Happy Thanksgiving From Current Adventure

Here's wishing that you and yours have had a wonderful Thanksgiving! May we all have lots of tight lines and not forget about those that are less fortunate than ourselves. Also I would like to express a very special Thank You to all of the men and women serving in our armed forces. God Bless you all!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Capt. Brent and Karen!!


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Topsail Update

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Fishing is pretty good. I have had bad migraines recently and haven't updated the blog. My dad has been down for several days and caught tons of sea mullets and black drum with a few specks scattered in the catch. All fish were caught on cut fresh ocean shrimp. Most catches come at night or very early am. Specks are biting mirro lures in the surf better than piers. Again, fish early. Tide doesn't seem to matter much, but if I had to make a choice, I think I would choose falling. The Tuesday weather forecasting for is calling for a low of 33*. This cool air should really school the specks up. Check out the picture of the huge black drum caught from the surf at Topsail. Click on the East Coast Sports link below, and watch the slide show on the home page. I think it was estimated at 65 lbs. www.eastcoastsports.com
Good luck! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
--
Till Next Time....
Tight Lines!
Johnny and Donna
Topsail Beach, NC

The wedding is over-back to catching fish

As many of you know, I got married on Oct 10 and spent the next two weeks in Hawaii. While there, I spent one day Marlin fishing out of Kona. I didn't catch my marlin, but I did get hooked up with an approx. 400+lb Blue Marlin. My wife and I were on the bridge with the first mate when I saw the big blue crash the short left rigging and begin dumping a 130!!! It was very exciting but after about 1/2hour, the hooks pulled. Oh well, that's fishing. At least I got some time in the chair.

Now that I am back, I took Dave and Greg out on Friday to do a little inshore fishing. The morning was slow, but as the wind laid down and the tide started to fall, the bite turned on. We ended up catching a couple of Flounder, over a dozen redfish and a half dozen or so Speckled Trout. A great way to celebrate being back in NC waters. Most fish were caught on a white Gulp shrimp on a 1/4oz jighead.

Sunday, I went back out by myself to do a little grieving and clear my head after having to put my 12-1/2yr old Golden Retriever down. I guess he was looking down on me as the weather was perfect and the backwaters were slick calm. I never did find any large schools of fish, but the bite was steady. The morning bite started out with Redfish eating a gold spoon. While working a grass bank, I saw a Redfish come half out of the water chasing a mullet minnow. I thought to myself, they sure are active this morning, and thought it would be a good time to try a topwater bait. It was a good call as I soon had five more fish in the boat in about 30 minutes. I second guessed myself by leaving those fish in an attempt to locate fish in a different place. That didn't pay off and I eventually ended back up in the same area. Once the tide started to fall, I switched over to a big purple worm and commenced to work the slot reds again. I ended up with over a dozen reds for the day before packing it in and heading for the hill. I love late fall Redfish fishing!!!


Capt. Brent Stanley
Current Adventure Charters
910.200.9959
2009 East Cape Vantage (Hull #3)
90HP Honda 4-stroke


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Hot Speckled Trout Fishing around the area!

Well folks it is Trout Time and I love it! With cooler water temps and a little lighter winds fishing has been pretty good this last week and the start of this one. We did gat a lot of rain but, the water is in good shape for the most part. We are really starting to see some very nice Speckled trout around the area. We caught a 7.2, 5.5 and a half dozen over four pounds this week so far. It was nice to see the 7.2 in the net; the biggest trout I’ve seen in my boat this year. Let’s talk about how we have caught some of these nice trout lately in this weeks fishing report.

Grays and Specks are feeding well around in creeks, channels and inlets. The grays are hitting grubs and jigging spoons. Saltwater Assassin grubs in colors Chart-diamond glitter and Salt-pepper with chart-tail have worked well for the grays. The specks are hitting chicken on a chain, 10w-40 with chart tail and Salt & pepper with chart tail. The body shape that has worked for us is the sea shad in four inch size. In the last few trips we have got a few nice specks off Saltwater Assassin Blurp in shrimp pattern. The colors in blurp that are working are molting, good penny and rootbeer. We are using jig heads in colors pink and red; in weights 3/8oz and ½ oz for the grays and 1/8oz and 1/4oz for the specks. Colors for the jigging spoons that have worked well for the grays are Pink, Green/blue, and gold.

My charters have caught specks on a wide range of “hard” lures this season; some new and some good ole’ timer’s. Mirrolures that are working well for us are the Catch 2000 Jr, 52M and the 17MR. The best Mirrolure colors that are catching the trout are; pink, white on white, chartreuse and silver. Rapala’s X-rap in colors glass ghost and pink have all so been a hit this season. And of course don’t forget those live shrimp; they really do catch the trout! I rig all live bait, grubs and hard lures with fourteen to eighteen inch’s of twenty pound fluorocarbon. Trout have good eye sight and with the mostly clear water around this area, this seems to help us get more bites out of the trout. I really like Stren’s new tinted fluorocarbon leaders, we use gunsmoke tint for clear water apps.

We have caught some nice Flounder while Flounder fishing and also caught some while trying to catch trout lately. The Flounder are running about thirteen to twenty inch’s with a few bigger ones as well. The Flounder are hitting grubs in colors morning glory, chicken on a chain and molting in the blurp grub. When we are just targeting Flounder we are using live bait on Carolina rigs. Finger mullet and mud minnows are doing the trick for those flat fish. Most of the Flounder we are catching are in the creeks and around the inlets.

The red and black drum are showing around the area too. We’ve seen reds and blacks in the waterway (ICW) around docks and oyster rocks. There have been a few reds and blacks around the jetties as well lately. These drum are hitting scented grubs and live bait on the bottom. This week we caught a few black drum over seven pounds around the inlets on blurp grubs.

The trout fishing will only get better; we had lots of fish over four pounds last year. It looks like its going to be another great trout season, I believe that some body will catch a Speckled trout over ten pounds in the Wrightsville beach area this season! Let’s go Trout fishing>>>!

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats and
Pure Fishing Pro Staff
http://www.captainjot.com/
910-233-4139

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Wind Wind Wind!

Lots of wind down here at Topsail over the last several days as the remnants of Ida rolled through. Throw in quite a few inches of rain, and you make for some pretty nasty weather. The last time I checked, It was due to roll on out of here tomorrow. This should make for a nice fall weekend at the beach. Before the winds moved in, the fishing was going quite well. The nice virginia mullet continue to bite at night, along with flounder, drum, (puppy and black (one black drum over 40lbs was caught and released last week from the surf just down from the pier)) blues, a few spots, and some pompano. The trout still haven't shown up in good numbers yet. This is due in large part to the extremely warm water temperatures that we are seeing. It is not unusual for the water to already be in the 50's by now. As it is, it is still in the mid to upper 60's! This is a good thing for lots of other species of fish though. It has the potential to prolong our season by several weeks if everything aligns right! It is hard to say what the results of this blow are going to be on the fishing. It could be just what we need to trigger one last good spot run. I do look for the mullet to return in soon as the water calms enough to make things fishable. Give us a call at the Jolly Roger for an up to date fishing/ocean conditions report!

Come on down to Topsail this weekend and enjoy some of this wonderful mind weather that mother nature has provided us with!

Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Inn and Pier

803 Ocean Blvd.

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-328-4616

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Black Drum! Nice 'uns!

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Email from blog reader
[quote]

Let me start by saying that I read your blog every week to see what is going on fishing wise at Topsail Island. Although I currently live in Brunswick County, I do most of my fishing back in Topsail due to the fact that my family has a beach house there. Just wanted to send this picture of what my father, brother, and myself caught late Saturday evening in "a hole" right off the waterway. Got to the spot about 4 oclock Saturday and fished until about 5:15 or so with live shrimp, minnows, and cut shrimp. They didn't really do anything with the minnows but loved the shrimp. The two largest were just under 7 pounds and the smallest were not quiet 3 pounds. A lot of fun to catch. Kept them all that evening and dad cleaned them. Me and dad went back to the same spot Sunday morning to see if we could get a flounder or a red and the black's were still there and some reds bit as well. Released everything Sunday. Fun weekend.

Mark Benton


[end quote]

Great catch Mark! Thanks for sending the pic and email. Haven't had anything great to post recently. Thanks again.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Incredible Virginia Mullet on the Jolly Roger!

It seems like just yesterday we were announcing the arrival of yet another October, and with it, the outstanding fishing we have all come to expect. It has now come and gone, and I am left to reflect upon one of the best Octobers in recent memory (so far as the fishing is concerned). Sure, there were some slow spells, and the weather didn't always cooperate, but for the most part we couldn't have asked for much better fishing!

That brings us to November. What better way to start the last good month of fishing than with an OUTSTANDING virginia mullet run! Thats right, starting this past Sunday night, and continuing every night thereafter, the quality virginia mullet have been biting in great numbers.

After listening to good reports several nights in a row, I finally made it out last night to get a "first hand" report. All I can say is WOW! In a matter of 3 hours, (from 7-10pm) three of us landed and kept 61 mullet! We culled and threw back all but the largest, and left them biting when we left at 10. This seems to be consistent with all of the reports up and down the pier; from the surf all of the way out to the end. The key was to have FRESH shrimp, the fresh ones were out catching older ones by a margin of at least 2 to 1.

Nice puppy drum are still being landed, and the keeper flounder continue to bite well. One gentleman landed his limit of flounder yesterday using live minnows out on the pier! The speckled trout, although running slightly late this year, are beginning to show in better numbers. From the people fishing the sound/intercoastal, to the ones fishing the holes along the surf, to the ones that chose to drift live baits off of the pier, I have received improving reports throughout the week. One good cold snap should bunch them up and get them firing on all cylinders.

Surf fishermen have been reporting good catches virginia mullet, puppy drum, flounder, black drum, pompano, and blues. The bite has been best at and around low tide. Most all of the larger mullet and pompano are being caught on sand fleas.

Offshore, the king mackerel fishing remains great in the 10-20 mile range. Grouper are still holding on the medium range ledges, and the gags are in their aggressive fall feeding mode. When the weather breaks enough to allow us to make it on offshore to the break, the wahoo are still biting extremely well.

It is supposed to be a beautiful, warm, and sunny weekend. Grab your rods and get on down to the Topsail. There aren't many fish out there that taste better than a virginia mullet!

Tight Lines!

Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Inn and Pier

803 Ocean Blvd.

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-328-4616

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Sea Mullet Bite is Good!

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Hello from Topsail Beach!
Vinita at Surf City Pier says mullets are biting well at the pier. Same at other piers on Topsail.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

It's Big Speckled Trout Time around the area waters!

I hope everybody is enjoying the fall weather; it did get a little warm for a couple days. I think that is over for the most part, I’m ready for more fall weather! Now that the weather is getting back to normal; fishing has really picked up in the last couple of days! With that said here is the fishing report!

Trout has been the story for the most part lately. Grays and Specks are feeding well around in creeks, channels and inlets. The grays are hitting grubs and jigging spoons. Saltwater Assassin grubs in colors Chart-diamond glitter and Salt-pepper with chart-tail have worked well for the grays. The body shape that has worked for us is the sea shad in four inch size. We are using jig heads in colors pink and red; in weights 3/8oz, ½ oz and 1oz. Colors for the jigging spoons that have worked well for the grays are Pink, Green/blue, and gold. Going with bright colors is a good “go too” choice when fishing for gray trout.

The Speckled trout fishing is really getting good and will continue to pick up. We have already caught some very nice trout in the four and five pound range on live and artificial baits. My charters have caught specks on a wide range of lures this season; some new and some good ole’ timer’s. Let’s start with the hard baits. Mirrolures that are working well for us are the Catch 2000 Jr, 52M and the 17MR. The best Mirrolure colors that are catching the trout are; pink, chartreuse and silver. Grubs and soft baits; in the grub style baits colors chart-diamond, silver mullet and chicken on a chain. Yes that is the real name of this grub color.

In the shrimp style grubs the colors we are using; Arkansas glow, clear and bone-diamond. We are rigging the Saltwater Assassin shrimp with worm hooks and Texas style worm weights. We are also using Berkley Gulps new ghost shrimp in New penny color. To the live bait; it’s hard to beat the good ole’ live shrimp, they just work! Rigging the live shrimp on float rigs has worked for us. Don’t forget all you Fly fishermen out there, trout are fun and pretty easy to catch on a fly. Try shrimp and clouser patterns in natural colors and chartreuse & red/white.

False albacore fishing has been good on days when the ocean is calm enough for us to get out. Marie jigs have been the best bet for the albacore. We are using a forty pound mono leader with a loop knot tied to the Marie jig. Colors and size’s; color green and pink in sizes 7gram and 14 gram. These albacore are a lot of fun on light tackle and fly; they are real drag screamers! Red fishing is starting to change around the area; the Reds are starting to move around some with the cooler weather. On lighter wind and sunny days we’re finding fish on the oyster flats. When we find these fish we are using rattling corks with finger mullets to catch them. We’ve also caught some Reds in the ICW around docks and boat landings. Carolina rigs with finger mullet are working well for the dock Reds. On days when I’m using just using lures to catch Reds, we’ve caught Reds on Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in the shrimp pattern, color good penny and pearl.

My charters have caught lots of bluefish while we have been Trout fishing; there really has been all the bluefish you can deal with lately!! If you like catching blues; Go Fishing! Flounder are biting as well, we’ve caught a good number while trout fishing. Some of the flounder are in the three to five pound range; a nice bonus while trout fishing.

Fishing Gear we use:
Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats and
Pure Fishing Pro Staff
http://www.captainjot.com/
910-233-4139

Fishing Topsail Message Board
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Sea Mullet at Jolly Roger

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Just got back from Jolly Roger Pier. Anglers are catching sea mullet, lots of sea mullet. I saw one cooler that had to have seventy five nice ones! There were two happy little boys bragging about their catches. Their Dad says they caught a lot they threw back in. Spots were biting well starting Wednesday. Haven't heard anything about today.

Tight lines!
Johnny

Good Fishing Returns!

I am happy to report that the fishing on Topsail has returned to the normal outstanding fall levels that we expect during Oct.! It started last Thursday with the nice (24-35") puppy drum schooling up and moving along the beach. For two days in a row there was a school that hung out under the end of the pier! Since then there have been good numbers of them caught every day. I spoke someone this afternoon who has been experiencing an outstanding bite from the surf for the past two days. In just a couple hours of fishing this afternoon, he reported landing 9 quality drum himself!

There has also been a good smattering of everything else. When the wind finally cranked back up on Friday afternoon, the big virginia mullet started biting out on the pier. They have caught them consistently every night since then; fresh shrimp has been the key. After a week long absence, the spots reappeared on Saturday and have been off and on since with good runs Sat. and today. The bluefish have been THICK in the mornings and afternoons with most of the action coming on gotcha plugs. Other catches include spanish, (Saturday) nice flounder, black drum, and a few trout.

The water temps have stabilized and remain average to slightly above average for this time of the year. As far as a fishing "outlook" goes, I am hesitant to make any predictions. As a general rule though, I would look for the drum fishing to continue to be outstanding for at least three to four more weeks, (Oct. and Nov. are our best two months for drum) and for the trout to start bunching up upon the arrival of our next cold front. The spots usually remain strong through the 10th of Nov, and then they become a little more hit or miss, but the ones you do catch later in the year are normally the really BIG yellow bellies. Some of the best spot fishing I have ever experienced has been in late Nov. all by myself on the pier. When I say big, I'm am talking about spots that average just under a pound! Virginia mullet fishing is just now starting to hit its prime, and should only get better over the course of the next week or two. I am really excited that the the nice sized mullet in here this early, this bite should continue through Thanksgiving. They are a really fun fish to catch, not to mention they are one of the best eating fish out there! One other fish that generally shows in good numbers in Nov. is the black drum. Just this week I have heard several reports of them being caught from both the pier and surf.

As always, feel free to give us a call at the tackle shop for an up-to-date fishing report.

Until next time,

Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Pier

803 Ocean Blvd.

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-328-4616

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Break In The Action

What can I say... The fish have a mind of their own, and I was wrong. In my last post I commented on the outstanding fishing we had been experiencing, and predicted the trend to continue. I guess even the fish have to take a break every now and then. Starting last Friday and continuing through yesterday there was a downturn in the fishing activity. I think it may have had something to do with the hard NW winds that have prevailed since then. Sometimes when a big weather system moves in, the fish will feed hard beforehand, and then once it hits, they will assume lockjaw for several days while adjusting to the cooler conditions. The wind has just now switched back around to the east, and should remain somewhere in that general direction for the next several days. There are some bright spots to be found within the last several days as well though. I have heard of some great BIG virginia mullet catches, with a few pompano, flounder, and drum thrown in. The mullet have been biting best on live sand-fleas around low tide. The bait is thick about 1/2 mile off of the beach, and I am hoping that this onshore wind will pack it back up against the beach. The fall speckled trout bite is also beginning to pick up. There have been a few really nice ones landed back behind Topsail this week, along with a few from the pier. Make sure to check those "big pompano" closely. Over the last week we have had several people bring in fish to be weighed that they thought were really nice pompano, but turned out to be smaller (1-4lb) permit! Although we don't see a whole lot of permit in this area, it is not unheard of to catch one. What has been surprising is the unusually high numbers of them caught.

I'll try to get another report out towards the end of the week to update whether or not the fishing has picked up any. Its October, the fish have got to bite sometime!

Until next time,

Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Pier

803 Ocean Blvd.

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-328-4616

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Fall Temps=Great Fall Fishing around the area!

Hello from very cool Southeast North Carolina! I said it last week but, I really mean it this week; fall is REALLY showing this week! Very cool temps and lots of wind, but Fishing is good and getting better every day with the fall weather!

The Speckled trout are really starting to show and we are seeing some bigger fish around the area. The best trout bites lately have been on hard baits. Mirrolures in patterns 17MR in colors; pink, chartreuse and bone have been very productive for us. We are also catching some of the trout in deeper water with grubs. The best grub colors for us have been; chart-diamond, greenback shiner, chicken on a chain and silver mullet. In the Shrimp pattern colors; clear, bone-diamond and root beer. Rig the grubs and shrimp patterns on a red or black jig head for best results.

Red fishing is starting to change around the area; the Reds are starting to move around some with the cooler weather. On lighter wind and sunny days we’re finding fish on the oyster flats. When we find these fish we are using rattling corks with finger mullets to catch them. We’ve also caught some Reds in the ICW around docks and boat landings. Carolina rigs with finger mullet are working well for the dock Reds. On days when I’m using just using lures to catch Reds, we’ve caught Reds on Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in the shrimp pattern, color good penny and pearl.

We are still catching Flounder around the inlets and in the creeks. Most of the fish in the creeks are running a little smaller but there are some keepers still. The Flounder around inlets are running a little bigger than the inshore fish. Most of the Flounder are eating Mullet and Mud minnows on light Carolina rigs. We have caught some Flounder on Artificial baits as well. We have had the best luck with Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in molting and pearl colors. In none scented grubs; colors like chicken on a chain, chart-diamond and morning glory are working well for the Flounders.

Gary trout have been biting well this last week. We are seeing the grays around the inlets and just off the beach on live bottom and small ledges. We are catching most of the Grays the same way we’ve been catching the Flounder; Carolinas rigs and live bait. My favorite live bait for Grays is finger mullet. If you would rather use lures, small jigging spoons and grubs will work just fine. I like to put a shot of scent on my grubs; “Bang’s” shrimp, crab, and Taxes tea are some of my favorites.

Lots of Bluefish are showing up all most everywhere; creeks, ICW, inlets and the ocean. Blues are easy and fun to catch; bright lures, silver, gold and pink are my favorite colors “go bright”! We are casting jigs and spoons around the inlets and/or when the birds are working the surface. They are also fun on a light fly rod and one of the few fish that are easy to catch on a fly rod!
The Fishing gear we use:

Reds, Trout, Blues and Flounder: Reels Penn Sargus and Conquer spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Rods: All Star ASR inshore series 7’ med action and Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. Fourteen pound Berkley Fireline Crystal.

In other fishing news:

The 2009 Cape Fear Red-Trout Celebrity Classic to benefit Cystic fibrosis was held this last weekend 10-15 to 10-17. I really enjoy fishing this tournament year after year. It’s fun and there are a lot of very talented guides that fish this tournament. I had the pleasure fishing with Adam Meyer and Liz Bielski with Charter Lakes Insurance group again this year. I’m very happy to announce that team Charter Lakes took: Runner-up Grand Champion Angler, Lady Angler Grand Champion and the Largest Trout divisions. Liz caught more fish than Adam again this year, congrats Liz, great job! I look forward to fishing this tournament again next year.

Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fishing to ya,

Captain Jot Owens

Ranger boats and

Pure Fishing Pro staff

http://www.captainjot.com/

910-233-4139

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SPOTS! SPOTS! SPOTS! HUGE RED DRUM

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Spots are biting two at a time at Surf City Pier. Right now spots are being caught two at a time. Weather is crummy and surf is rough, which is great for spot fishing. Blood worms are probably catching five to one over cut fresh shrimp. Pompano and sea mullets, and black drum are biting also. I saw more flounder today than in a long time. One angler had six beauties. I probably saw 20 to 25 small under limit flounder go back in the water. Also saw a 23 to 24 inch speckled trout caught on a live shrimp, carolina rig. Don't have a report from the other piers, but it's probably much of the same. Wind, rain, nasty weather............. perfect for spot fishing! Go Get 'um! If you can find a place to squeeze in with the shoulder to shoulder, suds to the end of pier, spot frenzy. Man, I had forgotten how good the cappuccino at Surf City Pier is, until today while fishing in the cold damp weather at the pier.

Got this email and picture from a blog reader. Thanks to Mark Watkins for sending the pic.

[quote]
Caught this red drum one just off the pier in the coast last Sunday Oct. 4th.

We estimated over 40lbs before thowing it back.

Fought around 20-25 minutes on 5-10lb test.

Too much fun.
[end quote]




Now THAT'S a red drum! Congrats Mark!

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Cooling Trend-Great Fishing 10/14/09

Hello all! Sorry it has been so long in between reports.

Great fishing continues down here at Topsail. The spots, mullet, flounder, drum, and lots of blues, spanish, and pompano have been biting on the Jolly Roger since my last post. It just doesn't get much better than the fishing we have had this past week.

There have been many citation size pompano and mullet weighed in. They are being caught on sand-fleas and shrimp both on the pier and in the surf. Up until this blow started the plugging for blues and spanish had been incredible, what all this wind does to that fishing is yet to be seen.

Two kings were caught on the end of the pier (largest 26lb) plus a bonus 29lb red drum last week! These big reds are really making a comeback in this area. I have talked with several people who have located large schools of these big (25-50lb) drum cruising up and down the beach! The king mackerel bite continues to be strong along the nearshore hard bottom areas. Live bait seems to have been the ticket recently.

Offshore the wahoo fishing remains awesome! We have been out several times in the last week and have brought back some really nice catches of fish. The gag grouper bite is about as good as it gets right now as well!

As I look at the long range forecast I am excited by the promise of continued cooling temps and northerly winds. Make sure to bring your warm clothes if you plan fish this weekend. The forecast is calling for lows in the mid 40's down here starting Thursday! That should really get the fish in a feeding mode!

Good luck and be safe out there!

Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Pier

803 Ocean Blvd.

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-328-4616

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Huge Spots at Jolly Roger Pier

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Donna and I walked to Jolly Roger Pier tonight. At about 8 pm, the spots were being caught two at a time by many anglers. One family we talked to said they had caught 28 fish in the last 30 minutes. And they were nice, big yellow bellies. The wind is not "right", and is coming out of the south. I can't recall seeing this happen before. Almost all of my experiences have been northeast wind when the big spots are biting in the fall and early winter. But anyway, they are biting tonight. I don't know about the other piers or the surf. We are planning a trip to the inlet in the morning. Maybe the bite will continue. I'll let you know when we return home. To anyone else fishing in the morning, good luck to you. See you on the beach!

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny and Donna

Up & Down Weather around the Area=Good Fishing.

Well Folks, fall is really showing strong this week! A real roller coaster of weather: one day with hot temps and light winds the very next day very windy and rainy and then cool temps. Hey that’s what gets those fall fish biting so we can’t complain too much. With that said lets talk fall fishing!

We’ve had some very good Spanish Mack runs lately. Most of the Spanish are hitting Clark spoons on number one planners, a few fish have hit on top as well. We have also caught some on Fly’s and Marie jigs casting when the Spanish get on top to feed. The Spanish are very nice in size; most fish are two to some over four pounds “nice fall size”. They are biting just off the beach to about two miles off the beach. I don’t know how much longer they will be here with the cooler air moving in; will just have to see!

The Flounder fishing has been good for the most part, on some trips we’ve caught over twelve keeper fish. Most of the Flounder are eating Mullet and Mud minnows on light Carolina rigs. The Flounder are mixed in size to just under keeper size to a few over five pounds. We have caught some Flounder on Artificial baits as well. We have had the best luck with Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in molting color and “Chicken on a chain” color grubs. Rig the grubs on a red or black jig head for best results.

Redfish schools are starting to show up in the surf. You can find these schools of twenty to over a thousand Redfish around inlets, outer sand bars and jetties. Once you find these schools there pretty easy to catch if the weather is calm. We cast half once and one once jig heads with five inch Saltwater Assassin jerk shads in colors molting and pearl. You will need a good pair of polarized sunglasses to see these Reds in the surf!

We’ve caught some bigger bull Redfish in and around the local inlets. We are catching Reds in the 24 to over 32 inch range, some days their over the slot some days their in the slot. Most of the Reds around the inlets are hitting mullets and fresh menhaden on Carolina rigs; using heavier egg sinkers with circle hooks 9/0 to 11/0. On some days we have had some luck on Saltwater Assassin Blurp grubs in colors molting and pearl; using heavier jig heads.

And last but Not lest, Speckled Trout are starting to show and bite! The Speckled trout fishing has gotten better and better around this area every year! It looks like it will be the same this year as well; “I Can’t wait, I love Trout fishing”! The best trout bites lately have been on grubs and hard baits, but we have caught some on the good ‘ole live shrimp as well. The best grub colors for us have been; chart-diamond, greenback shiner, chicken on a chain and silver mullet. In the Shrimp pattern colors; clear, bone-diamond and root beer. Rig the grubs and shrimp patterns on a red or black jig head for best results.

Hard lure’s that seem to be bringing the trout to the boat are Mirrolures and X-raps in colors pink, chartreuse, and white. Most of the trout we have caught have been in the creeks and main channels connecting to the ICW and inlets.

The Fishing gear we use:

Reds, Trout and Flounder: Reels Penn Sargus and Conquer spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. Fourteen pound Berkley Fireline Crystal. Bull Redfish: Penn spinning reel 760L (Live Liner) and Penn Torque 100TRQ. Rods: Penn Torque 6’6” 30-80 class spinning and Torque 6’ 80-130 casting. Line: forty pound Spider wire Ultracast.

I’m writing on a new and great web site: http://www.proanglersjournal.com/ take a look at the site lots of good fishing info and insight!

Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fishing to ya,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger boats and
Pure Fishing Pro staff
http://www.captainjot.com/
910-233-4139

* Our prayers are with the family of the young man who died working on a boat at a local marine dealership.

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

SC Pier Report

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

My friend Ken and I fished Surf City Pier today, and although we didn't catch much, we saw a lot of nice fish being cleaned and in coolers. The spanish ran all day, off and on. I heard of one 10 fish limit, and saw another 9 fish creel of good two to four pound fish! There were several keeper flounder today on live mullet and live shrimp. Bloodworms caught some nice spots, (yellow bellies) but there hadn't been a lot of them as we left about 8:30 pm. It seemed you had to be there all day to get respectable numbers of anything. I caught my first puffer of the fall season, and would have kept it if there had been enough for supper. But the one is all I caught. Again, bait was plentiful in the water most of the day. Several netters said they had filled their freezers with bait this week. We saw lots of yellow butterflies coming ashore today. You know the old timers say when they show up, the big fall yellow belly spots are right behind them. If I got my weather report right this evening, we should have NE wind Tomorrow, and that should bring the spots in. There were lots of big pompano, citation size, caught in the surf today, mostly on fleas fished right on the sandbar.

Sea View and Jolly Roger piers report much the same as Surf City. I haven't heard of many trout coming from the surf or piers this week, water is still a bit warm for the schools of specks to show up. Shouldn't be too long now.

My fishing bud and friend Caleb caught a nice over slot red at the inlet, and his friend (sorry dude, I can't remember your name..... old age I guess) caught a pretty 25 incher. The guys are going after flounder tonight, I'll post the results tomorrow.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Good Fishing Continues!

Just a quick update:

Fishing has been great for the last couple of days. Both yesterday and today there have been lots of really nice pompano caught on the pier and surf, with many being citation size fish. The fall spanish mackerel bite continues to be one of the best I have seen in a long time. Limits of spanish have been brought off the pier on a regular basis since Sunday. These aren't your ordinary small to medium sized fish either, most have been in the 2-4lb range!! Just heard from some people at the pier who are reporting a good flounder bite this morning; most being nice size keepers. Spots and mullet are still around as well with most caught after dark. Yesterday I weighed a 5 1/2lb pompano that a gentleman caught while surf fishing with sand-fleas. The strong near-shore king bite that began last week has continued. Lots of good sized kings with several over 30lbs have been caught near the beach this week.

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DMF PROPOSES ARTIFICIAL REEF OFF OAK ISLAND

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email
Cheryl Gilgo to me

MOREHEAD CITY – The N. C. Division of Marine Fisheries will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Oak Island Recreational Center to solicit public comments in favor of or opposition to the building of a new artificial reef off Brunswick County.

The proposed reef will be located approximately 2.5 miles offshore from the 1600 block of East Beach Drive in Oak Island. The reef will be circular in shape with a radius of approximately 500 yards.

The reef center will be located at approximately Latitude 33°52.503, Longitude 78°08.666. This is about 5.5 miles from the Lockwood Folly Sea Buoy and 5.9 miles from Cape Fear Sea Buoy.

Construction of the reef is financed by the Long Bay Artificial Reef Association.

For more information, contact Gregg Bodnar, of the N.C. Artificial Reef Program, at (252) 808-8053 or Gregg.Bodnar@ncdenr.gov.