March 5 th 2022

Red fish can be found schooled up in the marsh/ along the beach. Gold spoons, cut mullet, and soft plastics on weedless hooks are all producing fish. Smaller sheepshead are hanging around the bridges, the bite is slow but they are there. Frozen sand fleas are our bait of choice.

August 13TH

Just got back from vacation sorry for the delay!!

Redfish

Where to find them- Starting to shop all around the marshes and oyster beds, fishing in the white has picked up for our guides, with good slot fish fish being caught regularly.

Live bait- Mullet

Frozen- Frozen mullet on a Carolina Rig.

Check out this link for making a Carolina Rigs- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbY4tZ4O38g

Artificial- early morning and evening topwaters have been the trick. Throught the day try out some soft plastics, Z-Mann jerkshads with some mullet Pro Cure have done well for us.

Flounder

Where to find them- marshes and docks down ICW.

Live bait- mudminnow on carolina rig

Frozen- shrimp on a jig head

Artificial- Buck tail with a curly tail on it

Near Shore/off the beach

Pompano and sea mullet have been caught while fishing with bottom rigs and shrimo.

Spanish have also been caught near shore trolling spoons.

June 25th

Flounder FLOUNDER Flounder!!!

Where to find them- everywhere right now, the marshes are producing numbers with a few keepers mixed in, while the docks in the ICW have produced fewer fish but, they were all bigger fish- 2-4lbs

Live bait- mudminnow on carolina rig

Frozen- Strips of Squid on a Buck Tail jigged slowly also works well.

Artificial- Bucktail, Pearl WHite, Gulp shrimp, and Z man jerk shads

Redfish

Where to find them- Finally started to trickle in, bear island marshes and the marshes around the EI bridge have seen good numbers of fish.

Live bait- Mullet ( they are plentyful everywhere.

Frozen- Frozen mullet from Cape Point baits on a Carolina Rig.

Check out this link for making a Carolina Rigs- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbY4tZ4O38g

Artificial- Over the weekend, in the mid day, the Z Mann Spinner baits produced a few fish.

Sheepshead

THE BITE IS STILL GOING STRONG DURING THE CHANGING OF THE TIDES

Where to find them- Bridges are probably the best place. Our favorite is the Small Bridge in Swansboro. .

Live bait- Fiddler crabs

May 30th report

Redfish

Where to find them- Struggle is still real. Scattered fish are starting to pop up in the marshes. If you can find live mullet or mehanden they tend to be producing more fish/ quality fish when combined with a Carolina rig.

Live bait- Mullet

Frozen- Frozen mullet from Cape Point baits on a Carolina Rig. ( iright now though the small blues and pinfish are taking the bait before the reds can get to it)

Check out this link for making a Carolina Rigs- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbY4tZ4O38g

Artificial- Over the weekend, in the mid day, the Z Mann Spinner baits produced a few fish.

Flounder

Where to find them- Bigger fish are being found around docks in the waterway.

Live bait- mudminnow on carolina rig

Frozen- Strips of Squid on a Buck Tail jigged slowly also works well.

Artificial- Bucktail, Pearl WHite, Gulp shrimp, and Z man jerk shads

Sheepshead

THE BITE IS ON DURING THE CHANGING OF THE TIDES LOW TO HIGH RIGHT AT THE SWITCH HAS BEEN FILLING THE COOLERS

Where to find them- Bridges are probably the best place. Our favorite is the Small Bridge in Swansboro. .

Live bait- Fiddler crabs

Spanish-

spoons and gotcha plugs have been leading to keeper fish during the rising tide at the Swansboro Bridge, look for the bait balls. ( NO THIS IS NOT A JOKE)

May 13th 2019

Redfish

Where to find them- This weekends tournament gave us a chance to see and hear about where most fish were being caught. It was a struggle for most anglers to find them ( in fact only 7 out of 50 did) but most of the ones that were found came from the mashes in the White Oak River!

Live bait- Mullet or Mud Minnows

Frozen- Frozen mullet from Cape Point baits on a Carolina Rig.  Check out this link for making a Carolina Rigs- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbY4tZ4O38g

Artificial- Z man jerk shads with weedless hooks and 4 inch pearl white shrimp by berkely gulp

Flounder

Where to find them- The anglers who were not catching redfish were all getting small flounder with a few keepers mixed in. Located in the marshes down the waterway and in queens creek.

Live bait- mudminnow on carolina rig

Frozen- Strips of Squid on a Buck Tail jigged slowly also works well.

Artificial- Bucktail, Pearl WHite, Gulp shrimp, and Z man jerk shads

Sheepshead

Where to find them- Bridges are probably the best place. Our favorite is the Small Bridge in Swansboro. Good numbers have been caught the past couple of weeks.

Live bait- Fiddler crabs

2019 is here and the fish are bitiing!

Redfish

Right now fish are still schooled up. Search around the marshes behind bear island! Shallow flats will be ideal spots for schools. Queens and Beer creek have also been producing quality slot reds

Frozen- Frozen mullet from Cape Point baits on a Carolina Rig. 

Artificial- weedless weedless weedless. other than that bring an a variety of soft plastics to toss at the schools. Fish the outer edges of the school to keep the fish from spooking so bad.

Trout

Where to find them- up queens and in the new river.

Artificial- mirrolures, Z man Trout tricks, and on the fly.

In the Surf

Puffer fish galore, bottom rigs with shrimp and such have been catching them, along with some sea mullet.

August 7th

Redfish

Where to find them- Shop Guide Jerry Burns had good luck fishing the marshes across form “red barn” otherwise known as shell rock landing.

Live bait- Mullet or Mud Minnows

Frozen- He was using Frozen mullet from Cape Point baits on a Carolina Rig.  Check out this link for making a Carolina Rigs- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbY4tZ4O38g

Artificial- He also caught the early that morning on a Skitter Walk- 808

Flounder

Where to find them- The Docks in the waterway have still be producing good quality fish.

Live bait- I prefer a mudminnow, but live shrimp, or mullet will also work.  Carolina Rig Slowey

Frozen- Strips of Squid on a Buck Tail jigged slowly also works well.

Artificial- Bucktail, Pearl WHite

Trout

Where to find them-  Just wait till the fall.

Live bait-

Frozen-

Artificial-

Sheepshead

Where to find them- Bridges are probably the best place. Our favorite is the Small Bridge in Swansboro

Live bait- Fiddler grabs

Frozen- Sea Urchin or clams (does not stay on the hook that well but does work)

Artificial- Coco the crab

Black drum

Where to find them- Deep Holes

Live bait- shrimp

Frozen- shrimp

Artificial- Fish Bites- Shrimp Flavor

Bottom fishing inshore

What is biting? Larger Croaker have been caught this week on fishbites at the mouth of west channel.

 

 

 

 

Summertime fishing July 17th

Redfish

Where to find them-  In the marshes and bays around the White Oak River, Bear Island, and the EI Bridge

Live bait- Mullet on a Carolina Rig like those made by Hawk Line Tackle - Fish these 1-4 feet off the bank, let them sit and the fish come to you.

Frozen- Whole mullet from Cape Point Bait company. Fish the same as the ones above, dont check or touch unless you think the bait is gone. Other than that leave it alone and wait for that big red.

Artificial- 4 inch Berkley Gulp Shrimp ( pearl white) or Berkley swimming mullet.  on a Blue Water Candy Jig Head- Pound the banks and marshes, slow retrieve and jigging of the shrimp, faster retrieve of the swimming mullet. 

Flounder

Where to find them- Off the points of Creeks in the marshes, the inlet, or around docks in the ICW. Westchannel has been a hot spot right now.

Live bait- Shrimp or mud minnows on a Carolina rig. You can drift the inlet, or slowly retrieve these down the docks in the waterway. 

Frozen- Strips of Squid or whole mullet.

Artificial- Jerk shads form Z-mann, Curly Tails from Fathom, or any shrimp imitation baits. Mullet or Shrimp Procure on your baits can increase your odds. 

Trout

Where to find them-  Scattered

Live bait- Shrimp or Mud minnows.

Artificial-  Trout tricks, hard baits.

Sheepshead

Where to find them- around bridge pilings.

Live bait- Fiddler Crabs on a a drop shot rig or Carolina

Artificial-  Coco the Grab by Wesitin. Jigged vertically.

Black drum

Where to find them-  Deep holes, around docks or bridges.

Live bait- Live shrimp.

Frozen- Shrimp on a bottom rig

Bottom fishing inshore

What is biting? There have been some Croaker and Spots caught at the fishing pier in Swansboro

On what? Frozen shrimp and squid.

 Nearshore

What is biting? Spanish, few kings, and blue.

 

 

Bring the Heat!!!

Warmer weather is finally here! While we might see some cooler days mixed in the bunch, anglers can stately expect to see days in the high 60’s and low 70’s consistently, with a few days even touching 80. This also means that our water temp is going to start seeing an increase. With the water warming up anglers will start to see more baitfish in the water which will give easier access to bait and fish willing to eat.

Red Drum - Redfishing is the name of the game right now. Anglers are still connecting to reds in the surf on large Carolina Rigs with cut baits, bucktails with GULP!, and heavier jig heads tipped with an anglers choice of favorite soft plastic. The bulk of the redfish in the past week have all been caught in the marshes behind the barrier islands. The fish in the marsh are schooling fish, and are usually willing to eat as long as anglers can get set up on fish without spooking them. Zoom Super Flukes and Gulp Jerk shads are the most popular artificial baits amongst the reds. When you find yourself on some spooked fish it pays to always bring a little bit of cut and live bait with you. While redfish might get spooked to artificial baits, it’s not often a redfish will turn down a Carolina rigged mullet or a live mud minnow under a cork. If you do find yourself on a group of fish that are eating well, it never hurts to keep a topwater bait readily available.

Flounder - Flounder are starting to show up in the same marsh areas that anglers are finding reds. As the water temps rise, so will the numbers of flounder in the area. White Gulp! Shrimp and jerkshad makes are solid choices for flounder.

Black Drum - Starting to pop up in their usual and random areas. Bigger fish will hit artificial baits and all sized fish will stay after bait shrimp on scaled down Carolina rigs.

Sea Mullet - Sea Mullet are being caught on the beach front, piers, and waterways. Bait shrimp and fish bites are the most productive baits.

Come by Pogie’s in Downtown Swansboro for all of your fishing needs this spring!

March 31

Easter usually brings the first signs of the spring season, the same rings true for spring fishing. Our water temps will gradually start to rise, fluctuating up and down slightly depending on our roller coaster air temps. The higher the temps rise, the more bait and activity we will start seeing, starting the chain that will bring in the species that will make spring Fishing fun!

Redfish - Red Drum are schooled up in the marshes behind our barrier islands (Bogue Banks, Bear Island, Brown’s Island) in large groups. The fish schooled up are usually willing to chow down as long as anglers can get set up on them properly and not put too much pressure on the fish. Zoom Super Flukes, Zman Paddlerz, and GULP! Jerk Shads have been the favorites of schooling fish. For non-scented baits it is always a must that you add some sort of bait scent to your lures. Pro-Cure Bait Scents in blue crab, shedder crab, and inshore saltwater are all favorites of the fish. A large number of anglers are finding large numbers of fish in mainland creeks in the area. Fish are connecting to Carolina rigs tipped with chunks of mullet and bait shrimp. When anglers are finding themselves on a slow bite, floating live mud minnows under slip corks add a little extra flare to tempt the fish.

Speckled Trout - Speckled trout are being caught around the oyster rocks in the white oak river. 17MR & 18MR Mirrolures are favorites of the Speckled bellies. They also can’t get enough of a Golden Bream Zoom Salty Super Fluke. If anglers are luck enough this time of year to find themselves on a warm warning with little wind, a chartreuse Heddon Super Spook JR might even deliver them a trophy topwater trout.

Flounder -  Every single day we move close to warmer weather, our inshore flounder Fishing gets just a little better. Anglers are currently reporting keeping sized grounder being caught in many of the same places that red drum are being caught, on most of the same baits. Our in house flounder gigging captain will begin making trips this week with a more area-derailed report of the fish to follow.

Black Drum - Black Drum are being caught in the same mainland creeks that anglers are catching Puppy Drum in. Bait shrimp bring sunk in bottom rigs and scaled down Carolina rigs is the beast sure fire bait for the striped fish.

Pogie’s Fishing Center in Historic Downtown Swansboro has all your live, frozen, artificial baits, as well as all the gear you will need to make this spring fishing season a memorable and successful one!

Capt. Matthew Littleton

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