Wrightsville Beach. He was fishing aboard the "SeaBiscuit" with Nick Maraveyias.
Jim, of Plan 9 Charters, reports that anglers can still put together a decent sea bass catch without going too far offshore. Structure in the 8-15 mile range has been producing decent numbers of keepers, but anglers must weed through the dogfish and throwbacks to get to them. Using smaller pieces of bait and moving around the bottom structure regularly seems to reduce the attention that anglers receive from the packs of dogfish.
Larger sea bass and fewer dogfish are feeding at structure in the 30 mile range.
Some red drum are still feeding in the surf around the inlets, but the large winter schools are breaking up and moving inshore as the water warms.
Mike, of Corona Daze Charters, reports that large schools of drum are feeding inshore at Wrightsville, both around docks and in the marshes. Gulp baits, dead shrimp, and paddle tail grubs are fooling the reds when anglers find the schools.
Some surprisingly large flounder (3-5 lbs.) are feeding around the docks as well, and anglers are hooking them on the same baits.
Warren, of Johnnie Mercer’s Pier, reports that anglers are picking away at dogfish and some croakers from the pier right now.
The water’s 55 degrees currently, but it should be climbing quickly with the coming warm weather. Once it hits 58+, anglers can expect the springtime runs of whiting, black drum, and bluefish to kick into gear.
