The past week brought anglers their first taste of fall with chilly mornings and plenty of hungry fish.
With the official start of fall still a week away, it was only fitting that local fishermen fortunate enough to be out to enjoy the weather also got to experience some early fall action.
Water temperatures are now reading in the lower eighties and, with current forecasts, those reading will surely be in the upper seventies in the coming days, meaning there’ll be plenty more hungry fish waiting in the depths.
Unfortunately, when cool temperatures arrive this time of year, which normally means northeast winds, which are very conducive to fishing and catching but not so for those who want to head off to the beach.
Early season cold fronts are normally a great time to wet a line and catch some fish and that’s exactly what anglers experienced late last week prior to the front’s arrival. Anglers live bait fishing on Johnnie Mercer’s Pier were greeted by a handful of hungry king mackerel that weighed in between fifteen and thirty pounds. Other piers along the coast also got into the action with reports of plenty of king mackerel decked. Some Spanish mackerel and bluefish were caught by those using Gotcha Plugs. Bottom fishermen using fresh shrimp found plenty of Virginia mullet around the breakers along with a few black drum.
Surf fishermen also found the fish biting fairly well with reports of both red and black drum being caught on shrimp and cut bait. Sand fleas enticed some large Virginia mullet and a few pompano. Those fishing minnows managed some keeper flounder around the deeper holes and along the jetty wall.
Inshore, the flounder action just continues to get better every week with lots of fish being reported coming from the inlets and creeks. A Carolina Rigged finger mullet is a hard bait to beat this time of year but anglers using the larger soft artificial baits also had some luck. Red drum were caught around the creeks mouths and also around the area docks. The lower Cape Fear River is also producing lots of flounder and red drum as well as some speckled trout. Just outside Masonboro Inlet, around the jetties, fishermen have found some very large over slot red drum. If targeting these fish, it’s important to use heavier tackle so the fish can be landed and revived for release in quick fashion. Fighting one of these fish for any significant length of time on light tackle will greatly diminish their chances of survival.
Offshore, there were a few opportunities, although limited due to the winds. Anglers who headed out to the deep, were rewarded with a some wahoo around the Same Ole Hole and Swansboro Hole. There were also reports of some scattered dolphin, a few blackfin tuna and several boats reported multiple hookups on sailfish, with a few that were managed to be officially released.
