Wrightsville Beach July 13, 2006
Tex, at Tex’s Tackle, reports flounder fishing has picked up around the inlets and in the creeks. There aren’t as many throw backs now. Fish are in the 1 to 3 lb. range, with a few larger ones.
The mullet have shown up along the grass and are good size.
Puppy drum continue to bite well in the surf and creeks. Fish up to 31″ have been reported this week.
Ladyfish are great fun on light tackle. Fish for them at night around the lights on docks and bridges.
Some small blues and spanish have been reported along the beach trolling clark spoons and diving plugs.
Nearshore, larger spanish are coming from 3 to 10 miles off around the wrecks and reefs.
Kings, although mostly small, are biting from 10-30 miles. The largest this week was a 32 pounder caught near the Schoolhouse. Dolphin have been hitting in the same range.
Sailfish are beginning to show up around the 10 Mile Rock, 30/30 area, and 23 Mile Rock.
Grouper fishing has been very good in the 25 to 40 mile range.
African pompano were recently reported around the Tower and the Horseshoe ledge.
Spadefish are around the artificial reefs being caught using jelly balls.
The gulf stream reports have been a little slow coming in, but 15 to 25 pound dolphin, 20 to 40 pound wahoo, and a few sails and white marlin have been reported recently.
Jot, at Fortune Hunter Charters, reports that inshore, the red drum bite is excellent. Live mullet or pogies and topwater baits are great choices for the drum.
The flounder have been picky over the last week, but some fish are still being caught.
Sheepshead mixed with some nice black drum are hanging around docks and pilings in the waterway. Fiddler crabs offer the best chance of hooking up.
Nearshore, there is a good spanish mackerel bite on both Clark spoons and Gotcha plugs.
A few cobia are still around, and pods of tarpon have begun to appear. Drifting and float fishing with large live menhaden is a good bet for the cobia and the tarpon.
Around 23 Mile Rock, dolphin fishing is very good. A handful of kings are mixed in. Trolling small ballyhoo and cigar minnows on Hank Brown or ballyhoo rigs near weed lines will score bites, and the school can often be kept around the boat and fed bait chunks after the first fish are hooked.
Matt, at Johnnie Mercer’s Pier, reports puppy drum biting shrimp fished on the bottom near the end of the pier. Small sharks are also eating the shrimp.
Plug casting is producing spanish and bluefish.
The pier has finally seen its first kings since Memorial Day, with both a 19.6 lb. and a 12.2 lb. king this week
The pier water temperature is 79.4 degrees.
