The inshore fishing has really picked up over the past week with catches of speckled trout, redfish, flounder, sheephead, black drum, whiting, and spots. We went through some tough days shortly after the rain but things are getting back to normal in the Cape Fear area. There will be some great fishing opportunties for a number of different species for the next month or so.

The speckled trout fshing has picked up with lots of double digit days recently. The specs are hitting mirrolures, soft plastics jigs, artificial shrimp imitations, and live shrimp on float rigs. The trout fishing should get better and continue through Nov. and into Dec.

The redfishing continues to be good, but not what is was before the rains. We are catching lots of reds, but not the size and numbers we were a few weeks ago. Most of the fish are lower and under slot, with a few upper and over slot reds in the mix. Live baits and artificials are both working well on the reds. The redfishing should get back to normal for this time of year once water clears up some more.

The flounder are moving closer to the inlets, and are hitting live minnows and artificials. Most of the flounder with me have been caught while throwing artificials for redfish and speckled trout. We had a seven pounder caught on a recent trip with a Gulp Shrimp!!

The sheephead and black drum are biting well on live fiddler crabs and shrimp. The whiting, spots, and gray trout are showing up in the lower Cape Fear River and putting good numbers of these tasty panfish is always a possibility this time of year.

This is a great time of year to get out and do some inshore fishing with less people on the water and lots of different fish to catch. Thanks for reading the report and I should have a good one for the first of Nov. Check out the photos from the past couple weeks. These are just a few of good catches we have had recently.

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

10/6/10 Jason with a nice sheephead he caught on a live fiddler crab

10/6/10 Rob and Jason with a catch of redfish, black drum, and sheephead caught on live baits and artificials

10/8/10 Zach with a couple of black drum he caught fishing shrimp on a carolina rig

Mike and Dan doubled up on reds on 10/910

10/11/10 Jeremy with a drag screaming 32 incher he caught blindcasting a Gulp Alive shrimp

10/13/10 Jeremy with a 7lb flounder that inhaled a Gulp Alive shrimp

10/13/10 Steve with a upper slot red he caught fishing a live mud minnow on a carolina rig

10/13/10 Steve and Jeremy with a catch of redfish, flounder, speckled trout, and a lost spanish mackerel. They also picked up three more keeper specs after we took the photo.

10/14/10 Julie with a drag screaming 31 inch red she caught float fishing a live mud minnow

Jay and Jamie with two of the 30+ keeper specs they caught on 10/15/10 fishing mirrolures and jigs. They only kept four for the frying pan

Eric with a red and Jeff hooked up on 10/16/10

Jeff with one of his slot reds. Jeff and Eric had a good day with lots of redfish and six keeper speckled trout

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