This past weekend illustrated a mixed bag of fishing results. Phil and his brother George from Maryland fished for two days with me this past week. We had a good inshore/nearshore combo package two days planned to look for drum in the back waters and bonito, flounder, and cobia in the ocean. Despite some gusty winds, the drum fished turned on for us after finally finding the right creeks and shorelines that held the bait. High water and spinnerbaits produced some drum that topped the slot @ 27″ and 8#.
Day two saw less than ideal fishing conditions compared to the day before. A cold front pushed through overnight bringing in strong NW and then the dreaded east wind over the course of our ocean fishing day. The bonito were not lurking in the same spots as the week before and proved to be as elusive as the cobia we had also hoped to find to sight cast to. While there have been a limited number of reports of cobia around, we spent a lot of the day searching. Blues were the only fishy thing that greeted us.
In other news, offshore there are still reports of good blackfin tuna caught in the gulf stream along with a occasonal wahoo. Dolphin have still not shown up in good numbers yet, but like the cobia, they too should be arriving any day now as well. Menhaden bait balls are also starting to show up along the beaches so that will usher in many more game fish closer to shore. However, I did sight the first menhaden factory trawler just offshore this past Sunday. I am not sure what the State of NC is going to allow in regards to fishing in State waters this year but even if they remain just offshore 3 miles into the EEZ, they will still extract a heavy toll on the menhaden and fishing will suffer.
Stay tuned for more spring fishing reports.
Phil’s 27″ drum
George with a typical puppy drum from their day
