Flounder, Redfish, Black Drum, Sheephead, and Big Blues in the inshore and backwaters of Carolina Beach, Wrightsville Beach, and Southport!!!

The inshore fishing has been good with catches of redfish, flounder, black drum, sheephead, and bluefish. We have had some great days to be on the water recently and the fish have responded well. Some of the best fishing of the year can occur in late May and June and I am looking forward to some good fishing opportunities for the next month or so.

The redfish are spread out among the marshes of the lower Cape Fear and Masonboro Sound, with many double digit days over the past couple of weeks. Most of the reds have been caught fishing mud minnows, peanut pogies, and shrimp on carolina rigs and float rigs. Fishing these baits around oyster rocks and marsh points is simple and fun for fisherman of all skill levels. The reds have been really aggressive on topwater plugs, and watching these fish chase topwater has been a blast. If they miss the plug, we’ll cast a DOA soft plastic or Gulp Alive Shrimp to them and it works almost everytime. We have also been able to do some sightfishing to small schools of reds that are roaming the marsh edges on calm days. We have also caught some reds fishing docks along the intracoastal waterway. Look for the redfishing to get better as we get into late May and June.

The sheephead fishing is starting to pick up and putting a few of these tasty fish in the cooler is always a possibility this time of year. Fishing live fiddler crabs on carolina rigs around pilings is the the way to go for some nice sheeps. These fish are challenging to get out of the pilings and are great to eat. We are also picking up some black drum while fishing the same structure for sheephead and redfish.

The flounder are starting to show up in decent numbers will be getting better over the next couple of weeks. Fishing peanut pogies on carolina rigs around the inlets, drop offs, docks, deep holes, and other structure is the best way to put some tasty flatfish in the boat. We can also pick up flounder casting Gulp Alive shrimp around some of these same areas. Flounder love Gulp Baits and we usually pick up a few flounder while throwing these baits for redfish.

There are always some large bluefish (8 to 12 pounders) roaming the inshore waters this time of year and hooking up with a big chopper blue is a lot of fun. I have run into some small pods of 15 to 20 fish feeding with their tails and fins out of the water and are crushing anything you throw at them. The problem is getting them to the boat after they make a couple of jumps and throw the plug or break you off.

I am looking forward to some good fishing opportunities for the next couple of weeks with a variety of fish to pursue in the Cape Fear area. Thanks for reading the report and I should have a good one for the first of June. Check out some of the photos from the past couple of weeks. These are just a few of the good catches we have had lately.

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

4/28/11 Mike with a red that hit a Gulp Alive Shrimp

4/28/11 Caleb with a red that hit a spinnerbait with a DOA paddletail jig

4/29/11 Ed, Morgan, and Jason (aka Vinnie) with a few of the reds they caught fishing mud minnows on carolina rigs

4/29/11 Ed with a flounder he picked up fishing a mud minnow on a carolina rig

4/30/11 Margie and Horton had a great husband and wife fishing trip throwing DOA soft plastics and Gulp Alive Shrimp in the backwaters of the lower Cape Fear

5/1/11 Angel with a red she caught float fishing a shrimp along the marsh edge

5/1/11 Derek with a black tip shark that hit a mud minnow on a float rig

5/2/11 Declan with a red he caught fishing a mud minnow around some dock pilings

5/3/11 Mike and Joe with a catch of sheephead and a few of the reds they caught fishing fiddler crabs and mud minnows

5/4/11 Michael with a upper slot red he caught fishing a peanut pogie on a carolina rig

5/5/11 Jeff with a red he caught fishing a mud minnow on a carolina rig

5/7/11 Kim with a nice sheephead that hit a fiddler crab around some dock pilings

5/7/11 Adam with a black drum that hit a piece of shrimp on a carolina rig

Adam and Kim with their catch from 5/7/11

5/13/11 Victor and Cameron had a great father and son fishing trip throwing Gulp Alive Shrimp, DOA soft plastics, and topwater plugs along the marsh edge

5/13/11 Dave with a blue he caught on a topwater plug sightcasting to a school that was tailing on the flats of Masonboro Sound

5/14/11 Christian with multi-spot 32 inch red that inhaled a topwater plug on the flats of Masonboro Sound. This was a good day with large blues and redfish working the same areas.

5/15/11 Jeffrey with a over slot red he picked up sightcasting to a school on the flats of the lower Cape Fear. Caught on a Gulp Alive shrimp

5/16/11 Ira with a flounder he caught fishing a mud minnow around a oyster bed

5/16/11 Robbie with a red he picked up fishing a live mud minnow on a carolina rig

The inshore fishing has been good on most days and has shown a good sign of improving for the next couple of weeks. The water is warming rapidly and the flounder are starting to make their move into the inlets and backwaters. We have had some really good days with redfish along with some days we have caught just a few. There are also some black drum, bluefish, and whiting around. The sheephead and spanish mackerel are not far behind.

The redfish bite has been up and down over the past couple of weeks. We had a good day on 4/25 that produced 25 to 30 reds on mud minnows, spinner baits, Gulp Alive Shrimp, and DOA soft plastics. Some days it just takes a little searching, but normally we are able to find the reds schooled up. Once they are found, we have been able to pull some good numbers out of these schools. Most of the reds have been middle to upper slot fish with a few small ones mixed in. The topwater redfish bite is starting to turn on and this is a good sign for those of us that love catching reds on topwater and other artificials. For children and those that are not comfortable throwing artificials, we can catch reds and other species by using the simple methods of fishing live baits on float rigs and bottom rigs around known productive areas.

Within the next week or so we should have a good variety of fish to pursue in the Cape Fear area. Thanks for reading the report and check out some of the photos from the past three weeks. Hopefully I’ll have a good report for the middle of May.

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

4/7/11 Bob with a over slot red he caught fishing a mud minnow pinned to a jighead

4/8/11 Jared with a whiting that hit a Fish Bite and a flounder that hit a mud minnow. He and his dad Kyle also picked up a few redfish and whiting

4/14/11 Mike and Lindsey with a few of the redfish they caught fishing mud minnows around some docks in the Masonboro Sound area.

4/15/11 Shelia, John, and Dan with a few of the reds and a black drum they caught fishing mud minnows and shrimp on carolina rigs.

4/17/11 Brett and his dad Robert had a good father and son backwater redfishing trip fishing Gulp Alive Shrimp, DOA soft plastics, and mud minnows

4/18/11 Tom and Tom Jr. also had a good father and son fishing trip in the beautiful backwaters of the lower Cape Fear

4/19/11 Jerry and Mike doubled up on reds fishing mud minnows on carolina rigs

4/20/11 77yr old Veatrice looking good with one of the reds she caught fishing mud minnows on carolina rigs around some docks

4/21/11 6yr old Noah and 8yr old Chloe with a couple of the fish they caught fishing shrimp on carolina rigs and two hook bottom rigs

4/22/11 Jenna with a nice red she picked up casting a spinnerbait with a DOA soft plastic paddletail jig

4/23/11 Zach with nice red he caught fishing a mud minnow on a carolina rig along a shell bank