The redfish bite has really turned on in the backwaters with the warmer weather we have had over the past week. The reds are schooled up on the flats in good numbers and the sightcasting has been good on the days with light winds. We have also found some reds in the creeks and in some deeper pockets of water around low tide. We caught around fifty fish out of one hole on 1/18/10 along with two 21″ speckled trout and a 16″ flounder. We had a triple hookup out of one school of redfish on the flats and ended up with over sixty fish for the day.

My son Christian and his friend Brian fished on 1/16/10 and caught around 30 reds in the creeks and on the flats. There are also some large schools of reds in the surf along Masonboro and Lea Islands and there are some sightfishing opportunities to these fish when the winds cooperate.

The striped bass fishing is starting to pick back up in the upper Cape Fear river with the warmer weather starting to bring the water temps back up where the fish will get a little more active.

There should be some good fishing opportunities over the next couple of weeks for redfish, stripers and possibly some speckled trout. Hopefully the long periods of cold weather are gone and we will have some normal weather conditions for the rest of the winter. I should have a good fishing report for the next couple of weeks. Check out the photos from 1/16/10 and 1/18/10.

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

1/16/10 Dave with a nice striper that fell for a bucktail in the upper Cape Fear river

1/18/10 Christian with a nice trout he caught on a soft plastic jig

1/18/10 A rare mid Jan. flounder I caught on a redfish magic glass minnow

1/18/10 Christian and Luke doubled up on reds

1/18/09 Luke with a nice red he caught after making a perfect cast into a nice school on the flats

1/18/10 Christian and Luke with two out of a triple hookup we had sightfishing on the flats

1/18/10 Christian and me with two out of a triple hookup we had sightcasting on the flats

1/18/10 Luke with a nice spec he caught on a DOA paddle tail jig

1/16/10 Brian with a nice red he caught along a creek bank in the lower Cape Fear

The inshore fishing continues to be good for redfish and striped bass. The cold, windy conditions have made it difficult to get many good fishing days in lately. On most of the days we fished we have done well on the redfish in the lower Cape Fear and the stripers in the upper Cape Fear River. Double digit days have been common on both species. There are also a few speckled trout being caught around the area.

The redfish are schooled up on the flats in large numbers. These fish are spooked easily in the cold, clear, shallow water. We have had more success fishing the schools as the tide starts to rise and the fish move up along the grass line. The reds are also schooled up in small pods along mud flats in the creeks. These fish are easier to catch because we can keep the boat in deeper water and cast to the fish without spooking them. The reds are falling for scented and unscented soft plastics on light jig heads.

We have some good striper fishing days the past couple of weeks. The stripers are being caught on a number of different artificials. Swimbaits such as the Yum Money Minnow and the Strike King Shadolicious have worked well rigged weedless on a weighted swimbait hook. Shallow and deep diving stickbaits, lipless crankbaits, and bucktails are aslo working well. Topwaters are working when the fish are busting bait on the surface. We have had a few double hookups as a result of seeing the fish busting on the top.

This fishing pattern should continue over the winter months. We will be fishing for redfish on the warmer days with light winds and the striper fishing should be good in almost any conditions. Hopefully this cold, windy weather will get out of here and the fishing will be a little more consistent. Check out the photos from the past couple of weeks.

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

12/17/09 A beautiful bronze upper Cape Fear redfish that fell for a X-Rap diving plug

12/19/09 Christian with a nice striper he caught on a swimbait rigged weedless on a weighted swimbait hook

12/20/09 Christian and Wright doubled up on stripers after seeing the fish busting bait on the surface

12/20/09 C.Wolfe and me also doubled up out of a small school of stripers after seeing them busting on the surface

12/24/09 Christian with a nice 12 lb striper he caught on lipless crankbait. He is either really lucky or really good for a fifteen year old.

12/23/09 Coburn with a nice striper. Coburn can also flat out fish as you will see in the last four photos

12/31/09 Coburn with a nice red he caught after making a perfect cast in front of a small school pushing along a mud flat

12/31/09 Coburn and Christian doubled up after I bumped the fish with a cast into the middle of the school. Your welcome guys.

12/31/09 Coburn and me doubled up out of a large school along the marsh as the tide was rising. Notice how Coburn lucked up with the larger fish out of the schools.