Donald of Custom Marine Fabrication reports that citation red drum fishing has been good from the river out into the sound. Many anglers have had success while targeting the fish at night with Lupton rigs and fresh cut mullet. Popping corks matched with large soft plastics has been producing fish as well though winds make […]

Chris of East Coast Sports reports that red drum have been the target of the majority of inshore anglers with fish coming from the marshes and ICW docks. Carolina-rigged live baits have had the most success in the deeper holes while anglers working the flats are using soft plastics and topwater baits. A few flounder […]

Hannah of The Reel Outdoors reports that surf anglers are catching spot sea mullet croakers and pompano while fishing shrimp and sand fleas. Targeting the sloughs just off the shoreline has been the most productive tactic. Bluefish and spanish mackerel are coming inside to feed on baits with anglers reporting higher tides and mornings as […]

The 28th annual Sneads Ferry King Mackerel Tournament sponsored by the Sneads Ferry Rotary Club took place August 16-17 this year at New River Marina. With over $40 000 in cash prizes to award the event is recognized as one of the best king mackerel tournaments in the Carolinas and is a Southern Kingfish Association certified […]

The 36th annual Pirate’s Cove Billfish Tournament took place August 13-17. More than $700 00 in cash prizes was on the line for the 71 boats fishing the waters off of Oregon Inlet. Over the course of four days of fishing 28 sizeable billfish were brought to the scales while 124 fish were caught and released […]

Commercial harvest of spanish mackerel will close at 12:01 a.m. Saturday Aug. 24 in state and federal waters. The fishery is closing because the regional commercial quota has been met. The National Marine Fisheries Service projects that commercial landings have reached the 662 670-pound quota for the Atlantic Migratory Group Spanish Mackerel Northe...

Matt of Tex’s Tackle reports that inshore red drum fishing has stayed consistent with schools of slot-sized fish swimming on the flats behind the islands and bigger fish lurking in the inlets and out in the ocean. Topwaters gold spoons soft plastics and live bait have all been getting bites. Topwaters and suspended baits (like […]

Matt of Chasin’ Tails reports that large flounder (up to 8 lbs.) continue to be weighed in. These bigger flatties are coming from deeper areas around the Port AB Bridge and docks in the ICW. Carolina-rigged live mullet and mud minnows have been best for the inshore flounder. A good number of puppy drum are […]

Jeff of Ocean Isle Fishing Center reports that flounder have still been a little slow but the redfish are cooperating with 22-30” fish coming in consistently. Fishing pockets in the grass banks and around oyster beds during a falling tide has been effective with 3-4” Carolina-rigged finger mullet drawing the most strikes. Pearl white Gulp […]

The vote has come in and flounder is anticipated to be closed by proclamation around September 4. The history of North Carolina fisheries management has taught us that nothing is definite until it’s definite but there seems to be no last minute pardon or stay of execution coming—recreational anglers need to head out Labor Day […]

Patrick of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters reports that inshore water temperatures are in the mid to upper-80s. The water has been murky but the action hasn’t been slowed. There’s a healthy shrimp population in the area which has led to a great black drum bite. The best action has been on the falling tide near […]

Donald of Custom Marine Fabrication reports that speckled trout fishing has been good in the lower Neuse with soft plastics and live baits under slip corks producing numbers of legal-sized fish. Puppy drum are holding along the banks and being hooked with the same methods. A few flounder are being caught on ledges and deeper […]

Patrick of Captain Smiley Fishing Charters reports that inshore surface water temperatures in the morning on the north end of the Grand Strand are around 84 degrees. There are massive schools of finger mullet in the Intracoastal Waterway and its tributaries and bait-sized shrimp are also abundant. The cool snap has really helped the fishing […]

Matt of Chasin’ Tails reports that inshore flounder fishing has been good. Targeting deep holes around docks bridges and the port wall has been productive for anglers with Carolina-rigged live mud minnows and mullet. Sheepshead fishing has been steady with Carolina-rigged fiddler crabs and sea urchins working great along bridge pilings docks and ro...

Jeff of Ocean Isle Fishing Center reports that slot reds have been chewing on finger mullet in the backwaters. Some trout have been caught on live shrimp and there have been steady numbers of black drum at low tide caught on live shrimp as well. Throwing topwater Zara Spooks at first daylight has also produced […]

Chris of East Coast Sports reports that nearshore anglers have been catching bigger flounder (up to 5 lbs.) at the ARs and ledges from just off the beach out to 5 miles. The ocean flounder are primarily falling for Gulp soft plastics on jig heads. Surf anglers fishing bottom rigs have landed sea mullet spot […]

Hannah of The Reel Outdoors reports that surf anglers have been catching spanish mackerel while casting jigs at feeding schools in the early morning. Bluefish are mixed in with the spanish with some blues also being caught on cut bait and shrimp. Bottom fishing has produced sea mullet and pompano. Sound-side anglers are catching red […]

Donald of Custom Marine Fabrication reports that trout fishing has been very good with limits of fish being caught while casting soft plastics and live shrimp under corks around ledges and deeper grass banks. Slot-sized red drum are hitting these same baits from Oriental up to New Bern though hot water temperatures have the fish […]