Coastal Carolina Fishing Report: Reds, Trout, and Nearshore Action

This is Artificial Lure with your Atlantic North Carolina saltwater report.

Along the southern beaches from Ocean Isle to Oak Island, FishingReminder calls today an excellent solunar day, with peak activity stacked around the early‑morning and late‑afternoon tide swings. At Oceanana Pier in Atlantic Beach, Surfline’s tide table shows a predawn low right around 1 a.m. with a solid high pushing back in near daybreak, then another drop mid‑afternoon. That moving water has been the ticket.

Weather-wise, the NWS marine forecast for the central coast has north to northwest winds 10 to 15, easing later, with 3 to 5‑foot seas. Skies have been mostly clear the last couple days, giving us cool, glassy mornings and a little chop once that breeze freshens by lunch. Sunrise is right around 7:10 a.m. with sunset near 5:05 p.m. across most of the Crystal Coast, so that first hour of light has been lining up nicely with the incoming tide.

Inshore, red drum and speckled trout are still the main story from Morehead down through the Cape Fear region. Carolina Sportsman’s December pieces note clear, cold water setting up classic sight‑fishing conditions for redfish on the lower tides over mud and shell. Folks working creek mouths around Harkers Island and the Haystacks have been picking up mixed slots of reds and 16–20 inch trout, a dozen‑plus fish mornings when they hit the tide right.

Best producers have been simple: soft‑plastic paddletails on 1/8‑ to 1/4‑ounce jigheads in “electric chicken,” pearl, or gold flake, and MirrOlure‑style suspending twitchbaits in natural baitfish patterns. When the bite gets finicky, a live shrimp or mud minnow under a popping cork has still been money around dock pilings and creek bends.

Surfside, Hatteras Island reports this week talk about scattered puppy drum and sea mullet on the south‑facing beaches when the wind backs off. Fresh cut mullet and shrimp on double‑drop bottom rigs have kept coolers honest, with a few black drum mixed in. Expect a slower pick during the slack high, then a flurry of bites as that water starts to fall.

Nearshore, boats working just off the beach from Carolina Beach to Cape Lookout have been finding small false albacore, plenty of bluefish, and a few underslot stripers up toward the northern capes. Metal spoons and epoxy jigs ripped through bird schools have done the work, especially on that mid‑morning tide push.

For you lure junkies, think winter confidence baits:
– 3–4 inch paddletails on light jigheads for trout and reds.
– Silver or gold casting spoons for blues and albies.
– MirrOlure 17MR or similar suspending plugs when the water slicks off.

If you’re soaking bait, bring:
– Fresh cut mullet or menhaden for drum.
– Shrimp and sand fleas for sea mullet and black drum.

Couple of local hot spots to circle today:
– The Cape Lookout Bight and surrounding shoals, working the drops on the last of the falling and first of the incoming tide for reds and trout.
– The sloughs around Ramp 44 on Hatteras Island, where that deeper gut close to the beach has been holding puppy drum and sea mullet when the swell lays down.

That’s your coastal Carolina check‑in from Artificial Lure.

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