Wrightsville Beach Fishing Report

Hi Folks,

Inshore: Water temps are climbing into the mid 80’s and reds and flounder are biting. Look for reds up the creeks and along the ICW docks. Plenty of menhaden are around for live bait. Some big flounder are being caught in the river, Snow’s Cut and the inlets.

Near Shore: The spanish mackerel bite has been very strong. We caught 30 fish just this past Sunday. The bite is on #1 planers and bird rigs. Shark fishing has been good as well.

Offshore: King mackerel have been biting strong from 5 to 25 miles out with some nice mahi thrown into the mix. Best bait has been live menhaden. Slow trolling with light tackle is the way to go.

Gulfstream: Action has slowed somewhat with a few wahoo and mahi along with some billfish making up most of the action.

Upcoming: As long as the weather holds, look for fishing to continue to be good. Early morning and late evening will tend to be better to avoid the heat. Remember the fish do not typically like the heat anymore than we do.

LET’S GO FISHING!!!
Capt. Rick Bennett
Rod-Man Charters
910-799-6120

Hi Folks,

It’s been a while and I apologize. I have been busier than usual and have neglected telling you about all the fish that are biting. What would you like to catch? Flounder and reds… their biting. Spanish macks… their biting. Kings and mahi… their biting. There are even some sailfish around and I haven’t gone out of the sight of land yet! Be sure to check out the new pics on my photo page. Now here’s my report:

Inshore: I have never seen so much bait. Menhaden are just about everywhere and they make the best bait for reds and flounder. Reds are biting on the ICW docks and in the creeks on the falling tide. Catch them with menhaden fished on a carolina rig. Some of the fish are pretty big so use a stout MH rod and strong braid line. Be sure to release anything over 27 inches and only one per person my be kept. A good flounder bite continues with some nice 5-8 pounders being caught. Again, use a carolina rig and live menhaden.

Near Shore: Lots of nice size spanish mackerel are biting 00 clarkspoons on #1 planers with 30′ of 25# test mono leader. A bird rig works well on calm days too. Best trolling speed is between 5 and 6 kts.

Offshore: But not out of sight of land… kings and mahi are plentiful. Live menhaden slow trolled on double treble king rigs work best. If you prefer fast trolling, you can use small to medium ballyhoo with pink and/or blue skirts. (I like the Bluewater Candy Featherweights). Check out the 22 pound mahi we caught. You can see on my site in This weeks Fishing Report at www.rodmancharters.com

Gulfstream: No Reports… honestly, with all that is biting in close I have not even looked at what might be going on in the stream.

Upcoming: See above; more of the same as long as the weather holds. We are making up for the crazy weather we had in the spring. Water temps right now range between the high 70’s to the low 80’s. As the water warms a bit more, look for flounder to head to deeper water between the inlets to the near shore artificial reefs. Plans are underway already for Rod-Man’s 2010 Fishing School. More to come on that later. Until next time:

LET’S GO FISHING!!!
Capt. Rick Bennett
Rod-Man Charters
910-799-6120