Fishing Report 02/18/2016

 I think it’s safe to say we are on the downhill stretch from the winter time Blues.  Next week will be the last full week of February and from what we are seeing there’s not really any cool air moving in.  Temperatures for the next couple of weeks look to be in the 50’s and 60’s. For the last few weeks orders have been coming in and we have been stocking the shop full. Still have a few that are set to arrive in early March and then we will be in full force FISHING mode, we just hope the weather is on the same schedule so we can really get  this 2016 fishing season rolling. We’re looking forward to it and I’m sure a lot of anglers have had just about enough of Cabin Fever and ready to head to the beach. As far as the fishing side of things, it’s been slow.  There just haven’t been many people trying their luck out over the last few weeks.

 In the last few days with some of the warmer weather, we’ve seen some customers coming by the shop having some fairly good luck on some Redfish action. Most of what we’ve seen and heard has been the creeks off Bogue Sound down toward Bear Island.  Tyler that works at the shop with us during the season has been doing some scouting this week and has found some pretty good schools of fish, and most have been willing to eat.  We have seen a few Speckled Trout caught up in the creeks, but the majority of trout fishing has been pretty slow. We had heard of a decent bite in some of the creeks over in the Neuse River, but things really shut off after the last cold snap we had a few weeks ago. Most of the action has been coming off Berkley Gulp baits and Live Mud Minnows fished very slowly.  We are still seeing some Rock Fish in the creeks off Neuse River.  It’s been pretty consistent over the last few weeks.  The nearshore reefs have been holding a few fish. AR330 seems to be hosting a good amount of keeper Sea Bass. The closer reefs like AR315 and AR320 seem to have some smaller fish, but it’s something to catch. The further you go out like North West Places and the East Side of the Cape will yield you some larger Sea Bass.  Squid, Live Mud Minnows and cut Cigar Minnows seems to be working the best.  A few guys that have been able to go when the weather allows have been telling me that jigging Blue Water Candy 2oz Roscoe Jigs are great for the Black Sea Bass.  They’ve also caught plenty of Trigger Fish and Snappers, all holding in good numbers in the 30 to 35 mile range.  The weather has been a major factor in allowing boats to get that far out. But that’s just what we have to deal with when it comes to late February going into March. Before long things will settle down and we’ll have more consistent weather.

Well, back to getting ready for the Fisherman’s Post School coming up this weekend at the Crystal Coast Civic Center starting a 7:30am until 4:30pm. We still have a few open seats if you would like to become a better angler going into the 2016 fishing season. Give us a call at the shop for more details and information it’s going to be a great event.