Seahawk Inshore Fishing Report 1/2/10 Fishing for Reds and Stripers in the Cape Fear area !!!

January 3rd, 2010 Posted in Fishing Reports | No Comments »

The inshore fishing continues to be good for redfish and striped bass. The cold, windy conditions have made it difficult to get many good fishing days in lately. On most of the days we fished we have done well on the redfish in the lower Cape Fear and the stripers in the upper Cape Fear River. Double digit days have been common on both species. There are also a few speckled trout being caught around the area.

The redfish are schooled up on the flats in large numbers. These fish are spooked easily in the cold, clear, shallow water. We have had more success fishing the schools as the tide starts to rise and the fish move up along the grass line. The reds are also schooled up in small pods along mud flats in the creeks. These fish are easier to catch because we can keep the boat in deeper water and cast to the fish without spooking them. The reds are falling for scented and unscented soft plastics on light jig heads.

We have some good striper fishing days the past couple of weeks. The stripers are being caught on a number of different artificials. Swimbaits such as the Yum Money Minnow and the Strike King Shadolicious have worked well rigged weedless on a weighted swimbait hook. Shallow and deep diving stickbaits, lipless crankbaits, and bucktails are aslo working well. Topwaters are working when the fish are busting bait on the surface. We have had a few double hookups as a result of seeing the fish busting on the top.

This fishing pattern should continue over the winter months. We will be fishing for redfish on the warmer days with light winds and the striper fishing should be good in almost any conditions. Hopefully this cold, windy weather will get out of here and the fishing will be a little more consistent. Check out the photos from the past couple of weeks.

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


12/17/09 A beautiful bronze upper Cape Fear redfish that fell for a X-Rap diving plug


12/19/09 Christian with a nice striper he caught on a swimbait rigged weedless on a weighted swimbait hook


12/20/09 Christian and Wright doubled up on stripers after seeing the fish busting bait on the surface


12/20/09 C.Wolfe and me also doubled up out of a small school of stripers after seeing them busting on the surface


12/24/09 Christian with a nice 12 lb striper he caught on lipless crankbait. He is either really lucky or really good for a fifteen year old.


12/23/09 Coburn with a nice striper. Coburn can also flat out fish as you will see in the last four photos


12/31/09 Coburn with a nice red he caught after making a perfect cast in front of a small school pushing along a mud flat


12/31/09 Coburn and Christian doubled up after I bumped the fish with a cast into the middle of the school. Your welcome guys.


12/31/09 Coburn and me doubled up out of a large school along the marsh as the tide was rising. Notice how Coburn lucked up with the larger fish out of the schools.

Seahawk Inshore Fishing Report 12/17/09

December 17th, 2009 Posted in Fishing Reports | No Comments »

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Jeff, Amy, and Christian Wolfe.

There have been some good inshore fishing opportunities out there lately for redfish, speckled trout, and striped bass. The weather has impacted the fishing with a lot of hard winds recently, but I have managed to get a few good fishing days in.

The redfish are schooled up in good numbers on the flats and there are some good sightfishing opportunities when the wind and tides cooperate. There are also some smaller schools in the creeks of the lower Cape Fear river that we can fish for on the days that we have some wind. The reds are falling for scented and unscented soft plastics.

The speckled trout are biting around Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, and the lower Cape Fear river. The specs are hitting soft plastic jigs, mirrolures and of course live shrimp. The spec bite is off in the upper Cape Fear river due to the recent heavy rainfall. Hopefully, the water will clear up in the river and the specs will move to their normal winter hideouts, where live shrimp and artificial shrimp will put good numbers of specs in the boat.

The striped bass are starting to show up in the upper Cape Fear river and their numbers should increase
as we get into late Dec. and Jan. This is a catch and release fishery and catching these fish on light tackle is a blast. There are some thirty plus pound fish lurking in those brown waters, but most of the fish we have caught lately have been four to seven pounders. The stripers are hitting swim baits, lipless crankbaits, shallow and deep diving stickbaits.

The fishing is going to be good over the Christmas holidays and hopefully the weather will cooperate. Check out the photos from the past couple of weeks.

Merry Christmas,
Thanks,
Jeff Wolfe
Seahawk Inshore Fishing Charters
NC Inshore Fishing Blog
910-619-9580


A nice redfish I caught sightcasting to a small school along a creek bank.


A spec that fell for a soft plastic jig.


C Wolfe with a nice red caught sightcasting to a school along the marsh edge.


Mason with a striper he caught on a swimbait.


A nice red that I caught out of a large school on the flats.


Christian with a striper he caught on a lipless crankbait.


A striper I caught on a swimbait rigged weedless.