Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Catching report - Oct 14th
A quick trip to the beach this morning indicated that the bite was “on”. From the beach I could see the rails were packed with anglers. Up and down the beach I saw a good number of trucks and SUV’s on the beach with surf rods nearby. Classic fall fishing.
Anglers are catching plenty of spots from the pier and in boats near the beach but the “inside” spot bite still hasn’t materialized. Runs of spots are coming though allowing anglers pier to catch them two at a time, sometimes anyway. Blood worms are working best for the spots but some are being caught on shrimp as well. A few pompano are still being caught on shrimp and sand fleas but I expect most of the Pomps will be gone soon as the water cools.
The Spanish runs are tapering off but blues are still in strong. Speckled trout are being caught from the piers, in the surf and inside near the inlets. Live shrimp and mullet are working best but some folks are having success with soft plastics and gulp. Plenty of red drum are being caught, many are being taken on top water plugs as well as live bait and gulp. The flounder are chewing and most anglers are reporting they are “fat”, even the short ones seem heavy for their size.
The king mackerel bite has been hot this past week with the fish in close to the beach. The cool front due in here this week-end may start to change that but they should still be inside of 10 miles through the week-end. The Topsail Offshore King Mackerel Tournament is this week-end at Soundside Park in Surf City. Registration is Friday from 2 - 8pm and fishing is on Saturday from 7am - 5pm. Visit http://www.tofc.com for all the details.
Grouper are being caught in the 10 - 30 mile range but the nearer shore bite is starting to taper off. There have been a few reports of false albacore in the 3 -10 mile range this week. No news from the gulf stream this week as not many folks have been able to make it out there due to the winds.
Tight lines to all!
