Considering the temperamental and fluctuating weather the region has endured during the past month or so, the fall fishing is rather stellar. Abundant rain forced a lot of fresh water through our salt water environment, affecting the salinity levels and also the water clarity and quality. Whatever impact that system had on the local fishing has been rather short lived as the fishing has rebounded very quickly. In some instances, it didn’t appear to have impacted the fishing at all.
A lot of variety has been reported during the past couple of weeks and there’s no sign that it will slow down very much in the coming week. Water temperatures continue to slowly decline and are now reading right around 70 degrees. The warming trend early this week should temporarily stall the downslide however, at least for the next few days.
Offshore, the weekend provided some calm conditions for those seeking blue water excitement. From the reports, there was some action from wahoo and a few scattered dolphin but the fishing was not quite as good as it has been. For those that stayed relatively close to the beach, a lot of anglers found excellent king mackerel fishing within 10 miles of the hill. Many reported they got their limits of fishing in short order and were only able to deploy as many fishing rods as they had fishermen because the action was so steady. Since finding live bait for king fishing in our area can be almost impossible this time of year, many of those anglers used dead cigar minnows or Spanish sardines. Many anglers also reported finding lots of baitfish schools off the beach and that fishing around them produced the most action.
Pier and surf anglers are still finding some large, over slot red drum, but the fishing for them has slowed down considerably over the past couple of weeks. The influx of in slot red drum however, has increased. Bluefish and an occasional Spanish mackerel are being caught on Got-Cha Plugs. Those fishing with live finger mullet are finding a few keeper flounder. Fresh shrimp is producing some decent catches of spots and Virginia mullet along with a few black drum and pompano.
Inshore, the speckled trout, almost like clockwork, have started showing in our area, with most fish being found in the usual early season creeks and channels. The fish appear to be pretty healthy and hefty, with most fish ranging in size between 2-3 pounds with a few reports of fish over 5 pounds being caught. Soft artificial baits like DOA paddletails and also MirrOlures are working to entice the specks. Flounder fishing with finger mullet is also producing some hefty fish in the creeks and around the docks with plenty of fish over 5 pounds being caught. As usual, the areas around Carolina Beach and in the river are producing more quantities of the bigger fish but they can and are also being found in the Wrightsville Beach waters. Slot sized red drum are being found just about everywhere and are being caught on both artificial and natural baits.
