What a great first week of October! Fishing across the board has elevated itself to the expected fall levels. You name it; on the pier, in the surf, or offshore, people have been reporting great catches of fish this past week.
Pier: We have had some really, really good fishing over the course of the last week on the Jolly Roger Pier. The spots have been off and on throughout the week with great runs last weekend, and then again last night and today. When the water is calm and clear they have been biting much better at night. Virginia mullet are starting to show in decent numbers at night as well. During the day there have been a few nice pompano brought in with several weighed in over 2lbs. The spots have been biting best on bloodworms, with the artificial worms being close second. Mullet and pompano are falling for fresh shrimp and or sand-fleas.
For the people dragging live mullet and strip bait in the shallows there has been a solid flounder bite in the mornings and afternoons. Most of the flounder are in the 14-18inch range with some throwbacks mixed in. Since the early run of drum a couple of weeks ago, there has been a smattering of puppy drum mixed in with the other fish, but no good runs to speak of. I think this is due to the absence of the hard NE winds and clearer water.
Blues have been present throughout the week in the mornings and afternoons on got-cha plugs, and then on cut bait after dark. The big news on the pier this morning has been the GREAT spanish run! As I arrived at the pier from church (11am) lots of people were coming off the pier with their limits of spanish! These were all nice sized fish in the 1-3lb range. Most, if not all were caught on got-cha plugs with blue/white, green/white, and white/white, being the most productive colors.
Although the king fishermen haven't caught any kings this week, it is only a matter of time. All the dirty rain water that has been pouring out into the ocean over the last week has finally begun to clear, and they had a the first king strike of the week this morning.
Surf: Surf fishing has picked up dramatically since my last report. The NE wind we had a couple weeks ago cut some really nice sloughs up and down the beach! I have seen some excellent sized pompano brought in with several over 4lbs! The larger fall virginia mullet are also starting to show up along with the pompano. Both of these fish are biting fresh shrimp and sand-fleas.
The southern tip of Topsail was opened up to driving this past Thursday and there has been a crowd down there trying for the drum. A few drum have been caught, but most of the reports I have heard indicated better mullet, pompano, and blue fishing. It shouldn't be long before the drum are again cruising the surf in big schools, and eating any and everything that happens in front of them; just wait for the next good NE blow.
Offshore: The offshore fishing has been on fire for the last 10 days. King mackerel are making there annual showing on the nearshore hard bottom/ledges and artificial reefs. I heard from one boat who caught over 30 in two days of fishing last week! Live blues, pogies, and cigar minnows were producing some of the most aggressive bites. If you are not able to catch any live bait a box of dead cigars will suffice until you can jig some live ones up. Grouper fishing is also good right now with a strong fall gag bite happening. We weighed a 21lb gag and a 13lb american red that were caught while fishing on the Vonda Kay last week. Offshore in the gulf stream the wahoo bite is going off! I fished last Thursday aboard the 26' Jones Brothers "Pierless". We had an awesome catch of 7 wahoo, and 2 sailfish releases out of 30 bites! Most of our fish were from 25-40lbs, but I heard of several wahoo caught over 70lbs. Almost all fish were caught on ballyhoo with some fished behind skirts. Bluewater Candy Jags and Mini-Jags were hot.
All and all the fishing is just about as good as it gets. Now is the time to grab your rods, nock off the dust, and head to the beach! Don't hesitate, we only have about 8 weeks of good fishing left before the water cools down the long winter is upon us.
As my brother and I were cleaning some fish the other day, someone walked by and ask us what in the world we were going to do with all those fillets. Without hesitation my brother turned around and said, "Its going to be a long winter, and I have a big belly"! Its time to get to Topsail and get some fresh fish for the freezer! Make sure to give us a call at the tackle shop for a up to date report.
Until next time,
Rob Orr
Jolly Roger Inn and Pier
803 Ocean Blvd.
Topsail Beach, NC
(910)-328-4616
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide
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