m really excited about this month! The fish will start putting on the feed bag as fall is about to start. Large flounder will start moving in from the ocean for the last two weeks and sight-fishing for them starts. Speckled trout will be coming in and the fall bite on the inside will be on! Pompano will be on the inside, as well as running down the surf zone of the ocean. Croakers and pigfish will be on the bite in the sounds and waterway. It is another great time of the year to be fishing here!
Flounder: at the end of the month they will be on the banks feeding on the mullets that are running the waterway. You will be able to find them by watching for them to “air-out” as they attack bait. Now is the time I like to fish soft plastics that I rig on worm hooks. Shrimp patterns work well for this, especially in a scented bait like DOA, Slurp or Blurp ( my favorite) and Gulp. I like the shrimp because it tends to glide like a bait that has been hit. When you see a flounder “air-out,” stop and start casting. Most of the time, it is not alone and you should be able to catch more than one in that area. I also use 20-pound fluorocarbon for a leader, as most of the fish will be in the 4+ pound size, so you will need it. Speckled trout: as we near the beginning of October, the spawning will slow down and they will start eating to put on fat for the winter. Topwater lures will help you locate them and they should eat them most all day. Other than live bait, MirrOlures 18MR, 2000 and 52M are my choices here and soft plastics on small jig heads should also do the trick for you. I look for current breaks and oyster rocks to hold them. Pompano: I look for them to run the waterway and river sub-channels. Sometimes you will see them as you slowly move through the channels on the low tide. Yellow bucktails tipped with shrimp work well for them on the inside. Along the beach shore, sand fleas will work great, especially the ones that are soft-shell or have eggs. Virginia mullet, as well as flounder and many others, will also eat them. Don’t cast too far out, the fish will be feeding right behind the breakers. Take the kids fishing now. Spot, croakers, pigfish and more are running now. Keep it simple with a #1 gold hook with a 1/4 oz split shot, along with a couple of bags of “Fishbites” or a box or two of squid…the smaller the bait the better, so bait stealers will have a better chance of getting hooked. Fish edges and tips of oyster bars as well as deep holes; this should yield many bites and if you aren’t getting bit, just move around till you do. Have fun out there and remember that even better fall fishing is just around the corner. Be sure to watch out for the other guys as they might not be looking out for you!
Captain Lee Parsons
910-540-2464 • www.gottaflyguideservice.com
Located In Wrightsville Beach at the Bridge Tender Marina