Ocean Isle & Sunset Beach Fishing report

Its getting to be that time!

Posted on 03/15/2019

Well folks, winter is nearly over and although we have still had a bit of cooler weather recently, we should begin to slowly warm up from here.  I must apologize for my absence from the fishing report, as endless boat work and home improvement projects have been keeping me pretty well tied up.  With the mild winter we have had, there have been a few fish to be caught throughout the winter, and the bite seems to have slowly been improving over the past couple weeks.  The fishing should steadily improve from here, although there will certainly be some up and down days, and timing each trip around optimal conditions will continue to be important.

The speckled trout have continued to bite throughout the winter, and many of the areas that were holding fish in the late fall/early winter are still holding fish now.  Some areas continue to hold a lot of small trout, while others have been producing a few nicer ones.  There have even been a handful of true gators caught in the past few days, as the big girls are already getting into pre-spawn mode.  This is also the time of year when we start to see the big schools of redfish break up a little and filter out of the back creeks and into the areas where we will fish for them much of the year.  While there may not be as many grouped up, they are usually easier to get to and a little less spooky as the water warms a bit.  Also, there should be some black drum mixed in with the reds in many of the same areas right now, so if we find one, theres a good chance we will find the other as well. 

All in all, the spring fishing outlook looks pretty positive at the moment, and hopefully things will continue to improve.  As I mentioned earlier, one thing to keep in mind is that I still try to fish trips this time of year in as optimal of conditions as possible to improve our chances of success, which includes not only the weather, but more importantly the tide.  So if your looking to do some inshore fishing in the next few weeks, try to give me as much heads up as possible, and we will try to find the day that will give us the best opportunites.  Also, looking forward into the summer, I am already beginning to fill up a few days in June, July, and August, so keep that in mind as you plan your summer vacations. I don't have many recent photos, but below are a couple of a pair of nice reds we caught on a trip over the winter.

-Capt. Kyle