Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide
Hello from Surf City! The surf water temps are between 55* and 58*, and we still have a bunch of specks in the surf. They are small, and the bite is mostly at night. The best baits have been black or other dark mirro-lures. In the day time, grubs especially Berkley Gulp Saltwater, are producing some little dinks. A few are biting cut fresh shrimp. Haven't gotten a report on fishing the ICW and creeks, but I am sure they are there somewhere. Just got to find them. The specks will be moving into the deeper holes in the creeks soon as the water temps drop below 50*. I have heard of one slot red drum caught in the surf near New Topsail Inlet early in the morning. The angler said it sure was good eating. He put it on the grill and cooked it really slow. MMMMM! Sounds yummy. While I was throwing a mirro-lure this afternoon, north of Surf Condo's, there were a couple thousand birds, out past the breakers, probably about a thousand feet or so, and they were busting the water so fast I couldn't count them. Don't know what was out there, but I wish I could have gotten out there with a boat or a kayak. There had to be something pushing the bait to the surface to attract that many birds. It could have been a school of stripers heading south. The striped bass are showing up in the Cape Fear. There have been some good catches downtown Wilmington near the bridge. Check out my Fishing Charters page and book your trip now if you want to fish the Cape Fear and get in on this fast and furious action. I hear the guides are filling up their schedule quickly. We don't catch many stripers here on Topsail, don't know why, but they just don't come in close enough here to get a bait to them.
These striper pics are from Captain Jot Owens who posts a regular report on our website www.fishintopsail.com. Thanks for the pics Capt. 
Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny
