The Speckled Trout bite has been great this fall. Since the Red-Trout tournament a couple of weeks ago, the trout bite has been good with good numbers of fish and some really nice fish being caught.

This morning I went out with my tournament partner, Capt. Jason Dail, and we had a great morning. We only fished about 3-1/2 hours, but caught and released over 30 trout and one Redfish. The first part of the morning we were blessed with some really nice sized trout as seen in the picture. I kept one fish that my wife and I enjoyed for dinner and the rest were released for another day. The mirrolure 18MR was the go to bait this morning. This is the sinking version of the 17MR, which is a suspending bait. The fish seemed to be holding close to the bottom, so the 18 was the right choice.

There is still a decent Redfish bite as well, though the great trout bite has taken most of the attention as of late.

Give me a call and let’s go catch some fish!!

This past weekend I hit the Cape Fear River to see if the trout were biting yet. Instead, I found flounder on a mud flat coming completely out of the water chasing bait. In two days, I caught 10 flounder with 6 keepers and my partner Capt. Jason caught 5 keepers, all on  artificial baits. Saturday, most of the fish came on a 4-inch z-mann paddle tail bait and a spinner bait. Sunday, they all wanted a 3-inch gulp swimming mullet on a jig head. You can get both of these baits at Intracoastal Angler on Oleander Drive. The fish were much nicer on Sunday with Capt. Jason catching several in the 3-5 lb range. Yes, he out fished my in quality, but not quantity. I would have rather have had his fish, but I’m not complaining.

MADD 6 will be held in Oak Island this Saturday and I am looking forward to taking a couple of our fine service men/women fishing for the day. Hurricane Katia has threatened to put a damper on this event, but now it looks as if she is going to go out to sea and we are going to have a great day. I expect that I will take my guest up river to try and catch some more of these Flounder as well as target some Redfish and Speckled Trout.

The Cape Fear Red Trout Celebrity Classic is approaching quickly. I look forward to this event every year. It’s two days of great fishing for a great cause. If this is something that you think you would be interested in participating in, give me a call or an email and I can send you all of the details.

As always, if you want to get into some of the great inshore fishing that the Cape Fear coast has to offer, give me a call and set up your trip. Thanks for taking the time to check out my website, read my reports and view my video’s. Also, be sure to check out my facebook page and like me!!

Till next time,

Tight lines!!

Capt. Brent

If you have followed my reports at all, you know that I am a hard core artificial bait fisherman. However, part of being a successful angler is being able to adapt different techniques and recognizing the time to take advantage of those tactics. In the heat of the summer, this may very well mean putting up the “fake” baits, and breaking out the cast net and loading the well with some good ole live bait. Now, I will admit that when I am off fishing by myself, I may not always follow my own advice as I am addicted to trying to trick a fish into eating a non-natural bait, but when it comes to keeping customers happy, you have to adapt to put fish in the boat.

The past few weeks, we have had some extremely hot temperatures here in southeastern North Carolina and in turn the water temps in our area have skyrocketed to the mid and uppers 80′s with near triple digit air temps. When weather conditions reach these extremes, the fish still eat, but to get them to bite, you have to change your approach.

Some of the more obvious changes to make are to go fishing early or late. Fish are more likely to bite while the sun is low in the sky and the ambient temperature is still relatively cool. If you have to fish during the middle of the day, find some deeper holes to fish as the water temps will be cooler in the deeper water. Also, warm water will not contain as much dissolved oxygen as cooler water and in turn, the fish don’t want to spend much energy to chase a lure. This is, in my opinion, one of the main reasons live bait gets more bites during the heat of summer than do artificial bait. A live mullet minnow or small Menhaden fished on a Carolina rig or suspended from a popping cork is a pretty easy meal for a predator fish to catch.

One of the biggest pieces of advice I can offer to the aspiring angler is to have patience. Give the fish time to bite and don’t get frustated if they don’t. Fish areas that are known to hold fish and give them a chance. If you do, it will pay off for you. On one of my most recent charters, we tried one spot for 30-45 minutes with only a couple of stingray bites, but then moved to another location and hooked up with a Redfish on the first cast. After spending 30-45 minutes in this location and catching two fish, we moved down the bank only 200 to 300 yards and caught five more fish that were of much better quality. Not to mention the few fish that we lost.

So when the weather gets hot and the fishing gets tough, remember to get creative. Try something new. Be patient and have faith. The fish still have to eat, they just don’t want to work for it. Try to put some of these tips to use and see if you don’t put more fish in the boat!!

Till next time

Tight lines!!

Capt. Brent

The first bite of the morning came from a chopper bluefish that attacked my top water Zaraspook plug just a few inches off the stern of the Vantage as I was quickly retrieving it back to the boat. Unfortunately, the razor sharp teeth of the bluefish made quick work of the 15lb, fluorocarbon leader and the fish swam off with plug in his mouth.

Kyle was quick to show Braxton that he was out to put more fish in the boat. After trying several different lure combinations, Kyle struck gold with the D.O.A. silver mullet paddletail. The D.O.A proved once again to be the bait of choice as all fish caught this morning would be on the D.O.A in a variety of colors.

Braxton wasn’t going to be outdone as he eventually put the big fish of the day in the boat, but he had to work for it. All in all,it was a good morning spent with some fine young men. The fishing is getting real good now as the water has warmed and there are all kinds of species of fish in the water now. On the beach, the Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish and Flounder are biting well. A little farther offshore, there are plenty of King Mackerel, Mahi, Cobia and more. Of course, the backwaters are still doing well with the Red Drum, Flounder and Speckled Trout.

If you are planning to be vacationing in the area and want to get in on some of the finest fishing on the East Coast, give me a call and book your trip today.

We started out making a run towards the mouth of the river to fish for Redfish with the plan of working back up river with the tide to finish out on the Speckled Trout. It was a good plan that came together. We fished the backwaters around Bald Head Island first and got our Redfish. Then as the water got closer to flood, we made the run back up river to pursue the Specks.

The Speck bite started kind of slow, but the blue fish keep the rods bent in the interim. As the water started to fall, the Speck bite picked up, but not as good as in previous trips. My take on this was that the tide turned right in the middle of the day and Specks bite best either early or late in the day. None the less, we came back to the dock with a cooler of fish, lots of comradery and some great memories of a good day on the water!!

Fall fishing is in full swing. Call today to book your next trip.

Tight lines!!

Capt. B.

With all of the pogies and shrimp in the water, imitation shrimp baits such as the DOA shrimp and the mirrondine MR-17 have been excellent lure choices. The best bite has been on either side of the flood tide.

Water temps this past weekend in the river was still around 80 degrees F, but with fall weather around the corner, the water should start to cool and the bite will pick up. Look for the Specks to be here through the fall into early winter. If the past 3 weeks are any indication of what’s to come, we should have an excellent fall Spec bite!!

I have good dates still available. Call today and book your next “Current Adventure”!!!

Tight lines!!

Capt. B.

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.!!

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!!

Water temperatures in the ICWW were in the low 60’s while back up in the creeks and mud flats, they were in the mid to upper 60’s. I saw many fish up on the mud flats, but not so many in the ICWW. The fish that I did see didn’t seem very interested in eating, a pattern I typically see after a weather front roles through. In addition to Redfish, I did see a few small Flounder dart out from under my boat as I floated across the mud flats as well as a good number of mullet minnows.

I spoke with another angler while up one of my favorite creeks who informed me that he had been catching some speckled trout in some of the deeper holes.

Sunday, I took my neighbor Steve out and we hit the flats on the southern end of the county around Bald Head Island. Water temperatures in this area again were in the mid 60’s. We had similar activity on Sunday, seeing a lot of fish that didn’t seem to interested in eating. I did get a nice 25-inch Redfish to eat a gold Johnson silver minnow spoon tipped with a white curly tail grub. Tipping the spoon with a grub will give it an entirely different action that the Redfish just seem to love. Steve also landed a smaller Redfish on a D.O.A. paddle tail in a new penny color with gold flake. He was fishing it on an 1/8oz. weighted hook. I also saw a lot of baitfish in the water in this are including mullet and small shad. With all of the bait in the water, the fishing should only get better and better.

I have a couple of trips booked for the end of the week so stayed tuned for more updates. Also, don’t forget to call or shoot me an email to book your trip. I am starting to get a lot of calls for booking for the up coming summer, so don’t wait too long to call so as not to miss your opportunity.

Till next time,

Tight lines!!!!

Quick report for you. The water is really warming up with the nice weather we have been having. The Redfish have moved out of the ocean and back into the internal waters. My wife and I hit a mud flat in the N. Topsail area recently and found a nice school of fish. Unfortunately, with the sun low in the sky, I poled on  top of them before I saw them and spooked them. After that, it was hard to get them to bite.

I have also heard of  a Speckled Trout bite picking up in the rivers, though I have not been down to verify as of yet. Viginia mullet (a.k.a. whiting) have been biting on the piers with good reports coming out of the Surf City area.  The Bluefish should make a showing any day now on the beaches it they haven’t already. Water temps on the beach are in the upper 50′s to low 60′s and mid 60′s in the ICWW and flats and bays. Spanish and King Mackerel are still are few weeks away, but typically we will start to see these in the nearshore waters by early May.

We have weather moving into the area Thursday evening expected to be out of here early Friday. If you are coming to Wilmington for the Azalea Festival and want to sneak in a fishing trip, Saturday and Sunday both look great for some Redfish fishing on the flats. I have openings for both days as of now, so give me a call and book a trip.

Tight lines and good fishing!!

Capt. Brent