[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e had an incredible Cobia season this May/June and these fish have begun moving off the beach so anglers can expect to continue to find some around nearshore live bottoms, wrecks, and artificial reefs through early summer. Â The big change this past few weeks is the good numbers of large 4 to 6lb spanish mackerel and 5 to 10lb. Kings that have settled in on the nearshore hard bottoms. Â Anglers should slow troll 4 to 6in live menhaden or fingermullet using no. 4 to 6 gold trebles and 20 to 30lb wire. Â There’s a good chance at a mahi and a sailfish in the mix during july as well! Â If you’re looking for some good bottom fishing action, try a 2oz Bett’s Flounder Fanatic bucktail tipped with a Berkley Gulp Shrimp on live bottoms and hard bottoms within 5 miles of the beach this July. Â There will be plenty of Summer flounder mixed in with some keeper seabass.
The backwaters along the crystal coast are teaming with flounder, redfish, sheepshead, blackdrum, and some speckled trout. Â Try working the rising tide along the flooded marsh edges with topwater baits, spinner baits, and berkley gulp shrimp fished on light jigheads for a good shot at redfish and flounder. Â Sheepshead will be holding around bridge and dock pylons and can be targeted using a live fiddler crab fished on a 1/0 to 2/0 short shank hook with a 1 to 2oz egg weight rigged inline and suspended just behind the pylons on the down current side. Â These fish pull hard and are great table fare. Â Drifting the inlets this month with a live finger mullet on a flounder rig will produce both summer and southern flounder as well as bluefish. Â During the falling tide anglers will also find flounder, often mixed with some redfish, along boat docks on the ICW. Â Regardless of what you prefer to catch, the Crystal Coast will be alive this July! Â Have fun and be safe on the water!
Capt. Jeff Cronk
Fish’n4life Charters
Swansboro, NC
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