OIFC NEWS & UPDATES- WEEK OF OCTOBER 18th

 

On your marks get set- "Start your catfish". The annual Fall Brawl King Classic is here. This past weekend fishermen caught good Kings at a variety of locations including the Cape Fear River Channel, Yaupon Reef, Shark Hole, Jungle and many more. The beach front is loaded with bait of all kinds and Pogys were not a problem to catch. This week's weather looks stable, which bodes well for the fishing, if it will only hold out for the tournament. Mother Nature will make the final call on that, but with the fish on the beach, any type of North wind will be conducive to great beach fishing conditions. Registration is open now on-line at or you can visit the tournament site at the Ocean Isle Fishing Center on Friday from 2-9pm to sign up. One thing you can count on with the Fall Brawl- great food, great entertainment (Spot races are on again this year) and great fishing. If you have any questions, let me know how I can help. Hope to see you at the Fall Brawl- Capt. Brant

 

OFFSHORE FISHING REPORT- by Capt. Steele Parks - OIFC tackle manager and offshore guide

Well folks, it appears as if Fall fishing is beginning to kick off. I had the opportunity to get out on the water several times last week and each time, managed to catch at least a few fish. There are absolutely King Mackerel on the beach but the main numbers are still holding offshore in 65-75 feet. Large schools of Pogey's are up and down the beach and in relatively shallow water. All one really needs to do is look for a pelican sitting on the water and the odds are good, there is a school located beneath them. Offshore, which I will verify with a couple of trips this week, there have been some decent catches of Wahoo and Blackfin Tuna. There also seem to be huge schools of bailer Dolphin's that are fond of strip baits. The bottom fishing is the one that seems to have us all a bit puzzled. While there are tons of small grouper and Sea Bass that have moved in to the 65 ft range, the keepers seem to be holding in the deeper water. The big fish can be found in 100 ft of water. Looking forward to next week, I fully expect the Kings to continue to move closer to shore with more consistancy, just in time

for the Fall Brawl next weekend. The weather is looking very good at least into early week so we should be able to update our daily reports often. Please check www.oifc.com for updates.

 

INSHORE FISHING REPORT by Capt. Jacob Frick - OIFC tackle manager and inshore guide

The fishing this past week has been pretty consistent. Lots of small redfish are being caught in the creeks on the outgoing tide. It is getting time to try and get one on the fly rod. I took Mr. Joe this past Monday and we beat the banks to death with the fly, but could not fool a fish. The redfish were very quick to take a live mullet on a carolina rig. We gave up on the fly after several attempts and proceeded to catch 20+ redfish on live mullet. The Little River Jetties are still producing some trophy size redfish, but the bit has slowed a bit. Drifting just outside the mouth of the jetties on an incoming tide with anything live or blue crab chunks will give you the opportunity to catch a trophy. I fished with a friend on Friday and we caught several redfish on live mullet first thing in the morning. As the tide stopped pulling so did the fish. We hung around until the tide started to rise. We hit several docks on the intercoastal waterway with very little success. The tide was getting pretty high and pushing pretty green water into the creeks. I decided to switch over to artificials to see if we could fool a trout. We started working along the bank and we picked up a couple small trout. Then Mr. Norris drilled a nice two pounder! We stuck around for just a bit, but did not get another strike in that area. We moved on deeper into the creek. Mr. Norris again showed us how its done by landing a nice redfish. We again gave the area a few more minutes with no more strikes. We moved back to where Mr. Norris had caught the trout earlier. We picked up a few more trout, 5 flounder, and another redfish. Presistence and patient is what it takes to continue to catch fish. I expect this week coming will produce a better bite. The water should continue to cool and the tides are lining up for more favorable fishing. The moon is also growing and the fish should get more active as full moon approaches. Using live mullet minnows on a carolina rig or using artificials that immitate a mullet will lead to success. My favorite artificials are 4 " Sea Assassins and the 3" gulp pogys.

 

Ocean Isle Fishing Center