Fishing the inshore and backwaters remains solid with catches of redfish, flounder, sheephead, black drum, ladyfish, bluefish, and a few speckled trout. We are in the dog days of summer, but we have managed to catch fish on some of the toughest days of the summer. The heat really has not been that bad in the Cape Fear area. The ocean breeze has kept the temperatures comfortable when on the water fishing even during the afternoon hours.
The redfish bite has been good to excellent on the flats and in the creeks. There are some large schools working the flats and there are some good sightfishing opportunities when conditions are right. There are also some smaller schools in the creeks and we are fishing these protected areas when on the wind picks up. Gulp baits, DOA soft plastics, live minnows and shrimp are the way to tempt bites from these drag screaming, hard fighting fish. We are also picking up a few flounder when fishing live baits and artificials for redfish.
Sheephead fishing has slowed a bit, but the fish we are catching have been large fish up to ten pounds. The sheephead are feeding around bridge pilings, docks, and other inshore structure. We are also picking a few black drum while fishing for the sheeps. Fiddler crabs and sand fleas are tough for both of the striped fish to pass up.
Flounder fishing has been good in the inlets, creeks, and bays of the lower Cape Fear. Live mullet, mud minnows and Gulp Baits are producing most of the action for these tasty fish.
Bluefish and ladyfish are chasing bait on the surface in the Cape Fear area and topwater plugs are producing some exciting action for both.
Thanks for checking out the report and I should have a good one for the next couple of weeks. Check out some of the photos from the past few weeks. These are just a few of the good catches we have had lately.
Thanks,
Jeff Wolfe
Seahawk Inshore Fishing Charters
Carolina Beach Inshore Fishing Blog
910-619-9580
Adam and Thomas with a good catch of flounder, redfish, a speckled trout and a sheephead
Chris, Scott, and Josh with their catch of sheephead and flounder
A few of the sheephead we have caught lately in the seven to ten pound range
Dave with a nice black drum that fell for a fiddler crab fished around some dock pilings
Hanna with a nice redfish she caught float fishing around the marsh edge
Some recent redfish catches
The kids are having a blast catching reds, flounder and other species fishing shrimp, live minnows and artificials in the backwaters of the Cape Fear area