2009 Fishing Reports
Specks slowed down-Reds picked up
December 1, 2009 | 
Author After spending time with family and eating way too much food on Thanksgiving, I was able to get back on the water Saturday. Saw Midnight Wind and another long time friend at the ramp in the morning. My guest for the day arrived and we set out to try and find those Specks that bit so well earlier in the week.
The bite was not to be. Water temps had dropped 10 degrees and the bite just wasn’t there. I talked to both Midnight and others and Midnight was the only one I spoke to that had a fish. I just think they are drawn to Midnight.
Sunday was much better, but not until late in the afternoon. I tried several spots and had only managed one keeper Speck when I decided to pole into some shallow flats hoping to find some warmer water. The mid afternoon sun had the skinny water back up in the low 60′s. With the sun in my face, I couldn’t see the two or three schools of fish that I spooked until I was right on top of them, but when the water started to rise, the bite turned on. I saw tailing fish (yes in late November) and had a 28-1/2″ Red try and eat my popping cork. Luckily, he ate the DOA shrimp that was tied below it. A gold spoon tipped with a white curly tail grub seemed to have the most effect.
Ended up with 10 Reds for the afternoon. All slot fish with the exception of 1 rat and 1 overslot.
Tight lines!!!
Happy Thanksgiving
Here’s wishing that you and yours have had a wonderful Thanksgiving! May we all have lots of tight lines and not forget about those that are less fortunate than ourselves. Also I would like to express a very special Thank You to all of the men and women serving in our armed forces. God Bless you all!!!
Happy Thanksgiving
Capt. Brent and Karen!!
Slaying Specks
I have known and fished with Chris a.k.a. Dekoy from way back in the day when we were just a couple of pier rats spending our summers on Crystal Pier. Like many friends, as years go by, we don’t get to spend as much time together or see each other as often as we would like. Dekoy and I have been trying to work out schedules for some time now to get together and do some fishing and we finally got it together.
Every year, I try to donate a fishing trip to the Coastal Conservation Association or CCA. On Friday, I had a trip scheduled with Mike and Rick who were the winning bidders for the trip that I had donated this year. Mike, Rick and myself had a great day on the water. The fishing was a little slow in the beginning, so I stretched out the 4hour trip I had donated into an 8 hour trip. The extra time was well worth it as the bite picked up in the afternoon and Mike and Rick went home happy with some good quality fish.
Rick finally broke the ice with a huge 29-inch Redfish. Later, the guys and myself found a good school of speckled trout and caught enough of those for Mike and Rick to take back home to Raleigh before calling it a day. Mike and Rick ended up with 12 specks, (1) 29-inch Redfish and a flounder.
Later that evening, Dekoy called and wanted to know if we were going to go fish like we had talked about. We worked out the details and decided to go fish the area I had fished the previous day. The wind was blowing pretty good out of the NNE and it was a little chilly but the ride in the “Vantage” wasn’t bad at all. We got to our spot, spent a couple minutes doing some last minute rigging and Dekoy got off the first cast. Bam….fish on, first cast. I’m thinking, they’re still here, it’s going to be a good day.
After having a quick discussion on whether we were going to catch & release or have a fish fry, we realized we hadn’t had breakfast and decided we were hungry, so into the box went the fish. The bite was on but sporadic. The fish seemed to keep moving, but never very far. When the bite would slow, we’d try a different bait until we found what they wanted and we would go back to catching fish. DOA shrimp and paddle tails were working well.
As the flood tide peaked, the bite really slowed, so we decided to make a move and try another spot. About 4 cast at the new spot and I was again hooked up with a nice speck. Not to be outdone, Dekoy decided to pull out an old “Mr. Whiffle” and found a nice slot red that wanted it for lunch.
When the water stated to ebb, it was time to head back to the honey hole for some more trout slaying. As soon as we got set up, the bite was on again. After taking a good count of the fish in the box, we realized that we were only 7 fish away from our limits. Now the quest became to limit out. Well, it didn’t take that long and we did just that. 20 specks in the box, but the bite was still on, so we bent the barbs down and went back to catching and releasing. At day’s end when it was time to pack up and head for the hill, Dekoy and I had 30 specks and 1 slot Redfish for the day.
I’d say the inshore fishing is still pretty darn good!!
Thanks Dekoy!!! I had a great time fishing with a good friend!!
Tight lines everyone!!
The wedding is over-it's back to fishing
As many of you know, I got married on Oct 10 and spent the next two weeks in Hawaii. While there, I spent one day Marlin fishing out of Kona. I didn’t catch my marlin, but I did get hooked up with an approx. 400+lb Blue Marlin. My wife and I were on the bridge with the first mate when I saw the big blue crash the short left rigging and begin dumping a 130!!! It was very exciting but after about 1/2hour, the hooks pulled. Oh well, that’s fishing. At least I got some time in the chair.
Now that I am back, I took Dave and Greg out on Friday to do a little inshore fishing. The morning was slow, but as the wind laid down and the tide started to fall, the bite turned on. We ended up catching a couple of Flounder, over a dozen redfish and a half dozen or so Speckled Trout. A great way to celebrate being back in NC waters. Most fish were caught on a white Gulp shrimp on a 1/4oz jighead.
Sunday, I went back out by myself to do a little grieving and clear my head after having to put my 12-1/2yr old Golden Retriever down. I guess he was looking down on me as the weather was perfect and the backwaters were slick calm. I never did find any large schools of fish, but the bite was steady. The morning bite started out with Redfish eating a gold spoon. While working a grass bank, I saw a Redfish come half out of the water chasing a mullet minnow. I thought to myself, they sure are active this morning, and thought it would be a good time to try a topwater bait. It was a good call as I soon had five more fish in the boat in about 30 minutes. I second guessed myself by leaving those fish in an attempt to locate fish in a different place. That didn’t pay off and I eventually ended back up in the same area. Once the tide started to fall, I switched over to a big purple worm and commenced to work the slot reds again. I ended up with over a dozen reds for the day before packing it in and heading for the hill. I love late fall Redfish fishing!!!
Quick report, fall fishing is in full swing
Just thought that I would give a quick report before I get married to the love of my life next weekend as I will be off for a couple of weeks honeymooning with my new bride. I will be back on the water in late October and the fishing will still be great when I get back. Now for the report.
The speckled trout have been biting well in the CFR Topwater plugs early and then gulp shrimp and mirrolure 17mr have been the best baits as of late. The flounder have been biting as well and there are some really nice ones being caught. I caught one that was 4lbs over the weekend on a white bucktail tipped with a gulp shrimp. There is lots of bait in the water and the fish are feeding heavily.
Sorry, I don’t have any pics, camera got ruined by a $10 bottle of suncreen 
Don’t forget, I will be off of the water for the next couple of weeks, but we will be back in full force chasing Flounder, Trout and Redfish at the end of the month.
Tight lines and good fishing!!!!
The Redfish bite is on!!!
The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, the water temps are falling and the mullet blow is kicking off. It can only mean one thing, fall fishing is here. The Redfish bite has been on fire in the North Topsail Beach area as of late as well as many other areas in the Cape Fear Region.
With the water full of finger mullet heading South, the top water action for big Redfish as been awesome. Early mornings while the sun is still low seems to be the best time for the topwater action, but cloudy days will produce strikes all day long. Skitter walks and Top Pups have been working well. Color doesn’t seem to matter much as the fish are feeding heavily and they just can’t resist the action of one of these plugs.
Top water is not the only baits that are working well now. Both Gulp™shrimp and jerk shads fished on weighted hooks have been producing a lot of fish. Skimmer jigs tipped with Fish Bites™ have been producing a lot of fish as well. Most of the trips taken lately have been producing double digit numbers of Reds in only a few hours of fishing.
The new ECC Vantage is performing beautifully and allows me to get into the skinny waters that tend to hold these great fighting fish. If you are looking to get into some great redfish action, give me a call and let’s get you out on the water. I still have some good dates in September available, but I will not be running any trips in October as I am getting married and will be heading to Hawaii for a couple of weeks with my new bride!!! Trips will resume in November and historically, Thanksgiving provides some really good fishing.
Give me a call and let’s go catch some fish!!
Tight lines!!!
Capt. Brent
River Reds
The Redfish fishing near area rivers has been very good this week. Friday I fished the New River area of N. Topsail Beach with good friends Boyd and Will. These two have been trying to catch a Redfish on the fly for a couple of years now, but it seems that every time they come, the wind blows. Well, this trip was no exception, but it was not howling as it usually is and we had plenty of chances. I poled the new Vantage into the skinny water and worked three different schools of Redfish for a couple of hours, but Boyd and Will just couldn’t seem to get the fly in front of the fish. After watching reds push, role and tail all around us, they couldn’t stand it any more and picked up the spin tackle and immediately hooked up.
We worked the fish for a little longer then called it a day and headed home. Baits for the day were grubs fished on weighted hooks.
Sunday, I had Tanner from East Cape Canoes and Skiffs join me on the Cape Fear River looking for the Reds. Tanner, who has family in Holden Beach, worked on building my new Vantage and it was a pleasure to have him aboard. We fished for several hours poling the flats and working some areas that I hadn’t fished in awhile. We ended up with six Redfish for the morning and missed a few others.
Gulp shrimp fished on weighted hooks and bucktail jigs were the baits of choice today.
The Redfish fishing is hot so call and book your trip today!!
More Great Fishing!!
The rain is falling here today so it gives me a chance to catch up my fishing reports. The fishing this week has continued to be fantastic!! I have had catches of King Mackerel, Mahi Mahi, Redfish, Baracuda and more.
Saturday, I fished the skinny water of the Topsail Island area with Rob aboard. We boarded the Vantage headed up the ICW in search of Redfish. We found a little bay that I had not fished before, but it had the look of promise, so we decided to give it a shot and were not disappointed.
I took my perch atop the poling platform and quietly poled Rob around in the clear, skinny water. We eased the boat up to a point that had a couple of oyster bars leading off of it and soon Rob had set the hook into the first fish of the day. After releasing the first fish we proceeded up a creek only to find a bunch of bait, but no Reds willing to eat.
We decided to go back into the larger bay and give it another look. As the tide had risen since we first arrived at our location, I put the trolling motor in the water and joined Rob on the bow. As we worked down the shore line, we spotted a large oyster bar leading off another point. As we got close to the bar, I saw a large school of Redfish spook and start to move off, but instantly both Rob and I were hooked up!!! I hook and landed a nice slot sized fish on a jig, but Rob had hook a much larger fish on a gold spoon. Since we were both hooked up, I lowered the Power Pole into the bottom to hold our position. After a good fight, Rob slid the fish into the net.
We maintained our position for a short time to see if the fish would settle back around the bar, but soon decided to make a move and see if we could located them again. This area looked like it would be a great place to throw top water plugs, so we both switch lures to cover more water. We set course for a couple more oyster bars and found fish holding on just about everyone that we fished. Though we missed several fish, the top water strikes really got the adrenaline flowing as it always seems to do. In all, we landed 5 nice Reds for the morning and missed hookup on as many.
It was a great morning of fishing and I can’t wait to go fish this area again!! If you are in the Topsail area or anywhere in the Cape Fear area and you would like to get into some of the great fishing the we have to offer, both inshore and offshore, give me a call and book a trip today.
As always, tight lines and practice catch and realease!!
July Fishing brings a mixed bag of fish
The heat of July is here and the fishing is hot. King Mackerel, Mahi, Little Tunny Baracuda, Redfish and more are some of the species caught aboard the Current Adventure boats over the 4th of July weekend.
Payton and Addison with Mahi
Friday I had repeat customers David, Rhonda and their daughters Payton and Addison for a day of offshore Mahi fishing. Well the day started out with the winds blowing 10 knots stronger and 180 degrees opposite of what was forecast. Needless to say, it was sloppy, but the girls didn’t seem to mind so we put lines in and trolled our way offshore. I had a location in mind to find the fish, the question was whether or not the seas would lay down as predicted and let us get there. It took about 4 hours to get to where we wanted to be, but once there, the seas were laying down and the fish were starting to bite. The girls spent the next couple of hours catching Mahi, King Mackerel, Baracuda, Little Tuny, sharks and remoras.
The following day I had Jay and Todd from Charlotte aboard for another day of Mahi fishing. This time, the weather man got it right and we made the run offshore in calm seas at 20 knots. Once we reached the ledges that i wanted to start fishing, it didn’t take long for the bites to begin. Jay and Todd stayed busy all day catching Mahi, Little Tuny’s, 40lb Baracuda and yes, another remora. Jay and Todd ended up with 9 Mahi for the day that they were planning to take back home to their families for some great eating.
Sunday, I had the opportunity to take family out for a day of inshore fishing. Kenan and I left the docks around 0600 and hit the flats for some topwater Redfish action. The new Vantage made short work of the time between the landing and the fishing grounds. Once on the flats, we threw Zara Spook top water plugs looking for a topwater bite. The first strike that Kenan had came from a 3 foot Blacktip Shark that was feeding on finger mullet in the shallow water. The fight lasted a few minutes till the sharks teeth severed the leader and the shark and our plug swam away. I tied on another plug for Kenan and it was back to fishing. Soon, Kenan was hooked up again with a nice Redfish only to have the fish cut the leader on the marsh grass and swim away with yet another plug. Finally, Kenan hooked up again on a smaller fish and this one he got to the boat. This was his first Redfish.
Kenan's first Redfish
Next it was my time for a first. It was time for me to catch my first Redfish in the new East Cape Vantage. I cast out a Black and Yellow Top Pup and had a 30-inch brute inhale the topwater plug. The fish tried several times to take me into the grass and oyster rocks, but in the end, I was victorious as Kenan netted the big fish.
Kenan and I spent the rest of the morning catching a few more Reds before calling it a day and heading in to spend the last of the Holiday weekend with family and friends.
The fishing is great. Give me a call and book your trip today!!
Tight lines!!
