July 29, 2008
Hello Folks, I guess we can call this mid-summer fishing. All those mid-summer bites have started and some of the fish are starting to show that hot water temp bite. Early morning and late afternoon bite; for the Redfish and Trout are really showing lately. Let’s talk about that and a few other bites in this weeks fishing Report.
My charters have had some great early morning Redfish and Trout bites. We are fishing mud flats and oyster flats in creeks and along the ICW. Multi fish hook-ups are not uncommon at all! Top water plugs like the Rapala skitter-walk have done very well. Rattle and popping corks with live mullets and little menhaden have been working great! The best rattlin’ corks for me have been the Saltwater Assassin’s “Kwik-cork” this is one of the loudest corks on the market; “trust me; try some!”
Another hot weather favorite of mine is the great fighting and great eating Sheephead. If you just started fishing or you have for years, you will love the time and fight it takes to catch one of these fish. The best fishing lately for us has been around bridges, docks and bulk-heads. Fishing in water from six to fifth-teen feet for sheephead seems to work the best for us. We fish mostly using small Carolina rigs, with forty pound mono leader and small but strong live bait hooks. Baits we are using; fiddler crabs and sand fleas have worked just fine. Give it a shot, it takes time but you’ll get one; Hold-on”!
The Spanish mackerel are still picking good most days. Most of the Spanish are biting Clark spoons trolled behind #1 planner’s. The Clark spoons that are working the best for us are sizes; 00 and 0 in silver, gold and pink flash. When the Spanish are on top feeding and jumping, Maria jig spoons have been the trick. There has been some bigger Spanish around the last couple of weeks; with some fish over five pounds. Always fun on the ultra light or fly rod!
We are still seeing some Tarpon around the inlets and shoals. Live and dead baits on the bottom have had the best luck for getting bites; fresh spots, menhaden and mullet work the best. Shark fishing will be good through the end of October. We’ve had some really nice lemon and black tip sharks already this year and a few on the fly-rod. We mostly are fishing around and just off the local inlets. There also has been some locally good flounder fishing; in the creeks and around the bigger inlets like Carolina and Masonboro inlets.
Thanks so much for reading this report, if you would like a Fishing charter give me call or drop me a line. Good fishing to ya!
Fishing gear we use;
Tarpon and sharks Reels Pflueger Contender G15L, Rods Shakespeare Custom “USCB 1166 MH” Penn spinning reels 560L Live Liner with Penn Torque jigging rod 7’ 20 to 50 braids.
Reds, Spanish and Sheephead: Reels Pflueger Medalist spinning in sizes 6035 and 6040. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy.
Good Luck,
Captain Jot Owens
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Wrightsville Beach NC Charter fishing
Posted in Fishing Report on July 29th, 2008 | 1 Comment »July 15, 2008
Hello, I hope everybody is doing well. I can’t complain; fishing has had some consistence for the most part. The gas prices have too, there just too high! We can’t change the gas prices by snapping our fingers, so let’s talk fishing and worry about the gas after the fishing trip!
The summer trend of local fishing is really starting to show. One of my favorites has rally started to show this last week; the always fun Tarpon! I have only Tarpon fished once; last week. We saw a few fish and had a strike, and a jump but no hook up “that’s Tarpon fishing for ya”. Always good to see them around the boat; gets my blood pressure up every time!
We fish for Tarpon on the bottom using, live and fresh dead baits like; spots, bluefish and Menhaden. Rigging these baits on fish finder rigs, with three to five feet of 80 to 100 pound mono leaders. Circle hooks are the best bet for good hook ups and landings for Tarpon in hook sizes 7/0 to 9/0 depending what hook series you like. I have also had a fair share of Tarpon on my kite rig with live baits like greenies and menhaden. Nothing like seeing a Tarpon hit kite baits!
When the Tarpon start to show up, the sharks are already here! I’m not talking about one to three footers; I’m talking about four to seven plus footers, running fifty to two hundred pounds; on light tackle and fly rods. Don’t knock it til you have tried it! It’s a lot of fun most of the sharks come right up to the boat and take the bait or fly. We catch Lemon, Dusky, and Black tips and a few Hammerheads from time to time as well.
Best baits for the near shore sharks are, fresh and live Menhaden. When we use bait to catch the sharks we use spinning reels, with 300+ yards of thirty and forty pound Ugly braid super line. Rigging the baits; eight feet of 80 pound mono leader; some will wind on to the reel. Connected to a fifty pound swivel, then to Two to three foot of #9 SS wire and a 8/0 or 9/0 off set J hook. If you prefer Fly fishing, I like Striped bass flies in Menhaden patterns with 4/0 and 5/0 hook sizes. We use ten to twelve weight set ups; have lots of extra flies with you!
The Redfish are still picking good, you just have got to get out there and find some fish that have not been fished too much. Live, fresh cut bait and scented grubs have been the ticket. Spanish mackerel are biting as well, casting and trolling are best bets for these speedsters. Don’t forget that great hot summer fish the Sheephead, the hotter the better for those Sheephead. One-armed bandits seem to be one of best baits for me. Fish them around docks and bridges.
Thanks so much for reading this report, get out there and try some of these tactics you’ll catch’em!
Fishing gear we use;
Tarpon: Reels Pflueger Contender G15L, Rods Shakespeare Custom “USCB 1166 MH”
Sharks: Same as Tarpon and Penn spinning reels 560L Live Liner with Penn Torque jigging rod 7’ 20 to 50 braid.
Reds, Spanish and Sheephead: Reels Pflueger Medalist spinning in sizes 6035 and 6040. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy.
Good Luck,
Captain Jot Owens
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
July 3, 2008
Hello Folks, I hope everybody is enjoying the summer so far. Fishing for the most part has been very good this year for me and my charters. We are starting to see more people on the water, in the last couple of weeks. Which I guess is a good thing, “tip”: if you want to beat the crowds; go earlier! To the fishing report!
The Redfish have really picked up in the last two weeks. My charters have had four fish on slow days to over fifth teen fish on better days. Live, fresh cut bait and scented grubs have been the ticket. You just have got to find the Reds to catch them. Fish the live and cut bait on Carolina rigs. Saltwater Assassin (Blurps) in colors good penny and molting seem to work well for the scented grubs. Most of the reds are in the water way on docks and in creek mouths.
Flounder fishing has also picked up too. We are getting some nice fish around Carolina beach and Masonboro inlets. Most of the flounders are hitting live bait, mullets and little menhaden. We are fishing the live bait on Carolina rigs, but using a little heavier egg sinker for the strong currents in these areas. Don’t forget to take your time when Flounder fishing, it takes time to catch a door mat! We have caught some smaller; but keeper flounder in some of the creeks using grubs.
Some Sheephead and black drum are biting around docks and bulkheads. There has been a few very nice black drum caught lately, some fish over twenty pounds reported “that’s a good pull”! These fish are hitting fiddler crabs, live shrimp and fresh shrimp. The rigs we are using are small Carolina rigs with small very strong hooks. Sheephead and smaller black drum make great table fare.
The Spanish mackerel are still picking good most days. Most of the Spanish are biting Clark spoons trolled behind #1 planner’s. The Clark spoons that are working the best for us are sizes; 00 and 0 in silver and pink flash. When the Spanish are on top feeding and jumping, Maria jig spoons have been the trick.
Thanks for taking the time to read this report. Have a great 4th of July, get out there on the water and have good time. Just be careful of all that boat traffic! Fishing gear used: Reels Pflueger Medalist spinning reels 6035 and 6040 size. Rods: Ugly stick lite’s 7’ med and med hvy action. Line Ugly braid 20# and 30#
Captain Jot Owens
910-233-4139
www.captainjot.com
Carolina Beach NC fishing charters Wrightsville Beach nc Fishing charters
Posted in Fishing Report on July 2nd, 2008 | 32 Comments »
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