Current Adventure Charters

I made an early start this morning is hopes of finding a new trout hole and some trout for the dinner table. I succeeded at both.

My first stop of the morning produced one small puppy drum, a.k.a. rat red. The area I was in showed lots of promise with lots of bait in the water, but the bite just wasn’t to be. I decided to make a move and try some new spots, but to no avail.

I decided to make a run and while running down river, I saw something on the gps chart that caught my eye. I made a hard starboard turn and decided to check it out. I made a good choice.

The tide had started to rise and I found a point with good current on it. It didn’t take long to get hooked up with the fish. I tried many different baits and swithched often, but gulp shrimp, DOA shrimp and the mirrolure MR-17 produced. Most of the trout caught were in the 14-15 inch range, but I did catch one 3-4lb fish on the MR17.

All in all, it was a great day and I am looking forward to the fall when the trout bite typically picks up. I feel I will have a good trout hole for the fall.!!

Redfish and Flounder fishing continues to improve in the lower Cape Fear river area. Recent trips have produced good catches of Redfish on Topwater plugs, DOA paddle tails and Gulp Shrimp. The recent new moon and onshore winds produced some extra high tides flooding the mashes and presenting excellent opportunities to sight cast to tailing Redfish.

Ben and his boys from Dallas, NC had the chance to get in on some of the tailing Redfish and were also rewarded with a nice Flounder to round out the evening dinner.

The fishing for Redfish and Flounder will only be getting better in the coming months with September, October and November being prime times to fish the lower CFR area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s go Fishing!!!

Capt. Brent

When I say hot, I mean HOT!!! The temperatures around here the last couple of weeks have been in the mid 90′s and we have been hammered with strong SW winds. That has made for some tough fishing conditions.

There are still good quality fish around, but the fishing is a little more tough. Water temps are in the mid 80′s and the fish just don’t want to eat. Most of the fish have moved off of the flats and into deeper holes in search of cooler water.

Hard work and persistence will pay off as seen in the pic above. Terrell, Will and myself pounded the water for hours, but were finally rewarded by finding a school of upper slot fish holding in a deep hole that instantly produced a double hook-up. Though Will pulled the hook on his fish, Terrell managed to land his fish.

If you are going to be in the Topsail area or any of the other beach areas in the Cape Fear Region, give me a call or shoot me an email and book a trip!! The Redfish will be right on through the summer, fall and winter.

Tight lines!!!

Capt. Brent

The Redfish bite in Topsail Beach area has been on fire the past couple of weeks. I have been finding lots of fish that have been willing to bite topwater baits. Zara Spooks and Top Pups have been working the best. The cold front that came through over the fourth of July weekend cooled down the water some and the fish responded by schooling up making for some exciting sight fishing in the shallow bays and flats.

The best bites have been in the early morning from sun up until about 10:00. After that, the wind tends to pick up and the fish aren’t as easy to see. The fish tend to want other baits such as soft plastics and bucktail jigs as the sun gets up and the heat of the day sets in.

If you are going to be in the Topsail area or other areas of the Cape Fear Region and would like to go fishing, give me a call and book a trip. I have good dates still available and the fishing is fantastic!!

 

 

 

Capt. Brent

The second stop of the Cabelas IFA redfish tour, Atlantic division , was held in my home waters of Surf City NC this past weekend. The field consisted of 45 boat boats  and 90 of the best redfish anglers from Ga., SC, and NC. My tournament partner, Capt. Jason Dail and myself set out early Saturday morning to compete against the best of the best. Jason and I fished the area for a couple of days prior to Saturday’s event in hopes of finding where the winning fish might be hiding. The day of the tournament started out with the ringing of the alarm clock at 0315 Saturday morning. The Vantage was prepped and we hit the road for Surf City a little after 0400. We launched the boat around 0500 at the wildlife boat ramp in Surf City in anticipation of the 0530 start. Just like in Charleston, we drew a late start and were one of the last boats to leave from the checkout point, but we didn’t let that late start discourage us. Read the rest of this entry »

The second stop of the Atlantic Division, Cabelas IFA Redfish Tournament will be this Saturday, May 22 on Topsail Island at the Beach House Marina in  Surf City, NC. My partner, Capt. Jason Dail and myself will be once again out looking for that perfect, upper slot redfish in our quest to take first place in this event. Read the rest of this entry »

Quick report!!

I spent most of Mother’s day with my wife and family. However, since I had the Vantage in tow, I managed to slip away late afternoon for a couple of hours of fishing (the boat ramp is only 1 block from my mother-in-laws house). The wind was still blowing, but not as bad as Saturday.

I saw tailing Redfish on the Cape Fear Flats around Fort Fisher and a found a school of fish that had a big school of mullet pinned against  the bank near Bald Head Island. I was able to get several takers on top water plugs just before dark.  I also hooked a short Flounder on a jig tipped with a Gulp jerk shad. Lot’s of bait in the water now and the fishing is definitely picking up.

Call and book today!!

Just thought I would drop a quick note to let you know that the Spanish Mackerel have been showing up around Wrightsville Beach. The Liberty ship has been producing some nice fish and they should be around Masonboro Inlet as well. I haven’t heard any reports from the Sheapshead rock area, but I did predict late last week that they would show up the weekend.

Go get ‘um!!!

This past weekend I traveled up the interstate highways to Weldon NC to partake in a little Turkey hunting and Striped Bass fishing with my brother-in-law James and his buddy, James. The hunting was not as productive as the fishing, but that’s a story for another time.

After spending a few hours in the woods on Saturday morning and then heading back to camp for a hearty breakfast, James, James and I loaded up the “Vantage” and headed for the striper run on the Roanoke in Weldon. Being that it was the first day of the catch and release only season, the crowds had subsided (a little) though there were still many boats and people out fishing. The sun was high in the sky and let me tell you it felt like summer. Read the rest of this entry »

Spring is here and the fishing has been, well, challenging!! The air and water are both warming, but steady fronts coming through has made for challenging conditions. It seems as of late it has either been beautiful or the winds have been howling. The constant change in conditions have seemed to put the fish in a confused state.

In the past week I have had to cancel trips due to wind, fished in some less than perfect conditions and had some perfect days as well. Last weekend I had Ed and his son Conner on board for some flats fishing. With winds of 15-20kts, we tucked up in Hewletts creek off the ICW to get out of the wind. Having a front go through the previous night, the fish didn’t want to cooperate. However, Ed did entice one sub- slot fish to bite a Berkley Gulp bait however.

The Cape Fear River is full of bait. On a recent outing to try and locate some speckled trout, there were massive schools of small pogies in the river channel as well as up on the river flats. I didn’t have any success on the trout that afternoon, but seeing the all of the bait fish was a very welcomed sign.

Another recent trip took me up in the North Topsail area. I went looking for several schools of fish that I had been finding in recent weeks, only to find that they had vacated the flats they were holding on.  I was beginning to think that they had all left the state, but I finally found some small fish that were willing to eat a topwater plug. I don’t care how big they are, any time you can get one to eat topwater, it is always exciting!!

In other fishing news, the first Spanish Mackerel of the year has been reported being caught off of the Jolly Roger Pier on Topsail Island. Also the bluefish have been biting well on got-cha plugs. Atlantic Bonito as well as False Albacore are biting well near the inshore rocks and artificial reefs such as Divers Rock, Dallas Rock and the Liberty Ship. With the warm temperatures expected the next few days, I really expect the bluefish to  bite well and I expect a good showing of Spanish Mackerel in the near shore waters. Some large Spanish should be caught around Sheepshead Rock this weekend for those that run down there.

I am planning on doing a little Turkey Hunting followed by some striped bass fishing this weekend with my brother-in-law on the Roanoke River. Wish me luck and I hope to have a little better report next week.