Here we are right smack in the middle of January 2015 and anglers are still talking fishing. Not just fishing, but catching; obviously not like fishermen would be in, say, May or October, but fishing nonetheless. Unfortunately conditions haven’t been the best the past week and they are definitely not that great this week, either, but there is always the weekend if you are one of the die-hards who refuse to call it quits just yet. Water temperatures are still reading in the low 50s, still plenty warm for some species. If the sun decides to finally shine again, who knows what might wind up on the other end of your line.
As far as the fishing goes, the striper fishing has been relatively good in the upper Cape Fear River near downtown. Bucktails and paddle tail soft plastics thrown along the banks and around structure, of which there is plenty, are all working fairly well. As noted, there’s plenty of structure so be prepared to lose some tackle and be even more prepared to replace it. Down to the south, also in the river, the speckled trout fishing is fairly good, however, with this week’s rain, there’s sure to be an abrupt slowdown in the coming days. The lower river always seems to hold some fish year round, especially when the water temperatures are still somewhat warm, so it shouldn’t be long before anglers find some fish again.
Fishing off the beach has been pretty much nonexistent, mainly due to the weather. For those days when the winds lay down, there have been reports of some decent fishing for black sea bass within just a few miles of the beach. Several reports suggest the black bass are just about everywhere and some anglers are catching limits of keeper fish on both cut bait and artificials within sight of the beach.
For those anglers who have retreated until springtime, there’s one more fishing opportunity that you might be interested in and even manage to make a few bucks doing it. That would be the 10th Annual Johnnie Mercer’s Pier Dogfish Tournament held Saturday, Jan. 24 from 1-8 p.m. Entry fee to fish the tournament is $5 per rod in addition to the normal pier pass of $8 per rod. Cash prizes will be awarded for first through third place, as well as raffle and door prizes. This tournament has grown larger every year and draws interest and fishermen from all over the United States. For more information, visit the North Carolina Fishing Pier Society website or on Facebook, or contact Al Baird at 704-293-5524 or Johnnie Mercer’s Pier at 910-256-2743.
More fishing school information will follow next week. Good fishing!
