Start of Summer

Summertime is off to a good start here on the Cape Fear Coast. Redfish continue to be our number one targeted species. They are in their summertime pattern of singles to small groups of up to 30 fish and are scattered up and down the ICW from Topsail Island to the Cape Fear River. The sightfishing on fly and spinning tackle continues to be good as we are finding fish crushing bait and tailing on lower tides on the flats and in the creeks. On days when wind and clouds won't allow for sightfishing we are catching good numbers of fish on topwater plugs, spinner baits, and soft plastics by blind casting. Flounder are around in good numbers now and we have been catching quite a few while redfishing with spinnerbaits and fishing live or dead baits around structure. Ladyfish are starting to show up and are one of my favorite seasonal species. We have had a few hitting topwater plugs lately. I will start to target these fish more in the coming weeks at night around bridges and docks with lights. These fish are strong fighters and make really cool jumps. They are basically like a minature tarpon. They will gladly take a small shrimp or minnow fly or soft plasitc lure. If you're looking for easy fly fishing then these fish are great targets. Sheepshead are also around just about every bridge or hard structure.  Now is the time of year to book a trip for the greatest variety of species.

I finally set up a Facebook business page and will be posting daily reports and photos so if you have Facebook follow along for up to date fishing reports on the Cape Fear Coast. The page is Sightfish NC - Fly and Light Tackle Guide Service.

Capt. Allen Cain
336.613.2975



Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks

Fishing on the Cape Fear Coast

Redfishing along the Cape Fear Coast continues to be great for fly and spin anglers when conditions allow. With two tropical storms over the recent weeks, we have had some very windy days.

Good news is that even with the rainfall and dirty water the fish are still feeding good. The redfish are scattered everywhere from Topsail Island to Oak Island and are very aggressive. The wind has made it tough on some days for fly anglers but with a little hard work we have managed to hook and land multiple fish in tough condtions. Anglers throwing topwater plugs on spin rod have had some great days no matter the conditions. There's just something about watching a 6 pound redfish explode on a surface plug in shallow water that keeps you coming back for more. Other lures such as redfish magic spinnerbaits, gold spoons, and DOA soft plactics have been working well. We have also managed to pick up a few speckled trout and flounder while blind casting for redfish. One flounder was just under 5 pounds. Fishing live mullet or menhaden around structure or area inlets has also been very productive for flounder. Most flounder are still just under or at the legal size limit but there are some larger fish mixed in. With the recent tailing tides the redfish have been on the hunt for fiddler crabs. We have had a few great days chasing tailers on the fly rod. If you want to catch a redfish on fly this is one of the most exciting ways to do it.

Here is a short flyfishing video a friend of mine filmed and put together a few weeks ago. We first chased low tide fish and then tailers. It was a really windy day but we managed to land two fish on film.

http://vimeo.com/42900458

Capt. Allen Cain

www.sightfishnc.com

Jon with his first redfish

speckled trout caught on spinnerbait

Tailer, 11 o'clock at 40 feet