Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Forecast-June 2023
June, one of the better fishing months in Southeast NC; lighter winds (hopefully), warm days and so many kinds of fish to target. Precipitation anybody’s guess, some June’s super dry; some June’s monsoon! Here are some of the fish I like to target during June around Southeast NC.
Redfish are in their summer trend by June and the trick to summer Reds is to find the fish that have not been pressured too much. For this I like to use search type lures. Top water lures and rattling corks (popping) in the shallow waters earlier mornings and afternoons will produce Redfish. I prefer MirrOlure Top dog Jr or Top Pup’s with a great ‘walk the dog action with sound,’ fishing these along marsh grass edges with oyster rocks. Working grubs like Berkley Gulp later in the day will also produce Reds for you, fishing deeper holes and docks (fishing deeper with the sun high). Slow rolling swimbaits like a Berkley Powerbait Champ swimmer or Grass pigs rigged on TroKar 7/0 1/4oz swimbait hooks in two to five feet of water has produced some nice Reds. Keep in mind just because you find the Redfish, does not always mean they will bite. Hey someone could have pressured those same fish the day before or just before you got there. Covering area will help you find the biting or less pressured fish.
Everybody loves to catch a Flounder; they are really getting their act together by June. Keep in mind you can fish for Flounder but the season is closed in NC; you must release all flounder. Check with NCDMF for current set Flounder season (at the time of this report the 2023 season had not been set). You can find Flounder just about anywhere when June rolls in. In southeast NC, I look for bigger Flounder around deeper channel drop-offs; in waters of five to fifth-teen feet plus deep. The local inlets and cuts; south Topsail, Rich’s, Mason’s, Masonboro, Carolina Beach and snow’s cut are always a good place to find some bigger size Flounders. Last but certainly not least, are the artificial reefs, ledges, and hard/live bottoms from one to ten miles off the beach, these areas always hold very nice Flounder in June.
Once you have found some Flounder you need to know how to catch’em. If you want to go the artificial root, try bigger baits; this will greatly help you catch bigger size Flounder. I prefer Berkley Gulp five- and six-inch Jerkshad in colors pearl white, chart pepper neon and Fire tiger. Also, Berkley Powerbait Grass pig lures in colors Chartreuse silver fleck, green back or crazy chrome violet. Rigging both the jerkshad and grass pig lures on 3/4oz to 1oz jig heads or Berkley Fusion bucktails in 1oz or 1.5oz for ocean fishing. Another great Flounder lure is the Berkley Gulp four-inch shrimp pattern; this bait is great for cast up and down inshore drop-offs in creek channels. I rig these baits on jig heads in sizes 1/4oz to 3/8oz for inshore; in colors red, gray, and white. Leaders; inshore thirty or forty pound and ocean fishing forty- or fifty-pound Berkley Pro Spec fluorocarbon leader.
If you would like to go with live bait for the Flounders, try mud minnows, small mullets, or small menhaden as live bait. Rig these live baits on Carolina rigs with an Eagle Claw L42 #1 or 1/0 hooks, eight to fourteen inches of thirty-to-forty-pound fluorocarbon as leader. I prefer egg sinkers as my weight, the secret to how much weight you use is ‘as much as you need to stay on the bottom but as least as you can get away with.’ You need to be on the bottom for Flounder but going lighter will always get you more bites!
One fish that is always on my hot weather list is the Sheephead. The Sheephead is a good challenge to catch and they fight hard, but they are also good to eat! All you need is some fiddler crabs or sand fleas for bait. A medium/heavy action spinning or casting rod with Spiderwire twenty- or thirty-pound braid for line will help you bring in that big Sheephead in. Tie on a short carolina rig with forty- or fifty-pound fluorocarbon leader and a small live bait J hook (sharp/strong). Also, I’ve had good luck rigging up a carolina Treat jig with a fiddler crab. Drop that fiddler crab down beside a piling on the carolina rig and when you feel that little bump; set the hook and hold on! PS: they are great eating in the two-to-six-pound range!
The Spanish mackerel fishing can be pretty good in June. These fish are a lot of fun to see busting the surface of the water and even more fun to see on the end of your line! Casting small spoons like (Big Nic Spanish Candy lures) or using fly gear in weights seven to nine can make for a great challenge on this light tackle. Look for Spanish to be hanging around near shore artificial reefs, ledges, and inlets. Trolling Clark spoons or small deep driver lures can be the key to success some days for the Spanish mackerel and even king mackerel. When using the Clark spoons, I would recommend the pink flash or regular silver spoons in sizes #00, #0 and #1; the pink flash series has really helped me put more fish in the boat. You might come over a few false albacore and bluefish mixed in with the Spanish from time to time.
Last but never least; Cobia fishing is in full swing by early June and should be good until early July; so far this year it has been hit or miss for me. I look for Cobia around inlets, shoals, and bait schools; near shore/offshore reefs and ledges are also a good place to look too. With the water being clear most of the time in June it should easier to see those brown logs swimming in the water. I like to throw big jigs, swim baits and live bait to the Cobia. Color really does not seem to matter, but (go bright); Berkley Fusion Bucktails in 1.5oz to 2oz, but I always add a Berkley Gulp 5-inch grub. When I am not sight casting for them, we are fishing around inlets, shoals, and near shore artificial reefs. I float fish, bottom fish, and kite fish in these areas with live menhaden, spots, and mullet as bait. You can chum if you like, but the sharks and Rays will come in numbers!
Tackle run down: PENN Battle III DX, Slammer IV or Authority series spinning reels 2500, 3000 & 3500 sizes for the Redfish, Spanish, sheephead and Flounder. Cobia: PENN Slammer IV or Authority 5500 & 6500 spinning reels or PENN 20LW, 25LW, 25NLD Fathom casting reels. Rods PENN Battalion II or the Fenwick HMG Inshore series; 7’ medium and med/heavy for the Redfish, sheephead and Flounder. Cobia Rods: PENN Rampage or Carnage III Jigging series 50 to 100 class casting and spinning. Line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen, twenty (ocean flounder) pound braid and Berkley Pro Spec Chrome mono in twenty and thirty pound for the Cobia; it is great line! Leader material Berkley Pro Spec Fluorocarbon 30 to 40 pound for inshore and 80-pound Cobia fishing. Tackle storage Plano Z-series or Guide series tackle bags with Plano EDGE stowaway boxes.
Stay cool and enjoy your summer fishing! Thanks for reading!
Capt. Jot Owens
www.captainjot.com
