Topsail Angler's Fishing Blog
Bonita fishing
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Atlantic Bonita is one of my favorite fish. Not because it’s a good fighter for its size, nor because it is one of the first pelagic fish to visit our shore in the spring, nor because it comes close to the beach and is easy to reach in my small boat. But rather for all of those reasons and besides its pretty tasty too!
Bonita visit structure within a few miles of our shoreline every spring on their migration path. They almost always arrive off Topsail by Tax day, April 15th. Normally they get here before the Spanish Mackerel with the short stay (about 3 weeks) overlapping the arrival of the Spaniards. They really get my fishing juices stirred up as they are the first near shore fish I pursue in the spring (don’t care much for mullet fishing).
This year was no exception. They showed up near the New River Inlet on April 15th but there was only one or two days that the weather allowed for boats to get out till now. Today was my first opportunity to chase them. TimC went with me, we went through the inlet a little before 7am and began looking for the birds that often give away the location of the Bonita school. We found a few and saw a couple of boats working the area but had no luck trolling so we continued on out for some structure in the Diver’s rock area.
Bingo, we got our first fish on and it tuned out to be a nice sized Bonita. In fact this would be Tim’s first ever Atlantic Bonito and the only one we caught today. We did manage a half dozen or so bluefish with the largest being about 2 pounds. It was a bit rough and the bite was shut-off so we headed back for the inlet around 11. But mission accomplished, we got the ole fishing juices primed and ready for the season!
Fish Update
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The wind was blowing most of the week so few boats made it off shore. The ones that did were rewarded with some nice catches of grouper in 100 feet of water and deeper and some nice wahoo where caught by folks trolling along the temperature breaks just west of the Gulf stream.
Inshore the fishing remains slow with some drum being caught in the creeks and some larger ones being caught at the north end of Lea Island from the surf. I also have heard reports of a few sea mullet (aka: Va. Mullet, kingfish) being caught from the piers on Topsail Island. It shouldn’t be long though before the blues then Bonito show up with the Spanish right behind. as they say, stay tuned….........
Windy report
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I had planned to fish today but with winds in the 20-30 knot range, the boat will stay in the driveway a bit longer. I’m antsy to get out, not only because I was out of the country for so long but also because I’m seeing some nice speck reports. In fact yesterday I was at the boat ramp when a friend of mine returned from his fishing trip. He had a limit of nice specks, the smallest at about 18 inches with one that weighed over 7 pounds! They were all caught in the back waters of a nearby creek. Forecast is for more wind tomorrow but maybe Friday or Saturday will be fishable. I renewed my CRFL, so I’m legal and ready 
February Update
Monday, February 09, 2009
I have been out of the country the past 16 days so I don’t have much to report on the fishing side of things. I hope to get out later this week and wet a line or two - the weather is unseasonably warm & sunny. I did learn upon returning to the US that a friend and fellow Topsail Offshore Fishing Club member, Fred Piper, passed away while I was gone. He was a very good King Mackerel fisherman and a great guy! He will be missed.
Catching report - Oct 14th
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
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 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!