Wrightsville Beach, NC

Capt. Matt Wirt
March 3, 2006
Wrightsville Beach - Saltwater Fishing Report

Reel Adventure REDFISH 2-15-06

After fishing in Florida for a week it was good to be back in my home waters again pursuing some good old North Carolina redfish. Mark with Fishstalkers dropped by today to order a custom rod from me and with perfect conditions we decided to go hook a few redfish. We were a little late getting to our location (near southport) and the tide had fallen pretty quickly and cut us off from a few spots that are normally very productive but on the upside we had excellent water clarity. We adjusted our game plan and broke out the Berkley Gulp! 5" jerk baits. We scanned the flat but the fish had not made it out to it yet so we fished the 6" to 1' deep troughs that run through the flats. The reds use these "lanes" to get to deeper water as the tide falls. We approached quietly in the skinny water and I heard the familiar sound of the drag running off of Marks reel. The Gulp! did the trick and he was hooked up with a nice red that we snapped a few pic's of and released. We fished out the lanes and with the tide falling we had to find a bit deeper water. We hit 2 points near a creek mouth and 2 more redfish were bending the rods and were quickly released. One thing I noticed in Florida and noticed again today was that the reds will hold on to the Gulp for a LONG time. I felt a red pick up the gulp today and was not sure if it was a fish or the bottom at first. I twitched the rod a few more times and came tight on the line realized this was not the bottom and set the hook. I had the bait in the reds mouth for a good five seconds. I am sure he would have spit it out if it were a usual soft plastic. The reds seemed to be confused and are more in the summer pattern... we did not find many fish on the flats, they seemed to be more concerned with eating than staying warm in the 50 degree water. The pearl white and red jerk baits did the trick for us today. As the slack tide approached we called it a day and headed home. Not a bad day for 3 hours of fishing!

Lets go!

More Fishing Reports:

• All Reports by Capt. Matt Wirt
• Wrightsville Beach Fishing Reports
• North Carolina Fishing Reports
• Browse All Fishing Reports