Good Fishing, when you find the right day around area waters

Well folks, the days are getting longer and winter is more than half way over. I’m really looking forward to this coming spring! With the weather we’ve had lately; so up and down! I think that groundhog needs to get a new job! Hey that’s weather in North Carolina! Don’t forget, this is a great time to check over all your fishing gear. Clean up your rods and reels, oil the reels and put a touch of wax on your rods. It also a good time to put new fishing line on your reels and check those hooks on your artificial lures. A little work now; will make spring fishing a little easier on you! To the fishing report >>>!

Redfish has been the main shot lately for my trips. On some of the warmer days, the bite has been good to even great! The main tips I can give you is get out there and look, lately we’ve hit four to six spots and have not got a bite. The next spot we check, boom cast after cast; Redfish. You have got to cover area to find winter inshore Redfish.

Lure’s that seem to do the trick have been, Saltwater Assassin grubs in colors 10w40 & lime-tail, Chicken on a chain and copperhead. In Berkley Power baits; 5” jerkshad in colors new penny and pearl white have worked well. We rig the grubs on ¼ Red jig heads with Stren’s 20# tinted fluorocarbon in tint “tannic”. When the fish are spooky this floro is the trick! When we rig the Berkley jerkshads, we rig them Texas style, with a bass worm hook and a bullet weight.

The Redfish are schooling in the surf and we are always looking for a nice day to get out and chase them. They are pretty easy to catch; you just got to find them. That part can be a bit harder, trust me! A sunny, light wind day and good polarized sunglasses are the keys to catching these Reds. Grubs seem to be the easy go to bait for surf Reds. Lures we are using are SWA 10w40/ Lime-tail and Berkley Powerbait’s Ripple shad in colors New penny and Smelt. You need to use heavier jigs heads, 3/8 and ½ oz plus for casting. Hold on tight, they fight great even in cold water!

There are still a few Cape Fear River stripers biting. The water has really cooled down. Most of the fish are in the four to twelve pound range, with a few bigger ones mixed in as well. We are catching the stripers on hard and soft baits. In the hard bait range; X-raps and mid-water crank baits are working well. As far as soft baits; Berkley Powerbait jerkshads in Pearl color and Saltwater Assassin (Blurp) jerk shads in colors pearl and electric chicken. We are rigging the jerkshads Texas style, with a large bass worm hook.

Speckled trout fishing has been more miss than hit lately but, it should get better with the warmer weather we have coming. The best bet for the trout this time of year is mud minnows and working artificial baits very slow. MirrOlure’s 17MR and 52M are a good bet this time of year. I like the colors 11, 51, CFPR and EC. SWA grubs in colors chicken on a chain, chart-diamond and silver-ph & chart tail. I use twenty pound Stren tinted fluorocarbon leader; I prefer gun smoke tint for clear water applications.

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S and ASR845S.

In Other Fishing News:

The second annual Cape Fear River Watch Striped Bass Tournament was held Saturday Jan 16th. This Tournament is an effort to raise awareness of the declining number of striped bass and other fish native to the Cape Fear River and to tag CFR Stripers for fishier studies on rebuilding the stocks of native fish.

Winners of this year’s tournament were: Capt. Jamie Rushing, along with fishermen Robert Bungard, and Kevin Bloom caught 10 Stripers winning most tag fish award. The largest fish of the day was a 27.5-inch striped bass caught by Capt. Jot Owens and fisherman Duane Auman, followed closely by a 26-inch striped bass wrangled in by Capt. Owens and fisherman Todd Byrd. First aggregate honors (meaning total length of collected fish) went to Capt. Owens, Auman and Byrd with a collected length of 53.5 inches. Second aggregate went to Capt. Stu Caulder and fishermen Phil Metz and Bruce McGunahan, with a collected length of 50 inches.

Don’t forget; there are some great boat and fishing expos coming to North Carolina. If you like fishing and boats you don’t want to miss these shows and fishing seminars! Here are the one’s that myself as well as other Ranger boats pro staff members will be at this winter.

February 12-14, 2010 - Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show - Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world. I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.

February 20, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest.http://www.capefearsportsmen.org/Events/FishFest10Registration/tabid/719/Default.aspx I will be speaking on Shallow water Redfishing and working MirrOlure’s. For all the info on this day of seminars, take a look at this link.

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens

Ranger Boats and

Pure Fishing Pro Staff

http://www.captainjot.com/

910-233-4139

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Johnny Mercers Pier, Dogfish Tournament Results

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Nothing to report near Topsail Beach. Weather has been so crappy that no one is fishing that I know. So in the absence of local fishing news, here are the results of the annual Dogfish Tournament at Johnny Mercers Fishing pier in Wrightsville Beach. Thanks to Al from the North Carolina Pier Fishing Yahoo Group for these results. Check out the discussion group to make a comment, and also check out the NC Fishing Pier Society website. Al does a lot to bring the decline of the ocean fishing piers to the public and it's representatives, and anyone else who will listen. Thanks for your hard work, Al.

[quote]

Dogfish Tournament Results

In a day when the weather was the main story across the state of North Carolina 66 entrants in the Johnny Mercer's Pier Dogfish tournament were making headlines over the Atlantic. Those that braved the elements caught a total of 66 dogfish totaling more than 415 pounds of fish. Every fish was released alive after being weighed.

Anglers came from as far as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Columbia, SC and west of Ashville in North Carolina to fish the event. At time during the event winds gusted to almost 40 MPH and the steady rain turned to ice and sleet by nightfall but the fishermen weathered the elements to make record catches.

The event was won by Jeffery McLaughlin who landed a 12 pound spiny and that established a new Mercer's Dogfish record. Second place was Justin Trujillo who caught a 10 pound 13 ounce fish. Trujillo ended up cathing 16 of the 66 fish caught. Third place went to defending champion Matt McKinney with a 9 pound 6 ounce fish.

In addition to winning the admiration of the rest of the anglers McLaughlin was award a season pier pass by pier owner Matt Johnson. Johnson donated several prizes to the event in addition to that other prizes were donated by Tex's Tackle, Guy Harvey Sportswear and Sumitomo Express Restaurant. The North Carolina Public Access Foundation donated the trophies as they have done for the last 3 years and the Silver Gull Motel offered discounted rooms for the event. The North Carolina Fishing Pier Society has hosted the event the past 2 years.

The Dogfish event was an idea started by regular Mercer fisherman Rick Britt and Arlen Ash as a way of getting Mercer's regulars together in the off season and to shake off cabin fever of the long winter. The idea caught on now dominates the winter fishing season in North Carolina.

Pictures of the event will be posted at www.ncfps.com

Till next time....
tight lines!
Johnny

Cape Fear Christian Sportsman

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This looks Great! I am planning to attend. Check it out.

email from Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Ministry
[quote]
Cape Fear Christian Sportsman, A ministry of Christ Community Church, is hosting " Fish Fest '10." This school is open to anyone in the community. There is no cost, but a $20 donation is appreciated. Come and learn everything you ever wanted to know about local fishing but were afraid to ask and be sure to bring a friend! The class will be from 8am-5pm February 20, 2010 at Christ Community Church (4555 Fairview Dr., Wilmington, NC). A light breakfast and Pig Pickin' lunch will be provided. Registration is available online at www.capefearsportsmen.org.

We've got some awesome speakers this year! Check out the current line up:


* Shallow Water and Flats Fishing for Redfish (Capt. Jot Owens)

* King Mackerel Tactics (Capt. Jodie Gay, 23 and Under SKA Campion, Blue Water Candy Lures)

* Bottom Fishing (Capt. Butch Foster, Yeah Right Sportfishing Charters)

* Targeting Nearshore Mahi (Capt. Brent Stanley, Current Adventure Charters)

* Catching Spanish and Blues Nearshore (Capt. Mat Hurlbut, Hot Ticket Fishing Charters)

* Catching Flounder (Capt. Jonathan "Big Country" McDow)

* Targeting Sailfish (Capt. John McDow, Midnight Wind Fishing)

* Offshore Safety (Capt. Matt Wild, Towboat US Wrightsville Beach)

* Castnetting for Live Bait (Rick Stoker, Team Fountain)

* Fishing Offshore Habitats and Gulfstream Details (Capt. Chip Berry, Maps Unique)

* Boat Maintenance Q&A (Bobby Bailey, Bailey Marine Integrations)

* Fishing MirrOLures (Capt. Jot Owens)

* Many More![end quote]

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Warmer Weather=Hotter Fishing around the area

Hello form “finally starting to warm up” Southeast North Carolina! It has been cold; to cold, we did have some local fish kill. It was a little worse north of us, but it s not good for anybody! We are very happy to see warmer temps for the next five plus days. The good part of all this is we have been doing pretty good fishing lately. Let’s go over that in this weeks fishing report>>>

When the weather or more important the wind has been right, we have done very well on the winter Redfish. These large schools of Redfish hang in the ocean around bars, inlets and shoals. We have seen schools as small as ten fish to over 1000 fish; and some times more! It’s a really cool thing to see, but you need to be careful; these fish can be hard and dangerous to get too. A good par of polarized sun glasses and a reel that you can cast a country mile will help to catch these winter Reds.

We are catching the Reds in the surf on Saltwater Assassin sea shad grubs; in colors 10w40 with chart tail and chicken on a chain. We rig the grubs on ¼oz and 3/8oz; red or new penny color jig heads. We have caught them on MirrOlure’s as well; 17MR and 27 MR, in colors 26, 808 and BNSBO are working for us.

The Cape Fear River Stripers are biting from time to time; it got a little cold for them as well. The Stripers are hitting Berkley gulp jerk shad in colors pearl, new penny and electric chicken. We rig the jerk shad Texas style, with a large bass hook. Rapala X-raps work too, in colors glass ghost and green back.

Speckled trout fishing has been more miss than hit lately but, it should get better with the warmer weather we have coming. The best bet for the trout this time of year is mud minnows and working artificial baits very slow. MirrOlure’s 17MR and 52M are a good bet this time of year. I like the colors 11, 51, CFPR and EC. SWA grubs in colors chicken on a chain, chart-diamond and silver-ph & chart tail. I use twenty pound Stren tinted fluorocarbon leader; I prefer gun smoke tint for clear water applications.

Fishing Gear we use:
Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”

In Other Fishing News: Don’t forget; there are some great boat and fishing expos coming to North Carolina. If you like fishing and boats you don’t want to miss these shows and fishing seminars! Here are the one’s that myself as well as other Ranger boats pro staff members will be at this winter.

February 12-14, 2010 - Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show - Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world. I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.

February 20, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest.
http://www.capefearsportsmen.org/Events/FishFest10Registration/tabid/719/Default.aspx I will be speaking on Shallow water Redfishing and working MirrOlure’s. For all the info on this day of seminars, take a look at this link.

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats and
Pure Fishing Pro Staff
http://www.captainjot.com/
910-233-4139

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Ocean Redfish

My friend Jason and myself took advantage of the best day we have had all year, weather wise. We slid the Vantage into the water early and headed for the ocean. The seas were flat calm and the water was Gin clear. Jason and I eased along the beach and it didn't take long to spot the fish. There were hundreds of Reds holding tight to the surf zone and the glistened in the sunlight as they rode the waves. The only downside was that the water temp was 47.8°F and they just didn't want to bite.

We threw everything in the tackle box at them. Gulps, Mirrorlures, gold spoons and bucktail jigs. We did manage to catch 4 or 5 fish this morning, but we would have like to caught more. The cold temperatures and the fact that these fish have been pressured hard the last few weeks had given these fish a big case of lockjaw. However, it was great to be on the water and it is awesome to see so many redfish in the water at once.

Tight lines to all.

Capt. Brent
Current Adventure Charters
910.200.9959

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22 Yes Twenty Two Pound Largemouth Bass!

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Picture is 22lb. ... Yes Twenty Two Pound Largemouth Bass! Caught in Japan. Ties the 77 year old largemouth world record.

WOW!

Till next time.....
Tight lines! (and frozen lines right now on Topsail .... BRRRRR)
Johnny

Topsail Fish Kill

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I am sorry to report that the cold weather has caused a massive fish kill in the sounds and tidal creeks behind Topsail Island. This report has not been confirmed, but I have heard it from two different sources. One report has estimated the loss in excess of 10,000 pounds of spotted sea trout, aka speckled trout. The coldest weather of the year is still to come. There isn't anything we (recreational anglers) can do about the weather. But I am planning to release more fish than I would normally do. I love to eat these wonderful fish, but I will only keep the biggest of my catch. We can all help to protect our waters from pollution. When we are out in the water or on the beach, we can PICK IT UP ..... DON'T PASS IT UP. It is amazing how much trash Donna and I cart off the beach as we are walking. We usually carry a bag on our walks, and pick up trash as we walk and look for shells and sharks teeth. Help protect this resource. Thanks for your concern.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny and Donna
http://www.fishintopsail.com

Happy New Year!

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Wishing all our readers a Happy and Blessed New Year!

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny and Donna

Cold Weather, but the Fishing is Good.

Well Folks, the rain has slowed down a little but; now here comes the COLD weather!!! Welcome to southeast North Carolina fishing and weather, everyday is different and the fishing will be different as well! You can catch fish during colder weather and/or winters; you just have to change your style a little. I think this is going to be a little colder winter than the last one. So here is the fishing report>>>

The speckled trout have been hit and miss lately, some days we catch them good some days not as many. When we do get them; live shrimp has worked, as well as grubs have. Just lately I’ve had a few friends catch some bigger trout around the Masonboro jetties. When I’m looking for bigger trout, I turn too the live shrimp, not to say that big trout will not hit lures; they will! But for ease of fishing with charters; live shrimp do the trick time and time again!

When we are using grubs these are some of the patterns that are catching trout. Grub colors by Saltwater Assassin’s that have really done well are chicken on a chain and chart-diamond. Some other colors that are producing well are salt & pepper, space guppy and pearl. We rig the grubs on jig heads in colors black and red; in sizes 1/8 and ¼; with a twenty pound fluorocarbon leader. I don’t use a lot of floro, but I do for speckled trout fishing; trout have very good eye sight.

We are catching some small trout, Redfish and Striped bass in the Cape Fear River. These fish are hitting grubs, jerk shad and hard baits. The grubs and jerk shads that are working for us is. Saltwater Assassin and Berkley gulp in colors pearl, new penny and chartreuse. We use red and white jig heads in weights 1/4, 3/8 and ½ oz for the grubs. When we use jerk shads, we rig them Texas style with a 4/0 to 6/0 wide gap bass worm hook.

Redfish are schooling in the surf, we are always looking for a nice day to get out and chase them. They are pretty easy to catch; you just got to find them. That part can be a bit harder, trust me! A sunny, light wind day and good polarized sunglasses are the keys to catching these Reds. Grubs seem to be the easy go to bait for surf Reds. Saltwater Assassin “Blurps” in pearl and molting color work very well. We’ve also had good luck with Berkley gulp alive in jerk shad pattern; in colors new penny and pearl white. You need to use heavier jigs heads, ½ and 5/8 plus for casting. Color of the head is not a big deal Red, white and black all work just fine. Hold on tight, they fight great even in cold water!

There have still been good by-catches while we are trout fishing; these include some Tautogs, Sheephead, Flounder and Black & Red drum. These by-catches are hitting the grubs and live shrimp we are using for the trout. The great thing is they are all good eating! My favorites are the Tautogs and Sheephead. If your bait gets close to the bottom, you’ve got a good chance at picking up one of these guys.

Remember when the water gets cold, slow down your presentation. This will greatly help you catch more fish during the winter mouths!

Fishing Gear we use:Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”
In Other Fishing News: Don’t forget starting in early January; there are some great boat and fishing expos coming to North Carolina. If you like fishing and boats you don’t want to miss these shows and fishing seminars! Here are the one’s that myself as well as other Ranger boats pro staff members will be at this winter.

January 8-10, 2010 - Raleigh Bass & Saltwater Fishing Expo NC State Fairgrounds - Raleigh, NC. http://www.ncboatshows.com/ This is a GREAT show, with over 160 booths offering everything from the latest lures, plastics, jigs, custom rods, apparel, knives, product sample booths, hard-tops, saltwater fishing guides, fresh water guides, cast nets, gaffs.....by far one of the best shows of its kind in the Carolina's and Virginia. I will be there along with other Ranger pro staff members who include; Capt. Jeff Cronk and Capt. Mike Taylor, as well as many others fresh and salt water pros! I will speak on Cobia and Tarpon fishing during Saturday’s seminars.

February 12-14, 2010 - Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show - Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world. I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,
Captain Jot Owens

Ranger Boats and

Pure Fishing Pro Staff

http://www.captainjot.com/

910-233-4139

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Merry Christmas

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Merry Christmas to all our friends, family, loyal readers and fellow anglers. It was a wonderful day, the first Christmas in more than 35 years that Donna and I have spent by ourselves. It was very relaxing, enjoyable and peaceful. We did miss our family. God Bless you all!

Lord willing and the rain and wind stops, I'm going to try to persuade some trout to bite my mirro'lure tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Love you all!

Johnny and Donna

Rain&Dirty Water=Good Speckled Trout Fishing around the Area Waters

Hello form a wet Southeast North Carolina, boy we’ve have had some rain lately! The good thing is the fish are still biting well to great some days! I talked with a few other fishermen lately and a lot have asked what to do about dirty water Speckled trout fishing. That is what I’m going to go over in this weeks fishing report>>>

The Speckled trout fishing continues to be pretty steady most days but we have had to change up a few things in our presentation for dirtier waters. What grubs do I use in dirtier waters; colors (Chicken on a chain), (10w 40/lime tail), (S&P SLV.PH/Chart.TL), (Blurps Rootbeer) and (Space Guppy) all of these are Saltwater Assassin colors in sea shad pattern. If you like to use Gulp Ghost shrimp (Chart Belly), (New Penny) and (Natural with sparkle). Now I’m not real big on scents for Speckled trout fishing, but when the water is dirty it can help bring a bite or two. Of course Gulp already has the scent but if you like none scented grubs try some BANG shrimp and/or BANG Texas tea spray scents. I don’t really change the color of my jig head; I use a little more red then black when the water is dirty. One thing I always do when the water is dirty is slow down my presentation; work the grub a little slower!

To the hard baits we use in dirtier waters. MirrOlures are great dirty waters bait; because you can work them so darn slow! This gives the trout longer to see and eat the MirrOlure. So which MirrOlures; 17MR, 27MR and S52MR all of these MirrOlures have rattles one more thing to draw in a bite! MirrOlure colors I like in dirtier waters; EC, 11, 26 and 808. One trick that has worked for me in the past is; steeping up in lure size when the water is dirty. Try a 27MR or a S52MR instead of a 17MR; this gives the trout a bigger target to see. Rapala’s X-rap in chartreuse is a good dirty water lure too.

Let’s not forget those good ole’ live shrimp; they work in clear or dirty waters. But I have seen lures work well when the water is dirty and sometimes better then live shrimp, I still don’t leave the dock with out them (shrimp).

There have still been lots of good by-catches while we are trout fishing; these include some Tautogs, Sheephead, Flounder and Black & Red drum. These by-catches are hitting the grubs and live shrimp we are using for the trout. The great thing is they are all good eating! My favorites are the Tautogs and Sheephead. If your bait gets close to the bottom, you’ve got a good chance at picking up one of these guys.

I hope some of these tactics help you catch more Speckled trout this season. Remember slow down your presentation, go with a little bigger lure and have some patients; you’ll get’em!
I’m going to offer a VERY GOOD but limited offer for the next few weeks or until they sell out. ½ price (50% off) 1/2 day (4 hour) charter gift certificates. That’s right; $150.00 for four hours of fishing; yes you can buy them for yourself or as a gift. This rate is for the boat and up to three people. They are good for all of 2010. E-mail captainjot@yahoo.com or call 910-233-4139 for details of to purchase. We take all major credit cards. Also my special winter rates are in affect till the first of April.

Fishing Gear we use:Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens

Ranger Boats and

Pure Fishing Pro Staff

http://www.captainjot.com/

910-233-4139

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PS_ Speckle Trout Report

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I was so agrevated about the flounder fishery, that I forgot to note the catching news. Speckled trout are showing up in the surf in good numbers, and some good size catches are being reported. I haven't heard of a creel limit, but lots of 12 and 13 inch fish are being landed. Anglers are being tight lipped about the bait, but I gather most are coming on Mirro-lure. Don't know which one is hot this year.

Remember, the size limit has increased to fourteen (14) inches this year.
Good luck!

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny

Flounder Advisory Committee_ What's the point?

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Below the schedule information for the SOUTHERN FLOUNDER ADVISORY
COMMITTEE MEETING. After some things I have read recently, I wonder
what the point is? The powers that be does not, will not, consider the
recommendations of the committee. So, again, what's the point of a
meeting? I guess we need to keep trying to influence the Marine
Fisheries folks but it's looking bleak for the fishery.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Regards,
Johnny

Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: Dec. 8, 2009 Phone: (252) 726-7021


SOUTHERN FLOUNDER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING SET


MOREHEAD CITY – The Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Advisory
Committee to the N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission will meet at 6:00
p.m. Thursday, Dec. 17 at the N.C. Department of Environment and
Natural Resources Regional Field Office, 943 Washington Square Mall,
Washington, N.C.


A meeting agenda follows.


For more information contact Division of Marine Fisheries Biologist
Chris Batsavage at (252) 808-8088 or Chris.Batsav...@ncdenr.gov. You
may also contact the Marine Fisheries Commission office at
252-808-8023.
###


MFC Southern Flounder Fishery Management Plan Advisory Committee
Meeting
NCDENR Regional Field Office – 943 Washington Square Mall -
Washington, NC
December 17, 2009 6-9 p.m.


AGENDA


§ Call to Order
§ Modifications to the Agenda
§ 15-Minute Public Comment Period
§ Southern Flounder Commercial Fishery Presentation– Chris Batsavage
§ Socio-economic Characteristics of the Southern Flounder Fisheries
Presentation– Scott Crosson
§ Issues to Address in FMP Amendment—Chris Batsavage
§ Plan Location, and Agenda Items for the Next Meeting – February 11,
2010
§ Adjourn

Speckled Trout Fishing is Going Strong around the area waters.

Hello from southeast North Carolina! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I enjoyed mine! The fishing has been quite good for the last two weeks, with lots of Speckled trout and a few other species mixed in as well to keep things fun. The big speck this week was six pounds and three ounce’s; we also caught a few over five and many more over four pounds. This is no doubt this going to be another big trout year! To the fishing report>>>

Not much has changed as far as how we are catching the Speckled trout. We are still catching quite a few nice Gary trout mixed in with the specks. The grays are hitting grubs and jigging spoons. Saltwater Assassin grubs in colors Chart-diamond glitter and Salt-pepper with chart-tail have worked well for the grays. The specks are hitting chicken on a chain, 10w-40 with chart tail and Salt & pepper with chart tail. The body shape that has worked for us is the sea shad in four inch size. In the last few trips we have got a few nice specks off Saltwater Assassin Blurp in shrimp pattern. The colors in blurp that are working are molting, good penny and rootbeer. We have also caught some trout on Berkley gulp new ghost shrimp in new penny color. This is the first gulp shrimp to have some real leg action; check’em out! We are using jig heads in colors pink and red; in weights 3/8oz and ½ oz for the grays and 1/8oz and 1/4oz for the specks.

We have started to use live shrimp as well for the specks. At this time on Tuesday 12-1 the water temp around Wrightsville Beach was 58` to 60` inshore and the inlet was around 60` to 62`. With this said it’s still warm and the trash fish are still eating up a lot of our live shrimp. This is going to change very soon with a good shot of colder air coming in this week. When we are using live shrimp, I rig them two different ways. We use float rigs and light Carolina rigs. On the float rig we use a #6 red or brown treble hook, for the Carolina rig we use a #1 L42 eagle claw hook. For both of these rigs, I prefer Stern’s tinted fluorocarbon leaders in 20# (Gunsmoke) tint. This stuff really works for our super clear water around the area!

There have been a few good by-catches while we are trout fishing; these include some Tautogs, Sheephead, Flounder and Black & Red drum. These by-catches are hitting the grubs and live shrimp we are using for the trout. The great thing is they are all good eating! My favorites are the Tautogs and Sheephead. It your bait gets close to the bottom, you’ve got a good chance at picking up one of these guys.

There still has been some False albacore fishing when the ocean is calm enough for us to get out. Marie jigs have been the best bet for the albacore. We are using a forty pound mono leader with a loop knot tied to the Marie jig. Colors and size’s; color green and pink in sizes 7gram and 14 gram. These albacore are a lot of fun on light tackle and fly; they are real drag screamers! Keep your eyes peeled for breaking fish and birds!

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,
Captain Jot Owens

Ranger Boats and

Pure Fishing Pro Staff

http://www.captainjot.com/

910-233-4139

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Happy Thanksgiving From Current Adventure

Here's wishing that you and yours have had a wonderful Thanksgiving! May we all have lots of tight lines and not forget about those that are less fortunate than ourselves. Also I would like to express a very special Thank You to all of the men and women serving in our armed forces. God Bless you all!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Capt. Brent and Karen!!


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Topsail Update

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2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide


Fishing is pretty good. I have had bad migraines recently and haven't updated the blog. My dad has been down for several days and caught tons of sea mullets and black drum with a few specks scattered in the catch. All fish were caught on cut fresh ocean shrimp. Most catches come at night or very early am. Specks are biting mirro lures in the surf better than piers. Again, fish early. Tide doesn't seem to matter much, but if I had to make a choice, I think I would choose falling. The Tuesday weather forecasting for is calling for a low of 33*. This cool air should really school the specks up. Check out the picture of the huge black drum caught from the surf at Topsail. Click on the East Coast Sports link below, and watch the slide show on the home page. I think it was estimated at 65 lbs. www.eastcoastsports.com
Good luck! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
--
Till Next Time....
Tight Lines!
Johnny and Donna
Topsail Beach, NC

The wedding is over-back to catching fish

As many of you know, I got married on Oct 10 and spent the next two weeks in Hawaii. While there, I spent one day Marlin fishing out of Kona. I didn't catch my marlin, but I did get hooked up with an approx. 400+lb Blue Marlin. My wife and I were on the bridge with the first mate when I saw the big blue crash the short left rigging and begin dumping a 130!!! It was very exciting but after about 1/2hour, the hooks pulled. Oh well, that's fishing. At least I got some time in the chair.

Now that I am back, I took Dave and Greg out on Friday to do a little inshore fishing. The morning was slow, but as the wind laid down and the tide started to fall, the bite turned on. We ended up catching a couple of Flounder, over a dozen redfish and a half dozen or so Speckled Trout. A great way to celebrate being back in NC waters. Most fish were caught on a white Gulp shrimp on a 1/4oz jighead.

Sunday, I went back out by myself to do a little grieving and clear my head after having to put my 12-1/2yr old Golden Retriever down. I guess he was looking down on me as the weather was perfect and the backwaters were slick calm. I never did find any large schools of fish, but the bite was steady. The morning bite started out with Redfish eating a gold spoon. While working a grass bank, I saw a Redfish come half out of the water chasing a mullet minnow. I thought to myself, they sure are active this morning, and thought it would be a good time to try a topwater bait. It was a good call as I soon had five more fish in the boat in about 30 minutes. I second guessed myself by leaving those fish in an attempt to locate fish in a different place. That didn't pay off and I eventually ended back up in the same area. Once the tide started to fall, I switched over to a big purple worm and commenced to work the slot reds again. I ended up with over a dozen reds for the day before packing it in and heading for the hill. I love late fall Redfish fishing!!!


Capt. Brent Stanley
Current Adventure Charters
910.200.9959
2009 East Cape Vantage (Hull #3)
90HP Honda 4-stroke


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Hot Speckled Trout Fishing around the area!

Well folks it is Trout Time and I love it! With cooler water temps and a little lighter winds fishing has been pretty good this last week and the start of this one. We did gat a lot of rain but, the water is in good shape for the most part. We are really starting to see some very nice Speckled trout around the area. We caught a 7.2, 5.5 and a half dozen over four pounds this week so far. It was nice to see the 7.2 in the net; the biggest trout I’ve seen in my boat this year. Let’s talk about how we have caught some of these nice trout lately in this weeks fishing report.

Grays and Specks are feeding well around in creeks, channels and inlets. The grays are hitting grubs and jigging spoons. Saltwater Assassin grubs in colors Chart-diamond glitter and Salt-pepper with chart-tail have worked well for the grays. The specks are hitting chicken on a chain, 10w-40 with chart tail and Salt & pepper with chart tail. The body shape that has worked for us is the sea shad in four inch size. In the last few trips we have got a few nice specks off Saltwater Assassin Blurp in shrimp pattern. The colors in blurp that are working are molting, good penny and rootbeer. We are using jig heads in colors pink and red; in weights 3/8oz and ½ oz for the grays and 1/8oz and 1/4oz for the specks. Colors for the jigging spoons that have worked well for the grays are Pink, Green/blue, and gold.

My charters have caught specks on a wide range of “hard” lures this season; some new and some good ole’ timer’s. Mirrolures that are working well for us are the Catch 2000 Jr, 52M and the 17MR. The best Mirrolure colors that are catching the trout are; pink, white on white, chartreuse and silver. Rapala’s X-rap in colors glass ghost and pink have all so been a hit this season. And of course don’t forget those live shrimp; they really do catch the trout! I rig all live bait, grubs and hard lures with fourteen to eighteen inch’s of twenty pound fluorocarbon. Trout have good eye sight and with the mostly clear water around this area, this seems to help us get more bites out of the trout. I really like Stren’s new tinted fluorocarbon leaders, we use gunsmoke tint for clear water apps.

We have caught some nice Flounder while Flounder fishing and also caught some while trying to catch trout lately. The Flounder are running about thirteen to twenty inch’s with a few bigger ones as well. The Flounder are hitting grubs in colors morning glory, chicken on a chain and molting in the blurp grub. When we are just targeting Flounder we are using live bait on Carolina rigs. Finger mullet and mud minnows are doing the trick for those flat fish. Most of the Flounder we are catching are in the creeks and around the inlets.

The red and black drum are showing around the area too. We’ve seen reds and blacks in the waterway (ICW) around docks and oyster rocks. There have been a few reds and blacks around the jetties as well lately. These drum are hitting scented grubs and live bait on the bottom. This week we caught a few black drum over seven pounds around the inlets on blurp grubs.

The trout fishing will only get better; we had lots of fish over four pounds last year. It looks like its going to be another great trout season, I believe that some body will catch a Speckled trout over ten pounds in the Wrightsville beach area this season! Let’s go Trout fishing>>>!

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Fire line crystal braid in 10 and 20#. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S “Best Trout rod I ever have fished”

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. Don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats and
Pure Fishing Pro Staff
http://www.captainjot.com/
910-233-4139

Fishing Topsail Message Board
Topsail Area Charter Boats
2009 NC Recreational Coastal Waters Guide

Wind Wind Wind!

Lots of wind down here at Topsail over the last several days as the remnants of Ida rolled through. Throw in quite a few inches of rain, and you make for some pretty nasty weather. The last time I checked, It was due to roll on out of here tomorrow. This should make for a nice fall weekend at the beach. Before the winds moved in, the fishing was going quite well. The nice virginia mullet continue to bite at night, along with flounder, drum, (puppy and black (one black drum over 40lbs was caught and released last week from the surf just down from the pier)) blues, a few spots, and some pompano. The trout still haven't shown up in good numbers yet. This is due in large part to the extremely warm water temperatures that we are seeing. It is not unusual for the water to already be in the 50's by now. As it is, it is still in the mid to upper 60's! This is a good thing for lots of other species of fish though. It has the potential to prolong our season by several weeks if everything aligns right! It is hard to say what the results of this blow are going to be on the fishing. It could be just what we need to trigger one last good spot run. I do look for the mullet to return in soon as the water calms enough to make things fishable. Give us a call at the Jolly Roger for an up to date fishing/ocean conditions report!

Come on down to Topsail this weekend and enjoy some of this wonderful mind weather that mother nature has provided us with!

Rob Orr

Jolly Roger Inn and Pier

803 Ocean Blvd.

Topsail Beach, NC

(910)-328-4616

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Black Drum! Nice 'uns!

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Email from blog reader
[quote]

Let me start by saying that I read your blog every week to see what is going on fishing wise at Topsail Island. Although I currently live in Brunswick County, I do most of my fishing back in Topsail due to the fact that my family has a beach house there. Just wanted to send this picture of what my father, brother, and myself caught late Saturday evening in "a hole" right off the waterway. Got to the spot about 4 oclock Saturday and fished until about 5:15 or so with live shrimp, minnows, and cut shrimp. They didn't really do anything with the minnows but loved the shrimp. The two largest were just under 7 pounds and the smallest were not quiet 3 pounds. A lot of fun to catch. Kept them all that evening and dad cleaned them. Me and dad went back to the same spot Sunday morning to see if we could get a flounder or a red and the black's were still there and some reds bit as well. Released everything Sunday. Fun weekend.

Mark Benton


[end quote]

Great catch Mark! Thanks for sending the pic and email. Haven't had anything great to post recently. Thanks again.

Till next time....
Tight lines!
Johnny