Wrightsville Beach June 14, 2007
Chris, of Tex’s Tackle, reports that flounder fishing is improving, both in numbers and size of fish caught. Anglers are finding most of the flounder in the ICW behind Lee Island and Masonboro Island. A Carolina-rigged live bait is the ticket to tempt flounder to bite.
Spanish mackerel and bluefish are running the beaches. Trolled Clarkspoons will get plenty of bites from both species, but anglers can target larger spanish by fishing small live baits.
King mackerel are feeding from the beach out to the 30 mile areas. The nearshore kings are running up to 30 lbs., so anglers don’t need to run far to get action from bigger fish. Live pogies or other baits are tops for the kings.
Anglers are catching cobia along the beach and at nearshore structure from Figure Eight Island to Cape Fear. Cobia (up to 70 lbs.) have been caught very close to the beach over the past week, and most anglers are catching them on live pogies.
Dolphin are holding from 8 miles off the beach to the Gulf Stream. The fish in close are weighing up to 10 lbs., and further offshore they get bigger. Dead cigar minnows will get attention from the dolphin, and anglers can also cast bucktails into schools of fish.
Grouper fishing remains hot, with gags holding 20+ miles offshore and reds in the 30-35 mile areas. Anglers can hook up with groupers by using natural baits or butterfly jigs.
The Gulf Stream fishing is slowing down, and more dolphin are coming from 45 miles offshore than 65 miles. Some wahoo are mixed in with the dolphin in the 40-50 mile area, and a few sailfish have been released 30-40 miles out.
Jim, of Plan 9 Fishing Charters, reports that king mackerel fishing has been excellent within 10 miles of the beach. Dolphin (up to 10 lbs.) are mixed in with the kings, and anglers can target both species by trolling live baits or dead cigar minnows or sardines. Spoons and diving plugs will also get strikes.
Grouper action is hot in the 30 mile range, and bottom fishermen willing to make the journey have been catching a nice mix of red, gag, and scamp groupers. Northern mackerel, sardines, and pogies are all good baits for the groupers.
The local AR’s should be holding plenty of barracuda and amberjacks as June progresses. Jig up some baits from the structure with a sabiki rig to get their attention of these hard fighters.
Mike, of Corona Daze Charters, reports that 10-30 lb. kings are holding 5-10 miles from the beach. Live pogies are now the best king baits. The pogies are schooled up thick along the beach, so procuring bait shouldn’t be a problem.
Anglers are seeing good numbers of cobia (from 12-30 lbs.), but the cobia have been reluctant to strike most baits, and the fish seen/fish caught ratio is not very good.
Dolphin are schooled up at 23 Mile Rock. They are running 10-15 lbs., and will eagerly hit a live pogy or dead baits.
Inshore, the red drum are feeding in practically every creek mouth off the waterway. Gulp jerk baits will draw strikes from the drum.
Flounder fishing is unusually slow for this time of year, and most of the flounder that anglers are catching aren’t very big.
Henry, of Johnnie Mercers Pier, reports that bottom fishermen are catching a few pompano on shrimp and artificial sand fleas. Whiting and spot are hitting shrimp at night.
Plug casters are hooking up with bluefish and spanish mackerel in the daytime and ladyfish at night.
Several kings were caught over the past week, and king fishermen have been catching menhaden and cigar minnows for baits in addition to the usual bluefish.
The water temperature is around 78 degrees.
