Hello folks, I hope all is well with you and I hope you got through the snow “storm”. It was nice to see some snow around the area; but I’m ready for spring now. Sunny days, warmer weather and of course FISHING!!! With that said, it is now time to get the tackle, rods, reels and line ready for spring fishing. Not to say that we are not catching any fish now, (we are) you just have got to work for them a little bit! To the Fishing report>>>
Redfish has still been a good bet lately, but the dirty waters from all the rain, snow and wind are making it a bit tough. It looks like we have a dryer pattern of weather coming soon; this should help the bite pick up some. I lure patterns that we are using are the same as the last report. These colors seem to do well for us most winters. I always try new colors and patterns all the time, just to see what works or work better. I always recommend you do the same on any kind of fishing trip.
Saltwater Assassin grubs in colors 10w40 & lime-tail, Chicken on a chain and copperhead are still working well. Also Berkley Power baits; 5” jerkshad in colors new penny and pearl white have worked well. We rig the grubs on ¼ Red jig heads with Stren’s 20# tinted fluorocarbon in tint “tannic”. When the fish are spooky this floro is the trick! When we rig the Berkley jerkshads, we rig them Texas style, with a bass worm hook and a bullet weight.
With all the rain, wind and snow the water has been cloudy to down right dirty lately in the ocean. The good news is that we are starting a dryer tend for the next few days; this should start the process of the water clearing up. With this said the schooling surf Redfish should be a target soon again. A sunny, light wind day and good polarized sunglasses are the keys to catching these Reds. Grubs seem to be the easy go to bait for surf Reds. Lures we are using are SWA 10w40/ Lime-tail and Berkley Powerbait’s Ripple shad in colors New penny and Smelt. You need to use heavier jigs heads, 3/8 and ½ oz plus for casting. Pick a very nice day when looking for these Reds and always be careful in the surf.
There are still a few Cape Fear River stripers biting. The water has really been up and down with water temps; because of all the rain and wind. When the water is warmer due to warmer and sunny days the fishing seems to be better. Most of the fish are in the four to twelve pound range, with a few bigger ones mixed in as well. We are catching the stripers on hard and soft baits. In the hard bait range; X-raps and mid-water crank baits are working well. As far as soft baits; Berkley Powerbait jerkshads in Pearl color and Saltwater Assassin (Blurp) jerk shads in colors pearl and electric chicken. We are rigging the jerkshads Texas style, with a large bass worm hook.
On some of the windier days when it’s been hard to get out on the coast to fish we’ve been doing a little bit of fresh water fishing. The large mouth Bass have been biting well. Most trips we are catching nine to over fifth teen bass a day. The size of the Bass are running one to over five pounds, most fish are two to three pounds. Bass are hitting Bass Assassin rubber worms in colors black and red shad “red and black”. We are also catching some of the bass on senko worms. Rigging the worms Carolina style seems to work the best. A very slow presentation, is working the best on cooler days. On one of our last trips a Carp around fifth teen pounds got in the way of a crank bait; and the fight was on!
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 and ASR845S.
In Other Fishing News:
Don’t forget; there are some great boat and fishing expos coming 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.
February 20, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest.http://www.capefearsportsmen.org/Events/FishFest10Registration/tabid/719/Default.aspx I will be speaking on Shallow water Redfishing and working MirrOlure’s. For all the info on this day of seminars, take a look at this link.
March 20-12, 2010 Cape Fear Wildlife Expo, at the Coastline Convention Center. http://www.capefearwildlifeexpo.com/ Outdoor enthusiasts will enjoy two days of hunting and fishing exhibitors, wildlife art, decoys, boats and accessories, truck and ATV displays, Hunter Safety Certification Class, fly fishing demos, camping, guides, outfitters, sportfishing simulator, contests, archery demos and fun for the entire family. I’ll be there with Cape Fear River Watch and will be doing seminars on local inshore fishing.
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 Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
910-233-4139
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