Hot Weather and Fishing around area Waters!

Folks the weather has really been changing a lot lately. With ups and downs in temps, winds and cloud cover. We have had some very nice days and we’ve had some very windy days as well. Over all, the fishing has been good and we are seeing different kinds of fish showing up as the water warms up. We are even starting to see a few Spanish mackerel around just off the beach. To the Fishing Report>>>

On the nice days; light winds and sunny skies the ocean fishing has been good. We have been targeting lots of different fish like; Gray trout, Sea bass, Blues, and Flounder. Jigging has been the most productive for this kind of fishing. The best lures have been metal jigging spoons and grubs. One once jigging spoons and ½ oz grubs with Berkley Gulp as a tip on the jigging spoons. We have caught most of the fish on hard/live bottoms and artificial reefs just off the beach to six miles off the beach. There has been a hand full of very nice Sea bass, with a few over three plus pounds; that’s some great eating!

We are seeing Bonita, Blues and a few Spanish when we are trolling off the beach from one to five miles. Trolling Clark spoons and small deep driver lures has been the key to success. When using the Clark spoons, I would recommend the pink flash spoon in sizes #00, #0 and #1; the pink flash series has really helped us put more fish in the boat. A bird rig on top with a Clark spoon about five to six feet behind it or a Blue water Candy Spanish daisy chain have worked very well on top too. Look for birds working or marking bait on you fish finder is the way to find the feeding fish.

When the Bonita, Blues and Spanish are on top feeding; cast Maria and Sea striker jig-spoons. The colors that seem to work the best are pink, green and blue. We use a forty pound Fluorocarbon leader; about fifth teen to eight teen inches long. I really like Stren’s tinted (gunsmoke) floro leader material for clear water conditions; “this stuff really works”! A light weight 7’ rod loaded with ten to fifth teen pound braid is important for casting to these fast fish. The reason for this is the further you can cast equals more chance’s you will hook up. When there are a lot of boats chasing the Bonita, they get wearer of boats. If you can cast far; you will catch more of these fish!

Redfish are really starting to fire off; we are starting to see a few bigger fish in the area from Topsail down to the Cape Fear River. When we are casting lures; grubs are doing the trick. Berkley Gulp and Powerbait in colors molting and new penny; fishing them around docks, oyster rocks and grass lines are catching drum well. Bait fishing is still good and will continue right through the summer. Red and Black drum are hitting cut shrimp and mullet on Carolina rigs around the same area; dock oyster rocks etc… You never know how big or little the drum will be when you are bait fishing; we’ve had reds as small as fourteen inches and as big as over thirty inches.

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Spiderwire Ultra-cast braid in 10 and 15#. 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:

June 5-6, 2010 “In the Water Fishing School” I, Capt. Rick Bennett and four other of the best local guides are putting on this school on. This school will be real-time hands on fishing experience! There will be one day of hands on classroom instruction and the next day on the water, real-time fishing experience. The school is limited to the first 24 participants! If you want to learn from the best local guides and see how we do it, take the time to check it out; http://www.rodmancharters.com/inthewater-fishing-school.htm *We only have a few spots left for this School!!! I’m really looking forward to being part of this school!

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Book now for this coming summer fishing season and don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Topsail Beach Update

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


This is Johnny, coming to you live from Beautiful Topsail Beach! An early morning trip to Jolly Roger at Topsail Beach resulted in another aching back and sore arms. The blues are still in a feeding frenzy. I bent the hook barbs down on my gotcha plug so I could play them to the pier, let them throw the hook, and save the wear and tear on my muscles. Seriously, it has bee some fun the last two days here. Today I saw several spanish, one 15 inches and the rest just barely keepers. Hope everyone has a blessed day!

till next time....
tight lines!
Johnny

blues at jolly roger

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Topsail Area Charter Boats
2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Hello from Topsail Beach! Just finished eating fresh blue fish! First of the spring. There was a blitz at Jolly Roger this morning. I caught blues until I was just to tired to reel any more up. I couldn't tell you how many I caught. Everyone with a gotcha plug was pulling them in. Got to go. More later.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Spanish and Blues at Topsail

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Hello from Topsail Beach! Jolly Roger and surf city piers reporting spanish today and a bunch of blues! Even had some limit out! Go get 'um! Hope to get out there in the am, if this headache eases up a bit.
Till next time....
tight lines!
Johnny

SPANISH MACKEREL

The first several spanish mackerel of the year were landed on the Jolly Roger this morning. The wind is blowing 20 mph out of the SW and the water is a mixed green color, but the few people out there throwing gotcha plugs had a good morning. In addition to the spanish they landed some nice blues. The mullet bit well yesterday and last night. Fishing is really starting to pick up all up and down the beach. I also saw the first sheepshead of the year landed while fishing yesterday evening.

The forecast looks great for this coming weekend! Fishing should be good one way or another. If the water gets muddy the mullet should bit well, and if it clears up the spanish and blues should be on.

Hope you see you soon,

Capt. Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Inn & Pier

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-612-6673

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4/25 Topsail Report

I am happy to report that the fishing continues to improve across the board. From offshore, to pier fishing, to the surf and backwaters, things are looking up. The people that were able to get out on the Jolly Roger this week were rewarded with nice catches of mullet at night, and blues during the day. The wind has really made all the difference with the mullet fishing. Nearly every day/night that the wind has blown over 10 mph from the South or Southwest, the mullet bite has been excellent. Although there have been a few decent daytime catches of mullet, the best bite has been on the rising tide after dark. Fresh shrimp or the orange clam flavored Fishbites have been the best baits. The fishermen plugging for blues saw a marked improvement this week. We are not quite to the “blue blitz” stage, but the number of blues has grown dramatically since they first showed last week. Gotcha plugs have been the ticket for catching the blues. One other piece of exciting information is that the first few Spanish mackerel of the year have begun to show up. Several of the piers/boats up and down the beach reported catching the first few of the year yesterday. Although the wind is cranking up and muddying the water as I type, I look for the Spanish and blue fishing to jump into high gear when the wind abates and the water clears again. The water temperature remains below (mid-lower 60’s) what we normally look for as “ideal” for Spanish, kings, cobia, and other late spring fish, but with just a couple days of good (S or SE) wind it should take that next jump up into the upper 60’s. Hopefully that will happen within the next week to 10 days.

I heard multiple reports of the first big pompano of the year being caught from the surf this past week. Several were pushing three pounds! Sand fleas are still playing hard to get, but if you are willing to go through the effort of procuring them, the reward could be a nice cooler of pompano, mullet, and drum.

Inshore fishing is also improving. I spoke with several people throughout the week that reported catching drum, trout, and a few nice sized flounder. The drum can be found both around pilings and docks, and in shallow bays and creeks. The trout are mostly holding in deeper creek mouths. Mirrolures, gulp, and top water baits should do the trick for either of those fish. Flounder are showing up in the same areas listed above in addition to traditional areas such as inlets and dock pilings. Gulp baits or a bucktail tipped with a strip of cut bait are both good baits for the flounder.

Offshore fishing remained slightly inconsistent this week, but I did speak with several people who had outstanding catches of wahoo, tuna, and a few dolphin. Warmer waters arrived from the south earlier this week via the Gulf Stream, and with it came lots of flying fish and some nice dolphin. The full moon phase began on Friday, and right on schedule the wahoo bite improved dramatically. I do not know what causes it, but there is always a good wahoo bite 5 days before and 5 days after the full moon. I am eagerly anticipating the opening of grouper season next week. Hopefully the weather will give us an opportunity to get out there and catch a few pelagics along with the grouper.

Remember to give us a call at the Jolly Roger for the latest fishing information and reports, and to make reservations for your spring fishing adventure!

Until next time,

Capt. Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Pier

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-328-4616

Fishing Topsail Message BoardTopsail Area Charter Boats2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Jolly Roger Report and Kayak Fishing Group

Fishing Topsail Message BoardTopsail Area Charter Boats2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Hello from Topsail Beach. A few things this morning. First was my fishing outing at Jolly Roger Pier yesterday. This is really the first chance I have had to spend much time on the pier this season. I had such a wonderful time chatting to my old and new fishin' friends. To my new fishin' friend Ken, I really enjoyed our conversations about pier fishing, bait fish, and netting. Hope you have a safe trip home to your family. We caught several nice blues on gotcha plugs, and a bunch of smaller ones. I witnessed a bluefish catch on a diamond jig with gold hooks along the leader. (spanish rig?) The blue ate one of the gold hooks. I personally didn't catch any bottom fish, as I spent most of my time throwing a gotcha and chatting to my fishing neighbors, but I did see some nice virginia mullet brought over the rails, not a huge number, but nice keepers just the same. I heard stories of fast and furious "catching" Friday after midnight. I saw a picture of a cooler (thanks Chris at East Coast Sports in Surf City) that was at least half filled with mullets. I heard of a group of friends that caught over two hundred mullets in just a couple of hours. Day time fishing, especially surf fishing, is not great right now, but I see it getting great in the very near future. Thanks to everyone at Jolly Roger Inn and Pier for makiing my fishing day so enjoyable. I am looking forward to many more this season.
............................

Now on to the part of the post about the kayak fishing group.
[QUOTE Cape Fear Chapter of Hook Line and Paddle has started up a coastal chapter of North Carolina kayak fishing association and will be holding monthly meetings on the first tuesday of every month. We will be discussing various topics that relate to kayak fishing and fishing in general.

The first meeting will be more of a meet and greet and we will also discuss what kind of topics everyone would like to cover.
The meetings will be held at Hook Line and Paddle
435 Eastwood Rd.
Wilmington, NC 28403

Phone: (910) 792-6945
Meetings will begin at 630pm try to start rolling in around 6pm that way we can socialize and then start the meeting right at 630pm and it will probably run till about 8pm.
[/QUOTE]


Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny
www.fishintopsail.com

Quick Fishing Report from East Coast Sports

Fishing Topsail Message BoardTopsail Area Charter Boats2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Quick Fishing Report from East Coast Sports.
Click Here
Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Topsail Beach Report - East Coast Sports Report

Fishing Topsail Message BoardTopsail Area Charter Boats2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Donna and I went surf fishing / beach combing at high tide this afternoon, when the sun finally came out of hiding. Fed a couple of shrimp to the crabs, but no bites. The mullet nets are lining the beach. They are everywhere. I guess if I want a mess of mullets, I'm gonna have to swim out and rob their nets. Just kidding, but it is depressing for us surf anglers. Wonder what kind of bycatch is in those nets. Jolly Roger pier is seeing a good number of snapper blues early in the am and some mullets that slipped through the nets at night. Surf City Pier much the same, blues in the morning and mullets at night. Same for Sea View Pier at North Topsail Beach.

Below is the latest East Coast Sports fishing report. Thanks Chris.





April 23rd, 2010
Bonita is the hot thing this week. 2-4 miles out of New River inlet. Don’s Jigs and Diamond jigs are the thing. If you want to troll take some crystal minnows. No real reports from offshore. Some Mullet, Black Drum and a few Blues on the pier. The reds are still chewing inside.

Check out East Coast Sports online. Lots of everything fishing! I can spend hours in that place!

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Surf City Pier Update

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Hello from Topsail Beach! The "pier witch" aka Vinita, said the anglers caught blue fish all day yesterday, none were big, all snapper size, but the big 'uns and the spanish are next! Still catching a few mullets at night.
Till next time....
Tight Lines!
Johnny
http://www.fishintopsail.com

Topsail Beach Update

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Topsail Beach Update
Got skunked (again) yesterday. Water temp in the mid 60's. Seeing some virginia mullet at night from the piers. Of course there are sharks and skates, and some puffers. (yummy, they are good!) Heard of some v. mullets from the surf, but I haven't seen them. Bonita are making a show offshore.

Raining this morning. Should clear up by this afternoon. Hope to hit the beach with fishing rods and bait, (and chairs, and coolers, and tackle box, and snacks, and water, and sunscreen, and cast net, and flea rake, and.......) Hey that's enough. The phrase "pack mule" seems to fit. Anyway, if I catch anything besides I'll let you know.

Topsail Beach Weather Forecast
WEDNESDAY High: 70°F
Low: 50°F CLOUDY. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS EARLY THIS MORNING... THEN SCATTERED SHOWERS THIS AFTERNOON. HIGHS AROUND 70. SOUTH WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 90 PERCENT. OVERNIGHT: PARTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS IN THE EVENING... THEN MOSTLY CLEAR AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS AROUND 50. WEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH...BECOMING NORTHWEST AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF RAIN 50 PERCENT.

THURSDAY High: 79°F
Low: 51°F PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE MORNING...THEN BECOMING MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S. NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH. OVERNIGHT: PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE EVENING...THEN BECOMING MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE LOWER 50S. NORTHWEST WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH.

FRIDAY High: 80°F
Low: 59°F MOSTLY SUNNY IN THE MORNING...THEN BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS AROUND 80. NORTH WINDS AROUND 5 MPH...BECOMING SOUTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON. OVERNIGHT: PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE UPPER 50S.

SATURDAY High: 79°F
Low: 61°F MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S. OVERNIGHT: MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S. LOWS IN THE LOWER 60S. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.

SUNDAY High: 79°F
Low: 61°F MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S. LOWS IN THE LOWER 60S. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT.

MONDAY High: 81°F
Low: 55°F PARTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE MORNING. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 80S. CHANCE OF RAIN 30 PERCENT. OVERNIGHT: MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE MID 50S.

Peace V
Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny
www.fishintopsail.com

East Coast Sports Fishing Report

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Below is a fishing alert from Chris @ East Coast Sports. Click on the East Coast logo to view the report. If you would like to have these reports mailed directly to your inbox, contact Chris at this email address: sales@eastcoastsports.com
Thanks for the report Chris!




East Coast Sports
(910) 328-1887
04-18-2010
They had a great Mullet bite on Jolly Roger pier last night. Should be good tonight as well.

Lets Save some for the kiddies!!!!!!!!

Puffers in the surf at Topsail Beach

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Went surf fishing in Topsai Beach today. Wind was out of the south, but blowing hard. Fished with cut shrimp on a bottom rig, and had another baited with cut mullet looking for reds or blues. Only caught one small puffer, but enjoyed the day. Donna and I stopped by IGA in Surf City, and met a guy that has several nice virginia mullet in his cooler. He had caught them last night. Oh, one more thing. I found my first sand flea of the season. Only found one, and dug a bunch. They should be closer to the surface soon.
Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Capt. Jot's Spring Fishing Report

Man, we have had some great weather here lately! I hope this is the trend for the rest of the summer! Light winds, sunny days; with a little rain here and there. The water temps have really started to go up fast inshore, the ocean is going up but it’s taking its time getting up. Both inshore and near shore fishing will continue to get better with warmer air and water temps. To the fishing report>>>

The near shore bottom fishing has been good lately; with catches of Black bass, Grunts, Ring tails and a few small groupers. We also are starting to see some Bluefish and Gray trout closer to the beach. The best luck for the bottom fishing for us has been; cut squid on two hook bottom rigs. We are using 1/0, 2/0 and 3/0 EC bait holder hooks. Bank sinkers in weights one and two ounces are working well for holding the rigs to the bottom. Finding these fish is not hard, look for them on ledges, hard/live bottoms and wrecks from three to fifth teen miles offshore.

False Albacore fishing lately has been very good the days we are trying for them. We are finding the Albacore from five to twenty miles offshore. There has been a few Bonita mixed in with them form time to time as well. It should not be long before we are catching good numbers of Bonita around the area waters. The #0 and #1 pink flash Clark spoon has caught most of our fish lately. Trolling these spoons on #1 planner and up top with bird rigs; we use thirty to forty feet of forty pound Berkley big game mono as leader on the planners. On the bird rig, we rig it with five to six feet of leader to the spoon. Don’t forget to put a ball bearing swivel on the bird and planner; this will keep tangles from happing (well most of the time!)

When the Bonita and Albacore are on top feeding; cast Maria and Sea striker jig-spoons. The colors that seem to work the best are pink, green and blue. We use a forty pound Fluorocarbon leader; about fifth teen to eight teen inches long. I really like Stren’s tinted (gunsmoke) floro leader material for clear water conditions; “this stuff really works”! A light weight 7’ rod loaded with ten to fifth teen pound braid is important for casting to these fast fish. The reason for this is the further you can cast equals more chance’s you will hook up. When there are a lot of boats chasing the Bonita, they get wearer of boats. If you can cast far; you will catch more of these fish!

Something that I love to do this time of year (late March to early June) is go up to lock & dam #1 and fish for Shad. These fish are so much fun to catch; they run, jump and run some more. Light tackle and fly fishing is the name of the game here! I see so many people fishing for shad that use to heavy of tackle. Lighter tackle equals more bites and more fun! All you need is a light rod and reel; I use a Pflueger Echelon combo PECHSP50-2UL loaded with six pound Berkley Fireline crystal braid. A two shad dart rig with twenty pound mono or floro leader; darts in colors pink and green. On our last trip we caught well over fifty shad. If you have not ever tried it; you need too!

Fresh water large mouth Bass fishing is still going strong, we’ve had some great day’s bass fishing in the last two weeks. We are fishing local lakes, pond and the NE Cape Fear River. The best lures have been; sinko worms rigged with no weight in colors green pumpkin, watermelon and black/red fleck. I prefer Berkley’s 5” & 7” heavy weight fat sinkworm series, I rig the worms on 7/0 wide gag worm hooks. We have also had some luck with the 17MR MirrOlure in colors 18, 49, 50 and BKGCH. I really surprised at how many saltwater lures work so well for fresh water fishing, but also how many people don’t try’em! We are catching eight to over fifth teen bass a day; sizes of a pound to over four pounds.

The Redfish and Black drum bite in the ICW and creeks just off the ICW is still good. We are starting to see a few smaller Reds 14” to 21” in some of the creeks on warmer days. Most reds and black drum are hitting mud minnows and “fresh as you can get shrimp”. We use two hook bottom rigs with 2, 1 & 1/0 bait holder hooks, with the fresh shrimp. If you would like to go the artificial root, I would recommend using scented grubs. The best bet I’ve used has been Berkley Gulp and Berkley Powerbait shrimp in colors Pearl & New Penny. Jigs heads for the grubs in ¼ to 3/8 oz, colors red and black seem to be the trick. Work’em slow around docks and drop-offs on grass lines and oyster rocks. The best tides have been falling or raising but fishing closer to the lower parts of the tides.

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Spiderwire Ultra-cast braid in 10 and 15#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S and ASR845S. Fresh water gear: Pflueger Spinning reel Supreme XT 9035XT.

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 spring.

April 23-25, 2010 Tex’s Tackle Spring Tackle Sale and Show. I’ll be there with PENN Reels and Pure fishing. We will have some of the new Tackle from Penn and Pure Fishing, if you have any questions about any products from Penn or Pure fishing we’ll be happy to answer them for you.

June 5-6, 2010 “In the Water Fishing School” I, Capt. Rick Bennett and four other of the best local guides are putting on this school on. This school will be real-time hands on fishing experience! There will be one day of hands on classroom instruction and the next day on the water, real-time fishing experience. The school is limited to the first 24 participants! If you want to learn from the best local guides and see how we do it, take the time to check it out; http://www.rodmancharters.com/inthewater-fishing school.htm I’m really looking forward to being part of this school!

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Book now for this coming summer fishing season and don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139


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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Hitting the Beach for Surf Fishing

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Hello from Topsai Beach! I heard the first blue fish was caught from Jolly Roger Pier today. The weather looks good for tomorrow. Planning to hit the beach early with a can of worms and cane pole! I'll let you know if I catch anything. If you don't hear from me......... It's probably because I'm too embarrased to tell everyone I got skunked yet again! Wish me luck! Hope to see you on the beach!

Till next time....
tight lines!
Johnny

Wind Matters

The wind and weather have been very back and forth since my last report. With every change in the weather conditions, came a change in the fishing. When the wind switched around out of the North late last week, it slowed the great mullet fishing we had been experiencing. Although there were some mullet caught throughout the weekend, it was not hot and heavy by any means. By Tuesday the wind had worked back around to the SE, and the few people fishing out on the Jolly Roger Tuesday night got to experience one of the best mullet runs I have seen. When we opened up at 6am Wednesday morning, most were just packing up and heading home. When asked why they had stayed so late, they replied that they just couldn't stand to leave them biting! Most everyone that fished Tuesday night ended up with buckets and coolers full of extremely nice sized fish. The wind was back to the NE yesterday and the mullet bite was more scattered. There have been a few really nice black drum landed in addition to the mullet. Both the mullet and black drum have been hitting fresh(er) shrimp and the orange clam fishbites. There were several days last week when the fishbites actually out-fished the shrimp. The really big news I have to report is that the first bluefish of the year was landed out on the pier today. Its time to get out the gotcha plugs and sharpen up those hooks! Spring plugging season is just around the corner.

The surf fishing remains slow to scattered. I have heard reports of a few mullet, black drum, and puppy drum. These rare spring NE winds should open up a few nice sloughs though.

Offshore fishing pretty much mirrors the above report; scattered. One boat will have a banner day while 5 in the same area will receive nary a strike. There were a decent number of wahoo brought in over the weekend, and some of the folks jigging along the break had some luck on the blackfin tuna. The first few mahi and billfish made a showing this past weekend as well. I was lucky enough to have two sails in my baits while offshore Sunday, but they were extremely finicky just toyed with the baits until they lost interest. It is a good sign of things to come though. We also caught blackfin tuna and bonito on the jigs, and had several incredible leaping wahoo strikes while trolling. A little closer to shore the bonito are fairly thick, and can be found in the 0-20 mile range around different bottom structure areas.

This has been a frustrating year so far for me, and I am sure for those of you reading these reports and trying to plan fishing trips. Although we have seen some of the best fishing possible at times, it has been very off and on. One day you can't buy and bite, and the next you don't have enough bait and cooler space. What I can tell you is that things should become more consistent as the water warms and we move closer to May. When planning you're fishing trips watch the weather and wind direction, and make sure to give us a call at the Jolly Roger for the most current report.

Good Luck,

Capt. Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Inn & Pier

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-328-4616

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

NE Wind Slows Fishing

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Hello from Topsail Beach. A brisk NE wind has put a damper on any fishing that existed a couple days ago. Warmer sunny days will visit Topsail Beach Thursday, along with some good SW wind which should turn the fishing back on. Planning your visit to Topsail? Check out our weather forecast below.

THURSDAY High: 75°F
Low: 51°F SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 70S. NORTH WINDS AROUND 5 MPH... BECOMING NORTHWEST AROUND 5 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. OVERNIGHT: CLEAR. PATCHY FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT. LOWS IN THE LOWER 50S. SOUTHWEST WINDS AROUND 5 MPH.

FRIDAY High: 81°F
Low: 59°F MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 80S. WEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. OVERNIGHT: PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE UPPER 50S. SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.

SATURDAY High: 80°F
Low: 51°F PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS AROUND 80. OVERNIGHT: MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS IN THE LOWER 50S.

SUNDAY High: 70°F
Low: 45°F PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS AROUND 70. OVERNIGHT: CLEAR. HIGHS IN THE LOWER 70S. LOWS IN THE MID 40S.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Jolly Roger Pier

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

I was at Jolly Roger this afternoon. Pretty much nothing going on. The afternoon was really nice, lots of sun and blue water. Everything seems to be right for the fish to really turn on. Maybe it won't be long. I am disapointed to see all the nets so close to the shore and the pier. I understand the comercial guys have to make a living, but there is a whole lot of ocean out there. Maybe I am just being selfish. I don't know. Planning on going surf fishing and beach combing in the am. See ya on the beach!
Johnny

Topsail Beach Update

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Heard of a few sea mullets in the surf today. It was a bit windy, and a little cool, but lots of sunshine. All piers are reporting a few nice sea mullets on fresh shrimp. Still lots of sharks and skates, with a few puffers. (Have you eaten a puffer? They are delicious) Hope to get to Jolly Roger tomorrow. I'll let you know how I do.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Fish....... Are they finally here?

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Topsail Area Charter Boats
2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Getting reports of virginia mullets on all piers, mostly at night. Still only scattered reports of surf catches. A six pound black drum was reported caught at Jolly Roger yesterday, and confirmed by Rob. Hearing of a few black drum at the dredge dock. Plenty of dogfish in the water, a few skates and puffrers. Weather is getting good, water temp is rising, should be great spring time fishing in the next few days. Get ready!

Chris at East Coast Sports reports that bonita are three miles out.

More to follow! Stay tuned. It's that time!

Till next time....
tight lines!
Johnny

Warmer Water=Improved Fishing

After nearly three weeks of waiting, the weather and water temperatures have both made a hugh jump in the correct direction. In just five days last week, the water jumped from in the mid 50's to up above 60! It only took two days for the fish to follow. The virginia mullet fishing has steadily improved since Friday. I just received a picture on my phone of an extremely nice catch of large spring mullet that was brought off of the Jolly Roger this afternoon! This strong southwest wind has really helped things as well. Although the fishing has been much better at night, today marked the first time this year that a good daytime bite has occurred. Fresh or fresh frozen shrimp has been the best bait, with the orange clam fishbites coming in a close second. I have also heard reports that the bluefish and bonito are not far behind. I look for them to show up within the next week or so.

The surf fishermen are catching a few mullet, black drum, and puppy drum.

The ocean was absolutely beautiful this past weekend. Reports from the people fishing offshore have been mixed. Bonito fishing was good starting around 5 miles out, and black bass and beeliner fishing was very good a little farther offshore with nice sized fish reported. The cobia have moved into the offshore bottom areas, and should begin to move inshore as the water warms. In the Gulf Stream fishing was scattered. The main body of the stream has moved way offshore and caused for some mixed water conditions around the "break". There were some very nice wahoo landed, along with a few blackfin tuna and the first few dolphin of the year. I fished aboard the Pierless Friday, and although the meat-fishing was a little slow, we had an outstanding time and everyone left with sore arms! We went looking for tuna, and in the process, got attacked and cut off by several toothy wahoo. After switching over to wire, we managed to land one really nice wahoo. The trolling bite died down in the afternoon and we made the call to switch over and do a little offshore jigging. After getting on the "spot" we all dropped down and were immediately slammed by some large amberjack! For a solid hour 5 of us were hooked up non-stop! We also brought up some VERY nice grouper, but do to the season closure had to send them back down to the deep. We saw lots and lots of turtles, the first flying fish of the year, and an approximately 900-1000 hammerhead cruising along the surface; what a sight! I couldn't have asked for a prettier day on the ocean!

Things should only improve from here on out as the water continues to warm. With lots of sun and southerly winds in the forecast, it should be a great week of fishing on the mullet. I hope to get out there and get a few for the fryer as soon as my schedule allows!

Hope to see you soon!

Capt. Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Pier

803 Ocean Blvd.

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-328-4616

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Bonita Are Here!

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Report from Chris Medlin and East Coast Sports: Bonita are Here!
Click Here for Details

Our grandchildren were here for Easter weekend. We fished a bit every day, but nothing was caught. Piers are reporting small mullets, puffers, and a few sharks. Water temp is climbing every day we have this great sunshine and South winds. Won't be long.

Go get 'um!

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny