New Years Eve Fishing Report, Topsail Island

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City! Well, it's almost the new year, and it's getting really cold, but fish are still stirring around in the surf at Topsail Island. Nice reds, and dink trout were active in the surf today. Wind is fierce, and it took a lot of lead to keep your bottom rig down. It was way too windy to fish a mirro-lure without some modifications. I have fished them with a three way swivel and lead, but I didn't do that today. I like to let my bottom rig "wander" in the surf when it's rough unless there are a lot of anglers on the beach. Today, there were a lot of beach combers, but not many anglers. BRRRR! It's getting windy and COLD! Gotta turn on the heat, have a cup of coffee and watch a basketball game. (If I can find one on cable)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny aka "FishinTopsail"

Specks Still Around Topsail

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City! I got a report today from a friend that knows a friend. Ok, so this report is unverified, but it's a report never the less. And this time of year, any report is a good report. So my friend says he and a friend were talking and the friend says he hasn't fished Topsail in years. So my friend suggested he give it a try. So this past weekend, they hit the beach and "BAM" first spot they fished they landed 15 keeper specks! No monsters, but keepers anyway. They move on another spot and land "at least thirty" but most were too small. Anyway, they had a great day fishing on Topsail, and the speckled trout are still around. Better go get them while you can!

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny
Surf City, NC

Merry Christmas to All!

Hello from Surf City! Donna and I wish you all a very merry Christmas! We pray that you will be healthy and happy, and be blessed this Christmas Season. We would like to thank you all for reading our blog, and for all your kind emails and comments.

Merry Christmas!

Johnny and Donna

Stripers and Black Drum

Is it the first day of winter? It sure feels like spring to me! Let’s not rush things now! The weather has been so up and down lately warm and wet then cold and dry; welcome to North Carolina! I hope everyone has a Marry Christmas and a good fishing new year! To the fishing report we go>>>

Those Cape Fear River stripers are still biting. Most of the stripers have been in the 18” to 25” range with a few bigger stripers mixed in too. We got another very nice cape fear striper yesterday (12-20) the striper was just over 29” and around fourteen pounds. She hit an X-rap in the color blue back, while drifting on a drop-off. The numbers were not as high as other trips but the fish are nice in size.

There has been a few stripers hitting top water in the mornings, I don’t think this will last much longer with more cold air coming our way. We’ve caught a fair amount of stripers on jerk shad soft baits; Saltwater Assassin’s (Blurp) in colors pearl and Elec-chicken have done the trick. We are rigging the shad lures Texas style.

The speckled trout have been hit and miss lately, some days we catching some days we don’t. When we do get them; live shrimp has worked, as well as grubs have. The water has been little dirty from the rains and wind we’ve had. This has changed my color pattern some with the grubs. The colors I like to use when the water is stained; pearl, chicken on a chain and space guppy.

We’ve caught a good amount of black drum and small sheephead around the Masonboro jetties lately. Some of the drum are over ten pounds. They are hitting live and fresh shrimp; using Carolina rigs with EC L42 #1 size hooks and thirty pound mono leaders. We fish for them up and down the jetties; dropping the rigs along the rocks on the bottom.

The Fishing gear we use:

Drum Trout and Stripers: Reels Pflueger Medalist spinning in sizes 6035 and 6040. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. 12 & 20 pound Ugly Braid. Bait cast rod and reel combo Pflueger Supreme low profile with an All Star Platinum P845MC 7’ rod. Great striper set up!

In Other Fishing News: There are some great boat and fishing expos coming this winter to North Carolina. If you like fishing and boats you don’t want to miss these shows and fishing seminars! Here are the one’s that myself as well as other Ranger boats pro staff members will be at this winter.

January 9-11, 2009 - Raleigh Bass & Saltwater Fishing Expo NC State Fairgrounds - Raleigh, NC. http://www.ncboatshows.com/ This is a GREAT show, with over 160 booths offering everything from the latest lures, plastics, jigs, custom rods, apparel, knives, product sample booths, hard-tops, saltwater charters, fresh water guides, cast nets, gaffs.....by far one of the best shows of its kind in the Carolina's and Virginia. I will be there along with other Ranger pro staff members who include; Jeff Cronk of Fish’n 4 Life charters and Capt. Mike Taylor of Taylor-Made charters, as well as many others fresh and salt water pros! I will have tarpon and cobia fishing seminars all three days of this show.

January 23-25, 2009 - Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show - Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ One of our top Ranger pro staff members will be at this show; C.A. Richardson of Flats Class TV and team Evinrude. This show will have lots of boats for you to take a look at, get in and get a feel for; “maybe you will find your next boat there!

January 31, 2009 - Saltwater Sportsman National Seminar Series – Wilmington, NC. http://www.nationalseminarseries.com/ Location: Hilton Riverside Wilmington- Grand Ballroom. This is a great day of seminars from local, regional and national fishing captains and guides! You can learn a lot at this great day of seminars.

February 20-22, 2009 - Carolina Power & Sailboat Show NC State Fairgrounds - Raleigh, NC. http://www.ncboatshows.com/ This show will have lots of nice boats to see!

March 21, 2009 Saltwater Fishing School Saturday, 2615 Jefferson Davis Hwy (US 1 South) - Sanford, NC. http://www.northcarolinasportsman.com/
This all-day event will feature successful tournament anglers, prominent charter captains, top notch guides, knowledgeable pro team members, experienced local fishermen, and well-informed industry professionals giving tips, plus explaining lures and techniques used to catch everyone's favorite fish.

If you get a chance you should really take the time to visit some of these shows and seminars. You will learn lots of great info from the fishing seminars and see some great new boats! For more info on these shows and seminars just go to the links on this page.

Thanks for reading this report; I’ll see ya on the water!

Good Luck Fishing,

Captain Jot Owens
http://www.captainjot.com/
910-233-4139



Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City!

Christmas Week Fishing Forcast at Topsail

Fishing Topsail Message Board
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

Cape Fear Fishing

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City!
I fished yesterday at Carolina Beach Inlet,weather was just perfect no wind,temperture was right at 70 degrees,great day for December in the Cape Fear Region of North Carolina.
I did managed to catch some live menhaden about 4" to 5" size just right for the red drum to eat.The bite started about and hour before high tide and lasted till the water started to rush out the inlet really fast ! Most of the reds were in the 16' to 17' size,with some black drum mixed in,we did manage to catch several red fish that were 18" to 20".
If you are interested in doing some winter time fishing,pick a day with mild tempertures,for you will be able to enjoy your charter.
Give Capt.Mike Dennis a call at 910-619-0928
Cape Fear Guide
Capt.Mike@charter.net

Seaview Pier Damaged by Fire

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City! The Seaview Pier was damaged by fire. They had closed up for the day. There were 4 fisherman on the pier at the time of the fire. No one was injured. The fire started inside the pier house. I hear there was a lot of damage to the pier house. More info when I get it.

The trout bite in the surf has slowed. There are still a few dinks being caught, mostly on bottom rigs with cut shrimp. I am hearing the bite is still good inside, but I don't have any details right now.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Topsail Speck Update

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City! Rain all day yesterday. I got a report this morning that small "dinks" speckled trout were being caught recently on Surf City Pier. Almost all dinks. Only a very few kepper size trout, maybe about 25 or 30 to one. None reported over 16 inches. There were a few small puffers on the pier and a few in the surf. No word on flounder or sea mullet. A few nice trout and reds found in the inside waters. Thats all for now.

Tight lines!
Johnny
Surf City

YAUPON PIER UPDATE and TOPSAIL TROUT

Yaupon Pier, Oak Island, NC

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City!

Check out the post (below this post) from Capt. Jot Owens. Capt Jot has been pulling in the stripers in the river in Wilmington. If you want in on the action, give him a call and he can make it happen. Thanks to Capt. Jot for keeping us informed with his posts to our blog.

I have been getting emails asking about the trout bite at Topsail Island. So here is what I found out today. Not verified, but here it is anyway. Although the water was rough as a cob and the wind was blowing hard near the New Topsail Inlet, trout were busting Mirro-lure baits NON STOP! Almost every cast would result in a legal keeping size speckled trout. The angler I talked to ask not to be identified, so I won't. He says that although the specks were thick, no one was keeping the fish, with the exception of a couple of 16 inch to 20 inch fish. Along with the speckled trout, there were some stray puppy drum, but all on the small size. I am still hearing of a few, now very few, large whiting or sea mullets coming from the surf. Mostly on live shrimp, while fishing for speckled trout. A sea mullet that can swallow a live shrimp has got to be a big 'un! Lots of small puffers (good eating!) can be caught on cut shrimp. The fillets on a small puffer isn't very much meat, just a small bite, but some folks will spend the time to clean even the small ones. Can't much blame them, (I'm just lazy I guess) they are so good to eat, but can be time consuming and uncomfortable in the cold wind with mist and rain. So if you want them, they seem to be there.

UPDATE ON YAUPON PIER ON OAK ISLAND

Here is an article from the starnewsonline.com website. Worth the read.

[quote]
By Shelby Sebens
Staff Writer

Published: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 7:40 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 at 7:50 a.m.

Oak Island | A divided council on Tuesday night accepted a $300,000 grant from the state to put toward its purchase of the Yaupon Beach Fishing Pier, which closed after going into foreclosure more than a year ago.

The N.C. Division of Coastal Management public access grant requires a 25 percent match by the town, town manager Jerry Walters said after the council's regular meeting.

The council voted 3-2, with members Dara Royal and Bob Seidel dissenting, to accept the grant. The town had already received another $500,000 state matching grant for the project. With both grants in hand the town still needs almost $900,000 to buy the pier from Cooperative Bank and fix it up.

The $1.5 million pier will require $185,000 in repairs.

Seidel said he did not want to appear ungrateful for the funding, but that he could not vote for the resolution to accept the grant, which was a last-minute addition to the agenda.

"I just have a hard time voting for something that I don't have in print in front of me," he said.

Royal said she voted against the purchase, as she has consistently done, because she favors a conservation easement for the property instead.

The town plans to take out a loan for the remaining cost and eventually pay it off with more grants.

Walters said he has met with the Local Government Commission, which has to approve the town's financing. He said the council has the go ahead to look for a loan.

The town plans to lease the pier to a private entity after it's fixed up.

Councilman Jeff Ensminger, who made the motion to accept the grant, said state Rep. Bonner Stiller, R-Brunswick, played a significant role in speeding up the process so the town could get the funding. "You might want to thank him," he said.

Some members of the public have spoken out against the town's pier purchase. At a packed meeting in October when the council voted to buy the pier, many said it is a reckless way to spend taxpayer dollars.

Shelby Sebens: 264-8005

shelby.sebens@starnewsonline.com

[end quote]

Thanks for taking time to read my blog, and a special thanks for supporting our sponsors, so I can continue the blog.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny and Donna
"Fishin' Topsail"

The Cape Fear River Stripers are Biting!

Well Folks, it seems like one day its winter and the next its fall or spring! The weather has really been up and down; but there have been some very nice days as well! Those days are the ones we look for to get out on the water and catch a few fish! We’ve had some great catches lately; let’s talk about that in this weeks fishing report.

The Cape Fear River stripers are biting well and some days great! We have caught from ten to over thirty some days. The stripers are hitting hard baits as well as “jerk shad” pattern soft baits. The hard baits that are working for us have been X-raps in colors white ghost and green back. Jerk shads that seem to do the trick have been Saltwater Assassin “Blurp” in colors pearl and electric chicken. In the non-scented shad colors chicken on a chain and white. We are rigging the jerk shad Texas style.

The stripers are holding in around creek mouths, sharp drop-offs and docks. You name it there is probably a striper near by! We’ve caught them trolling as well as casting; the bigger striper we are catching while casting. There are a few trout, redfish and catfish mixed in too.

There is still a trout bite going on, most of the trout we are catching are around the inlets. We are fishing the live shrimp on float rigs and light Carolina rigs. Fishing around the Masonboro jetties and Carolina beach inlet; on the falling and raising tides.

Artificial baits that are producing for us have been grubs, shrimp grubs and hard baits. One grub color by Saltwater Assassin that has really been a great one this season is the new color (Chicken on a Chain). Some other colors that are producing well are salt & pepper, chart-diamond, space guppy and pearl. All these grubs are in the (sea shad) pattern. Don’t forget as the water temps drop fast; slow your retrieve on the grubs for the trout.

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing give me a call.

The Fishing gear we use:

Reds, Trout and Stripers: Reels Pflueger Medalist spinning in sizes 6035 and 6040. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy. 12 & 20 pound Ugly Braid. Bait cast rod and reel combo Pflueger Supreme low profile with an All Star Platinum P845MC 7’ rod. Great striper set up!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
http://www.captainjot.com/
910-233-4139

Wrightsville Beach NC Charter fishing
Wilmington NC Fishing Charters





Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City!

SC Pier Trip

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City!
The wind changed today and was coming out of the North East. I fished a bit today from the surf and from Surf City Pier. I saw small puffers, and a bunch of small black drum, We also caught dink trout, but no keepers. I even saw a spot caught on SC Pier. I thought they were all gone by now. There were a surprising number of anglers on the beach today, starting just north of SC pier and up past Surfside Mote, but I didn't see any keepers. It wasn't a bad day weather wise, we had a few really light sprinkles, more like a mist than rain, and was cloudy most of the day. The light wind wasn't real cold, and a sweatshirt is all I needed to stay comfortable. That's all I have for now. Stay tuned!

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny and Donna
Surf City, NC

Report from Al

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City!

Here is a fishing forecast that I received from friend and fellow angler Al from NC Fishing Pier Society

Thanks to Al for this report.

[quote]
Outer Banks: Nag Head area: Good for speckled trout to 7.5 pounds in the surf and at piers. Also good for puppy drum and a few big red drum. Oregon Inlet area: Trophy-sized stripers just offshore and around the bar at the inlet, yellowfin tuna and some king mackerel offshore. Hatteras Island: Blues, speckled trout, puppy drum and a few big drum to 46 inches and whiting in the surf and at piers from Avon to Frisco. Excellent king mackerel action for fish in the 20-pound class off Hatteras Village. Ocracoke Island: Black drum, blues, scattered flounder and puppy drum in the surf; Morehead City area:
Continuing good for gray trout and speckled trout in the marshes and at the Cape Lookout rock jetty; king mackerel to 40 pounds 30 miles offshore in warm water.

Southeastern N.C. Coast: Flounder, puppy drum, trout in the backwaters. Some kings offshore near the Frying Pan Light Tower. Black drum at piers.
[end quote]

I also got a report from Wrightsville Beach today, that any angler that had sand fleas could catch plenty of two pound plus sea mullets (whiting). Sounds good to me.

We will appreciate any reports that our readers will send. It has been hard for me to get out lately due to family obligations.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny and Donna
Surf City, NC

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny
Surf City, NC

Topsail Island Specks

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Hello from Surf City!
The specks are still biting, but the bulk of them are small. It's getting hard to find a nice speck (15 inches or better). Mirro-lure still seems to be the best bait, but colors vary greatly from day to day. Also catching are plastic grubs, and Berkley Gulp Swimming Mullet and Berkley Gulp Shrimp. Again, I wish I could give you colors, but every day they are different. The water temps are still dropping, and stand in the middle 50's. When the temp drops below 52*, the specks will start to move out. I am still hearing about some black drum, and still hearing of a few very large sea mullets, in the 2 1/2 to 3 pound range. I would love to have about a dozen of those lunkers. The weather was a bit warmer today, wind was lot's more calm, a nice day to throw that mirro-lure or jig.

Check out these pictures. Is it real? If so this is a huge fish, and I would have loved to catch it! If it isn't real, someone is really good with photo-shop!








That's all I have for now.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny
Surf City

Big Speckled Trout are biting NOW!

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2008 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide



I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends. Maybe you got out on the water or in the woods; the weather was pretty good for the most part! The warmer weather should help the local inshore and near shore fishing. I got out on the water before Thanksgiving and those big Speckled trout were biting! Let’s get to that in this fishing report.

I think the trout bite should carry on with this hit of warmer weather; the water temp has come up a few degrees. This is a very good thing; the water temp almost got to low to fast in the last couple of weeks. Here are a few tricks for colder water trout fishing. Work jigs and hard baits slower; use baits that don’t sink as fast. This will keep the lures looking more natural for cold water and slow moving fish.

The real winner for the most part on the Specks has been; you guessed it Live Shrimp, especially the four to over seven pound trout! We are fishing the live shrimp on float rigs and light Carolina rigs. Fishing around the Masonboro jetties; on the falling and raising tides. I know the live shrimp are not cheep, but they really do work! I always have some in the live well this time of year.

We have caught some trout on grubs; numbers has been the deal with the grubs. I had a few charters caught well over thirty trout in less then four hours grub fishing. Grubs colors that have been productive; chart-diamond, silver mullet, salt & pepper-chart tail and chicken on a chain. These grubs are in the (sea shad) pattern and are made by Saltwater Assassin. I’ve really had great luck this season keeping the jig heads light (weight) for grub fishing. We’re using 1/8 and ¼ oz for the most part in colors red and black.

The Flounder have been a nice bonus for us lately while we are trout fishing; most of the fish are in the 15 to 20inch range (good eating size). The flounder are hitting the live shrimp as well as the grubs we are using. We are catching most of our flounder in the creeks and around the inlets; they are usually not far from the trout.

We are starting to see a few stripers showing up in and around the Cape Fear River. Most are in the smaller range two to ten pounds; with the colder water temps bigger ones should start to show up very soon.

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line!

Fishing Gear we use:

Trout and Flounder: Reels Pflueger Medalist spinning in sizes 6030 and 6035. Line: Ugly braid 10 and 15# Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med-light& Med. Another new rod that has just been a treat to use for the trout this season has been the All Star ASR series: ASR844S. This is truly a very sensitive rod for feeling those light trout bites! Check it out at www.allstarrods.com

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Wrightsville Beach NC Charter fishing
Wilmington NC Fishing charters