Cobia, Reds and Flounder around Wrightsville Beach, NC
Capt. Jot Owens
May 26, 2009
Wrightsville Beach - Saltwater Fishing Report
Hello from southeast North Carolina; the wind is finally not blowing and the fish are biting!!! Finally some nice weather on a holiday weekend; (a fishing guides dream)! We had a great week of fishing and those good'ole Cobia have started to really show up here. Let's talk about that in this fishing report>>>
Well if you know me at all, there is one fish that drives me crazy besides Tarpon; it's Cobia! I love to fish, catch and eat them. We saw good numbers of Cobia the last fives days of fishing; with a few catch's and one big loss! On Saturday we saw five Cobia; hooked two, got one small one and released it. The one that got away went 70# plus, ran 100 to 150 yards and pulled the hook; "I wanted to cry"! That's fishing!!
Most of the Cobia fishing I'm doing now is sight fishing up and down the beach strands. The water has really started to clear up, making it easier to see those brown logs in the water. We are throwing big jigs, swim baits and live bait to the Cobia. Color really does not seem to matter; "go bright"! When I'm not sight casting for them, we are fishing around inlets, shoals and near shore artificial reefs. We float fish, bottom fish and kite fish in these areas with live menhaden, blues and mullet as bait. You can chum if you like, but the sharks will come and they will come in numbers!
We are really starting to see some good numbers of Redfish inshore the last two weeks. The Reds we are getting are hitting fresh cut, bait live and scented Saltwater Assassin (Blurp) grubs in colors; drunk monkey and molting. We've been rigging these on weed less hooks for grass fishing in some of the bays and flats. There is also some live bait starting to show up around the area. We've caught a few nice Reds float fishing with Assassin (Kwik-corks) on the shallows and flats.
This week we also got in to some nicer keeper Flounder in the south Wrightsville areas. We've also caught some small to just over keeper size in some of the local creeks and creek mouths. Most are hitting on a falling tide where the bait comes pouring out of the shallows. Mud minnows are work well now; that is until the little mullets show up in good numbers. We are using light Carolina rigs with #1 L42 Eagle claw hooks; going very light on the egg sinker: ¼ to ¾ oz.
The Spanish and Blues are still chewing up and down the beaches. The Kings are showing them self's a little better this week too. The kings have been in the five to twenty mile range and there are a few Mahi's showing too!
Keep your eyes peeled on some new tackle from Penn that will come out soon; (Hint) If you like to catch big fish on spinning tackle; you will not want to miss these reels!
Gear used: Spanish, Blues, Reds and Flounder: reels Penn Sargus SG2000 and SG4000 Rods: Ugly Stick Lite 7'0" Med light and Med act. Line: Fire Line crystal in 10 and 20 pound test. Cobia: Penn spinning reel 760L (Live Liner) Rod: Penn Torque 6'6" 30-80 class. Line: forty (40) pound Berkley Big Game braid.
Thanks for taking the time to read this report, don't forget to take a kid fishing!
Capt. Jot Owens
Ranger Boats and
Pure Fishing Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
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