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.
opening day of duck season
