Captain Jot Owens Fishing Report

Hello Folks, is this summer going by fast for you?  It sure is for me, they say time flies when you’re having fun.  I guess I’m having a fun summer, fishing that is.  Hey in other good news those gas prices have come down a little bit, they just need to keep coming down!  Let’s talk some good fishing!

The last couple of weeks the fishing has been pretty good just off the beach.  The Spanish Mackerel have been biting very good most days and the fish are a really nice grade.  Some fish over six pounds, that’s a good pull on light tackle!  Early morning seems to be the best bite, but some fish have stayed around all day on some days.

Most of the Spanish are biting Clark spoons trolled behind #1 planner’s.  The Clark spoons that are working the best for us are sizes; 00 and 0 in plan silver and pink flash.  When the Spanish are on top feeding and jumping, Maria jig spoons have been the trick.  The colors that seem to be working are pink, green and blue in sizes seven & fourteen gram.  We have also caught a few very nice Spanish on the fly rod too.

We are starting to catch Flounder pretty good; we are seeing a few fish inshore as well on the near shore reefs and wrecks.  Most of the flounder inshore are mixed in size, but the fish in the ocean are a little better in size.  Live bait and grubs are the best bet.  Carolina rigs for the live bait and heavy jig heads for the grubs.  I prefer bright grubs; Saltwater Assassin’s sea shads in colors chart/diamond and silver mullet work real well.  Watch out when fishing in the ocean for the flounders; we’ve had some very nice fish eaten by Barracudas just under the boat.  It’s not a fun thing!!

I’m still seeing a few Tarpon around the inlets and off the shoals; the Tarpon should stay around till mid September. We fish for Tarpon on the bottom using, live and fresh dead baits like; spots, bluefish and Menhaden.  We rig these baits on fish finder rigs, with three to five feet of 80 to 100 pound mono leaders.  Circle hooks are the best bet for good hook ups and landings for Tarpon in hook sizes 7/0 to 9/0 depending what hook series you like.  We’ve caught some very nice bluefish while Tarpon fishing lately.

The Shark fishing is still going very strong most days.  Very nice sharks in the forty to over two hundred pounds are mostly what we are seeing.  We’ve been using light tackle and fly rods to catch these powerful sharks. When we use spinning reels we use; 300+ yards of thirty and forty pound Ugly braid super line and a good fast tipped rod.  They are a lot of fun on spinning tackle!

Thanks so much for reading this report, if you would like a Fishing charter give me call or drop me a line.  Good fishing to ya!

Fishing gear we use;

Tarpon and sharks Reels Pflueger Contender G15L, Rods Shakespeare Custom “USCB 1166 MH” Penn spinning reels 560L Live Liner with Penn Torque jigging rod 7’ 20 to 50 braids.

Spanish and Flounder: Reels Pflueger Medalist spinning in sizes 6035 and 6040. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy.

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens

www.captainjot.com

910-233-4139 

Hello Folks, I guess we can call this mid-summer fishing. All those mid-summer bites have started and some of the fish are starting to show that hot water temp bite. Early morning and late afternoon bite; for the Redfish and Trout are really showing lately. Let’s talk about that and a few other bites in this weeks fishing Report.

My charters have had some great early morning Redfish and Trout bites. We are fishing mud flats and oyster flats in creeks and along the ICW. Multi fish hook-ups are not uncommon at all! Top water plugs like the Rapala skitter-walk have done very well. Rattle and popping corks with live mullets and little menhaden have been working great! The best rattlin’ corks for me have been the Saltwater Assassin’s “Kwik-cork” this is one of the loudest corks on the market; “trust me; try some!”

Another hot weather favorite of mine is the great fighting and great eating Sheephead. If you just started fishing or you have for years, you will love the time and fight it takes to catch one of these fish. The best fishing lately for us has been around bridges, docks and bulk-heads. Fishing in water from six to fifth-teen feet for sheephead seems to work the best for us. We fish mostly using small Carolina rigs, with forty pound mono leader and small but strong live bait hooks. Baits we are using; fiddler crabs and sand fleas have worked just fine. Give it a shot, it takes time but you’ll get one; Hold-on”!

The Spanish mackerel are still picking good most days. Most of the Spanish are biting Clark spoons trolled behind #1 planner’s. The Clark spoons that are working the best for us are sizes; 00 and 0 in silver, gold and pink flash. When the Spanish are on top feeding and jumping, Maria jig spoons have been the trick. There has been some bigger Spanish around the last couple of weeks; with some fish over five pounds. Always fun on the ultra light or fly rod!

We are still seeing some Tarpon around the inlets and shoals. Live and dead baits on the bottom have had the best luck for getting bites; fresh spots, menhaden and mullet work the best. Shark fishing will be good through the end of October. We’ve had some really nice lemon and black tip sharks already this year and a few on the fly-rod. We mostly are fishing around and just off the local inlets. There also has been some locally good flounder fishing; in the creeks and around the bigger inlets like Carolina and Masonboro inlets.

Thanks so much for reading this report, if you would like a Fishing charter give me call or drop me a line. Good fishing to ya!

Fishing gear we use;

Tarpon and sharks Reels Pflueger Contender G15L, Rods Shakespeare Custom “USCB 1166 MH” Penn spinning reels 560L Live Liner with Penn Torque jigging rod 7’ 20 to 50 braids.

Reds, Spanish and Sheephead: Reels Pflueger Medalist spinning in sizes 6035 and 6040. Rods: Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ Med & Med-Heavy.

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens

www.captainjot.com

910-233-4139