Captain Jot Owens Fishing Report

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