Start of Summer

Summertime is off to a good start here on the Cape Fear Coast. Redfish continue to be our number one targeted species. They are in their summertime pattern of singles to small groups of up to 30 fish and are scattered up and down the ICW from Topsail Island to the Cape Fear River. The sightfishing on fly and spinning tackle continues to be good as we are finding fish crushing bait and tailing on lower tides on the flats and in the creeks. On days when wind and clouds won't allow for sightfishing we are catching good numbers of fish on topwater plugs, spinner baits, and soft plastics by blind casting. Flounder are around in good numbers now and we have been catching quite a few while redfishing with spinnerbaits and fishing live or dead baits around structure. Ladyfish are starting to show up and are one of my favorite seasonal species. We have had a few hitting topwater plugs lately. I will start to target these fish more in the coming weeks at night around bridges and docks with lights. These fish are strong fighters and make really cool jumps. They are basically like a minature tarpon. They will gladly take a small shrimp or minnow fly or soft plasitc lure. If you're looking for easy fly fishing then these fish are great targets. Sheepshead are also around just about every bridge or hard structure.  Now is the time of year to book a trip for the greatest variety of species.