Wrightsville Beach Winter 2012-2013
William O’Quinn, of Raleigh, with a 35 lb. African pompano that bit a 200 gram glow jig in 200′ of water on the break off Wrightsville Beach while he was fishing with Capt. Mike Jackson of Live Line Charters.
Hunter, of Tex’s Tackle, reports that boats making the run to the Gulf Stream are connecting with solid numbers of wahoo while trolling both rigged ballyhoo and high speed lures around local hotspots like the Steeples and Same Ol’ Hole. Blackfin tuna are also in the mix, and there was a late-season flurry of sailfish action last week. The sails may have gone packing for warmer climes, but anglers can connect with wahoo and blackfin all winter as long as there’s some warm water pushed in over the break.
King mackerel are feeding in water in the mid-upper 60’s, currently around the 40 mile range. It’s a long run, but the fish are schooled up tightly, so anglers who make the journey are often rewarded with some stellar action. Dead cigar minnows and Drone spoons are some of the best bets for anglers trolling for the winter kings, and the anglers should be able to connect with the kings all winter as long as they can find warm enough water.
Bottom fishermen are reporting excellent action with red, scamp, and gag groupers at bottom structure in the 120’ range, where they’ll be feeding until grouper season closes on January 1. Other bottom dwellers like triggerfish are in the same spots, and vertical jigs or cut, live, and dead baits will attract attention from the bottomfish.
Inshore, anglers are still catching good numbers of speckled trout around Wrightsville Beach, with the creeks and inlets/surf hosting the best bite lately. MirrOlures and soft plastic baits are attracting attention from the trout.
Surf casters are hooking sea mullet and black drum in the ocean on both shrimp and sand fleas, and some of the largest mullet of the year should be moving through in the coming weeks.
Phil Egan with a 29 lb. red grouper that bit a cut bait at some bottom structure 47 miles off Masonboro Inlet.
Frank, of Intracoastal Angler, reports that there’s still a decent speckled trout bite going on around Wrightsville Beach and in the Cape Fear River, but it’s slower than it was a few weeks ago. Anglers caught big numbers of spike specks in the local creeks last winter, so they’re hoping that the fish will be back and even larger this year. Gulp baits and a variety of other soft plastics, along with suspending MirrOlure and Rapala plugs, are solid bets for anglers tossing artificials to the trout, but live shrimp suspended beneath floats are tough to beat when available.
Big numbers of smaller puppy drum are schooled up in many of the same places as the specks and falling for the same baits and lures. Anglers can expect the pups to spend the winter up local creeks, under docks, and in the Cape Fear River, with a few black drum mixed in.
No confirmed hookups have been reported yet, but all the pieces (bait, birds, whales, and water temperature) are in place for bluefin tuna to make an appearance somewhere along Frying Pan Shoals in the coming weeks.
Boaters making the run to the Gulf Stream are connecting with some wahoo and blackfin tuna, and the bite should remain consistent throughout the winter as long as warm water is within range of local boats. Both rigged ballyhoo and skirted trolling lures are attracting attention from the wahoo and tuna.
Rick, of Living Waters Guide Service, reports that offshore fishing has been excellent lately, but anglers need to be prepared to adjust their tactics in order to capitalize on the day’s opportunities. Wahoo are still on the feed around local spots like the Same Ol’ and Steeples, and it seems high-speed trolling has been more productive than dragging ballyhoo lately.
Plenty of blackfin tuna are in the same areas, and they can be hooked while trolling or dropping vertical jigs to fish showing up on the depth sounder.
Bottom fishing in deep (250’+) water has been producing a mixed bag of gag, scamp, red, snowy, yellowedge, and yellowmouth grouper, with plenty of smaller fish mixed in. Both vertical jigs and baited bottom rigs are producing results in the deep water.
Michelle Becker, of Wilmington, with her first red drum. It fell for a 3″ Gulp shrimp while she was fishing a marsh near Wrightsville Beach with Capt. James Byrd.
Deep-jigging along the break is producing plenty of action with amberjacks and the first few African pompano of the winter. Good numbers of cobia were caught around 45 miles offshore last week, so they’re almost in the same area as well.
Fishing shallower structure (around 120’), they’re hooking gags, reds, and scamps, along with hogfish and other bottom dwellers. Live and dead baits are both proving productive.
Lynn, of Shearwater Charters, reports that the king mackerel bite has been solid around 45 miles out of Wrightsville recently. Trolling Drone spoons, cigar minnows, and strip baits is producing action with the kings, and should continue to do so as long as anglers can find warm enough water (in the upper-60’s).
Wahoo (including an 86 lb. fish caught last week) and blackfin tuna are still feeding at local Gulf Stream spots, and should also remain viable targets for much of the winter.
Philip, of Johnnie Mercer’s Pier, reports that anglers are catching fat (some 2+ lbs.) sea mullet and big numbers of pufferfish from the pier right now. Fresh shrimp are producing the most bites.
Some black and red drum and keeper speckled trout were in the mix last week, and anglers may well see some more action with all three before the season winds down.
The water is 60 degrees.
