Folks this winter will not give up with out a fight, right when it looks like its going to get warmer; we get snow and nasty cold weather!  So what are we going to do if we live to fish; of course GO Fishing on the ‘right’ days!  With this winter being cold and last winter not any better, I’ve found you can catch fish but you just have got to go on the right days.  So you ask what are the right days?  Warmer, sunnier and lighter wind days are your best shot to catch fish this time of year.  Any thing that will give you an advantage when it’s cold out side, here are a few winter fish that can get you through the cold winter of fishing.

If you like to chase Red’s the Redfishing in the winter can be some of the best of the year for catching numbers of fish; the deal breaker for this fishery is you have got to good weather, clam seas and bright sunny skies. I use Berkley Gulp Ripple Mullet in colors Pearl/chart tail, New Penny and Rootbeer gold/chart tail; also the Berkley Gulp 5” and 6” Jerkshad work well too, when looking for surf Red schools.  Work these baits slowly in front of the Redfish schools not right through the school, all this will do is spook the Reds and will make it very hard to catch them.  Don’t count out a Reds inshore this time of year, look for Reds on dark color (black, brown) mud flats.  The Reds love to get on these flats to warm up a bit when it gets cold.

Cape Fear River Striped Bass are not the easiest winter fish to catch but they will bite right through the winter, the colder it gets the harder they are to catch.  Taking your time and fishing hard you can catch Cape Fear River Striped Bass.  Here is a few ways to put a CFR Striper on your line.  Try Berkley Gulp and Powerbait Jerkshad in 5’ size; in pearl & new penny colors.  Work these baits slowly and always rig them weed-less; there are many hangs in the Cape Fear River.  Look for Stripers on drop-offs, dock pilings and reed-grass lines.

Fishing gear I use:

Gear used: Redfish and Striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. *New Rod Line I’m using: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF for Redfish and Striped Bass.  Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound.  Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.

In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar/school season.  Here are some of the shows I plan to speck at or appear at.

It was good to see everyone at the NC Bass and Saltwater Boat Show and Expo this last weekend.  This was a great Expo and there were a lot of people there this year.  Those of you how came to one of my seminars, thanks for dropping in and if you have any follow up questions about any thing I spoke about; feel free to e-mail the question at captainjot@yahoo.com

January 18, 2011 – Bass Pro Shop in Charlotte, NC I will have a seminar at 7:30pm on Tuesday night; I’ll be speaking on Speckled trout, Redfish and Cape Fear River Striped Bass.  If you live in the Charlotte area come on by that night.

January 29th 2011 – Saltwater Sportsman National Seminar Series. BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE-Odell Williamson Auditorium.  www.nationalseminarseries.com   I’ll be there with Penn Fishing tackle showing all the new Rods and Reels from Penn.

February 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011 – Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show – Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world.  I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.

February 12th Fisherman’s Post 6th Annual Saltwater Fishing school. www.fishermanspost.com/fishing-school  I look forward to this school, I’ve wanted to participate in this school in the past but my winter schedule did not allow me to.  I’ve herd many good things about this school in the past. There will be more than twelve local captains at this year school to help you learn all there is to know about any kind of local saltwater fishing.

February 19th, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest. www.capefearsportsmen.org/fishfest  This is a great free event!  I’ll be speaking on two topics this year; Cape Fear River Striped Bass fishing and my very popular MirrOlures with success seminar. 

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello.

Captain Jot Owens

Ranger Boats Pro Staff

Penn Reels Elite Staff

www.captainjot.com

910-233-4139

Man it’s been cold around here lately, where did fall go?  We have had some kind of weather around here in the last; oh-I’ll say over a year! Cold, hot and cold again, what a year!?!?  It has played havoc on the local fishing but I’m not one to set around and wait for it to warm up, I like to fish!  So here is the fishing report of what I’ve been trying to catch (with some success) during this cold December we are having.

Speckled trout fishing got a little harder in the last few weeks and I’ve caught a few but worked hard to catch’em.  Working baits like MirrOlures and Berkley Gulp very slow has been the best success lately.  The trout seem to be sitting deeper whether it’s in the creeks or around the inlets; the trout are feeding in the five plus feet of water.  When the trout starting doing this, it’s usually a little later in the year; I use baits that sink very slow.  The MirrOlure 52M, 52MR and TT series are some of the best for the slow pattern I look for during the cold fishing mouths.  When I use soft plastics like Berkley Gulp I use lighter jig heads in weights of 1/16oz, 1/8oz and 1/4oz.  This lighter jig heads make it much easier to work grubs much slower when trout are lethargic form cold water.  Any days when we have mostly sunny skies or warmer air temps; these are the winter days you need to try to go Speckled trout fishing.

When the cold weather hit us and decided not to leave, I knew it was time to go try for some Cape Fear River Striped Bass.  Cape Fear Stripers can be a hit and miss fishery but not to say you can’t go catch a few most days.  I look for the Striped bass in the CFR to be in around five to twelve feet of water; when its warmer they are shallower and when it’s colder they are usually deeper.  Casting soft baits like Berkley Gulp jerkshads and pogy patterns are a good choice for the Stripers.  Colors I prefer are pearl, new penny and Arkansas shiner.  When the CFR Stripers are very active, I like hard baits like MirrOlures L29M in colors 11, 18 and 808.  Always with any winter fishing, work baits slower in cold water for better results.

One thing we have not had much of this season is nice enough weather to get out and chase the winter Redfish, one of my favorite winter pass times!  The Reds are there all we need is the weather to go get’em.  When I fish for winter Redfish I use lots of Berkley Gulp!  You can’t go wrong with scented lures when the water gets cold.  Berkley Gulp Ripple Shad, 3” Shrimp and five inch Jerkshad should do the trick.  Another trick for winter Redfish is to look for dark/black mud bottoms in creeks; on warmer sunny days the Reds love to get on these flats to warm up a bit.  We all know if a fish warms up any at all they will usually bite a hook!

Fishing gear I use:

Gear used: Speckled trout, Redfish and striped Bass: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels. *New Rod Line I’m using: Fenwick HMG series in sizes GS 70ML-F for Trout and GS 70M-MF for Redfish and Striped Bass.  Locally Intercoastal Angler carries the Fenwick line of rods.   Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound.  Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound for trout and thirty pound for Redfish and Striped Bass.

In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar/school season.  Here are some of the shows I plan to speck at or appear at.

January 7th, 8th and 9th, 2011 – Raleigh Bass & Saltwater Fishing Expo   NC State Fairgrounds – Raleigh, NC. www.ncboatshows.com   This is a GREAT show, with over 160 booths offering everything from the latest lures, plastics, jigs, custom rods, apparel, knives, product sample booths, hard-tops, saltwater fishing guides, fresh water guides, cast nets, gaffs…..by far one of the best shows of its kind in the Carolina’s and Virginia.  I will be there along with other Ranger and Pure Fishing pro staff members, as well as many others fresh and salt water pros!  I’ll be there all three days and doing two different seminars on fishing MirrOlures the right way and near shore light tackle King Mackerel Fishing.

January 29th 2011 – Saltwater Sportsman National Seminar Series. BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE-Odell Williamson Auditorium.  www.nationalseminarseries.com   I’ll be there with Penn Fishing tackle showing all the new Rods and Reels from Penn.

February 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011 – Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show – Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world.  I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.

February 12th Fisherman’s Post 6th Annual Saltwater Fishing school.  I look forward to this school, I’ve wanted to participate in this school in the past but my winter schedule did not allow me to.  I’ve herd many good things about this school in the past. There will be more than twelve local captains at this year school to help you learn all there is to know about any kind of local saltwater fishing.  Learn more about this school at:  www.fishermanspost.com/fishing-school
February 19th, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest. www.capefearsportsmen.org/fishfest  I don’t know what topics I’ll be speaking on yet, but as soon as I know I’ll let you know!  For more info on the day, check out this link!

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at a boat show or fishing seminar this winter; please come by and say hello.  Have a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

It’s funny we had one of the coldest winters and this summer was the hottest on record.  Not the best conditions known for good Speckled trout stocks but Speckled trout fishing has been great and should continue to be great till water gets cold.  The last three weeks has been a rollercoaster of weather and the fishing has followed that rollercoaster too.  Most days the Speckled trout fishing has been good to great with some bigger fish really starting to show.

The days we are throwing artificial lures like grubs and hard baits.  The MirrOlure has been one of my (go too’s) this season and it has paid off well for me.  The bigger trout seem to really like to 52M and 52MR this season. The colors of the 52 series that are working the best for me is: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, CFPR, CH and HP.  I fish the 52 series in water deaths of four to ten feet and sometimes deeper if there are lighter water currents.  The days we are fishing in waters of two to five foot deep, I’ve had luck with the 17MR and Catch 2000jr.  The colors that are working in the 17MR and Catch 2000jr are 11, 26, 808, CFPR, CH, EC and BCH.

I’ve seen a lot of trout hit grubs this season but most of the Specks have been smaller, so what do you do when you want to cast grubs.  Try bigger grubs like the Gulp Ripple Mullet or a five and six inch Gulp Jerkshad.  Another trick I’ll try sometimes to make bigger trout bite is make a double grub rig.  When you work a double grub rig, you need to work it a bit faster so the grubs just don’t sink to the bottom.  And always with any Speckled trout leaders use Fluorocarbon leader, trout have very good eye sight and this time of year the water can be very clear.  I prefer Stren’s tinted Fluorocarbon leader in twenty pound in gunsmoke tint, this stuff works!

So you like instant gratification fishing, give live shrimp a try.  I rig live shrimp a two different ways; in shallow water two to six feet I use a float rig.  My float rigs consist of twenty pound Stren (gunsmoke tint) or Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon about twelve inches long and a number six treble hook for a live shrimp.  When I fish deeper waters (five foot plus) or with stronger currents I use a light carolina rig.  These rigs consist of a very small swivel, fourteen to twenty inches of fluorocarbon and a number one L42 Eagle claw hook.  The sinker for this rig needs to be light 1/16oz or 1/8oz split shot and 1/8oz or 1/4oz egg sinkers should do the trick.

I’ve started to see some large schools of Redfish getting there act together over the last few weeks.  The Reds are starting to show there winter trends and this can make for some very good Redfishing.  When I fish for winter Redfish I use lots of Berkley Gulp!  You can’t go wrong with scented lures when the water gets cold.  Berkley Gulp Ripple Shad, 3” Shrimp and five inch Jerkshad should do the trick.  I rig all these baits with fairly light jig heads so the baits will not just sink to the bottom.

Seeing large schools of winter Reds is not hard but scaring a school is also easy to do.  Here are few things that will help you catch more schooling Reds and help you not to make everyone around you mad at you!  Long distance casting will catch you more fish! Try a 7’6” spinning or casting rod but don’t go to heavy.  If the lures are too heavy, the noise they make hitting the water can spoke the Reds.  One thing I see a lot of anglers do is run there boat over the school, do all you can to not let this happen.  If your boat is drifting towards the school, move before you spoke or run over the school!  If you spoke the school you’re only going to hurt the fishing for you and the other anglers.  If the school leaves your all out of luck!

In other fishing news; it’s boat show and fishing seminar season.  Here is some of the shows I plan to speck at or appear at.

January 7th, 8th and 9th, 2011 – Raleigh Bass & Saltwater Fishing Expo   NC State Fairgrounds – Raleigh, NC. www.ncboatshows.com   This is a GREAT show, with over 160 booths offering everything from the latest lures, plastics, jigs, custom rods, apparel, knives, product sample booths, hard-tops, saltwater fishing guides, fresh water guides, cast nets, gaffs…..by far one of the best shows of its kind in the Carolina’s and Virginia.  I will be there along with other Ranger and Pure Fishing pro staff members, as well as many others fresh and salt water pros!  I’ll be there all three days and doing two different seminars on fishing MirrOlure’s and near shore light tackle King Mackerel Fishing.

January 29th 2011 – Saltwater Sportsman National Seminar Series. BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE-Odell Williamson Auditorium.  www.nationalseminarseries.com   I’ll be there with Penn Fishing tackle showing all the new Rods and Reels from Penn.

February 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011 – Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show – Raleigh, NC. www.raleighconvention.com/boatshow/ This is a great show with lots of the “top of the line” boats form around the world.  I’ll be there with other Ranger Pro’s to show you all the great benefits to the Ranger Saltwater line of boats.

February 19th, 2010-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest. www.capefearsportsmen.org/fishfest  I don’t know what topics I’ll be speaking on yet, but as soon as I know I’ll let you know!  For more info on the day, check out this link!

Fishing gear I use:

Gear used: Speckled trout and Redfish: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 spinning reels. *New Rod Line I’m using: Fenwick HMG series in sizes GS 70ML-F for Trout and GS 70M-MF for Redfish.  Locally   Intercoastal Angler carries the Fenwick line   Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound.  Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound test.

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Fall is really starting to show its face around Southeastern North Carolina these last few weeks.  Some warm days, some cool days and a few colder days!  The good part of this is no more hot days and but lots of HOT fishing and the fishing has already been great and will even get better with this cool weather!

November is a great mouth to catch Speckled trout and one of my favorite to fish for.  They are good to eat and a lot of fun to catch on light tackle.  It really does not matter if you like to fish artificial bait or live bait you can catch lots of Specks either way!  So far in the last two weeks we have picked up some very nice Speckled trout as well as good numbers of smaller ones.

Here is how I’m catching the Speckled trout lately.  On the artificial side of things; MirrOlures are working very well for me this season so far.  I’ve got to say we are catching them on the new ones like the 17MR and 18MR but some of the bigger ones are hitting the good old 52M&MR this season. My clients this last weekend found this out when the biggest trout of the trip hit a 52M; plus six more between two and four pounds.  So colors of MirrOlures you ask?  17MR and 18MR’s in colors: 11, 26, 808, CFPR, CH, EC and BCH.  As far as the 52M & MR in colors: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, CFPR, CH, HP and one I call ‘Hatteras Light’ we’ll leave it at that…

Soft baits are always a winner for trout fishing and you can catch good numbers of Speckled trout on grubs etc.  Berkley Ripple Mullets are a newer bait on the market and have been real good baits for Redfish but I’ve caught a few very nice trout on them lately.  The colors I’ve had the best luck with are Goby magic/chart tail, Root-beergold/chart tail and glow/chart tail.  These baits are a bit big so I rig them with light 1/8oz jig heads and use the Ripple mullets in shallow/light current areas.  Berkley Powerbait shrimp will catch the specks.  I prefer colors, natural, pearl white and new penny, rigging with red or brown jig heads.  Saltwater Assassin makes a very large selection of great trout grubs, give one of these colors in the sea shad pattern a try on your next trout outing; chicken on a chain, copperhead, S&P silver phantom/chart, chart/diamond, sweet pea, 10w40/limetail and greenback shiner.

So you like to catch trout on live bait, well give live shrimp a try.  The trick to live shrimp is knowing when to stop feeding the trash fish like; pinfish, lizard fish, and small bluefish.  Using live shrimp can get expensive but you can catch some good numbers and size trout with live shrimp.  I rig live shrimp a two different ways; in shallow water two to six feet I use a float rig.  My float rigs consist of twenty pound Stren or Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon about twelve inches long and a number six treble hook for a live shrimp.  When I fish deeper waters (five foot plus) or with stronger currents I use a light carolina rig.  These rigs consist of a very small swivel, fourteen to twenty inches of fluorocarbon and a number one L42 Eagle claw hook.  The sinker for this rig needs to be light 1/16oz or 1/8oz split shot and 1/8oz or 1/4oz egg sinkers should do the trick.

I’m still seeing the Redfish around and a few Bull reds are still biting from time to time around the inlets.  There have been a few schools of Reds in the surf but due to very high winds and seas not much action there lately.  On some sunny days I’ve caught a good number of Reds along the ICW and oyster flats in local creeks north and south of Wrightsville Beach.  Live finger mullet and fresh cut bait will catch’em but, give a Berkley Gulp 3” new penny shrimp or a root-beergold/chart tail Ripple mullet a shot and I bet you’ll have no problem catching a few redfish.

In other fishing news, the weekend of October 29th and 30th was the Cape Fear Red*Trout Series.  This year again Adam Meyer and Liz Pitts of Charter Lakes Insurance Group fished with me.  Liz did very well again this year taking home Grand Champion Lady Angler and General Division Champion.  Our team came in 3rd over all in points.  This is a tournament to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis; I look forward every year to fishing this tournament of a great cause.

Don’t forget it’s almost boat show and tackle show time of the year!  I’ll have the shows listed here on my next fishing report to let you know where I’ll be speaking at this winter.

Thanks so much for reading this report!  Booking now and booking up fast for trophy Speckled trout trips Mid November to Late December.   Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!

Fishing gear we use:

Gear used: Speckled trout and Redfish: reels Penn Conquer 2000 and Battle 2000 spinning reels. Rods: All Star ASR 7’ Trout (med-light) and/or Redfish (med) series. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound.  Bull Redfish: Penn Battle 6000 or 7000 and Penn Conquer 7000 spinning reels.  Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Jigging 6’6” spinning.  Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound test.

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Well folks fall is finally here and the weather is holding just the way I like it.  The rains have finally almost drained out of the back waters and creeks.  “I did not think it was ever going to finish draining!”  The fishing has really gotten great over the last few weeks!

Bigger Reds and a few Bulls has been the story lately as far as Red Drum fishing goes.  This has been one of the better years for fall Red fishing.  Most fish have been caught on live and fresh cut bait.  I have got a few on Berkley Gulp Ripple mullets and 5” & 6” Jerkshad.  When I rig for bigger Redfish I use only circle hooks.  I’m a true believer in the circle hook; in the last mouth we have caught well over 110 Redfish and everyone was hooked in the side of the mouth.  No throat or gill hook sets!  I prefer 7/0 Gamakatsu circle hooks for live and cut bait fishing.

When I throw artificial baits for the bigger reds, I use a little heavier jig heads for the Berkley Ripple mullets or Texas rig the Berkley Gulp jerkshad.  I rig the Ripple mullets with 1/2oz, 5/8oz and ¾oz jigs heads in colors red and lead gray with forty pound mono or fluorocarbon leaders.  The leaders are about fifth-teen to twenty inches long with no swivel, I prefer an Albright knot to connect my leader to my main line.  When using Berkley Gulp jerkshad I rig them Texas style with a 5/0 wide gap worm hook and bullet weights of 1/4oz to 1oz.

The False Albacore, Bluefish and Spanish mackerel have been very active over the last few weeks just off the beaches to about three miles off shore.  All of these species are fun to catch on light tackle as well as fly gear.  Some days the schools have been large and very easy to catch.  Just remember not to run right through the school for this will just end the bite and make everyone around you very mad!

Rigging for these schooling speed fish is easy, all you need is a lure that is bright, small and work it fast.  One of my new favorites is the Sea striker Jigfish series in 1/2oz and 3/4oz.  You can easily cast these lures a county mile and they won’t break the bank when you buy them.  I prefer blue, green and pink as colors and rig them with thirty to forty pound mono leaders, fluoro if you prefer.  Keep your eyes peeled on the water for birds and busting fish, if you see porpoises working the area move on to another school.  The porpoises usually mean its just bait in the water not predator fish that you are trying to catch.

And last but certainly not lest, Speckled trout.  I have had a few good number days of Specks lately. It has been a little hit and miss on numbers but this will change with cooler fall weather coming our way.  If you read my reports you know what I like for Speckled trout fishing lure wise but here is a run down.  One of my favorites is the good’ole MirrOlure; some of my favorite styles are the 17MR, 27MR, 52M & MR.  Colors you ask: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, BNSBO, CFPR, CH, EC, HP, BKGCH, BCH.  I’ve been playing with the 14MR & 18MR and I think they both will have there place in my tackle box; I’ll let y’all know soon!

Soft baits are always a winner for trout fishing and there are many on the market, so here are a few good ones to get started with.  Berkley Powerbait shrimp will catch the specks.  I prefer colors, natural, pearl white and new penny, rigging with red or brown jig heads.  One thing I always use for Speckled trout fishing is fluorocarbon leader trout have very goo eye sight and the water can get very clear in the fall.  Give Stren’s tinted fluorocarbon leader material a try.  I like gunsmoke tint for clearer waters and tannic tint for river or stained waters.  I use twenty pound and thirty pound when the blue fish are around.

Thanks so much for reading this report, if you would like a guided fishing charter; give me call or drop me a line.  Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!

Fishing gear we use:

Gear used: False Albacore and Speckled trout: reels Penn Sargus SG2000 and Battle 2000. Rods: All Star ASR 7’ Trout (med-light) and/or Redfish (med) series. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound.  Bull Redfish: Penn Battle 6000 or 7000 and Penn Conquer 7000 spinning reels.  Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Jigging 6’6” spinning

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Well folks, the weather is showing fall a little bit here and there; we get one or two cooler mornings from time to time.  The fishing on the other hand is showing fall big time!  In the last few weeks fishing has been good to great!  The mullet run is in full swing and the fish know it!  To the Fishing Report>>>.

One of my favorites to fish for with my clients is Bull Reds (bigger Redfish).  They fight good, are pretty easy to catch and most of the fish we have got to release do to size (over slot).  We find bull reds around inlets, sand bars, and hard/live bottom just off the beach to ten miles.  The baits that work the best for us are live and fresh cut Menhaden and/or Mullet.  Rigging for these fish is not hard, but there are a few points you need to learn when fishing for these older Reds. 

We always use circle hooks while using live or cut bait for Redfish, this is very important!  Reds will swallow your bait to the point where you can not got it out of there throat and many times this will kill the fish.  We prefer 7/0 to 9/0 circle hooks with eighty pound Berkley Big Game clear mono for our leaders.  My rig is really a big Carolina rig with a leader about two to three feet long.  It’s a good idea to use a little heavier tackle when fishing for these fish; this is so you don’t fight the Redfish to long to the point it can not be revived.  We use a 6’6” Ugly Stik Tigger lite jigging series med-hvy action and a Penn Conquer or Battle 6000 or 7000 size spooled with thirty or fifty pound Spiderwire braid.

This has been one of the better Flounder years we’ve seen around this area in a while.  And for that reason I’ve run a lot of Flounder trips this season with good success.  One thing we have seen this year is that the Flounder fishing has been good inshore as well as the ocean this season, giving us lots of opportunities to flounder fish.  Live bait fishing has put the most flounder in the boat for us.  Carolina rigs with Eagle Claw L42 #1 size hooks and forty pound BBG clear mono leader works well.  Small finger mullets, small menhaden and mud minnows are our choice live baits.  The flounder are hanging around inlets, channel drops and creeks inshore.  In the ocean near shore artificial reefs, ledges and hard/live bottoms are holding some nice numbers of flounder too.

As the weather cools off we will see some bigger Spanish mackerel and Albacore close to the beach.  We saw a good run of nice size Spanish and Albacore this last week.  We even got few Albacore to hit a fly and that was a lot of fun.  Just keep your eyes on the water for birds and jumping fish, it’s not hard to catch these fish, but if there are a lot of boats chasing them.  I would go look for another school, trust me there is not just one school out there and it will pay off for you!  As for as lures; keep it bright and small, jigging spoons and casting spoons in sizes of two to four inches will do the trick.  If they will not hit what you’re casting; go smaller and try different colors!

Speckled trout are starting to show up here and there, most of the action for us has been south of Wrightsville Beach but I’ve caught a few trout here around the islands this last week.  As the weather turns to fall we’ll see more trout every week in until December.  In the early part of trout season when the trash fish (pinfish & lizardfish) are still around I prefer artificial lures.  My favorite is the good’ole MirrOlure; some of my favorite styles are the 17MR, 27MR, 52M & MR.  Colors you ask: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, BNSBO, CFPR, CH, EC, HP, BKGCH, BCH.  I know this looks like code but check out www.mirrolure.com for a full color chart to match with there color codes.

Thanks so much for reading this report, if you would like a guided fishing charter; give me call or drop me a line.  Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!

Fishing gear we use:

Gear used: Flounder and Speckled trout: reels Penn Sargus SG2000 and Conquer 2000. Rods: All Star ASR 7’ Trout (med-light) and/or Redfish (med) series. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound.  Bull Redfish: Penn spinning reel 760L (Live Liner), Penn Battle 6000 or 7000 and Penn Conquer 7000.  Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Jigging 6’6” spinning

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Hello folks, I hope everyone is well and looking forward to some cooler weather, that we should have soon; I am!  If we can just keep these storms away I think its going to be a good fall fishing season.  The fall mullet run has started and with that the fishing should really pick up.

Flounder have been a big part of our charters lately.  We are catching numbers and there size is getting better too!  We’ve caught a few Flounder in the last two weeks over five pounds.  Most of the action is coming off
Mud minnows and small finger mullet have been the best baits for us lately.   Rigging the live bait on carolina rigs with EC 042 1/0 hooks and thirty to forty pound mono or Fluorocarbon leaders.  On the artificial side of things; jig heads rigged with Berkley Gulps new Mud minnow/croaker pattern have been great for our Flounder trips in the last few weeks.  Also the Gulp Ripple Mullet and the Gulp Jerk shad have caught some bigger Flounder too.

My charters have had some good early Redfish morning and late afternoon bites. We are fishing mud flats and oyster flats in creeks and along the ICW. Top water plugs like the MirrOlure’s Top Pup and She Pup have done very well. Rattle and popping corks with live mullets have also been working well.  The best rattlin’ corks for me have been the Saltwater Assassin’s “Kwik-cork” this is one of the loudest corks on the market.  When the water has been a little stained form strong winds we are catching some Reds on spinner baits too.

There are some Bull Reds starting to show up in the ocean on hard bottoms and around the inlets.  You never know when you might hook one of these giants!  When we fish for Bull Reds, we use fresh cut or live menhaden and Mullet.  We use fish finder rigs with 8/0 or 9/0 circle hooks and eighty pound Berkley Big game mono leaders. Don’t forget to keep your drag tight when using circle hook so they will do there job.

There has been a few Trout starting to show up around.  Most that we have found are in the creeks and channels running along the drop offs to deeper water.  The trout that we have caught are hitting grubs in colors chicken on a chain, copperhead and sliver mullet on red 1/8oz jig heads.  Hard baits having all the luck are Mirrolure’s 17MR and 27MR in colors 11, 50, 808 and CFPR. Always remember to use a loop knot when fishing MirrrOlures this will give the lure a lot more life like action.  Fishing on good days has produced fifth teen or more specks.  Cooler weather will equal more good fishing for Speckled trout!

Thanks so much for reading this report, if you would like a guided fishing charter; give me call or drop me a line.  Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fishing to ya!

Fishing gear we use:

Gear used: Redfish, Flounder and trout: reels Penn Sargus SG2000 and Conquer 2000. Rods: All Star ASR 7’ Trout (med-light) and/or Redfish (med) series. Line: Spiderwire Ultracast ten and fifth teen pound.  Bull Redfish: Penn spinning reel 760L (Live Liner) and Penn Conquer 7000.  Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Jigging 6’6” spinning  Line: thirty pound Berkley Big game mono. 

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Hello form still very warm (hot) southeast North Carolina.  The good news is fishing has been good to very good and we are starting to see signs of fall everyday.  I’ve got to tell you; this is one summer that I’ve been hoping for an early fall!  I know, the winter will get here and we will want summer back again!  To the fishing report>>>

Flounder has been the name of the game!  We have caught a lot of Flounder this season so far and we are really just getting to good Flounder time.  We have caught very high numbers with any where form one in two (50%) to one in four (25%) keepers this season.  The good news is in the last two weeks the numbers as well as the size is getting better.  On most ½ day trips we are catching fifth teen to over twenty Flounder.  The best days have been on live bait but; some of the bigger fish have hit artificial baits.

Live bait has been the key for catching higher numbers of Flounder, but you can still catch very nice ones on artificial baits too.  Mud minnows and small finger mullet have been the best baits for us lately.  Rigging the live bait on carolina rigs with EC 042 1/0 hooks and thirty to forty pound mono or Fluorocarbon leaders.  We use egg sinkers when casting for Flounder and river sinkers when drifting for the Flounder; the river sinkers seem to ride over stuff (hangs) on the bottom easier when drifting.

Jig heads rigged with Berkley Gulps new Mud minnow/croaker pattern have been great for our Flounder trips in the last few weeks.  Also the Gulp Ripple Mullet and the Gulp Jerk shad have caught some bigger Flounder too.  We rig the Mud minnow Gulp on a 1/4oz to 3/8oz gray or red jig heads (spring lock) works the best.  A thirty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader about fifth teen to twenty inches long will work just fine.  The colors that we’ve had the most luck with in the Mud minnow pattern Killifish, New Penny, Pearl White and Sardine.  In the Ripple Mullet pattern colors that have worked well are Root beer/gold with chart tail and New penny.  The Jerk shad colors that are working for us are Blue Pepper Neon, Sapphire Shine and Pearl White.

Speckled trout fishing is starting to pick up south of Wrightsville Beach and should get even better in September.  The warm temps have made it a little hard to get numbers of Speckled trout but we have caught a few nice trout in the early mornings with top water lures.  On very calm mornings or late afternoons one lure has worked well for us catching some nice speckled trout.  The lure is the 10MR (MirrO Prop) by MirrOlure, this lure is a prop bait with sonic rattles.  This lure is not loud to our ears but it emits vibration and sound that fish can hear very well.  Give it a try on a calm morning when the water is flat and very still.  Berkley Gulp Alive Ripple Mullets in the colors Goby magic with chart tail and New penny fleck have caught us some trout lately too.

The Sheephead fishing is still going very good and should be good until late October.  Rigging is easy for Sheephead; we use a short carolina rig with forty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader about eight to ten inches long.  The hook is a number one or 1/0 live bait nose hook; small, sharp and strong, very important for Sheephead!  Look for Sheephead around pilings, bulkheads and large oyster rocks that stay covered up by water most of the tide.  For bait, we catch fiddler crabs on mud banks on the ICW.  Sheephead fishing takes patients and time to catch them but it’s worth the time!

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Spiderwire Ultra-cast braid in 10 and 15#.   Rods: Ugly stik lite 6’6” and 7’ Med light & Med and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S and ASR845S.

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. I’m very busy this time of year but if you would like to go fishing please feel free to call any time to check my availability and don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Well folks the HOT weather is back and with it has been a brisk Southwest wind.  The wind has really kept me inshore fishing for the last few weeks, but we did get out in the ocean a few times early in the morning before the wind got up.  The days we got out the Spanish mackerel fishing was good and the days we could not get out we’ve been catching good numbers of Flounder and a few nice Redfish too.  Let’s talk about that and a few other things in this weeks fishing report>>>

The great thing about Spanish mackerel fishing is that most days it is instant gratification fishing.  When you take kids fishing or first time anglers this is very important for your day of fishing; “get some fish in the boat”!  Spanish are fun on light tackle and they are good to eat, not a bad first time catch fish.  Most of the Spanish lately are biting just off the beach to about two miles offshore.  When the Spanish are on top, we are casting Maria jigs and jig fish spoons.  We Rig these jigs with thirty pound mono or Fluoro leader material.

When the Spanish are not jumping, we are trolling number one planners with Clark spoons.  The Clark spoons that have worked the best for us have been #00 and #0 in colors gold, silver and pink flash.  We rig the planner with a ball bearing swivel connected to thirty to forty feet of thirty pound mono leader then the Clark spoon tied on.  I have just this year started to use a new product for Spanish fishing and it works great, it’s the Blue Water Candy Spanish Daisy Chain.  You can troll this rig on a light spinning or bait casting combo and catch Spanish in very good numbers.  The colors I’ve had the best luck with are pink, blue and silver.  We put a three foot shot of thirty pound Fluorocarbon in front of the chain with a ball bearing swivel for line twist.  On one of my last Spanish trips we caught over thirty Spanish and a fifth teen pound King mackerel on the Spanish Daisy chain.  Give it a try!

Flounder fishing has been good lately, with good numbers and starting to see bigger fish everyday.  We have caught Flounder good on live bait as well as artificial baits and some of the bigger Flounder lately have hit artificial baits.  Live baits like mud minnows and small mullet rigged on light Carolina rigs are doing the trick when using live baits.  Jig heads rigged with Berkley Gulps new Mud minnow/croaker pattern have been great for our Flounder trips in the last three weeks.  We have caught two Flounder over Five pounds so far on this new Gulp pattern.  We rig the Mud minnow Gulp on a 1/4oz to 3/8oz gray or red jig heads (spring lock) works the best.  A thirty pound mono or fluoro leader about fifth teen to twenty inches long will work just fine.  The colors that we’ve had the most luck with are Killifish, New Penny, Pearl White and Sardine.  I have no idea why these baits work so well for Flounder but they really do work.  On a trip two weeks ago, I had one guy fishing with the Mud minnow Gulp and he caught the biggest and most Flounder that day!

We’ve caught a few Reds this last two weeks, not as good as I would like it to be but still getting a hand full.  One thing we have in this area is a lot of pressure on the Redfish.  With so many people today chasing Redfish and with not a lot water fish IE: “lots of people fishing”, Redfish are taking a beating around Wrightsville Beach.  So how do you catch Redfish with so much pressure; go early in the mornings or very late afternoon or fish for something else!  “I’m sure you can tell in this short paragraph how I feel about local Redfishing lately.”

Shark fishing has gotten very good in the last two weeks and will only get better.  Shark fishing will be good until early October.  Best baits for the near shore sharks are, fresh and live Menhaden.  When we use bait to catch the sharks we use spinning reels, with 300+ yards of thirty and fifty pound Spider wire Ultracast braid.  Rigging the baits; eight feet of 80 pound mono leader; some will wind on to the reel. Connected the 80 pound mono to a fifty pound swivel, then to Two to three foot of #9 SS wire and an 8/0 or 9/0 off set J hook; this rig should get’em to the boat.

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Spiderwire Ultra-cast braid in 10 and 15#.   Rods: Ugly stick lite 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S and ASR845S.

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. I’m very busy this time of year but if you would like to go fishing please feel free to call any time to check my availability and don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Flounder fishing has really picked up in the last week.  There is a mix of size in the Flounders we are catching.  Some keepers some not, but the bite is really on for catching them.  Live bait has been the key for catching higher numbers of Flounder, but you can catch them on artificial bait too.  Mud minnows and small finger mullet have been the best live baits lately.  Rigging the live bait on carolina rigs with EC 042 1/0 hooks is a good choice of rigs for Flounder.

If you prefer to use artificial baits; scented and none scented grubs as well as spinner baits will do the job.  Berkley Gulp 3” pogy in pearl white and smelt colors.   Rig the grubs on a red or black jig head for best results.  Saltwater Assassin spinner baits with space monkey, copperhead, and chicken on a chain colored grubs have caught us some nice Flounder lately too.

One of my favorites when the water and air gets hot is the good’ole Sheephead!  These fish are fun to catch and there really good to eat!  It’s not hard to catch Sheephead, you just have got to put your time in and give it a try!  Rigging is easy for Sheephead; we use a short carolina rig with forty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader about eight to ten inches long.  The hook is a number one or 1/0 live bait nose hook; small, sharp and strong, very important for Sheephead!  Look for Sheephead around pilings, bulkheads and large oyster rocks that stay covered up by water most of the tide.  For bait, we catch fiddler crabs on mud banks on the ICW.  Drop it down and check your bait in one minute, if it’s gone and you did not feel a bite; there is a Sheephead down there!  Good luck!

We have seen some nice schools of Tarpon pushing up the beaches in the last two weeks.  We jumped a nice eighty pound plus off on Tuesday morning, only got one jump but it cleared the water by five feet.  Tarpon fishing in North Carolina can be very fun but it can be a challenge to get one to bite!  We fish for Tarpon on the bottom or free lining, using live and fresh dead baits like; spots, bluefish and Menhaden. We are rigging these baits on fish finder rigs, with three to five feet of 80 to 100 pound mono leaders.  Circle hooks are the best bet for good hook ups and landings for Tarpon in hook sizes 7/0 to 9/0 depending what hook series you like.  I have also had a fair share of Tarpon on my kite rig with live baits like greenies, bluefish and menhaden.  Nothing like seeing a Tarpon hit kite baits!

Shark fishing has been very good lately, with sharks of all sizes biting.  We have caught a few over 100 pounds in the last two weeks and have seen some even bigger.  Shark fishing will be good until early October.  Best baits for the near shore sharks are, fresh and live Menhaden.  When we use bait to catch the sharks we use spinning reels, with 300+ yards of thirty and fifty pound Spider wire Ultracast braid.  Rigging the baits; eight feet of 80 pound mono leader; some will wind on to the reel. Connected the 80 pound mono to a fifty pound swivel, then to Two to three foot of #9 SS wire and an 8/0 or 9/0 off set J hook.  If you prefer Fly fishing, I like Striped bass flies in Menhaden patterns with 4/0 and 5/0 hook sizes.  We use ten to twelve weight set ups; have lots of extra flies with you!

Redfishing is still going good on most days.  The best fishing has been earlier in the day or later in the day (lower light). We are catching the reds on top water lures and rattling corks (SWA kwik-croks) with live bait in shallow water (one to three foot).  When we fish docks and channels (deeper waters); we are using live bait, fresh cut bait and scented grubs.  Scented grubs like Berkley Gulp and Powerbait have been working well for the Reds.

Keep your eye out for a great new Berkley Gulp product called the Ripple Mullet.  Finally a Gulp bait with great scent and ACTION!!  You’re not going to believe it till you see them!  And yes they work; trust me! 

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Conquer and Sargus spinning in sizes 2000 and 4000. Spiderwire Ultra-cast braid in 10 and 15#.   Rods: Ugly stick lite 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy and the All Star ASR spinning rod ASR844S and ASR845S.   Cobia, Shark and Tarpon: Spinning setup Penn Conquer 7000 with an Ugly
Stick Tiger lite Jigging rod 6’ 6” and Penn 320LD Reel and a Tiger lite jigging rod.  Line for Cobia, Shark and Tarpon: Berkley Big Game 30# mono and 50# Spiderwire Stealth High-Vis Yellow.

Thanks for reading this report, if you would like to go fishing drop me a line. I’m very busy this time of year but if you would like to go fishing please feel free to call any time to check my availability and don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139