Wrightsville Beach, NC Fishing Forecast/report-September 2026
September is the month of change; summer starts to wind down and fall starts to show itself. I personally really like to fish in September, warm days, a little less humidity, less boat traffic and best of all; great fishing! Here are some of the “goto” fish I like to target during September. Also, during September, the mullet run starts to get going, this always helps the fishing! And last, but not least September 1st to the 14th 2026 is North Carolina Flounder Season!!
September is one of the better Flounder months for NC. Working with live bait or artificial lures are both good ways to catch flounder. Live bait is good for catching higher numbers of Flounder, but not always as many larger size flounder in my opinion. Mud minnows, and small finger mullet will be the best live baits for Flounder in September. Small menhaden work too but die very easily in the warm waters of September. I see bigger Flounder on artificial lures day in and day out!
Rigging the live bait on carolina rigs with Lazer Sharp Steelhead/Walleye Wide Gap Hook Hooks | Eagle Claw in #1 or 1/0 size hooks is a good choice of rigs for Flounder. If you prefer to use artificial baits, I do see bigger size flounders more often on lures. Scented soft plastics work well in clear or stained water. Berkley Gulp Jerkshad *See here https://alnk.to/3U1gTCB in five and six inch in colors new penny, pearl white, fire tiger, and chart pepper neon are all good too. Darker colors like root beer gold and fire tiger (bright but not bright?) in stained/dirty waters seem to work better to get more bites. Also try Berkley’s Powerbait Bonga Shad *See here https://alnk.to/5FaQHD7 in five inch, colors I prefer are HD Pinfish, Silver flash, Sight flash, Cold Beer and when the waters are dirty/stained I like Dark night. I like the Bonga Shrimp *See here https://alnk.to/d3Cc7VS series as well for flounder fishing. I rig all these soft plastic lures on Berkley Fusion Jig head *See here https://alnk.to/28RH5yg in1/4oz, 3/8oz and 1/2oz weights in colors red, gray, or white. Bucktails tipped with Gulp work well for ocean flounder fishing, I prefer Berkley Fusion Bucktails *See here https://alnk.to/cHMQmfL in 1oz, 1.5oz or 2oz. The new Berkley Gulp Dragon tail is great to use with a bucktail as the trailer. *See here https://alnk.to/ge6QBpx Leaders Berkley Pro Spec fluorocarbon*See here https://alnk.to/eDRuK2P in 40 (inshore) or 50 pound (ocean).
Look for the bigger flounder around deeper docks with good current, bait fish and lots of structure inshore. The inlets, offshore reef and ledges are all good places to find warm weather flounder. What do all these places have in common with deeper water, bait, current and structure. Do not forget to look for the clearest water possible and when fishing very stained/dirty water slow down your presentation of the bait. **Keep your eyes peeled for tagged Flounder. I have tagged lots the last few years, as well as other taggers. You might even get lucky and catch a Red tag worth $100!!
When the water starts to cool down just a little bit the Redfishing (Red Drum) will heat up. I look for the Reds to be in the creeks, along the ICW docks and oyster rocks. Anywhere bait is moving by! Carolina rigs with live bait or fresh cut bait is a good bet to catch a Redfish. If you want to go the artificial root, try Gulp Shrimp *See here https://alnk.to/58q5o7A three- or four-inch in colors sugar spice glow, molting, new penny fleck or any of the Chrome series rigged on a 1/8oz or 1/4oz Fusion Jigheads *See here https://alnk.to/28RH5yg should get’em to bite. Early mornings or late afternoons the top water bite should be good; cast MirrOlure Top Dog Jr’s or Top Pup’s for the best bite. Look for the top-water reds to be along marsh grass lines and shallow oyster rocks. You can also use rattling or popping corks in the same areas you use top-water plugs. Just rig them with eight to fourteen inches of forty-pound fluorocarbon, 1/0 hook L42 Eagle Claw and a live figure mullet or a 1/8oz Jig head & a Gulp Shrimp https://alnk.to/58q5o7A. Later in the mornings when the sun gets up and the topwater bite slows. The new Slobberknocker lure (bladed jig) has helped me catch more Redfish in one to three feet of water. *See here https://alnk.to/dpvDLgu
The bigger Reds are starting to show up in the ocean on hard bottoms and around the inlets during September. You never know when you might hook one of these hard fighting fish. When I fish for bigger Reds, I use fresh cut or live menhaden or mullet. Carolina rigs with Trokar Bait Saver Circle Hook Hooks | Eagle Claw and eighty-pound clear Berkley Big game mono leaders. Do not forget to keep your drag tight when using circle hook so the hook will do its job. One tip I can give you when fishing for Bull (Old) Reds, is do not use to light of tackle for these bigger Reds. If you fight them to long, there is a chance you can tire them out too much and kill them. Try a med/heavy rod and a reel with at least thirty-pound mono or braid, this will help you get the fish in quicker; with a better chance of a good release. Check to see if the Drum has a yellow tag in its back; there are a fair amount of tagged Big Reds out there.
Spanish mackerel and false albacore fishing can be great during September. The Spanish run the biggest (in size) all year during the fall. You can cast or troll for them and the fly fishing can be great as well. The Spanish/albacore will be around the inlets, up & down the beaches and near shore artificial reefs. Look for jumping Spanish and diving birds; that is where you need to fish. Casting small spoons like Big Nic Spanish candies on light spinning tackle will put some Spanish in the boat for you. Keep your eye peeled in local tackle shops for my new custom 1.5oz Big Nic Spanish Candy Capt. Jot custom color. One tip that has really helped my customers catch more of the Spanish, false albacore and bonito is using high speed spinning reels. I did not think it would make such a difference but it really has, speeding up the presentation gets more bites! I really like the Slammer IV High speed *See here https://alnk.to/4BFOrsT spinning reel for this application. If you would rather troll, give a Blue Water Candy Daisy Chain a try on top and a #1 planner down deep with a Clark spoon. If you would like to give fly fishing a try, use a six to eight weight set up with floating line with a small minnow pattern fly or epoxy minnow pattern: my favorite.
Shark fishing will be good until late September. I see lots of different kinds of Sharks in September; Black tip, black nose, Fine tooth, Hammerhead and Tiger. Best baits for the near shore sharks are fresh dead/live Bluefish, Mullet, and Menhaden. I use spinning and conventional reels for Shark fishing with 300+ yards of fifty- and sixty-five-pound Spider wire stealth braid. Rigging the baits; eight to ten feet of 80-pound mono (wind-on) leader; some of this leader will wind on to the reel. Connected to the 80-pound mono with a fifty-pound swivel, then two to three feet of #9 SS wire and a Trokar Non-Offset All Purpose Circle Hook Hooks | Eagle Claw (I push down the barb for easy release) 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 plus weight set ups; have lots of extra flies with you!
Tackle run down: Slammer IV https://alnk.to/aWD5L7j & Authority https://alnk.to/fSgjdIK spinning reels 2500, 3000, 3500 sizes or PENN Low profile (bait-caster) * See here https://alnk.to/dAmWQIH 300 sizes for the Spanish mackerel/false albacore (High speed series) Redfish and Flounder. Sharks and Bull Drum (Big Drum) Slammer IV https://alnk.to/aWD5L7j & Authority https://alnk.to/fSgjdIK Spinning reels 5500 & 6500 reels with Rod Carnage III rods *See here https://alnk.to/7fpFxEt series, PENN Fathom II 20LW *see here https://alnk.to/gKQ67P2 casting reels with Rod Carnage III https://alnk.to/b7CyvzW. Fenwick HMG Inshore spinning *See here https://alnk.to/biuF0uB 7’ medium and med/heavy for the Redfish and Flounder. Line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen pound for light tackle fishing and Berkley Pro Spec Chrome (orange) *see here https://alnk.to/cHN9X0o thirty pound for the Shark and Bull Drum. Tackle Storage I prefer Plano Guide Series and Z-series *see here https://alnk.to/9bu8in4 with the New Plano stowaway series boxes. *See here https://alnk.to/6TEb6Qk
Good September fishing to you and thanks for reading!
Capt. Jot Owens
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
