While the month of April is generally not considered a super month for fishing in our area, there are usually a few days here and there that produce better than others, and those are normally reserved for later in the month, when the water temperatures start quickly warming up. However, with the warm conditions we have experienced during the past week or so, water temperatures have now risen into the mid 60s and have fired off the spring fishing. Fishing from the surf, pier, inshore or offshore, when the weather permits, has been good to excellent during the past week, depending on what you’re fishing for.
We’ll start with the offshore fishing, as that has been hit or miss namely due to sea conditions preventing boats from reaching the fishing grounds. If offshore fishing is your game, unfortunately conditions do not look all that good for this week although the extended forecast shows a possibility of some decent seas late into the weekend. Many boats reported good catches of wahoo near the area of the Same Ole last week with a few reports of some blackfin tuna and even a few dolphin being caught. While the more well-known offshore fishing spots normally hold some fish, this time of year it is a good idea to research and find those warm water temperature breaks as water temperatures are still a bit cool even toward the Gulf Stream.
Closer to home, bottom fishing in depths starting around 100 feet has been excellent for large black sea bass, vermillion snapper and trigger fish. Anglers are still reporting some locations, mainly those in shallower water, are loaded with sharks, so when they are encountered it is better to move off to deeper water.
Along the surf and off the piers, fishermen are reporting good quantities of Virginia mullet being caught on fresh shrimp. While a lot of these fish are on the small side, persistence will pay off and some anglers have managed to bring home more than enough keepers for dinner. Black drum have been reported being caught on shrimp as well. Bluefish have arrived and small spoons fished from the surf work well. If fishing from the pier, Got-Cha Plugs are the bait of choice. Some of these fish are small but there have been many fish caught that are pushing 2 pounds or better. Remember that bluefish have a bag limit of 15 fish per day with only five being greater than 24 inches, which is important because it won’t be long before the larger chopper bluefish show for a couple of weeks. Since bluefish don’t freeze very well, it’s suggested that anglers only keep what they can eat within a day or so.
Inshore fishing has picked up with reports of red drum being found around the docks and creeks, caught on both artificial baits and natural baits such as mud minnows and cut mullet. Some speckled trout have shown up in our local waters but the better fishing is found in the Cape Fear River and also areas around Surf City and Topsail.
