North Carolina Fishing Reports

joshmb1999 · Newbie Joined: Dec 10, 2007 Posts: 4

Just got back home tonight from 2 days fishing out of Carolina Beach and didn't catch anything!!!! I'm pretty new to saltwater fishing having only been at it a little over a year. All week I've been reading reports about the spanish being thick on the beaches and the king and mahi fishing being excellent. Well Saturday morning I trolled clark spoons and yozuri deep divers on the beaches and didn't even get hit!! I gave up after about 3 hours because the storms were coming. Then today I went out and trolled clark spoons and a dead cigar minnow on a hank brown rig around Litbery ship with no takers and even tried to bottom fish there for an hour or so with no luck.

I really need some help here - simple tips that will help me catch a fish next time out. Can you veterans help me out? What I'd really like to know is what should I be fishing with and how do I fish it? For example - at what speed should I pull clark spoons? dead cigar minnows? etc. What other baits should I be using if I am targeting kings, mahi and spanish? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

Josh

samthefireman23 · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:06 pm Post subject:

Let's go sometime its easier shown than told.
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GiddyUpGo · 1st Mate Joined: Jan 27, 2008 Posts: 76

Don't give up!

SteveThePirate · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject:

Josh
For spanish its pretty simple. Troll clark spoons about 3-5 knots in water depth of 18-23 ft. They bite is strong in the morning. Or atleast when i last fished for them. We troll along figure 8 island. For kings and occasionally mahi, im not sure what rigs we use but we use frozen cigar minnows. We have the triple hook on the back and the top hook from the bottom of the mouth through the top of the head. Last summer we had lots of luck at the 12 mile rock. Trolling speeds is about 5 knots. Im new to this stuff too. I started fishing here about a year and a half ago too. I am only 14 years old so im not too experianced at this. Please anybody correct my reply, i know thats not all correct but thats how we do it. Hope that was a help to you and good luck next trip.
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Hooked · 2nd Mate Joined: Apr 19, 2008 Posts: 37

Josh, you;ve got the right idea,maybe lady luck just wasn't with you. We pull clarks on #1 planers, a couple of cigars on hank browns on top a little further back, and way way back, a dd yozuri. Speeds range from 3 to 7mph. This spread has worked well for us. Kings and spanish are sight feeders so clear water is important. If the water was turned topsy by storms over the weekend , maybe that's why you didn't have much luck. Don't give up. That's why they call it fishin'!! Good Luck!

chumpuppy · Ol'Salt Joined: Apr 17, 2007 Posts: 135

Josh; some days are like that so don't feel bad. I would be happy to take you the next time I go with my son. We like to live bait fish. Just send me a PM and maybe we can get together.

Fishfindertoo · Deck Hand Joined: Mar 28, 2008 Posts: 5

Clark spoons are best for Spanish, you just need to find them, look for birds and bait jumping out of the water. For the dolphin and kings, dolphin especially, try ballyhoo with or without skirt. Trolling speeds, varying from 3 to 7 will probably work fine. Good luck.

joshmb1999 · Newbie Joined: Dec 10, 2007 Posts: 4

thanks to all - i just read a fishing report from this weekend and it seems that this weekend was kind of messed up for everyone because of the storms. i'm not giving up but it is getting very frustrating to go out and spend the money required and then not even catch any fish!!!!

when i was trolling around i was noticing a ton of stuff on my sonar - i assume they are fish and bait balls - is this pretty safe to assume?

divnnc · Ol'Salt Joined: Jan 26, 2005 Posts: 289

The marks on your sonar very well could have been bait.

To me, you were asking about two types of fishing.

Spanish fishing is a simple way to spend the morning. Usually, I will troll 3 lines or less.

1st rod has a planner on it with about 40’ of 30lb test line tied for a leader running to a 00 clark spoon. (This spoon can be silver or gold, just depending on the day) I always fish this rod off of my starboard rod holder. (There is no reason it has to be there, it just works for me!) I let out line equal to about 1/2 of the depth of water.

2nd rod has a 2oz trolling weight with about 40’ of 30lb test mono for a leader tied to another 00 clark spoon. Silver or gold is fine. This rod is in the port rear rod holder. I try to imagine where the other spoon is (the one on the planner) and let the 2nd rod back to match.

If it has been slow, I’ll throw out a third rod. I tie a 5’ leader of 30lb to a swivel and to a clark spoon with some color. (pink, green, blue, etc) I run this rod off of the t-top and place the spoon behind the other two spoons.

3-6 knots for speed and you should be all set. This spread will let you turn tight and covers a lot of the water column. As the day goes on, you will notice that one rod keeps getting hit. You can change out one of the other rods to match the setup.

King fishing is just as easy.
You need a rod (or 3) some hank brown hookup rigs, and some frozen cigar minnows. Thaw out a few cigar minnows, take the jig head hook, and run the hook from the bottom up and out the top of the cigar’s head. (I try to have the hook exit dead center between the fish’s eyes) Take the treble hook and hook into the back of the cigar minnow. Make sure that the wire attaching the two hooks is not tight because this will keep the minnow from swimming naturally. Tie these rigs on to your rods and you should be all set. I let my first rod back about 30’ Second rod back at least 50’ and the third rod back around 75’-100’. For speed I like about 2-4 knots.

Good luck out there!

Matt

captaingorges · Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 3:49 pm Post subject:

If you ever want to ride out and have some things shown to you, feel free to drop me a line. If Im not booked, Im usually out just splitting gas with friends.
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timscarborough · Mate Joined: May 14, 2008 Posts: 16

You guys make it sound so easy! I posted earlier asking for king help; I learned some things, but have not had a chance to put any of my new found knowledge to use. I was out briefly last weekend, but came back in pretty quickly. I am glad that I did so. My question is how do you find the kings? If you do not see bait, what other types of signs are you looking for?

samthefireman23 · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:24 am Post subject:

Just go to a rock or a reef and they will be there.
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imaheelsfan · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:28 am Post subject:

Structure and/or bait. Those are the keys.

SteveThePirate · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:21 pm Post subject:

Josh,
Just keep trying. My first time fishing here was last summer, our first trip was to the dallas rock, we only caught 1 shark. Then the trip after that we tried for spanish and caught about 3. Than we progressed to the 10 mile rock and hooked up with 10 kings. Just keep on trying. Everytime you go out you will learn something new, and before you know it, you will be giving advise to other people as well.
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joeman4495 · Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:29 pm Post subject:

Hey tim, my best advise is to go with someone that does catch fish. That has been my best helper to date. I had never caught a king before in 2 yrs and have 3 this year on 2 trips. I learn a lot from this site as well. If you need someone to go some time, let me know. I have a boat, but it is currently getting some work done, but I can help you out with gas, bait, gear, etc on your boat and show you the best way to fish your boat. Or you can go out with Captin Gorges. I go out with him if my boat is down and he is open. The more people we get, the chaeper it gets for everybody. If you wnat to go sometime, shoot me an email and we'll see what we can do. joeman4495@yahoo.com
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