Inshore Report
Water temps are HOT with the summer in full swing! Schools of puppy drum are being found all along grassy edges and shallow water. Casting soft plastic baits on small jig heads are producing good numbers of flounder in the same areas. Speckled trout are hanging around the slightly deeper water in the same areas. A pattern I have found is that the trout tend to hang around the crab pots, while the reds and flounder are right on the bank!
Nearshore Report
In the heat of summer the bottom fishing is getting good! We managed to find good numbers of gag grouper on nearshore artificial reefs and wrecks. Anywhere from 55-70 ft of water held keeper sized grouper. Dropping the underwater camera down showed large amounts of bait covering the reef and the grouper hiding all over the wreck. Cut bonito was the most productive bait for the trip! We dropped them down on three way swivels using 40-80lb leader. The key is to get right on top of the structure, drop down some bait and hang on tight!
Offshore Report
With summer in full swing, the offshore bite is on fire! I am seeing reports of wahoo along the break and mahi scattered all across Onslow Bay. Some reports from friends have flipper mahi being caught within 14 miles of the beach! Trolling a mix of artificial and rigged ballyhoo is a great way to locate dolphin. It seems most of the reports of wahoo show great results with deep baits on planners. Weed lines are holding fish but they are also seeing a lot of pressure from fisherman. If the bite is slow look for large areas of hard bottom that hold plenty of life.