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
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide
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