Last year I became a member of the Salt Strong Insiders Club (www.SaltStrong.com) and continue to find a wealth of information about inshore fishing on their website! Since coming to this area, I’ve found that information on their website has helped to kick-start my understanding of how the local fisheries differ from other places that I’ve been. This week I thought that I would share some tips about developing a ‘game plan’ for Spring fishing. 

This time of year you don’t need to worry much about the water temperature because it’s safe to assume that the fish will be comfortable in terms of dissolved oxygen levels and body temperature. So the sole focus of fish will be on finding areas with the most food to eat along with enough protection from predators like dolphin.

Lures: This is the season where smaller baitfish are pouring in, so it’s smart to use smaller baitfish imitation lures like spoons, smaller soft plastics, etc.

Timing: During the spring, the best inshore bite is often in the twilight periods within a couple hours before and after the sun rises and sets. But since the water temperature will stay out of either extreme hot or cold, fish will often feed throughout the day and into the night as well. The best game plan is generally to prioritize the twilight periods overall, and then heavily factor in the tidal movements to determine when the optimal feeding times will be.

– Best Bite: Twilight hours & max current periods

– Best Tide: Incoming or outgoing tides during this time are not as important as good current flow.

Game PIan:

– Morning: Try to get out as eariy as possible and focus on the shallow flats and/or shorelines with lots of life (birds, bait, and any feeding activity)

– Mid-Day: The fish can be both shallow or deep at this time… typically the best bet is to target the zones with the most bait that’snear structure such oyster bars, shoreline points, potholes on grass flats, etc.

– Evening: This is often a great time to target slams up on the flats or along shorelines in the shallows because they’ll often be actively feeding just like they were in the morning.

– Night: The shadow lines of docks and bridges with bright lights can be very effective. You might also target the same zones that were effective during the twilight periods because fish will often hang in those same areas to feed throughout the night.

There is a large winter fishery habitat from Dunn Sound, the upper Calabash River and the large flats behind Bird Island, according to Jeff Burleson (Carolina Sportsman, February 2022). 

Guide Brandon Huskins of Any Tide Charters notes that redfish will congregate in areas where there is a 2-3 degree temperature increase occurring in the middle of the day. If you have a shallow draft boat or a kayak you can get to potholes in the backs of creeks, places where the redfish are schooled up during the winter. When the sun heats up the water over dark mud and the shallows during low tide that makes a big difference to a fish. One strategy is to set up near the pothole an hour or two before low tide and let the fish pour out of the shallow spots. They will either be in the potholes or will be feeding along oyster bars and sand flats that lead up to the potholes.

The creeks do not hold as much shrimp and baitfish as during the warmer months, but some mullet and mud minnows do overwinter there. Since food is scarce the redfish may not be too picky, but a slow bait presentation will still work best. Try mud minnows on a jig head or similar artificial fished correctly will work. As always, shrimp are a go-to! 

Huskins likes to use lightly weighted Ned Heads with small Z-Man soft plastics. Cast to the target area and wiggle or bounce the lure a little and if they are going to eat, they will take it. He reports days where he can catch 20-30 fish without moving his boat. An exciting fish story to say the least!

He says that redfish are homebodies, and they will routinely come to the same potholes every day for a week or two as long as they don’t get run out of the house by tides or something else. 

Brandon can be reached at Any Tide Charters (843-877-7068)

Check out this article on WCTI12=News

When Spring arrives in North Carolina the waters around Sunset Beach are the usually the first to warm up. This is the time that a strong bite will pick up for red and black drum as well as some hold-over speckled trout. According to the calendar the first day of Spring is March 20^th but with the global climate sceneria – who knows? The winter may come early here. Regardless, we have been blessed with runs of several days of warm climate throughout January and early February. In my kayak, I haven’t seen water temperatures less than 53 degrees yet. We can expect that the water may well begin to warm by early March. That means that red and black drum in particular, and trout to some degree will begin to feed more aggressively.

Austin Kerr of Fellowship Charters in Ocean Isle Beach fishes from the Shallotte River to Little River lnlet. He believes that as the water warms and the fish are not yet “Summer-active” that the best times to fish are a few hours around the change of tide when the current isn’t running strong. Our guess speaker last month, Captain Jacob Frick of J&J Inshore Charters, voiced the same opinion. Kerr believes that water clarity is an advantage and likes to concentrate on oyster beds and docks in the creeks and waterway and sometimes the jetties in the Little River lnlet. Both red and black drum like pieces of shrimp on jigheads. Red drum are more aggressive and will chase down mud minnows, so mud minnows fished on Carolina rigs work well too. Scented artificial baits are often successful but sometimes the fish get very particular about the color. Kerr has everyone on the boat begin with a different color and keeps changing them until they find the right one (the ‘Couleur du Jour‘ if you will). Different days – different colors. Kerr recommends 3 and 4-inch paddletails fished slowly with light jigheads.

If you are interested in charter fishing, feel contact anyone of our contributors:

Captain Austin Kerr, Fellowship Charters, 336-941-7292

Captain Jacob Frick, J&J Inshore Charters, 803-315-3310

Captain Tim DeSano, Tideline Charters, 910-279-2020

Captain Tripp Hook, Capt’n Hook Outdoors, 910-540-7332

Captain Forest David, Follow Me Charters, 910-612-5343

Several people have asked about getting the new logo. The Club will have hats and a few items available at the meetings but if you want to have shirts or jackets embroidered there are two options. First you may purchase items at the Carolina Shirt Company.

Listed below are the items that you can purchase from the Carolina Shirt Company All below pricing is for standard size (S-XL) after embroidery and this pricing may not be valid after 3/8/23. The items priced below are the items shown in my physical showroom.

Sport Tek Polo, 100% Polyester– $26.73

Port Authority Polo, 65%Poly 35%Cotton– $22.63

Port Authority Button Down– $29.60

Eddie Bauer Jacket– $74.88

Port & Company T-Shirt– $12.82

Gildan T-Shirt– $12

Sport Tek 100% Polyester T-Shirt– $13.98

Port Authority Raincoat– $55.48

Club members are also welcome to bring in their own items, but they will only be accepted if they are NEW WITH TAGS. The cost to embroider something brought in would be $9 per garment. If you have any questions, please contact Kyra Krawiec, Office Manager, Carolina Shirt Company, 910-575-4447

The following tips are abridged from an article written by Phillip Gentry in the January 2020 issue of Carolina Sportsman.

Fishing is a year-round sport, but weather, availability of bait, and fish migration and breeding patterns dictate a whole different approach with the changing seasons. Those who think only die-hard anglers fish during the winter are missing out. It’s not even necessary to face Mother Nature head on. With some forethought and planning, fishing can be enjoyable in summer and winter.  Whether you are new or experienced the following tips should be useful.

1. Dress warmly. You’ve already heard and read of this ad nauseum, but it bears repeating. If you stay warm and dry, you’ll be happier and fish longer and catch more fish. Drysuits, dressing in layers, even full-body wetsuits or neoprene waders — whatever you’re comfortable in — put together the ensemble and wear it. Keep a spare set of clothes handy in case the dry part doesn’t work out by the end of the day.
2. Scout in advance. Scouting for fishing? The best freshwater fishing is going to be in deep water; the best saltwater fishing is going to be in shallow water. Find these places on topo maps and charts before fishing. Locate suitable areas and check the wind and weather forecast. Choose your fishing spots accordingly. The sun and deep water adjacent to the shore are your friends.
3. Use braided line. Fish bites in cold water are mushy at best. Using braided line lets you feel them better. If you are concerned about line shyness, use a length of fluorocarbon leader.
4. Remember topwater baits. Sometimes the area of warmest water is that sunbaked layer on the surface. Even in cold water, baitfish are often pushed to the surface by feeding fish, and topwater baits are the best way to get bit. Rarely is blind-casting topwater baits effective like it is in the summer. If something is going on at the surface, you’ll see it first, then cast to it.
5. Fifty is nifty. The magic temperature when fishing in the winter is 50 degrees. In mild winters, water temperatures may not get down to 50 or may not stay less than 50 for very long. In hard winters, 50 comes and goes like a crisp fall day, leaving icicles in it’s path. Both freshwater fish and saltwater fish will feed actively in water warmer than 50 degrees, although it may be for shorter periods of time because their metabolism is slower. Less than 50 degrees, and you need to plan on soliciting a reaction bite. That rarely means a fast and furious presentation, but more likely that annoying “in your face”, “easy to get”, “too good to pass up” appeal. That’s where jigging spoons and drop shots and the like shine. Set up over the fish and put that bait on its nose.
6. Find heated water. As well as live bait works most of the time, both live bait and predator fish become more lethargic at water temperatures less than 50 degrees and probably die at less than 40. While much of this is simply fishing knowledge, the smart angler can take advantage of unique opportunities to find heated water because of access and portability. The extreme upper end of a creek, stream or channel may be much warmer than the impoundment end, and a cut-off slough may warm faster and stay heated longer than a normal tributary arm. The same can be said for shallow saltwater flats that lie upstream behind two or three sand bars that keep the dolphins and power boats at bay.
7. Fish later in the day. Give your fishing area time to warm up. Some of the best winter fishing is mid-day and afternoon after surface water temperatures have risen a few degrees. Avoid the urge to run-and gun in cold water. Most fish will school or school tighter in the winter. The key to catching fish is first locating them, then taking time to work them slowly to entice strikes.
8. Use a depth finder. Unless you’re sight-fishing a shallow flat, most winter fishing is going to be vertical, over deeper water. That requires the use of a depth finder, both to identify baitfish, predator fish and yes, even watch your bait as you vertical fish.
9. Vertical is best. Most of these scenarios work best when vertical fishing for your chosen species. Get on top of the fish. Watch them on your sonar and learn to use a jigging spoon, drop-shot, shaky head, bucktail jig or other heavy, metal bait. These styles of fishing might be slow and boring, but they catch a lot of winter fish.
10. Use Scent. Finally, don’t forget to use scents like Pro-Cure or Dr. Juice on artificial plastics. The baits don’t have to move much to get a bite as long as they smell like something to eat.