Southern District Fishing Report —
Pender, New Hanover and Brunswick Counties
Contact: Dennis Trowell (Dennis.Trowell@ncdenr.gov)
For the week of Sept. 30 – Oct. 6
Ocean: Offshore, the wahoo fishing was good with boats bringing in double digit catches of them on some days. Anglers also caught decent numbers of sailfish and a few dolphin. Bottom fishing in the 40- to 45-mile range brought in limits of vermilion snapper, along with some scamp, red and gag groupers. Closer to shore, the king mackerel fishing slowed along the area beaches. Fishing should really heat up for the king mackerel over the next couple of weeks. Lots of Spanish mackerel, along with bluefish and some little tunny are being caught all along the area beaches right now.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: Not much change over the last couple of weeks. Anglers caught some spotted seatrout throughout the area, but no real big numbers of fish yet. Good thing is most fish are legal sized in the 2- to 3-pound range. Carolina Beach Inlet and the Cape Fear River produced decent catches of trout over the last couple of weeks. Red and black drum, along with sheepshead are also being caught with good catches of all three coming from the bays and creeks around oyster rocks behind Bald Head Island.
Piers/Shore: The gusty Northeast winds from last weekend kicked off some spot runs on most area piers. Along with the spot, anglers also caught decent numbers of sea mullet and pompano. Slot sized red and black drum, along with good numbers of bluefish and Spanish mackerel were also observed on area piers. Surf anglers caught much the same with sea mullet dominating their catches, along with a few pompano and slot sized drum.
For the fishing year, all owners/operators of vessels recreationally fishing for and/or retaining regulated Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (Atlantic tunas, sharks, swordfish and billfish) in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, must obtain an Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Angling permit. This permit has replaced the Atlantic tunas Angling category permit. In North Carolina, additional Highly Migratory Species harvest reporting requirements are also in place. To obtain a permit go to: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/compliance/permits_reporting/index.html
Report a tagged fish
Please note: Anglers sometimes confuse small king mackerel with Spanish mackerel. King mackerel and Spanish mackerel have different size and catch limits. Make sure you properly identify the mackerel you are catching. (Tips here)
A recreational fishing license went into effect Jan. 1, 2007 for all of the state's coastal and ocean waters.
Click here for the latest seasons, size and bag limits.
Please note: New reports are usually posted by early Monday afternoon.
