Posts Tagged ‘Flounder’
Fall fishing, MADD 6 and Cape Fear Red Trout 2011
September 7, 2011 | 
Author The yellow butterflies are buzzing around and that can only mean one thing….it’s time to go fishing!! Usually when I start to see the yellow butterflies, it means that the speckled trout are about to turn on and the flounder and redfish have already turned on.
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
Fishing with the troops
I had the pleasure this past weekend of fishing with one of our Airman in the US Air Force. Kyle, Braxton and myself got an early start at first light looking for the Reds. The morning started with a little breeze out of the SW, but it soon laid out, and despite the forecast, we had an absolutely beautiful morning on the flats. We fished a flood, falling tide and we were the first boat on the fishing grounds.
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.
Cabela’s IFA Redfish Tournament
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 »
Bald Head fishing Mothers Day
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!!
Topsail-Bald Head fishing report
This past weekend saw a return of cooler temperatures to the Cape Fear area. Saturday I fished the middle to southern end of Topsail Island. I departed from the NC Wildlife ramp at Surf City and fished my way south.
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!!!!
Mahi, Reds, Sails and more
June is traditionally the month for Mahi (Dolphinfish) in S.E. North Carolina and though this year’s run started a little later than usual, the Mahi are here!!
Last week I had the pleasure of taking Ken, his son Paxton and friend Mathew on an offshore trip in search of Mahi. We left the docks a little after 0600 and ran offshore. We started fishing about 20nm from the beach and had our first Mahi strike within 5 minutes of putting the first line in the water. The fishing was steady all day and we never went more than 45-minutes without a strike. While fighting a Mahi in the 30nm area, we had a Sailfish take a bait, but we jumped him off before we could get a good hookset. I have raised more Sailfish out of my Seapro boat than any other boat I have ever owned.
The days catch included Mahi, Spanish Mackerel, and Barracuda.
Inshore, the Redfishing has continued to be good as well. Flounder are also being caught and I saw a few very nice Speckled Trout caught over the weekend as well.
Summer fishing is great so give me a call and let’s go catch some fish!!
Tight lines!!!
Capt. Brent
Fishing heats up along with the weather
As May blows out and the heat of June builds in, so does the fishing. the weather in May has been far from desireable, but June is looking better.
Spanish and King Mackerel are biting well along the coast and the Redfish and Flounder bite is picking up as well. Traditionally, June marks the beginning of the Mahi run. Though i haven’t had a chance to get out and find any, I am sure they are out there. Speckled trout continue to be caught in the Cape Fear River, and Cobia are showing up along the beaches.
While coming in from a charter on Saturday, I got to watch a guy in a Kayak do battle with a huge bluefish, that was probably well over ten pounds. It was pretty awesome to watch that fish tail walk just a few feet from the Kayak.
Fishing is heating up, so give me a call to book your trip. I will be fishing in an inshore tournament this Saturday, but I have other good dates available.
Tight lines!!!
Capt. Brent
