Southern District Fishing Report —
Pender, New Hanover and Brunswick Counties
Contact: Dennis Trowell (Dennis.Trowell@ncdenr.gov)
For the week of June 12-18
Ocean: Boats fishing in the Gulf Stream brought in scattered catches of dolphin and blackfin tuna. They also had some billfish releases. Anglers targeting reef fish 35 to 45 miles from shore caught scamp and red grouper, vermilion snapper, white grunt, and gray triggerfish. Nearshore there were still plenty of small king mackerel along with a few dolphin in the 10 to 15 mile range. The nearshore reefs off Brunswick County in the 2 to 5 mile range started to produce good numbers of flounder and spadefish along with some red drum.
Inlets/Sounds/Bays: The lower Cape Fear River and the bays and creeks behind Bald Head Island were really good for spotted seatrout, and lots of anglers caught their bag limits using live shrimp as bait. Along with the trout, anglers caught good numbers of black and red drum and the occasional sheepshead. Flounder fishing was steady with some big fish coming out of Snow's Cut and the Cape Fear River. Fishermen caught sheepshead in the usual spots such as the ADM Dock and the Little River Rock Jetties. Good numbers of black drum were caught, as well, by anglers targeting sheepshead.
Piers/Shore: Pier fishermen saw a mixed summertime bag of fish with low numbers of sea mullets, spot, croaker, and pompano. Anglers fishing with live bait, such as shrimp and mullet minnows, caught keeper flounder along with black and red drum. Anglers fishing on the lower Brunswick County piers did well on spotted seatrout using live shrimp for bait. Surf fisherman reeled in some black and red drum along with a few pompano using mole crabs and fresh shrimp for bait.
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.
