Weekly Column - Dec. 20, 2006

It’s officially winter time. Does that mean the fishing has stopped? Nope, not in these parts anyway. There is still plenty of fish to be caught along our coast. Granted, the bite is slower and you have to work a little harder. However for an avid angler, there are fish to be caught.

Speckled trout and red drum are here all year round as are a few flounder. The big drum head out into the deeper waters of the ocean but the juveniles stay here. They gather in schools when the weather gets cool and can be found in the creeks. Look for them on the sand flats or shallow oyster rocks on a sunny day. Often they will tear up any bait or lure you send their way as the pickings are sparse in the winter. However a slow retrieve works best. Winter often also means clear water, so concentrate on presentation and stealth.

Much of the above goes for specks too. However, they tend to school up in the deep pools and channels. Mud holds warmth longer than sand. So at the beginning of the cold weather, mud bottoms are a good place to look for trout and for an occasional flounder. Yes I said flounder. While most of the flounder head into the ocean when water cools and the large schools of bait depart, some stay through the winter. Again, remember to slow down your retrieve.

The black sea bass have moved into our near shore waters and will remain there through the winter. This past week-end my fishing buddies and I caught a cooler full of black sea bass. Most of them were in the 12-15 inch range and were caught on some ledges 3 miles off Surf City’s beach. We were using 2 ounce diamond jigs on light tackle. Just drop the jig straight down to the bottom and then vertically jig it up and down till you feel a bite. That makes for some fun fishing and some fresh fish on a nice winter day.

Grouper and snapper fishing are also good in the winter but you will have to travel out about 20 - 30 miles. And of course if you have the right boat or go on a charter the Gulf Stream fishing is good all winter.

Another option is the Cape Fear River & North East Cape Fear River near Wilmington for striped bass. This fishery has rebounded nicely in the last few years. The stripers in the river don’t get to be as big as those in the ocean but still it’s not uncommon to catch an occasional 20 pound with many in the 5- 8 pound range. Try around hard structure on a falling tide. Just be prepared to loose some tackle as there is plenty of hard structure underwater to cut off your line.

Catching report

The speckled trout bite is slower but remain very good, look for the fish in deeper holes and channels now. The drum are schooling in the creeks. A few flounder are being caught but most are undersize. Black Sea Bass are in the 3 mile range with grouper and snapper much further out. Stripers are biting in the Cape Fear.