The big cold front has blown through and folks in Brunswick County are waiting to see how it will affect local inshore fishing, with gradual warming toward the weekend and Friday and Saturday looking like sunny fishing days. Before the front there were plenty of redfish hitting including lots of rat reds at the creeks and some bigger fish at the jetties. There have also been a lot of spike speckled trout and a few keepers as well as some black drum and even a flounder or two.
Redfish have been the best bet as anglers were catching them in the shallow creeks and the ICW every day until the front came through. That bite at least should resume. The most effective baits have been Gulp shrimp in the New Penny and Nuclear Chicken colors. But frankly, the under slot reds have been so plentiful that the guides have even been fly fishing for them on low tide.
Spike speckled trout have been occurring in most of the same places as the rat reds but usually only on the lower tides when the water is moving well. There have been plenty of undersize specks as well as a few keepers. The trout are hitting the same Gulp shrimp and the DOA models and a few of the larger ones have been caught on MirrOlures behind Holden Beach. There have also been some nicer specks reported in upper SC around Coquina Harbor.
The bigger red drum bite at the jetties has been more hit and miss. Up until the cold it was guides and locals who could still find big live shrimp that were doing most of the catching. Some of the red drum were really nice, though. Live shrimp are likely a thing of the past, but anglers will be back out there this weekend fishing the Gulp and DOA shrimp under popping corks.
Believe it or not there have still been some flounder around, or at least there were up until the front. I got two separate reports that included pics of flounder landed while trout fishing with finger mullet around the Ocean Isle and Sunset Beach Bridges. Although both finger mullet and flounder may be gone this weekend it might not hurt to work the bottom a little if you aren’t catching any trout or redfish.
For plenty of inshore saltwater fishing tips check out my book Surf and Saltwater Fishing in the Carolinas.
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