By: Steve Fifer
Good inshore and nearshore fishing going into Christmas around town. The ocean has remained very choppy so there a few reports of bluewater activity. Along the beaches from Cape Lookout down to Bear and Brown’s Inlets, there are schools of slot-sized redfish roaming. The water is very clear right now, so you should see them appearing as a red or rust colored cloud in the surf just off the sand. It’ll take a little luck to locate them and some alert boat handling to approach them, but they’ll hit 4” Gulp baits or fluke-type jerkbaits on a jighead. Also in the surf zone you’ll find black drum, speckled trout, and bluefish. A fish-finder rig using pyramid sinkers, a 2-3’ leader, and fresh shrimp or cut bait is the preferred technique. Inshore, look for specks, reds, and flounder are in the creeks with the biggest ones coming from the creeks off the New River like French’s, Northeast, and Southwest and off the Neuse like Lower Broad, Dawson’s, Orchard, and the South River. As stated in earlier, it’s hardbait time. Popular choices are the plugs that imitate small baitfish like Mirrolure 17MR’s, 52’s, and TT’s, Yo-Zuri 3DS and Crystal Minnows and Rapala’s X-Raps and Twitchin’ Raps. Once again, you can’t fish these lures too slow and if you’re not getting strikes, slow down more! Another tip is to never use the reel to move the bait. Use the rod tip impart action, then use the reel to take in the slack. What color? There are literally 100’s of colors on the market for each of these lures. Next week you can read about a couple of good ways to make your choices.
