Monday marked the official start of the summer season, but with some of the heat we’ve been experiencing one would think it has already been here for quite some time. Despite the heat and the current conditions, the fish are still cooperating and biting for the anglers willing to endure the mugginess. Naturally, as has always been the case when the day’s heat and sun can become uncomfortable for both the fishermen and the fish, planning your outings early and late in the day will definitely improve your chances of success. Water temperatures are currently running in the lower 80s, but again, they don’t seem to be affecting the fishing all that much right now, although that will definitely change as the temperatures continue to increase into the months of July and August. The weekend weather is looking rather fishable and even the seas appear to be somewhat decent based on the current forecast, however, that can also change at a moment’s notice.
Offshore, the weekend trips were menaced by an unusual cold front and strong northeast winds that all but shut down any thoughts about heading out of the inlet. The days leading up to the weekend, however, were quite pleasant and those lucky enough to have some fishing time available did pretty well. The long trips to the Gulf Stream are not needed if dolphin, aka mahi mahi, are on your list. The fishing has been good for them in the 20- to 30-mile range. Bottom fishing for grouper, snapper, black sea bass and triggerfish has also been good in the range with the deeper water producing the better quality of fish.
Closer to the beach, the artificial reefs in the 5- to 10-mile range have been holding a lot of amberjack along with some king mackerel and cobia. The live bottoms in the 10-mile range have also produced some dolphin during the past couple of weeks. While these fish have only averaged around 10 pounds, which is common for the nearshore mahi, it’s a good sign that the fishing for them from the smaller boats should improve in the coming weeks.
The cobia fishing has also been good recently, although it has declined slightly from past weeks. Bait pods are still being found along the beaches and that’s a good place to look for them when sight casting bucktails. The Spanish mackerel fishing has tapered off just a tad due to the heat, but limits of fish can still be caught early and late in the day.
Inshore, the flounder fishing has been outstanding with lots of fat keeper fish being reported. A lot of the larger fish have come from the river and areas around Carolina Beach, but the fishing around Wrightsville Beach has also been pretty good. There’s plenty of baitfish around if fishing a Carolina Rig is your style. The deeper creeks and channels are holding fish as are the area inlets. Red drum have also been reported in good numbers around these same areas.
The surf anglers are reporting some bluefish along with a few flounder, Virginia mullet and pompano.
