March is great for redfish and black drum in Brunswick County
Brunswick County is North Carolina’s southernmost saltwater in North Carolina. The creeks and marshes in the southern part of the county are the first to wake up as spring arrives.
Usually, the red drum and black drum, plus a few hearty specks, get off to a strong bite when the water temps begin warming in the spring. This year spring begins on Sunday, March 20, a week after Daylight Savings Time begins. Fish still have the advantage, but the balance shifts a little more to fishermen.
Many years, winter begins losing its grip on Southern N.C. by late February with stretches of warm sunny days. This begins in earnest by early March and the water also begins to warm. It only takes a week or so and drum, both red and black, begin to feed more regularly and more aggressively. A few speckled trout may respond to this initial preview of spring. But the real stars are red and black drum.
Capt. Austin Kerr of Fellowship Charters (336-941-7292) in Ocean Isle Beach said this is when fishing becomes steadier. When the spring drum bite begins firing off, his phone begins to ring. It also makes fishermen more comfortable when the winter weather breaks and more sunny and warm days prevail.
Kerr fishes from the Shallotte River to Little River Inlet, just a few hundred yards across the state line in South Carolina. He said the fish get more active, but aren’t summer active yet. So he likes to fish the change of the tide for a few hours, when the current isn’t running strong. He believes water clarity is a key and checks the Shallotte River, Calabash River, Intracoastal Waterway, and the larger creeks off these for cleaner water.
“During this time, I concentrate on oyster beds and docks in the creeks and waterway and sometimes fish the jetties in Little River Inlet,” Kerr said. “Both drum eat pieces of shrimp, and red drum are more aggressive and will chase down mud minnows. We generally fish pieces of shrimp on jigheads, but switch to Carolina rigs to fish mud minnows.
“Red drum will also chase soft plastics,” Kerr said. “I like the D.O.A. 3- and 4-inch paddletails and fish them slowly on light jigheads. Most days they will bite these, but sometimes they get very particular about the color. I have everyone on the boat begin with a different color and keep changing them until we find a color they like that day. It may have been different the day before and may be different again the next day.”
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Litopenaeus setiferus, commonly called white shrimp or green tails, are primarily harvested in the estuarine and nearshore ocean waters. They are light gray with green-tinted tails, and their antennae are 2.5 to 3 times their body length. Evidence suggests that warming water temperatures are contributing to an increased abundance of white shrimp in North Carolina and states to the north. North Carolina has historically had the northernmost commercially viable population of white shrimp. However, in 2022, Virginia began permitting a limited offshore shrimp trawl fishery due to the consistent presence of white shrimp in its nearshore ocean waters. Similarly, North Carolina’s harvest of white shrimp has increased over time, with the species surpassing brown shrimp as the majority species of harvest for the first time in 2005 and regularly doing so ever since. In 2023, 3.8 million pounds of white shrimp were harvested from North Carolina waters, with annual landings surpassing 9 million pounds as recently as 2017. Brown Shrimp Fa
rfantepenaeus aztecus, commonly called brown shrimp or summer shrimp, are primarily harvested in the estuarine waters of North Carolina. They typically remain low in the water column and depend on certain water temperatures to trigger biological changes. Specifically, decreasing water temperatures prompt overwintering behavior, during which they bury themselves in sediment for protection from the cold. Evidence suggests that warming water temperatures may disrupt this behavior, leading to higher natural mortality and greater variability in landings. Reported brown shrimp landings in North Carolina exceeded 2.7 million pounds in 2023, and were as high as 6.3 million pounds as recently as 2015. Pink Shrimp 
Farfantepenaeus duorarum, commonly called pink shrimp or spotted shrimp, are often found in sand or sand-shell bottom habitats. They are easily identified by their pink color and a dark-colored spot between their third and fourth abdominal segments. Similar to brown shrimp, smaller pink shrimp remain in estuarine waters during the winter and bury themselves in the sediment to protect against cold temperatures. In the past, pink shrimp made up a sizable percentage of the total shrimp harvest in North Carolina. However, landings have been low in recent years, with just over 29,000 pounds landed in 2023. Pink shrimp have accounted for less than 20% of the North Carolina harvest since 1993, and less than 10% in most years.
There is another species of shrimp that is occasionally captured in North Carolina, the invasive tiger shrimp (Penaeus Monodon). Native to Southeast Asia, tiger shrimp were first caught off the Carolinas in 1988, following an accidental release from an aquaculture facility. They can grow up to 13 inches and have a rusty brown to black coloration with distinct banding along their backs. North Carolina’s first documented inshore capture of tiger shrimp occurred in 2006 when five specimens were collected from Pamlico Sound. Tiger shrimp are now considered an established species along the southeast and Gulf coasts.
Sea Trail Fishing Club 
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