We have had some fun fishing the inshore and backwaters of the Cape Fear area recently. The fishing is showing some good signs of picking up with catches of red drum, black drum, a few flounder, and whiting. The sheephead, bluefish, speckled trout, spanish mackerel, and other nearshore and inshore species are not far behind. We have lots of windy days over the past couple of weeks, but we have still managed to catch fish in protected areas.

The redfishing has been up and down over the past couple of weeks. We have had lots of good double digit days mixed in with days we have caught just a few. We are using different tactics for catching red drum depending on the envIronment we are targeting. For dock fishing, we are using carolina rigs baited with live mud minnows or shrimp. For backwater creeks and bays, we are using carolina rigs, jigheads, and float rigs baited with minnows and shrimp. We have also caught good numbers of reds by dropping the trolling motor and casting Gulp Shrimp and DOA soft plastics to known productive areas. There are some reds on the flats, but we haven’t had many days to find them due to the wind. Look for the sightfishing to be good when conditions are right. The reds have been mixed in size anywhere from 16″ to 29″ and weighing two to eight pounds. I am looking forward to a good spring redfishing season and the topwater bite that is ahead.

The black drum are starting to show up around docks, rockpiles and other structure. Carolina rigs and float rigs baited with shrimp and live fiddler crabs can put good numbers of these fish in the cooler. We have also picked up a few flounder recently fishing live minnows and Gulp Alive shrimp.

We should have some good fishing opportunities coming up in the weeks ahead with a variety of fish to catch in the Cape Fear area. Check out the photos from the past couple of weeks. These are just a few of the good catches we have had recently.

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

3/26/11 Scott with a upper slot red he caught casting a Gulp Alive shrimp along a creek bank

3/27/11 Jeff with a red he caught casting a DOA paddletail jig along a shell bank

4/1/11 Shen and Wen with a couple of the redfish they caught fishing carolina rigs baited with live mud minnows

4/2/11 Trevor, Christian, and Alex with a few of the reds and black drum they caught fishing cut shrimp on carolina rigs

4/3/11 Hunter with a nice flounder and redfish he caught casting Gulp Alive shrimp along a creek bank. Hunter and his dad Mark had a great father and son fishing trip with lots of redfish and two keeper flounder

4/4/11 Bruce and Joe with three of the reds and a black drum they caught fishing cut shrimp on carolina rigs. Another double digit day on the reds.

4/3/11 Omeed with a couple of the reds he caught fishing with my son Christian on the Ranger Banshee flats boat. Casting DOA soft plastics and Gulp Alive shrimp

4/3/11 Christian with a over slot red he caught casting a DOA paddletail jig along a creek bank. Another great day fishing the beautiful backwaters of the Lower Cape Fear

The redfish bite has slowed since my last report. We are still picking up a few fish on Gulp Alive Shrimp, DOA soft plastics and live mud minnows on float rigs and carolina rigs. Schools of reds are on the flats and there are some good sightfishing opportunities when the wind cooperates which has been rare lately. Most of the reds we have caught lately have been in the protected creeks of the lower Cape Fear area. There are also some reds being caught in the bays and docks of the Masonboro Sound area.

We have also picked up a couple of flounder recently and are waiting the arrival of some other species such as black drum, whiting, speckled trout, and sheephead. These fish should be showing up soon and we are looking forward to a good spring fishing season. Thanks for reading the report and check out some of the photos from the past few weeks.

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

2/23/11 Rich from Ohio with a red he picked up casting a Gulp Alive Shrimp along a creek bank

2/25/11 Brandon and Buddy doubled up out of a large school on the flats

2/25/11 Buddy with a red he caught casting a DOA Shad Tail in the golden shiner color

2/27/11 8yr old Bonner with a red he caught on a Gulp Alive Shrimp. No matter your age or skill level, I can make it as easy as fishing in your local farm pond.

2/27/11 Bruce and Bonner had a great father and son trip catching reds on the lower Cape Fear

3/12/11 Charles picked up this early spring flounder and caught another small one shortly after on a Gulp Alive Shrimp

3/12/11 Heather with a red she caught float fishing a live mud minnow along a creek bank

3/12/11 Charles with one of the reds he caught float fishing a live mud minnow. Well over double digits on this day, most were caught on mud minnows

3/13/11 Patrick with a red he caught float fishing a live mud minnow along the grass line