Scouting Trip

Friend and angler Wes Aiken joined me on the boat to do a little scouting for some upcoming charters and what we found was nothing short of phenomenal. We started the morning poling some very shallow tidal creeks, some of which were only as wide as the boat. Within the first 50 yards of poling we spotted a pair of redfish laid up near an oyster bar. Unfortunately they saw us around the same time and before Wes could get a shot with the fly rod they spooked. The water is very clear this time of year and as they swam under the boat we noticed one fish had a red lure hanging out of his mouth. We continued up the creek and as we came to the next bend we noticed some fish pushing water chasing shrimp. As I started to spin the boat giving Wes the perfect shot we noticed another fish tailing and finning coming down the shoreline just past the group of fish. Wes made a cast and one of the fish saw the fly line and spooked causing the other 3 to spook. They turned and went up the creek so I poled Wes a little closer and gave him a shot at the tailing fish. He made the cast and immediately the other group that spooked turned and came right at his fly and the tailing fish. Within a few strips of the fly the tailing fish raced forward to beat the other fish to the fly and Wes was hooked up to his first red drum of the day. After a few quick pictures we released that fish and continued up the creek finding more redfish eating shrimp and laid up around oysters. We decided to leave these fish alone and explore new areas. As we poled up and down many of the other creeks in the area we found many singles and small groups patrolling the creeks but no big groups of fish. By this time the tide had began to come in and I decided to make a run to an area that is almost dry on low tide. After slowing the boat to idle near the mouth of the creek I noticed fish pushing water further up the creek in mere inches of water. We switched positions with Wes taking the push pole and giving me the bow with the fly rod.  Wes poled me up the creek and we watched as redfish pushed into a small narrow ditch leading up into the spartina grass. As we got within range of the ditch we were amazed at what we saw. There were 12-15 fish feeding in this ditch that was less than 6 feet wide and about 18 inches deep. After missing an eat on a topwater fly I switched to a small shrimp fly and one cast later had a fish break away from the group and eat the fly 15 feet from the bow. We continued up the creek to a small lagoon in the spartina grass and found more than a dozen other fish tailing around digging for crabs and cruising with their backs out of the water. With Wes back on the bow he made a cast to a single fish in a small pocket of water and was hooked up within one strip of the fly. After another photo and release we left the rest of the fish alone for my anglers in the upcoming days and decided to call it a day.With the unseasonably warm air and water temperatures combined with clear water the sightfishing right now along the Cape Fear Coast is exceptional. Don't wait to book your fly or light tackle fishing trip or purchase a holiday gift certificate for that angler on your holiday list. 

Capt. Allen Cain

http://www.sightfishnc.com/

 

Fall Fishing Report

I know I've been bad about keeping up with my blog lately. Between being on the water everyday possible fishing to chasing ducks around NC its been a busy fall, but I will try to keep you better up to date with whats going on along the Cape Fear Coast.

Fall fishing has been very good this year. The speckled trout have really start showing up in big numbers over the last few months and we have been catching them on artificials and flies. Most of the trout I have caught lately are ranging in size from undersized to up to 4 pounds. We have been catching them from Topsail Island to the Cape Fear River. The inlets have been holding some of the bigger fish but we have got a few way up the creeks. For artificials we have been using 1/4oz. jigheads with DOA Cal Shad and Jerk Bait in pink, electric chicken, greene, and silver mullet. Mirrolures are also working well. For flies we have been throwing clousers, small decievers, and other custom shrimp flies on sinking and intermediate fly lines.

The Red Drum fishing has been good all year but over the last month they have really started schooling back up and are very aggressive. Just recently I have witnessed the same school tailing, backing, and crushing shrimp on the surface sometimes so aggressively that the were coming out of the water. All this in less than a foot of water. This is the time of year when they will form large schools ranging from 20 to 200+ fish. They will congregate in shallow water eating every shrimp, crab, or minnow they find. The water is also clearing up and will continue to remain clear throughout the winter. Combining the clear water with the large schools of fish makes for some of the best and most exciting redfishing of the year. Red drum are more temperature tolerant that other fish and can be caught all 12 months of the year. For the redfish I have been throwing topwater plugs and weedless soft plastic shrimp imitations and for flies we have been using poppers, shrimp, and light weight minnow patterns. Redfish, usually, aren't as picky about the fly type as they are about presentation and movement of the fly.

I would also like to thank Dr. Bob Adams and James Weathers for fishing with me in the Cape Fear RedTrout Celebrity Tournament and congratulate them on winning the Most Redfish Division. The Redtrout is a catch and release charity tournament held to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis. Held in Wrightsville Beach at the Blockade Runner Hotel anglers and guides fished for two days for redfish and speckled trout. The fishing was good on day 1 and Dr. Bob and James caught an impressive 12 redfish with one being undersized as well as numerous speckled trout with 4 being legal. It was so good at times that I couldnt keep up with measuring and photographing the two fish in the boat before they were hooked up again. At one point we had a upper slot redfish and 3lb. trout in the net at same time.  Day 2 fishing was a little slower at first as we only picked up a few trout while waiting for our school of redfish to show up....which they never did. Although disappointed our redfish didnt show we still managed to finish up the day getting into good numbers of specks but unfortunatly most were undersize with only a few legal size. Due to fishing being so good I cut our timing to close and we were disqualified Day 2 for being 1 minute late to check in. Although we DQ'ed the second day, Dr. Bob and James's performance on day 1 got us the win in the Most Redfish Division. Congrats guys and look forward to fishing with you again.

Fishing should continue to be excellent throughtout the remainder of the Fall and into early Winter for redfish and trout. If the weather remains consistant it could translate into an exceptional year for winter sightfishing for redfish. I will also be offering gift certificates starting this year so call or email to purchase a great gift for the angler on your holiday gift list. Dont wait to book your fishing trip as the fishing along the Cape Fear Coast is as good as it gets right now. 

Here are some pictures from the last few months

opening day of duck season

Summertime Redfish

The sightfishing around Wilmington NC has been nothing short of awesome this summer. Most people believe that fishing slows down in the summer due to the hot weather and water temperatures, but I find this not to be true for redfish. With the right tide and a quiet approach to the school of fish they will eat flies and other artificial lures even on the hottest days. Over the last few weeks we have been catching lots of red drum with some flounder mixed in all on artificial lures. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a large school of fish in shallow water chase down a topwater plug and eat it.  Many of these redfish have been tailing in water less than 8

inches deep on sand flats and provide great opportunities for the fly caster.  Along with the schools of redfish there are lots of sheepshead, flounder, and sharks around inshore. We have been seeing many of the sharks up on the flats and they make great targets on light tackle. We even had a small shark eat a topwater plug last week. Most of the sharks are on the small side but we have seen a few up to 5-6 feet lately in less than 3 feet of water.  This past full moon provided us with good tides for tailing redfish and sheepshead and provide the fly angler with great sightfishing opportunities. From Topsail Island to the Cape Fear River, summertime fishing is in full swing. Don't hesistate to book a trip just because of the hot weather because the fish are still there and are hungry. 

Capt. Allen Cain

336.613.2975

A few pictures from the last 2 weeks

Wyoming Angler Catches First Redfish on Fly

I had friend and Wyoming angler Mark Landerman join me on the boat last week for some shallow water sightfishing along the Cape Fear Coast. Mark is an avid fly angler pursuing trout thoughout WY and Montana. This is Marks second trip to NC. He came last fall and got to experience the NC albacore fishing so this trip he was after shallow water redfish. We started the day early looking for tailers around some oyster bars due to the low sunlight and visibility and our local redfish didnt disappoint us. Within the first few minutes we spotted a tail and Mark made the cast but the fish never tailed again and we lost him. After running to another little bay we started poling down the bank and bumped into a school of fish. After backing off and letting them calm down, they started tailing on a mud flat and crushing small shrimp on the surface. It was an awesome site seeing backs and tails out of the water as they crawled across the flat. Unforturnatly we didnt manage to get any of these fish as we lost them when they moved into a deeper depression. I decided to move us to another flat close by where I had been finding fish the week before. As we appoached the flat we noticed other friends of mine were already on the fish but they called us over to join in. I silently poled my Maverick hpx-t over and watched as a large hungry school of redfish came cruising by eating everything in their path in a foot of clear water. We set up as to allow Fred and John in the other boat to get first shots at them since they were there first. As the fish moved in our direction I spun the boat to give Mark a shot and he made a perfect cast to the lead fish. The first fish inhaled his fly but being a trout angler forgot to strip strike and the fish pulled off. There were so many fish that Mark simply made another cast and we watched as four fish fought over the fly until one inhaled it and Mark was tight to his first red drum on fly. After a few quick pictures and the release, I asked Mark if he wanted to get one on a topwater fly. So I quickly grabbed a gurgler out of my fly box and as Mark tied it on I poled the boat back up to the group of fish which were still feeding. As I pushed Mark in range, he made a quick cast to the fish and before he could strip the fly a fish exploded on it. Catching a red drum on topwater is one of the most exciting ways to target them. After a few more photos and the release we tried to get another but with the strong full moon spring tide flushing in we lost the group as they began spreading out along the marsh edge.

The next day friend Kary Via joined me on the boat for some afternoon flood tide tailers. We saw many fishing tailing happily in the spartina grass as they were feeding on fiddler crabs. We managed to land 4 tailing redfish on fly and pulled the hooks on 2 more.

The fishing in Topsail Island, Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, and the Cape Fear River is outstanding right now. Dont miss your oppotunity, now is the time to book your trip and experience it for yourself.

Captain Allen Cain
http://www.sightfishnc.com/

Cape Fear fishing heating up

Summer is almost here and the fishing along Topsail Island, Wrightsville Beach, and Carolina Beach is getting better everyday.  Red drum are starting to follow their summertime patterns and eating everything thrown at them. Big bluefish (5-15 lbs) and ladyfish are also patroling the local waters and put up a really good fight on light tackle.  I have been out scouting the last few days with friend Wes Aiken and we have been finding redfish crushing bait and tailing on the flats from Southport to Topsail Island. The southeast wind we had this week cleared up the water in the Cape Fear River and made for some good days sightfishing. We landed many redfish on fly and topwater plugs. 

I also fished the recent Fishermans Post Spring Inshore Classic Tournament with friends Will Huffine and Frank Prior. This tournament is for red drum and flounder and each team can weigh in one of each species. While prefishing the days leading up to the tournament we found many tournament sized redfish so our game plan was to get a good redfish and then focus on flounder the rest of the day. Well, come game day we caught many fish we just couldnt get a fish over 23 inches. After spending most of our time trying to upgrade our redfish we decided to go spend the last few hours looking for flounder. We fished a few docks and other deep holes and managed to pull out 4 flounder with the biggest being 2.5 pounds. With time running out we ran to weigh in with our two fish but they just weren't big enough to place. While talking to other anglers who fished it seemed everyone had a tough day and the winning flounder was only 4.76 pounds. Despite our loss we had a good day and caught many fish, most of which were on topwater plugs.

Some sharks have started to show up on the flats also and it is really cool seeing a 4 foot shark swim across a flat less than a foot deep with his fins out of the water. Just a few more weeks and we will start fly fishing for sharks behind shrimp trawlers. We will be throwing 10-12 wt. rods with big flies for sharks in the 20-100 lb range. Speckled trout are also being caught although the season for keeping them is closed until June 15.  The flounder fishing is also picking up around the inlets and structure in the waterway and river.

Last but certainly not least our flooded grass fishery is really picking up. This is the most exciting form of sightfishing as you pole across flooded grass flats on really high tides looking for redfish as they feed on fiddler crabs. Just last week on our last set of tides I managed to connect with a small 18" redfish as he was "crawling" across a flat searching for crabs. This fish was so shallow that his whole back was out of the water and when he tailed up 3/4 of his body was out of the water. Two weeks prior I had friend and anglers Fred Berry and his buddy John on the boat for an afternoon tailer trip. Despite the super high tide and 20-25 mph winds we managed to find a few fish. Since this was their first trip fishing for redfish it took a little time to get used to casting to these fish and the first few didnt give us many chances. But in the last hour of daylight we found one fish tailing happily in a calm pocket of water. With Fred on the bow ready to cast a weighted crab fly, I poled the boat within 30 feet to give him a good close shot. The fish had his face buried in the mud so Fred put the fly right on the fish's tail. Immediatly the fish turned and inhaled the crab and Fred was tight to his first ever redfish on fly. After a few runs Fred brought the fish boatside and we brought him in for a few quick pictures.  Next up was John, but light was fading fast and after searching a few more spots it was time to head in. I look forward to fishing with you guys again.

Dont miss your opportunity to get out and experience what the Cape Fear Coast has to offer. 

Capt. Allen Cain

336 613 2975

a few pictures from this week

Welcome to the blog/fishing reports of Sightfish NC

Hello friends and anglers. For those who dont know me yet, here is a little background info to get this blog started. My name is Allen Cain and I am a fly and light tackle fishing guide in Wilmington NC. I grew up hunting and fishing the Piedmont region of NC before moving east to attend UNC-Wilmington. While in college I was introduced to shallow water redfishing and a new passion began.  After graduation, I obtained my USCG captains license and began guiding others to memorable fishing experiences along the Cape Fear Coast of NC. When not guiding, I can be found on the water scouting for new waters to fish or in the woods hunting turkeys, deer, and ducks all over NC. 

I have been meaning to get this blog started for a while and finally managed to find some time today to get it up and running. I will do my best to keep up to date fishing reports and information posted regarding fishing along the Cape Fear Coast.