Wrightsville Beach – March 2022
Tex, of Tex’s Tackle, reports that Gulf Stream trips are seeing some great wahoo action. Anglers are finding multiple fish days with plenty of large wahoo (to 95 lbs.) in the mix.
A few sailfish and yellowfin tuna are also in the action. Skirted ballyhoo have produced most of the strikes from all three species.
Good-sized black sea bass are loaded on structure in the 15-25 mile range.
Inshore anglers are catching red drum back in the marshes and out along the beaches.
Black drum are staged up around docks and structure in the ICW.
A few sea mullet have started to trickle into the surf with water temperatures rising.
Anglers running back in the Cape Fear River are reporting pretty good striped bass action.
Clint Cornette and his daughter, Preston Cornette, of Wilmington, caught this 95.6 lb. wahoo on a Blue Water Candy orange head with a black and orange skirt on the planer rod. They were fishing at the Devil’s Hole.
Arlen, of Intracoastal Angler, reports that striped bass fishing has been good this season in the Cape Fear River. Most anglers have been targeting deeper holes and structured areas from downtown and up into the mouth of the Brunswick River. Larger soft plastic paddle tail baits and swim shads have produced most strikes.
A few red drum are mixed in these same areas in the river.
In the ICW, red drum are staged up around boat docks and rocks. Shrimp, mud minnows, and a wide variety of soft plastics are enticing strikes from the reds.
A few schools of reds have spent the winter cruising up and down the surf lines of Lee and Figure Eight islands.
Speckled trout are starting to feed better on the warmer weather days. MirrOlure MR-17s and lightly-weighted soft plastics are doing well when cast in deeper holes and creeks off the ICW.
Nearshore structure (out to 5 miles) is holding tautogs and sheepshead. Any sort of crustacean has been the best bait choice.
Bottom fishing in the 20+ mile range has been producing tilefish.
Offshore anglers are seeing good action when able to make the long run. Wahoo fishing has been productive, with plenty of large fish around.
A handful of sailfish and a few yellowfin tuna are also mixed in, and this is hopefully a sign of another good spring.
Jigging out around the break has been producing some large African pompano.
Luke, of Coastline Fishing Charters, reports that as spring conditions begin to move in and water temperatures rise, fishing is on the cusp of firing off.
The speckled trout should start to really improve at areas around the inlets and the same creeks that hold schools in the fall. Fishing artificial baits such as Vudu or Z-Man shrimp in both of these areas should provide anglers with plenty of success. MirrOlure MR-17s are also very popular lures for this early spring trout bite.
Both red and black drum will shortly be breaking out of their wintertime schooling patterns and spreading out in smaller groups. Fresh shrimp fished around oysters, rocks, and similar hard structures are good spots to target. Also look for schools while casting artificial baits along grass banks near the inlet.
False albacore and Atlantic bonito should be showing up off the beaches over the next few weeks. Casting metal jigs at surface-feeding schools and trolling deep diver plugs or Clarkspoons will both create strikes.
Zane, of Falling Tide Fishing Adventures, reports that anglers are focusing their efforts on red drum this month. They will still be in large wintertime schools staged back in mainland creeks and around docks and other structure. With water temperatures starting to rise, these reds are a bit more receptive to anglers fishing both hard lures and soft plastics.
Running out of the inlets to structure in the 30-60’ range will be producing sheepshead and tautogs.
Fishing in the Cape Fear has been good recently, with the striped bass and shad not as deterred by cold water conditions. Shad will be pushing upriver to spawn, and they’re hitting smaller chartreuse-colored crappie jigs along the way.
Striped bass have been mostly staged up around areas of structure in the 8-15’ range. These stripers are always looking for a bigger meal, so larger soft plastics tend to get more strikes.
Andrew DiMauro, of Wilmington, caught (and released) this 26″ sheepshead using a chunk of blue crab while fishing in Masonboro Inlet.
Rick, of Living Waters Guide Service, reports that wahoo fishing has been steady for anglers catching a weather window to run offshore.
Blackfin tuna fishing is starting to pick up and will be getting even better going into the rest of March. Jigging and popping topwater plugs for the tuna is very popular in the spring, and it’s some of the best action of the year.
Offshore bottoms out at the break are holding good-sized African pompano and amberjacks.
Over the next couple weeks, look for yellowfin tuna to start showing up in the counts. All of the offshore action picks up with weather patterns stabilizing and allowing more fishable days.
Zach, of Johnnie Mercers Pier, reports that bottom fishing with pieces of shrimp or artificial bait strips is producing some sea mullet and scattered croakers.
Larger cut baits, such as mullet, are getting strikes from some dogfish sharks.
Water temperatures in the area are hovering near the mid-50s, and anglers anticipate spring fishing to kick off any time now. Better numbers of sea mullet will be the first to arrive. After the sea mullet should be black drum and (possibly) bluefish by the end of the month.
