Fishin' is Getting Better!

Blues everywhere!

Although surf fishing is still a bit slow, Fishing from any of Topsail Island's three piers has really come alive this week. I fish Surf City Ocean Pier so I am more familiar with the fishing here. I am seeing lots of small blues being caught on GotCha plugs, and color doesn't seem to matter. Blues are hitting from the suds all the way to the end of the pier. Most are a little small, but there have been a few nice ones. A huge twelve pounder was caught off the end where it hit a king rig. A six pounder was also caught, but I haven't been able to get exactly where on Surf City Ocean Pier it was caught. At night the virginia mullet bite is picking up, and I have seen some coolers with more than a few nice mullet. The size of the mullets has really improved this week, with some about a pound. I have seen a few speckled and gray trout, as well as a few black drum. I had estimated that it would be another week before I started seeing puppy drum in the ocean, but they are already being caught from the pier, and at least one was past the "puppy" stage. Unfortunately the big fish was not landed, but it was fought to the pier and was lost while trying to get the monster into a landing net. The huge redfish looked to be at least 30 to 36 inches long. I have caught several baby flounder, under the 14 inch size limit, and I have heard of several from 14 to 17 inches long being caught on mud minnows and finger mullet. If you boat or fish the inland side of the island, you can be in for some really great action. Reds are plentiful although easily spooked. They can be seen "tailing" in shallow water while eating bait on the bottom. The fish get almost vertical and the end of their tails will be visible. The season's first spanish mackerel was caught this week at Jolly Rodger Pier. So, although the angling action hasn't yet reached a "feeding frenzy", fishing is good and I only expect it to get better. The water temp is at 64 degrees, according to Chris Medlin at East Coast Sports. As the water gets a few degrees warmer, the mullet, flounder, and drum (both red drum and black drum) fishing should get even better. Till next time......
Tight Lines, Johnny