The inshore and backwater fishing remains solid in the Cape Fear area and will continue for the next month or so. Speckled trout, redfish, black drum, whiting, and flounder are all currently available to anglers fishing these waters. We have had some great days to be on the water recently with daytime temps in the 70’s. This is the time of year when some of our best fishing can occur, especially for redfish and speckled trout.

The speckled trout fishing has been good to excellent in the Cape Fear area from Wrightsville Beach to Southport. The specs are around the inlets and creeks and hitting a variety of lures. DOA Shrimp on popping corks, DOA paddletails and fluketails, Gulp Shrimp and Gulp Swimming Mullet, Mirrolures, and twistertail grubs are all working well for me. Of course live shrimp on a float rig or carolina rig will also put a hurtin on a speckled trout. There are a lot of small specs around which is a great sign for next year. Hopefully we will get back to having some normal winters here in the Cape Fear area and the trout will rebound to healthy numbers like they were prior to the last two winters.

The redfish bite was a bit tough, but has picked up lately and will continue through the winter months. Some of the best redfishing of the year can occur in late November and the months of December and January. The reds are hitting Gulp Shrimp and DOA paddletails, mud minnows, live and dead shrimp on float rigs and carolina rigs. There are some schools roaming the flats and grass banks and the sightfishing should be good when conditions are right. On Sunday Oct. 13th I had four guys on the boat throwing artificials along a grass bank where a school of reds were feeding. All four hooked up sightcasting to the school and landed all of their reds from ranging from 24″ to 27″. That was pretty exciting.

There are still a few flounder around, but will be moving out soon. Most of the flounder have been caught while fishing for redfish with artificials and live baits.

There are some decent sized black drum around and lots of smaller ones. The black drum are hitting dead shrimp on carolina rigs around oyster bars, dock pilings, and shelly bottom holes around low tide.

The whiting fishing has been excellent along the edge of the shipping channel in the lower Cape Fear River. Two hook bottom rigs baited with fresh shrimp are putting big numbers of these tasty fish in the cooler. Some of the whiting are good size, hit hard and pound for pound are one of the scrappiest fish out there.

Thanks for reading the report and I will try to stay more consistent with my fishing reports. It has been a busy summer and fall and I would like to thank my customers for their business. I have met so many great people and made lots of friends and memories through my charter business. It is a great to leave the dock with a customer, get to know them, and come back as friends. Check out the photos from some of the recent trips. These are just a few of the good catches we have had lately. 
LOOK FOR GREAT WINTER RATES STARTING IN DECEMBER. REDFISHING CAN BE INCREDIBLE IN DECEMBER, JANUARY, AND INTO FEBUARY.

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

Jacob and Gabe with some mid Oct. reds. They caught these fish with live mud minnows on carolina rigs

Mark and Mike with a catch of sheephead, redfish, and flounder

Douglas, Larry, and Steve with some nice specs, reds and sheephead

A couple of nice specs in the 20 inch range

A pair of Bald Eagles we have been seeing on the lower Cape Fear

John had a double inshore slam

Gary, Carlton, and Paul had a good trip on a day with winds predicted to blow 35 to 40. They were determined to make a day of it and we did with good numbers of redfish and black drum fishing the protected creeks behind Bald Head Island

Tammy with her 27′ red she took home and had mounted. Caught fishing a dead shrimp on a carolina rig.

Phil, Matthew, Sarah, and Andrew caught lots of redfish and a few black drum on 8/8/11

Bill fished with me two days with similiar results on both days. Redfish, speckled trout, and black drum.

Bob with his 33″ red he caught on a Gulp Shrimp on his one more cast.

Hannah with of one her many reds she caught fishing dead shrimp on a carolina rig. Hope you didn’t rub it in on Jackson to bad Hannah

Kim the other half of the girls vs guys backwater challenge on the Kenner Bay boat. With one of the reds that put her and Hannah the victors for the trip.

The inshore and backwater fishing has really picked in the lower Cape Fear area this week with catches of redfish, speckled trout, flounder, sheephead and black drum. The water temps have cooled down and has the fish feeding on the abundance of shrimp, crabs and mullet in the backwaters. This is my favorite time of year to fish for all of the inshore species, especially redfish and speckled trout.

The redfish bite has been up and down until recently and seems to be picking up significantly. We are seeing lots of reds chasing bait and the sightfishing has been good when conditions are right. Most of the reds have been caught blindcasting Gulp Shrimp, DOA soft plastics, and topwater plugs. We are also picking good numbers of redfish using the simple methods of fishing live mullet and shrimp on float rigs and bottom rigs. We are also picking a few flounder fishing artificials and live baits while fishing for redfish.

The speckled trout fishing has made an upward turn with the cooler air and water temps and should be getting better as we get into late October and November. The specks are around the inlets and creeks and falling for a variety of artificials. DOA soft plastic splittails, paddletails, DOA shrimp under popping floats, Gulp Shrimp, and mirrolures have all been effective. Live mullet and of course live shrimp on float rigs and bottom rigs are putting good numbers of these tasty fish in the boat.

The sheephead are on the move and normally larger this time of year. The sheephead are hitting fiddler crabs fished around structure like rocks and dock pilings. Sheephead fishing is a blast and these fish are very challenging to get away from the structure and into the landing net. There are also no regulations on sheephead and they are great to eat. We are also picking a few black drum while fishing for sheephead.

We are picking up a few flounder fishing DOA soft plastics, Gulp shrimp and jerkbaits, live mullet, and mud minnows. Flounder love Gulp baits and most of the flounder have been caught by dropping the trolling motor, covering ground and tossing Gulp baits. This a great way to get that Carolina inshore slam (flounder, redfish and speckled trout).

There are lots of panfish around like spots and croakers and the whiting should be showing up soon. Two hook bottom rigs baited with shrimp and bloodworms are filling up coolers in the mouth of the Cape Fear river. This is a great way to entertain small kids and put tasty fish in the boat.

There is a large variety of fish to target in the Cape Fear area this time of year and this trend will conitinue thru November. Thanks for reading the report and I should have a good one for the next couple of weeks. Check out the photos from some of my recent trips.

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

Robert, Lucas, Jerry, and Jeremy with a good catch of sheephead, along with speckled trout, redfish, flounder,and black drum on 10/5/11

Tim with a first for me, a flounder that hit a Rapala Skitterwalk topwater plug in about 5 inches of water

Tim completed his inshore slam and almost got it all on topwater. After catching the flounder, he picked up a spec on topwater and missed a couple of redfish. He finally got his redfish on a soft plastic.

Hunter, one of the original Goober Brothers with a nice flounder he picked up fishing a mud minnow on a carolina rig

Zach, the other half of the Goober Brothers with a nice redfish while Hunter concentrates on the next bite

My son, Christian and me getting our 4th place check at the IFA Redfish Tour Surf City, NC event

Bill with a overslot red that crushed a Rapala Skitterwalk topwater plug

Scott with a red he caught sightcasting to the fish tailing on a marsh flat

Two father and daughter double hookups on redfish. Great memories and very rewarding trips for me.

There are some nice specs starting to show up all around the Cape Fear area

Derrick and Angel with a catch of redfish, flounder, sheephead, and black drum

Robert with a nice flounder he picked up on a Gulp Shrimp

Greg and Ray with a couple of reds they caught fishing live mud minnows on carolina rigs

It’s a double rainbow!!!! Just one of the beautiful sights we see here on the lower Cape Fear