For those who love to fish the Cape Lookout to Atlantic Beach areas for speckled trout, gray trout and red drum this is the time of year and it’s been really hot! I’ve been fishing all areas from the Haystacks of the Newport River to Middle Marsh and on out to the Cape Lookout Rock Jetty and we’ve just been having a banner year.
With that being said, you still have to hit the right spots on the right tide as speckled trout are a very wily fish and are sometimes hard to track down, but that only adds to their mystique. For most of the places in the mash and river systems, the best tide has been the falling tide, but not always. My next best bet would just be the change of tide and be rigged up with everything you might need as they are finicky…what worked yesterday may not work today. You’ll want to carry live bait, soft baits and hard baits such as the MirrOlures. Speaking of MirrOlures, I just received a few test lures last week of the new Paul Brown/MirrOlure Soft Dine MR17 and, man, they were hitting it really well! If the fish missed it on the first try he’d get it on the second! This is a very effective new bait and should be in tackle stores everywhere for the holidays.
As you fish these shallow water areas, look for the bends in creeks where the bank may drop off sharply, as they are good places for predator fish such as specs and reds to lie in wait for the ambush. Also, fish the beginning and ends of tides as the current will be slower and lets the fish feed better. As you move on out to the ocean, one of the first things you’re going to notice is the change in water temps. As the ocean is usually five-to-eight degrees warmer than the shallower backwaters. The local rock jetties such as Fort Macon, Shackleford and Cape Lookout will be holding lots of bait and therefore lots of specs, grays and reds. As the water cools down, these are the places that the larger populations of fish are going to migrate to and stage up for the next few months. I had great success this past week in the ocean as we had a cold snap that temporarily turned off the shallow water fish population for a few days. I worked the areas of the Shackleford Island beachfront from Beaufort Inlet to Cape Lookout and then along the Cape Lookout Rock Jetty with very good success. Another great place to look for late season large reds will be out at Shark Island off the Cape Lookout shoals…we ran into several large schools of mostly over-slot fish, but tons of fun to catch on light tackle. On the warm afternoons a few will still take a topwater but once it cools down they seem to want the soft baits or live baits. My baits of choice this past month have been the Salty Bay Shrimp in the Methiolate and Blue Ghost colors, the Sea Striker Twister Tail in the Christmas Tree color, and for the hard baits, the MirrOlure Bone series and the new Soft Dine series have been really hot.
The next month should still be really good. For those on foot, try the beachfront off Atlantic Beach, as there have been some really nice fish caught just walking the beach and casting into the sloughs and troughs with soft plastics and hard baits. There will still be some fish to be caught back inside on the warmer days, but for those looking to catch more fish, the warmer ocean water destinations will be your beat bet.
Anyone looking for holiday gift ideas, I do offer gift certificates and take all major credits cards, so give me shout and give a loved one a great experience.
I want to wish everyone a very safe and happy holiday season and hope to see you on the water, Capt. Noah Lynk.
Fisherman as follows:
James Brewer from Troy NC with a nice sow Speckled Trout caught fishing with Capt. Noah Lynk during a Nov. Trip.
Capt. Noah Lynk with a fall Spec. Caught in the Hay Stacks on the new Paul Brown Soft Dine by Mirro-Lure.
Jeff Parrish of Atlantic beach NC with a beautiful combo of Gray Trout and Speckled Trout caught fishing the Cape Lookout area with Capt. Noah Lynk.
