Topsail Beach

Well I have to start off with October fishing because from August 30th til the end of September we had a very active tropical weather pattern, there was waves for over 20 days in September, surfing waves=no fishing.

September ended on a high note though and the trips I ran at the end of the month produced some solid spanish mackerel and king mackerel fishing.

October (and November) I look foward to with alot of anticipation and was well rewarded! We had some of the best king mackerel fishing we had all year! Hank Brown rigs with cigar minnows produced non-stop catching on every trip we made for them, we often could only get two lines out before being bit. The fish were from schoolies to teenagers and had the added benefit of being 5-10 miles offshore, quicker run, more fishing time. On some days we would think the bite was over because we had not had a bite for 10 miutes, we would reel up to find that we had all baits cleaned out and would rebait and go back to catching. Some days we actually switched to other fishing to mix it up a little.

We would find the spanish on top eager to take a maria jig, glass minnow jig, or even a fly. Some mornings found acres of feeding 5-8lb false albacore which would be a good warm-up for the king fishing. After our fill of the speedsters we would go looking for the grey trout and found those to the south pretty regularly, some days we scratched a few keepers, others we had nice fish to 20″ all on jigs.

Did little inshore fishing this month when we could not get out and that was also productive. There was a consistent bluefish at the Masonboro Jetty fish ranged from 10″ to 5-6lbs, the fish hit just about anything flashy. Had a few good mornings of topwater trout bites and then did well trolling mirrolures along the same banks. Funny thing was that while we could get the fish trolling the same spots would not prodce the same action when my clients would cast to them. Go back to trolling and they would bite again. Had some nice flounder and drum also mixed in but the trout seemed to be the more consistent action for me.

All in all October was a great month. The next couple of weeks I am running out of Harkers Island for albacore and trout, the bite has been excellent up there, stay tuned for details. We still have alot of great fishing to come in the next couple of months, kings are steady until at least Thanksgiving and the grouper fishing is some of the best all year at this time (get your grouper by Dec 31st, or else wait until May, closes to all fishing Dec 31st.) also giant tuna trips available.

Tight lines,
Captain Jim

Hi Jim

Just want to thank you again for a great day, a little rough but then again that’s fishing off shore. Nothing I haven’t seen before. Hell that’s what makes fishing fun! I don’t know what is better, catching them or eating them, my wife still talking about how good they were. Again thanks and hope to do it again next year.
-Billy Guy

Okay, so it has been a while since I posted but I have an excuse! I was so busy with trips and fish that I did not have the time!

August was my busiest month this season, and the most successful. Fishing in late August I found a little spot that was just full of fish and bait. Went there for nearly every trip (was a little far on the 1/2 days) but with the new boat it made getting there a breeze. Once there the king mackerel and mahi fishing was consistent. Fishing cigar minnows on Hank Brown rigs and Pirate plugs, and ballyhoo on dink hooks we had an average of 6 kings a trip, 2-3 mahi, and one sailfish. The best trip saw 2 guys do battle with 10 kings and 6 mahi! Most of the kings were 8-12lbs with a few pushing 20lbs, the mahi ranged from slingers to one beast over 20lbs.

We tried the bottom there and got a few snapper and groupers, the AJ’s seemed more prevelent there but when the weather cools who knows? Speaking of grouper we took the PLAN 9 on a few grouper trips this month. One trip was to some of the further out ledges that I fish, dodged squalls all day, east wind, bad current….scratched out a few reds, had a bunch of 18″-22″ seabass and some big pinkies, a few kings, one over 25lbs and ran home dodging squalls again. The next grouper trip we did we went south, good move! Fishing in the red and white area we worked a few ledges for a great catch of reds and scamps to 26″, had mahi around the boat most of the day, the fish kept us busy that day!

Fished a few trips nearshore and continued the catching. Found nice 16″-20″ spanish on most trips with a few 2-3 lbers mixed in. We fished these on light tackle, 12lb test with yozuri deep divers working in 40-50 feet of water off Wrightsville Beach and Masonboro Island. Had a few shark trips which were also productive, anchoring and chumming we averaged 3-5 sharks a trip most were 3-5 ft long but had a few to 7′, also on light tackle, 20lb test which gives makes fish in that size range very sporting.

Thankfully Hanna gave us just a glancing blow and it looks very good for the upcoming fall. The bait is starting to stack up and move out of the creeks. The butterflies are here, the drum should be biting well soon. All the signs that the fall fishing is right around the corner are popping up, just cannot wait!!!!!

Tight lines,

Captain Jim

Well after 3 weeks of rigging the new boat and getting trips cancelled the weather finally cooperated and we got to fish and dirty up the new boat!

Fished with my regular client Art, went to the 10 mile boxcars to look for some kings, my buddy Rick had a few the day before and 2 sails so we started there. Trolled cigar minnows on Hank Browns for a few hours with just a few short strikes. Around 10am heard a little chatter about the spanish showing up inshore so we picked up and started to run towards John’s Creek. When we got about 2 miles away in 50′ of water they were going off! Art threw 21gram Maria jigs to the breaking schools for about 2 hours catching fish on every other cast! These were solid fish from 18″-24″, saw many in the water following the lure, slower retrieve caught the bigger fish.

Friday and Saturday we fished the Eddie Hanneman Sailfish Tournament out of Wrightsville Beach with Billy, Anthony, and Brian. Friday we fished the 10 and 12 mile rock areas, saw the first fish of the tournament caught and released right next to us. Our tally for the first day was a barracuda that gave us a thrill for the first run but them came to the boat pretty easily. Saturday we decided to fish south towards the 30/30. We started in the weeds a little short of the Schoolhouse and started to work out to the fleet about 3 miles past us. We hooked a nice mahi right away and heard the fleet chattering about a few releases so far so we worked into the area the fish were being taken in. The rest of the day we worked around the fleet watching the other boats fight fish while we washed a bunch of ballyhoo! Alot of fun, already have interest from some guys to fish it next year, had good food……Quick note to Billy: Sushi is not as palatable after rigging ballyhoo……..lots of laughs, just no sails.

Sunday had Tim and Billy from Pennsylvania on board fishing out of Topsail. We started out heading to the 2nd set off Topsail but the 15kt  winds were starting to stack the seas so we put lines in around the 1st set. Did not have to wait long and started to pick at the schoolie kings on both yo-zuri deep divers and dead cigars on Hank Brown rigs and Pirate plugs. Around 11am saw a squall to the south and the wind freshened up to about 17-20 and we decided to troll towards the hill in the now “cotton patch” seas. The 1st set was loaded with bait and nice blue water, we saw flying fish all morning constantly. A great day on the water with 2 really nice fisherman!

  Welcome to my site! This is the first of many post, I know you will enjoy.

 The last 2 weeks the fishing has been great when the weather does not run us off the water. The king mackerel and mahi mahi fishing has been strong in the 10-15 mile range with some larger fish of both species showing up. We had a 20+ lb king on one trip and mahi in the 10 lb range on another, nice fish for a 1/2 day charter! Most fish have been coming on dead cigar minnows fished on a Hank Brown rig or a Pirate plug, the downrigger has been a key element on some days.

  The spanish mackerel have been biting well most days, the outgoing tide takes the nod as the most productive tide, fishing the tideline, up til this week. The fish have been hitting trolled small Yozuri deep divers and cast maria jigs and 1 oz. Shorelure glass minnows. This week the S/W winds have scattered the schools and we have been finding the fish between 15-20 ft consistently.

  Fished inshore one day and was rewarded with a few upper slot drum. We fished a creek off the waterway and a few docks for these fish. The drum were caught on peanut pogies and mullet.

  Sharks have started to show up off the beach, mostly black tips and lemons so far. Some of these fish have been over 70 lbs! Alot of fun on 15-20 lb line. The fish have been caught fishing cut bait behind the small shrimp boats working offshore. A word of caution and a tip:do not get too close to the boat while they are towing and hauling back, the larger sharks hang back.

Tight lines,

Captain Jim

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