The inshore and backwater fishing in the Cape Fear area is picking up with cooler air and water temps. Hurricane Irene is brushing the Cape Fear area as I post this report, but should not affect the good fishing we have been experiencing over the past week or so. We are having good catches of redfish and flounder, along with a few speckled trout, sheephead, and tripletails.

The redfishing has been good to excellent in the backwaters of the lower Cape Fear. The reds are schooled up on the flats and the sightfishing and topwater bite has been incredible when conditions are right. We are also catching good numbers of reds in the creeks and bays blindcasting topwater plugs, Gulp baits and DOA soft plastics. Live mullet, mud minnows and shrimp on carolina rigs and float rigs are also producing good catches of redfish by anchoring down and pitching these baits to known productive areas. The reds are all slot fish with a few over slots (up to 33 inches) in the mix. These fish are super strong in the warm water temps and a absolute blast to catch on light tackle.

The flounder fishing is improving and should be getting better as the water cools and the fall fishing approaches. Most of the flounder have been caught fishing the same areas and baits that are also producing catches of redfish. Some large flatfish have been caught over the past couple of weeks.

We are seeing a few more speckled trout in the area and September is typically a good month for specs in the Cape Fear River. Some of my best catches of specs have been in the month of September. The specs are hitting DOA jerkbaits, mirrolures, Gulp Shrimp, and live shrimp on float rigs.

The sheephead bite is turning on after being slow for a few weeks. I picked up four nice sheeps on a charter on 8/25/11 along with some redfish and flounder. The sheephead are falling for fiddler crabs fished around structure. I have also picked up some nice tripletails suspended under floating debris and crab pot bouys.

I can make inshore and backwater fishing fun and simple for children and fisherman of all skill levels. Some of the tactics we use are similiar to fishing for crappie, bream, bass, and catfish in a local farm pond or lake. Fishing artificials for reds, trout, and flounder is similiar to fishing for largemouth bass.

Thanks for reading the report and I look forward to a good report for the middle of Sept. Check out the pics from some recent trips.

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

Rob was excited to get his first tripletail. Rob grew up in Texas and has always wanted a shot at a nice tripletail. Hey Rob, I decided not to post the pic of you looking at your hand shaking. He was a bit nervous and so was I that my landing net had somehow flew out of the boat. I had to get him with the boga grip. Congrats Rob.

Sisters Sydney and Sarah with back to back tripetails. Good job girls!!!

The kids are having a blast catching reds, flounder, sharks, croakers and other inshore species fishing the calm backwaters of the lower Cape Fear

Jessie, one of our fine military men from Ft. Bragg had a awesome day to sightfish for reds on the flats and also picked up a inshore slam fishing the creeks

The ladies with some of their recent redfish catches

Seth caught some good redfish and also picked up a keeper flounder on artificials. Way to go Seth!!!

Reel men with reel fish

Rodney and Seth with Rodney’s multi spotted redfish

Kevin Gray with a 4.5lb flounder and 5.7lb redfish that got us 1st place flounder and third place redfish in the Cape Fear Homebuilders Tournament

Christian and fishing buddy Luke took top honors in the speckled trout division and second place redfish in the Cape Fear Home Builders Inshore Tourney

Fishing the inshore and backwaters remains solid with catches of redfish, flounder, sheephead, black drum, ladyfish, bluefish, and a few speckled trout. We are in the dog days of summer, but we have managed to catch fish on some of the toughest days of the summer. The heat really has not been that bad in the Cape Fear area. The ocean breeze has kept the temperatures comfortable when on the water fishing even during the afternoon hours.

The redfish bite has been good to excellent on the flats and in the creeks. There are some large schools working the flats and there are some good sightfishing opportunities when conditions are right. There are also some smaller schools in the creeks and we are fishing these protected areas when on the wind picks up. Gulp baits, DOA soft plastics, live minnows and shrimp are the way to tempt bites from these drag screaming, hard fighting fish. We are also picking up a few flounder when fishing live baits and artificials for redfish.

Sheephead fishing has slowed a bit, but the fish we are catching have been large fish up to ten pounds. The sheephead are feeding around bridge pilings, docks, and other inshore structure. We are also picking a few black drum while fishing for the sheeps. Fiddler crabs and sand fleas are tough for both of the striped fish to pass up.

Flounder fishing has been good in the inlets, creeks, and bays of the lower Cape Fear. Live mullet, mud minnows and Gulp Baits are producing most of the action for these tasty fish.

Bluefish and ladyfish are chasing bait on the surface in the Cape Fear area and topwater plugs are producing some exciting action for both.

Thanks for checking out the report and I should have a good one for the next couple of weeks. Check out some of the photos from the past few weeks. These are just a few of the good catches we have had lately.

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

Adam and Thomas with a good catch of flounder, redfish, a speckled trout and a sheephead

Chris, Scott, and Josh with their catch of sheephead and flounder

A few of the sheephead we have caught lately in the seven to ten pound range

Dave with a nice black drum that fell for a fiddler crab fished around some dock pilings

Hanna with a nice redfish she caught float fishing around the marsh edge

Some recent redfish catches

The kids are having a blast catching reds, flounder and other species fishing shrimp, live minnows and artificials in the backwaters of the Cape Fear area