The inshore and backwater fishing remains good despite the record rainfall we had recently. We are catching good numbers of redfish and sheephead, along with a few speckled trout and flounder. The speckled trout were just starting to show up good before the rain slowed the bite. After the water clears up the flounder and trout bite should pick back up.

The redfishing has been good in the creeks and bays of the lower Cape Fear on artificials and live baits. Gulp shrimp and spinnerbaits have been effective atificials lately in the muddy water. Live minnows and shrimp on float rigs and carolina rigs are the best method for putting good numbers of reds in the boat. We are also picking up a few speckled trout and flounder while fishing for the reds.

The sheephead bite has picked up and should continue thru the month of October. These tasty fish are larger this time of year, a blast to catch, and very challenging to get out of the pilings or other structure they are feeding on. We are also picking up a black drum or two while fishing for the sheephead.

Whiting, spots, and gray trout should start showing up along the lower Cape Fear River shipping channel the middle of October and continue thru November. For those that interested, putting big numbers of these tasty panfish are always a possibility this time of year.

Thanks for reading the report and check out the photos from the past couple of weeks.

Thanks,
Jeff Wolfe
Seahawk Inshore Fishing Charters
Carolina Beach Fishing Blog
910-619-9580

9/22/10 Mike with a couple of the flounder and a couple of the redfish he caught fishing spinnerbaits and soft plastics

9/23/10 Travis with one of the upper slot reds he caught fishing live minnows

9/23/10 Mark with one of the upper slot reds he caught fishing paddle tail jigs

9/29/10 Joe with a inshore slam all on artificials

9/29/10 Stone with a upper slot red he caught on a paddle tail jig. He also caught several speckled trout on topwater and jigs. This kid is one heck of a fisherman for a ten year old.

9/29/10 Joe and Stone with a few of the trout and reds they caught on topwaters, jigs and popping floats. This was a good day with 18 trout, 15 reds, and a four pound flounder.

9/29/10 The specs were starting to show starting in good numbers before the heavy rain. This was the result of a triple hookup fishing topwaters and a popping float rig

Luke with a nice spec he caught on a suspending mirrolure

10/1/10 Grant with nice red he caught fishing a live shrimp on a float rig.

10/2/10 Morgan with one of the reds he caught fishing a shrimp on a float rig

10/4/10 Jeremy and Lucas with a couple of the sheephead they caught fishing live crabs on carolina rigs

Jeremy,Lucas, Robert, and Jerry with a good catch of sheephead, black drum, and red drum on 10/4/10

10/4/10 Jerry with a black drum he picked up fishing for sheephead around some pilings in the lower Cape Fear

The inshore fishing has been good to excellent lately with catches of redfish, flounder, speckled trout, sheephead, bluefish, and black drum.

We have caught some really good numbers of redfish over the past couple of weeks fishing live baits on carolina rigs and float rigs. They are also hitting topwater plugs, spinner baits, and soft plastic baits but the numbers are nowhere near as impressive as the live baits. We have lots of double digit-days and double hook ups on the flats and shelly bottom drop-offs in the creeks of the lower Cape Fear. Most of the reds have been upper and over slot fish and an absolute blast on light tackle. There are also some large schools of reds on the flats and the sightcasting has been good when the wind and tides cooperate.

We are also picking up some nice flounder while fishing for the reds on live baits and artificials. I had a customer catch a five and a half pounder this past week on a spinner bait. Targeting flounder on points and docks in the Cape Fear river has been a very effective way to put some nice flatties in the boat. The flounder fishing will only get better as we get into Oct.

The speckled trout bite is getting better throughout the Cape Fear, and we’re hooking the specks while casting live shrimp on float rigs, artificial shrimp imitations, topwater plugs, and soft plastic jigs. The trout fishing is not what it should be, but hopefully the specks will show up as the water cools.

The sheephead are around structure and hitting fiddler crabs on carolina rigs. There is always a possibility of putting good numbers of these tasty fish in the cooler. We are also picking up a few black drum and bluefish. Check out photos from the past couple of weeks and I look forward to my next fall report for the first of Oct.

Thanks,
Jeff Wolfe
Seahawk Inshore Fishing Charters
Carolina Beach Fishing Blog
910-619-9580

9/3/10 Mike and Patty doubled up on reds fishing live baits on carolina rigs

9/4/10 Sarah with a upper slot red caught float fishing a live minnow along the marsh edge

9/6/10 A great catch of seafood on a recent Waterman’s trip. Around 70lbs of shrimp, 3/4 bushel of crabs, stone crab claws, numerous fish, and 200 clams that we forgot to add in the picture.

9/11/10 Josh with a red he caught float fishing a live minnow along the marsh edge

9/14/10 Richard with the reds we doubled up on sightcasting to a school on the flats

9/16/10 Mike with a nice flounder he caught on a spinner bait. This bass angler got him a inshore slam his first time saltwater fishing

9/16/10 Zach with 5lb + flounder that inhaled a spinner-bait

9/17/10 Ethan with a flounder he caught fishing a live minnow on a carolina rig. This nine year old also caught several nice redfish.

9/17/10 Ethan, Justin, Denny, and Tom wore out the reds fishing live baits on carolina rigs and float rigs

9/18/10 Greg and Matthew doubled up a couple of times out of schools in the creeks fishing spinnerbaits.