We are experiencing some beautiful weather here in the Cape Fear region and it has created some awesome fishing opportunities recently. With highs in the 70’s for the next couple of days the fish have responded and we’re catching good numbers of redfish along with some nice speckled trout and a few black drum. Looks like it is setting up to be a incredible January for fishing the inshore and backwaters of the lower Cape Fear.
The redfish bite has been really good with big numbers of lower and under-slot fish along with a few upper and over-slot fish in the mix. The reds are schooled up in the creeks, on the flats, and around some of the area docks. We are catching reds on Gulp baits, DOA soft plastics, mud minnows and shrimp. Almost every trip we are able to find holes that are holding lots of redfish and sometimes black drum and speckled trout are mixed in. Looks like the redfish bite will continue throughout the winter months.
The speckled trout fishing has picked up and we have had some double-digit days on specs. Almost all of the trout have been keeper size with a some really nice 20 to 23 inch fish in mix. The trout are hitting the same lures we are using for redfish. We should be able to pick up some specs throughout the winter as long as the weather continues to be mild.
We are also catching some black drum in some of the same areas we are catching reds. This has provided us with a lot of action when finding reds and black drum mixed together. The black drum are hitting dead shrimp pinned to jigheads and on carolina rigs. There have been a lot of black drum around in the late fall and early winter and it looks like they may hang around this winter.
There are some stripers being caught in the Cape Fear River around Wilmington along with a few reds, speckled trout, and black drum. We are also picking up a keeper flounder here and there.
Thanks for reading the report and check out the photos from the past couple of weeks. These are just a few of the good catches we have had recently.
Thanks,
Jeff Wolfe
Seahawk Inshore Fishing Charters
North Carolina Inshore Fishing Blog
910-619-9580
