It’s hard to believe we’re a week away from Thanksgiving, less than 40 days from Christmas, and here we are talking about loads of king mackerel being caught within sight of the beach. Plus, some really good surf fishing is still taking place and lots and lots of speckled trout are being reported. It’s just a great thing to be able to fish these local Wrightsville Beach waters. Even with the surge of some cold air earlier this week, dropping water temperatures into the upper 60s, it’s hopeful that it will have a minimal impact on the days and weeks to come. We all know that at some point, the winter season will take its hold, so get out there and enjoy the fishing now while you can.
The king mackerel have been stacked up about 10 miles off the beach and those who are finding them are limiting out almost as quickly as it took them to get out to the fishing grounds. Anglers are again reporting that they haven’t seen king mackerel fishing this good in years and these are no small schoolie kings, either. The fish are averaging in the 20-pound range with lots of fish being caught between 30-40 pounds, with some even bigger. While some fishermen have been blistering the fish on live baits, they are also wasting time trying to find enough baits to fish with. There are some schools of menhaden still being found in the normal spots around Bradley Creek and in the waterway as well, but they are few and far between. There are also some schools of bait in the ocean, but again, they are difficult to catch depending on location. A lot of anglers have resorted to store-bought frozen cigar minnows or Spanish sardines, which are a bit cheaper and easier to obtain, and they are working almost as well rigged on a typical live bait rig or variation.
Some good locations have been the area around and just offshore of Dallas Rock, Ten Mile Rock and the Dredge off of Carolina Beach. Some have even had luck a little closer to the beach but the best fishing is being found in the 10-mile range. With the recent cooler weather and now a week of rough seas, those fish may move off a few miles, but with the weekend appearing to be somewhat warm with calming conditions, the fish shouldn’t venture too far away.
Inshore, the speckled trout continue to produce and anglers are finding them in just about all locations as long as there’s some current where they are fishing. Soft artificial baits such as DOA and Gulp are working well and those choosing topwater baits fished early in the mornings are also finding some action. A lot of small fish have invaded, which is a tad unusual, as their arrival in numbers is normally held off until the week of Thanksgiving. But no worries, the larger fish are still around, you’ll just have to either fish through the small ones or find an area not inundated with them to catch a keeper. Anglers on the pier and now also in the surf are starting to get into the action and the larger fish should show up in the surf in the coming weeks.
