Hot Summer Fishing around Southeast NC-Flounder, Tarpon and Reds
Capt. Jot Owens
July 21, 2011
Wrightsville Beach - Saltwater Fishing Report
Well folks the hot weather continues, but the fishing has been pretty good for the last few weeks; going a little earlier in the day will keep you cooler! As far as fishing goes not much has changed since my last report as far as what I'm catching, I will in include a little more rigging info in this weeks report for you.
The Flounder fishing has been good to very good this season with a fair amount of nice fish coming in over four plus pounds. The name of the game for me this season has been using artificial baits to catch the bigger Flounder. Two baits that have really worked well for me are Berkley Gulp five and six inch Jerkshads in colors pearl white, chart pepper neon and new penny. A new bait I just started to use for Flounder that has a good price tag on it is the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig soft plastic lure. This is a bass (fresh water) bait but man when you see this thing you'll know it is sure to catch Flounder as well as Redfish too! The colors I'm using in the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig are pearl white silver fleck, swamp gas and california.
When rigging the Jerkshad and Grass Pig baits, I prefer a long shank jig head to hold the baits on securely. Sebile and Blue Water Candy both make a very good jig head with this design of a longer shank. Colors of jig heads for Flounder fishing does not seem to be a big deciding factor, but I stick with mostly gray, red and white (pearl). I prefer forty pound fluorocarbon leader from Stren's tinted line in Gumsmoke for clear waters and Tannic for brown/river waters. Just remember when you hook that door mat Flounder to take your time and don't pull his head out of the water, for she may just shake that hook out!
The Spanish Mackerel are biting most days, but the best bite has been earlier in the morning when the sun is lower in the sky; also the fish have been a little deeper in thirty to fifty feet of water for the last few weeks. When you mark big balls of bait with your fish finder this is usually where you'll find the most Spanish biting. Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash behind number one planners. The Spanish hitting on top are hitting Blue Water Candy's Spanish Daisy chains in colors pink, blue and silver; the great thing about this rig is you can pull it off lighter tackle outfits. Another new lure that is working well for the Spanish when I'm casting to them is the River2Sea Sea Rock lure, these little casting jigs are just the right weight and size to get those fast moving Spanish to bite! All the colors that the Sea Rock comes in seem to work and I prefer the two smallest sizes of Sea Rock in the number seven and four-teen. All so the hook that comes on these lures is great, finally a good hook on a lure right out of the package!
Tarpon fishing this season has been hot, with lots of fish being hooked and caught off many of the local piers and just off the beach in boats. Tarpon fishing is not easy; it takes patients and time, but the payoff can be very rewarding! I fish for Tarpon on the bottom or free lining, using live and fresh dead baits like; spots, bluefish and Menhaden. I'm rigging these baits on fish finder rigs, with three to five feet of 80 to 100 pound mono leaders. Circle hooks are the best bet for good hook ups and landings for Tarpon in hook sizes 7/0 to 10/0 depending what hook series/maker you like. I have also had a fair share of Tarpon on my kite rig with live baits like mullets, bluefish and menhaden. Hey give the Silver King a try sometime; you never know the fish god might hook you up with a Tarpon!
Fishing Gear I use:
Reels: Redfish, Flounder and Spanish casting: Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Tarpon Fishing reels: Penn Battle 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD and Torque 12 & 15. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Tarpon Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono. Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF. Tarpon Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series or Penn Toarque jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting. Leader material: Tarpon; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound. Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.
*Are you on Facebook? Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed live reports, photos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff! Just Fan (like) the page on I'll have monthly random drawings of Fans for free tackle!
The first tackle give away will be on Monday August the first!
Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know. Good fishing to you and stay cool out there!
Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139
Target Species:
Flounder, Redfish, Tarpon, Mackerel
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