North Carolina Surf Fishing Report

July and August on the North Carolina coast can be tough on surf fisherman.  Upper 90 degree days increase water temps to a point where most game fish retreat to deeper waters that are out of reach of fisherman shore bond.  Fish will always be caught but the bite will be sporadic and the species unknown.  Bogue Inlet Pier has reported the occasional King Mackerel and a mixed bag of flounder, blue fish, and pompano .  No matter what time of year you are fishing always fish at sunrise and sunset.  If your time is limited on family vacation or by work, get up early and you are likely to be rewarded.  Hit the local pier early and fish the in the shade and eddy created by the pier pylons for flounder and sheephead .

This pier/surf cart from Bass Pro Shops is perfect for hauling all your gear out onto the beach or pier, click the picture for more info.

North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Report

The southern and central beaches have seen surf fishing and pier fishing really picking up in the last week.  Pluggers have seen some of the season's first Spanish Mackerel.  Bogue Inlet pier has reports of several spanish being caught along with some really nice "Hatteras Blues."  A majority of the bluefish are still between 1 and 2 pounds but some have weighed in at 10 pounds.   The northern beaches around Avon and Cape Point reported a decent red drum bite this week.  Bluefish were also along the northern beaches in the 1 to 2 pound range.  Most fish were fooled by fresh cut bait.  Mixed in with the bluefish were good catches of sea mullet and puppy drum.

North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Report

From Hatteras to Holden all the fishermen are telling the same stories.  Sea mullet continues to be the main catch from the piers.  The best catches seem to be on cut bait at night and early in the morning.  The "pluggers" towards the end of the piers have also started to see some success in catching bluefish.  As usually the lure of choice is the Got-cha plug.  For those of you new to pier fishing, the Got-cha has a heavy lead head followed by a hard plastic tube body.  Underneath the hard plastic body are 2 treble hooks.  The 1oz. lure is perfect for a long cast and fast, erratic retrieves from piers.  A 6 or 6.5 ft. rod and a fast spinning reel spooled with 12 pound are all that is needed to fish the Got-cha.  The lure should be tied directly to the main line without the use of swivels or wire leaders.  Refraining from using extra heavy hardware may lead to the  occasional loss of a plug but will without a doubt increase the number of fish you catch. 

North Carolina Freshwater Fishing Report 

NC Saltwater Fishing Fishing Report

Good catches of sea mullet are still being reported from the surf and piers.  In the surf fish are being caught on short cast just behind the break with shrimp, blood worms, and Fishbites.  Some anglers were lucky enough to catch a few gray trout mixed in with the mullet.  Drum fisherman were doing fairly well on the NC outer Banks prior to the rainy cold front that pushed through early in the week.  Bluefish are beginning to show up in decent numbers up and down the NC coast.  Fishermen on the piers are catching the small blues on Gotcha plugs and fresh cut bait.  The numbers of blue fish are not staggering and the sizes are about 1 pound.  With the surf temperatures approaching 70 degrees you can expect the fishing to really pick up.  The Spanish Mackerel should be here soon.