Summer has really been showing its face around here lately and with the warm air comes more bait and more means more fish to catch!  I’ve seen a big change in water temps in the last few days, the waters around Wrightsville Beach are hanging around 78` inshore; it will not be long before we are swimming!  The warm water has really brought out the bait fish, which is always a good thing for fishing!

The Spanish mackerel and Bluefish are really starting showing just off the beaches from twenty feet to forty feet of water; you should have no problem catching them.  I’ve had the best luck with deeper spoons on number one planners, yes I’m seeing a few on the top line but the best has been deeper.  Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash.  The Spanish hitting the top baits are hitting Blue Water Candy’s Spanish Daisy chains in colors pink, blue and silver; the great thing about this rig is you can pull it off lighter tackle outfits.  I’m using thirty and forty pound clear Berkley Big Game mono for all my Spanish leaders.  Tip: keep your trolling and casting speed up; faster moving baits seem to get more bites, I troll around five knots or six mph.  There is still a few Bonita around too!

The Cobia should be here most any day and you know I’m always looking for them!  I look this time of year for Cobia around inlets, shoals and bait schools; near shore/offshore reefs and ledges are also a good place to look too.  With the wind we’ve had lately it will be a little harder to see those brown logs in the stained water, but that does not mean they are not around and hungry. I like throwing big jigs, swim baits and live bait to the Cobia.  Color really does not seem to matter; but “go bright”!  When I’m not sight casting for them, we are fishing around inlets, shoals and near shore artificial reefs.  I float fish, bottom fish and kite fish in these areas with live menhaden, blues and mullet as bait.  If you hook one of these beast, take your time fighting them, they don’t tire out easily; a green Cobia can really tear up a boat and/or you!

The Redfish have slowed a little bit over the last week due to the waters warming up so fast, but we are still catching them; going earlier in the morning seems to help the bite some.  Fishing top-water baits like MirrOlure’s Top Dog Jr or Top Pup also Sebile’s Ghost Walker are catching me some really nice Reds in shallow water.  When I’m fishing in deeper water for Reds like around docks, creek mouths and deeper grass lines; I’m casting Berkley Gulp products like the Ripple Mullet or the three inch Gulp shrimp.  The colors I prefer in the Ripple Mullet are rootbeer gold/chart tail, goby magic chart tail, new penny and pearl white; in the three inch shrimp new penny, sugar spice glow and natural colors.  Rig these baits on a red, black, brown or gray jig head with a thirty to forty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader.  I have had some good luck lately with spinner baits for the Redfish and the trick that seems to work for me is a Ripple Mullet in the color rootbeer gold/chart tail as the grub on the spinner bait.  Remember reel that spinner bait; just fast enough to keep it off the bottom.

Fishing Gear I use:

Reels: Reds, Blues, Mackerel Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes Penn Conquer 2000.  Cobia Fishing reels: Penn Battle 5000, 6000 & 7000, Penn Fathom 25N.  Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast Cobia Line: 30 pound Berkley Big Game Mono.  Rods: Penn Legion Medium and Medium heavy. Cobia Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting.  Leader material: Cobia;  Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound.  Reds, Blues, Mackerel:  Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

If you would like to get real time and on the water reports, as well as free tackle giveaways each month; check out my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Capt-Jot-OwensJot-It-Down-Fishing-Charters-LLC/134340373310487

Thanks for reading this report, if you have any questions just let me know!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

I just can’t say it enough; this has been some great Southeast North Carolina weather this year and it has really helped the fishing department too!  I’m catching fish now that I usually don’t see until late April or May!  I hope this means a very good fishing season; hey it’s already been a pretty good one!  Here is the local area inshore waters report:

The Redfish and Black drum bite in the ICW and creeks just off the ICW has been good.  I’m starting to see a few smaller Reds 14” to 21” in some of the creeks on warmer days; a few over slot fish mixed in as well.  Most of the reds and black drum are hitting mud minnows and “fresh as you can get shrimp”.  I use two hook bottom rigs with 2, 1 & 1/0 bait holder hooks, with the fresh shrimp, when fishing for the black drum and reds.  If you would like to go the artificial root, I would recommend using scented grubs.  The best bait I’ve had luck with has been Berkley Gulp shrimp in colors pearl, natural, sugar spice glow and New Penny.  Jigs heads for the grubs in 1/8oz to 3/8 oz, colors red and black seem to be the trick. Work’em slow around docks and drop-offs on grass lines and oyster rocks.  The best tides have been falling or raising but fishing closer to the lower parts of the tides in the deeper areas and higher tides on the flats.

I’ve a good hand full of keeper Flounder inshore for the last two weeks; always a good thing to see this early in the season!  Most of the keepers have been sixteen to nineteen inches long.  The best bait I’ve had luck with lately has been Berkley Gulp three inch shrimp in colors; new penny, sugar spice glow and rootbeer gold/chart tail and five inch Jerkshad in pearl color.  I’m rigging these Gulps on ¼ and 3/8 ounce jig heads in colors red, brown (new penny) and gray with thirty or forty pound fluorocarbon leader.  I’m working drop-offs in channels, docks and deeper oyster rock edges for the Flounders.

 
Something that I love to do this time of year (late March to early June) is go up to lock & dam #1 and fish for Shad.  These fish are so much fun to catch; they run, jump and run some more.  Light tackle and fly fishing is the name of the game here!  I see so many people fishing for shad use to heavy of tackle.  Lighter tackle equals more bites and more fun!  All you need is a light rod and reel; I use a Pflueger Echelon combo loaded with six pound Berkley Nanofil line.  A two shad dart rig with Fifth teen or twenty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader; darts in colors pink and green; also some days Berkley Powerbait two inch grubs work great too.  If you have not ever tried it; you need too!  Also while your shad fishing you can put out a catfish line and sometimes catch a very nice Blue catfish using cut shad for bait.

False Albacore fishing has been good the days I can get out for them.  I’m finding the Albacore from five to twenty miles offshore.  There has been a few Bonita mixed in with them form time to time as well.  It should not be long before we are catching good numbers of Bonita around the area waters.  The #0 and #1 pink flash, silver and gold Clark spoon has caught most of our fish lately.  Trolling these spoons on #1 or #2 planner; with thirty to forty feet of forty pound Berkley big game mono as leader on the planners is the way to go.  On the bird rig for the surface fishing; I rig it with five to six feet of leader to the spoon.  Don’t forget to put a ball bearing swivel on the bird and planner; this will keep tangles from happing (well most of the time!)

When the Bonita and Albacore are on top feeding; cast Sea Rock and Sea striker jig-spoons.  The colors that seem to work the best are pink/purple, white, green and blue.  I use a forty pound Fluorocarbon leader; about fifth teen to twenty inches long.  I really like Stren’s tinted (gunsmoke) fluorocarbon leader material for clear water conditions.  A good light seven foot rod is very important for casting to these fish: the reason for this is the further you can cast equals more chance’s you will hook up.  When there are a lot of boats chasing the Bonita, they get wearer of boats.  If you can cast farther; you will catch more of these fish!

Fishing Gear we use:

Reels Penn Fierce and Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes;  Abu Revo Inshore and Revo Winch low-profile bait casters.  Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Nanofil in 8, 10 and 12 pound.  Rods: Fenwick HMG and Penn Legions.  Leader material:  Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon.  Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

If you would like to get real time and on the water reports check out my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Capt-Jot-OwensJot-It-Down-Fishing-Charters-LLC/134340373310487

Thanks for reading this report, if you have any questions just let me know!  If you would like to go fishing drop me a line; I’m booking now for this coming summer fishing season and don’t forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Luck,

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
PENN Tackle Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
captainjot@captainjot.com
910-233-4139

What great weather for this winter so far; lets hope it stays this way right on to Spring time!  With this great weather has come some of best winter fishing I’ve seen around here in a very long time.  Even on the ‘not so nice days’ the fishing has been good and other days down right great; finally a milder winter for a change!  Cool mornings and warm afternoons are hard to beat in Southeast North Carolina in mid February!

The Redfishing lately has been pretty good most days when the wind is not howling and we’ve seen some nice schools of Reds.  Warmer, sunny and lower wind days can be the key to catching these inshore winter Redfish.  It’s not hard to catch them once you find’em, look for these Reds in creek with dark colored bottoms and oyster rocks never hurt.  Scented soft plastics like Berkley Gulp should do the trick to get these Reds to hit.  Patterns in Gulp like Shrimp in sizes 2” and 3” are my go too, colors that seem to work the best are pearl, molting and new penny; the new Fire tail colors work great too!  Try lighter jig heads like 1/16 and 1/8 when winter fishing; lighter jig heads help you to work the lure much slower and still look nature as possible.

Surf Reds have been hit or miss; I believe that a lot of the Reds are still up in the creeks due to all the mild weather this season.  I have caught a few good days of surf Reds when the weather is just right.  Casting Berkley Gulp Ripple mullets on 1/4oz and 3/8oz jig heads in colors Rootbeer gold and New penny’ don’t forget that fluorocarbon leader this time of year the water is super clear!

I’ve made quite a few trips to the Cape Fear River year; there are three different kinds of fish to chase in the Cape Fear, Catfish, Striped Bass and even a hand full of nice Redfish most all winter long.  Here is a few ways to put a CFR Striper on your line.  Try Berkley Gulp Jerkshad in five and six inch size; in pearl & new penny colors.  Work these baits slowly and always rig them weed-less; there are many hangs in the Cape Fear River.  Try a Moaner swim bait hook with the Berkley Jerkshad; this is a great hook at a great price. www.moanerhooks.com  I use the weighted Stroker hook in 1/4oz 5/0.   Look for Stripers on drop-offs, dock pilings and reed-grass lines.

If you would like to give the Catfish a try, use baits like cut mullet, chicken livers and cut eel.  I use heavy Carolina rigs when I fish for catfish.  Try an Eagle claw L42 2/0 to 4/0 hook with fifty or eighty pound mono leader to make your carolina rig.  Look for the catfish on drop-offs from five to twenty feet of water.  We have seen some blue cats over thirty pounds caught in the river so try not to use to light of tackle; these are not always your ‘farm pond channel cats’!

Tackle run down: Penn Battle Spinning reels sizes 3000 & 4000 for the Redfish and Striped Bass.  Penn Legions in 6’6” & 7’ medium and med/hvy action; line Spiderwire Ultra-cast in ten and fifth-teen pound; Berkley Big Game Fluorocarbon leader for my leaders.

There are always plenty of boat shows, fishing tackle shows and fishing schools going on most weekends through the winter.  Here are few I’ll be at this winter.

February 11th, 2012  Fishermans Post Wilmington Fishing School.  This school will be at the Coast Line Convention Center.  I’ll be there with other Fishing Pros and Guides speaking on many different topics of local fishing tips and techniques.  Check out all the topics and info www.fishermanspost.com

February 18th, 2012-Cape Fear Christian Sportsman Fish Fest. www.capefearsportsmen.org/fishfest  This is a great free event!  I’ll be speaking on two topics this year; Cape Fear River Striped Bass fishing and my very popular Working Hard Baits MirrOlures Etc. with success seminar. The class will be from 8am-4:15pm February 18, 2012 at Scotts Hill Baptist Church (185 Scotts Hill Loop Road, Wilmington, NC 28411).  A light breakfast and lunch catered by Middle of the Island will be provided

February 24th & 25th March  2nd, 3rd & 4th  Bass Pro Shops in Myrtle Beach, SC for there very popular 2012 Spring Fishing Classic.  There will be lots of good sales and promotions on many fishing products.  I’ll be there with other top Fishing Pros giving fishing seminars, helping you find the right fishing products and answering any fishing questions you may have.   

 If you have any questions about the tactics I use fishing the local waters please e-mail me or catch me on Face Book at:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Capt-Jot-OwensJot-It-Down-Fishing-Charters-LLC/134340373310487

Thanks for reading and good fishing to ya!
 
Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Fishing Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Well folks as soon as it gets colder; here comes some more mild weather, hey I’ll take it!  Two cold winters in a row, we need it and deserve it!  I have got to tell you not much has changed since my last report as what fish are biting and what they a hitting.  One thing that has changed is I’m starting to see some very nice size trout biting, with trophy trout coming in the boat on most of my trips.

This season has been a very good grub/jig season with hundreds of trout coming to the boat on grubs.  The two hot grubs this season for me has been the Berkley Gulp Fire tail 3” shrimp and Saltwater Assassin 4” sea shad pattern.  The colors that are catching the most and biggest trout in the fire tail shrimp are watermelon red fleck, pearl and new penny.  In the sea shads; chicken on a chain, salt&pepper silver with chart tail, sweet pea, cantaloupe, chart diamond and 10w40 with chart tail.  If you really just want to target bigger trout try a Berkley Gulp 6” Jerkshad or a Gulp 4” Shrimp pattern; you’ll need to work these baits a bit slower, but it might just put that five pound or bigger trout in the boat for you.

Live baits like Shrimp, mud minnows and small finger mullet have caught my charters some big numbers of keeper trout lately.  I rig these baits on float rigs in shallow waters of three to five feet and light Carolina rigs for deeper waters of six to over ten foot deep. Lively bait is very important to getting Speckled trout to eat your live bait, take care of your live bait.  The livelier the bait the more bites you will get; trust me!

There have still been lots of good by-catches while we are trout fishing; these include Tautogs, Sheephead, Flounder, Black drum and Red drum.  These by-catches are hitting the grubs and live shrimp we are using for the trout.  The great thing is they are all good eating!  My favorites are the Tautogs and Sheephead.  If your bait gets close to the bottom, you’ve got a good chance at picking up one of these guys.  One client last week put a four pound Tautog in the boat with a Berkley Gulp Fire tail shrimp; I just knew he had a nice trout on the line, but no it was a nice tog!

When the waters start to cool down the Cape Fear River Striped Bass start bite; these fish are not the easiest to catch, but they fight very well even in cold water.  Working drop offs on the edge of the river is where you can find the Stripers, using swim bait lures and Berkley Power Bait and Berkley Gulp Jerkshad should put a few Cape Fear Stripers on you line.  Don’t forget that the Cape Fear River Striped Bass Fishery is closed; catch and release only!

Large winter Redfish schools are one of my favorite fish to look for during winter mouths.  On calm, light wind days you can find these Reds on dark mud flats and oyster rocks.  Also you can find large schools around inlets and sand bars just off the local beaches.  When you find these schools approach very slow and quietly, for they spoke very easily.  Most of the time the winter school Reds will bite pretty easily, but one thing that will help is scented baits like Berkley Gulp!  I prefer Berkley Gulp Ripple Mullet in colors Pearl/chart tail, New Penny and Rootbeer gold/chart tail; also the Berkley Gulp 5” and 6” Jerkshad work well too.  Sometimes you may need to work the bait a little slower during colder months, so try using a light jig head; this will allow you to work the bait slower.

If you have any questions about the tactics I use fishing the local waters please e-mail me or catch me on Face Book at:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Capt-Jot-OwensJot-It-Down-Fishing-Charters-LLC/134340373310487

Don’t forget my special rates will start January 1st2012 and will run to March 31st2012 save on great winter fishing trips for Redfish, Striped Bass, Speckled trout and Large Mouth Bass.  Winter fishing around this area can be great and it looks like we are going to have a milder winter; which means even better fishing this winter!

Fishing Gear I use:

Speckled trout, Striped Bass and Redfish: Reels Penn Battle 2000, 3000 & 4000 spinning reels.  Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70ML and Penn Legion rods  Line: *new line I’m using and really enjoying for Trout fishing is NanoFil from Berkley, this line is for spinning reels and its very smooth casting line!  I prefer eight and ten pound for trout fishing.  Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound test.

Thanks for reading!  Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to you!

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Here it is Thanksgiving and we still have warm weather most days!  Finally after two very cold winters we’ve got the best fishing weather we could have for late November!  With all this nice weather the fishing has really been on fire; some of the best Speckled trout fishing I’ve seen in while around here and the Redfish as well as the Flounder bite has been good too!  I believe that we will see good Speckled trout fishing all the way to Christmas this year!

The Speckled trout has been the name of the game for the last two months and the trout continue to bite very well.  With most of my charters coming to the dock with there limit and some days with over seventy trout coming over the side of the boat.  It truly has been an unbelievable Speckled trout season and it looks like it will continue for the next three weeks or longer!

When the trout bite is on they are hitting just about any lure or live bait you throw at them, but there are a few colors/lures that are catching more keepers then other colors/lures.  This season has been a very good grub/jig season with hundreds of trout coming to the boat on grubs.  The two hot grubs this season for me has been the Berkley Gulp Fire tail 3” shrimp and Saltwater Assassin 4” sea shad pattern.  The colors that are catching the most and biggest trout in the fire tail shrimp are watermelon red fleck, pearl and new penny.  In the sea shads; chicken on a chain, salt&pepper silver with chart tail, sweet pea, cantaloupe, chart diamond and 10w40 with chart tail.

I prefer to rig all my grubs on red, gray or black jig heads in weights of 1/16oz, 1/8oz or 1/4oz; you really don’t need a much heavier jig, a slow sink will catch you more trout!  Remember trout typically hit lures that are sinking down or just above them.  Keeping this in mind; a slower sinking lure stays in the strike zone longer which gives the trout more time to hit you lure.  Another rule I stand by when Speckled trout is the fact that trout have very good eye sight and with this said I always use a high quality fluorocarbon leader for all my trout rigs.  I prefer Stren’s tinted fluorocarbon leader material in twenty pound test; with gunsmoke tint for clear waters and tannic for river or stained water applications.

My charters have caught a few nice trout on hard baits like MirrOlures and Sebile baits.  We’ve caught trout the 17MR and 18MR but some of the bigger ones are hitting the good old 52M&MR this season.  Another bait that has really picked up a few nice trout this season is the Stick Shadd by Sebile in sizes 90 and 114 with colors in white lady, hollow mullet and yellow pepper.  The colors for the MirrOlures that are having the most luck are; 17MR and 18MR’s in colors: 11, 26, 808, CFPR, CH, EC and BCH.  As far as the 52M & MR in colors: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, CFPR, CH and HP.

If you would like to go with the live bait for your trout outing, try live mud minnows, small finger mullet or shrimp all of these baits will catch trout.  I rig all these different baits on float rigs in waters of three to six feet deep and a light Carolina rig for deeper waters of five to twenty feet deep.  Still here again even with live bait I always use fluorocarbon as leader; it will make a difference.

One cool thing that is always fun during trout season is all the ‘bonus fish’ that you will catch while Speckled trout fishing.  My charters have caught a good bunch of Redfish, Sheephead and Flounder in the last few weeks of fishing.  We even put an eight pound one ounce Flounder in the boat last week; what a pull that was on a light trout rod!  So you never know what might be on the end of your rod to you get it to the boat this time of year.

Fishing Gear I use:

Speckled trout, Flounder and Redfish: Reels Penn Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels.  Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70ML & GS 70M-MF  Line: *new line I’m using and really enjoying for Trout fishing is NanoFil from Berkley, this line is for spinning reels and its very smooth casting line!  I prefer eight and ten pound for trout fishing.  Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound test.

*Are you on Facebook?  Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed live reports, photos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!  Just Fan (like) the page on I’ll have monthly random drawings of Fans for free tackle!

Thanks so much for reading this report and have a great Thanksgiving!  I’m booking now and booking up fast for trophy Speckled trout trips for December.  Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Fall is really starting to show its face around Southeastern North Carolina these last few weeks.  Some warm days, some cool days and a few colder days with rain mixed in from time to time, but over all good fishing weather. The good part of this is no more hot days but lots of hot fishing to come!

October and November are great mouths for Speckled trout fishing and one of my favorite to fish for.  They are good to eat and a lot of fun to catch on light tackle.  It really does not matter if you like to fish artificial bait or live bait you can catch lots of Specks either way!  So far in the last two weeks I have picked up some very nice Speckled trout as well as good numbers of keeper size trout.  The gator trout (big ones) are starting to show up too and more will come with this cool weather we are having.

Here is how I have been catching the Speckled trout lately.  On the artificial side of things; MirrOlures and Sebile’s Stick Shadds are working very well for me this season so far.  I’ve caught trout the 17MR and 18MR but some of the bigger ones are hitting the good old 52M&MR this season.  Another bait that has really picked up a few nice trout this season is the Stick Shadd by Sebile in sizes 90 and 114 with colors in white lady, hollow mullet and yellow pepper.  The colors for the MirrOlures that are having the most luck are; 17MR and 18MR’s in colors: 11, 26, 808, CFPR, CH, EC and BCH.  As far as the 52M & MR in colors: 11, 26, 51, 704, 808, CFPR, CH and HP.

Soft baits are always a winner for trout fishing and you can catch good numbers of Speckled trout on grubs etc.  Berkley Ripple Mullets and Fire tail shrimp are two newer baits on the market and have been real good baits for Redfish but I’ve caught a few very nice trout on them lately.  The colors I’ve had the best luck with are Goby magic/chart tail, Root-beergold/chart tail and glow/chart tail in the Ripple mullets.  In the fire tail shrimp pattern colors of rootbeer gold, watermelon red fleck and new penny are working great.  Saltwater Assassin makes a very large selection of great trout grubs, give one of these colors in the sea shad pattern a try on your next trout outing; chicken on a chain, copperhead, S&P silver phantom/chart, chart/diamond, sweet pea, 10w40/limetail and greenback shiner.

I rig all of these grubs on high quality jig heads in colors red, gray and brown; in sizes 1/16, 1/8, ¼ and 3/8oz.  When I say high quality; I mean a jig head with a strong yet very sharp hook, a good jig head makes a big difference in how many fish you catch and don’t miss; trust me!  Check out jig heads by Sebile, Bluewater Candy and Saltwater Assassin; all of these companies make great high quality jig heads!

So you like to catch trout on live bait, well give live shrimp a try.  The trick to live shrimp is knowing when to stop feeding the trash fish like; pinfish, lizard fish, and small bluefish.  Using live shrimp can get expensive but you can catch some good numbers and size trout with live shrimp.  I rig live shrimp a two different ways; in shallow water two to six feet I use a float rig.  My float rigs consist of twenty pound Stren or Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon about twelve inches long and a number six treble hook for a live shrimp.  When I fish deeper waters (five foot plus) or with stronger currents I use a light carolina rig.  These rigs consist of a very small swivel, fourteen to twenty inches of fluorocarbon and a number one L42 Eagle claw hook.  The sinker for this rig needs to be light 1/16oz or 1/8oz split shot and 1/8oz or 1/4oz egg sinkers should do the trick.

I’m still seeing the Redfish around and a few Bull reds are still biting from time to time around the inlets.  There have been a few schools of Reds in the surf but due to very high winds and seas not much action there lately.  On some sunny days I’ve caught a good number of Reds along the ICW and oyster flats in local creeks north and south & North of Wrightsville Beach.  Live finger mullet and fresh cut bait will catch’em but, give a Berkley Gulp 3” new penny shrimp or a root-beergold/chart tail Ripple mullet a shot and I bet you’ll have no problem catching a few redfish.

In other fishing news, the weekend of October 22nd and 23rd was the Red Bone-Cape Fear Red*Trout Tournament Series.  This year again Adam Meyer and Liz Pitts of Charter Lakes Insurance Group fished with me.  Liz did very well again this year taking home Grand Champion Lady Angler General Division Champion and Most Speckled trout Champion.  Our team came in 1st over all in points, but the elusive keeper size Redfish was no where to be found; we got one as close at 171/2 inches (yes that hurt)!  So we could not bring home Grand Champion Angler for Liz; hey there’s always next year!  This is a tournament to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis; I look forward every year to fishing this tournament of a great cause.

Fishing gear I use:

Speckled trout and Redfish: Reels Penn Battle 2000 & 3000 spinning reels.  Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70ML & GS 70M-MF  Line: *new line I’m using and really enjoying for Trout fishing is NanoFil from Berkley, this line is for spinning reels and its very smooth casting line!  I prefer eight and ten pound for trout fishing.  Fluorocarbon leader material, Stren Tinted Fluorocarbon in tints Gunsmoke for clearer waters and Tannic for river or stained waters in twenty pound test.

If you are in or around the Morehead City area come by for the Grand Opening of Dick’s Sporting Goods in Morehead City on November 12th.  I’ll be there with Berkley, Penn, Fenwick, Sebile and Spiderwire to help answer any questions you have about products or fishing.  If you come by, please stop and say hello.

Dick’s Sporting Goods
Crystal Coast Plaza
5130 Highway 70 West
Morehead City, NC 28557

*Are you on Facebook?  Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed live reports, photos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!  Just Fan (like) the page on I’ll have monthly random drawings of Fans for free tackle!

Thanks so much for reading this report!  I’m booking now and booking up fast for trophy Speckled trout trips November to mid December.  Don’t forget take a kid fishing and good fall fishing to ya!

Captain Jot Owens
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
Penn Reels Elite Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

Fall is trying so very hard to show up around the area but, with these weather changes comes ‘weather’ and for the last weeks it’s been in the form of rain.  One thing I can tell you is that this is no different than most falls around this area; we get rain around here in the fall.  Some years its light some years it’s heavier, every season it different and that is one of the reasons I live here, we (most years) have seasons here!  Rain is not always a bad thing you just have got to adjust how you fish when the water gets stained form fall rains!

Well the good news is since my last report one of my favorites is starting to show; the good’ole Speckled trout and I love fishing for these guys!  A cool morning in the fall; fishing for Speckled trout is one of the many highlights of my fishing season every year!  They are a challenge to catch, but some days you can catch over 100 and you never know just what kind of day you are going to have when fishing for Speckled trout.  Trout fishing will only get better as the local waters cool down this fall.

I love to catch Speckle trout on artificial lures and you can catch big Speckled trout on lures, another reason they’re fun to catch.  My easy break down of what lures I use are by current flow and water death.  I prefer baits like MirrOlure’s 17MR, catch 2000jr and Sebile’s Flatt Shad in waters of two to six feet deep with light or no current.  In deeper waters of three to fifth teen plus with or with out current I prefer MirrOlure’s 18MR, 52M & MR and Sebile’s Stick Shadd 90, 114 series.  I will use grubs in any water death or current when trout fishing, but I’ll adjust the weight of the jig head for the death or current of the water I’m fishing.  Try lures like the Berkley Gulp Fire Tail 3” shrimp or the Ripple Mullet for Speckled trout.  Another lure that works well for trout is Saltwater Assassin’s Sea shad series, try colors like chicken on a chain, chart/diamond, copperhead or 10w40 with lime tail.

The Bull Reds are really starting to show up in the ocean on hard bottoms and around the inlets.  You never know when you might hook one of these giants!  When I fish for Bull Reds, I use fresh cut or live menhaden and mullet.  I use fish finder rigs with 8/0 or 9/0 circle hooks and eighty pound Berkley Big game mono leaders. Don’t forget to keep your drag tight when using circle hook so they will do there job.  One tip I can give you when fishing for Bull Reds, is don’t use to light of tackle for these bigger Reds.  If you fight them to long, there is a chance you can tire them out to much and kill them.  Try a med/heavy rod and a reel with at least thirty pound mono or braid, this will help you get the fish in quicker; with a better chance of a good release.  Check to see if the Red has a tag in its back; there are a fair amount of tagged Bull Reds out there. 

This has been one of the better Flounder years we’ve seen around this area in a while and for that reason I’ve run a lot of Flounder trips this season with good success.  One thing we have seen this year is that the Flounder fishing has been good inshore as well as the ocean this season, giving us lots of opportunities to flounder fish.  Live bait as well as artificial lures has put lots of flounder in the boat for us.  Carolina rigs with Eagle Claw L42 #1 size hooks and forty pound clear mono leader works well.  Small finger mullets, small menhaden and mud minnows are our choice live baits.  Berkley Gulp Jerkshad in 5” & 6” colors pearl, chart pepper neon or new penny work well too!  The flounder are hanging around inlets, channel drops and creeks inshore.  In the ocean near shore artificial reefs, ledges and hard/live bottoms are holding some nice numbers of flounder too.

Fishing Gear I use:

Reels: Speckled trout and Flounder: Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes.  Bull Reds Fishing reels: Penn Battle 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD and Torque 12 & 15.  Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound.  Bull Reds Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono.  Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF. Bull Reds Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series or Penn Torque jigging series in 30-80 class spinning and casting.  Leader material: Bull Reds; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound.  Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

*Are you on Facebook?  Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed live reports, photos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!  Just Fan (like) the page on I’ll have monthly random drawings of Fans for free tackle!

Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know.  Don’t’ forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Fishing to you and have a great fall,

Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

When the water started to cool down a bit, I knew it was time to go look for some shallow water Redfish and with the higher moon tides it would be a good time to go looking!  Fishing Reds in shallow waters in the late summer and early fall can be very good and very fun fishing.  There is nothing like seeing a Redfish hit a surface bait!  I look for shallow water Redfish around marsh grass lines, oyster rock edges and creek mouths with a shallow break.  Now not every place you look at like these places will have Reds, the one other thing you have got to have is bait/food for the Redfish; if you put these things together you will find shallow water Redfish!

Here are a few of my favorite lures and rigs for catching shallow Reds; top-water lures are a blast to catch shallow Redfish!  One thing I have learned over the years using top-water lures is that color is not the most important aspect of top-water lures; the most important aspect is action!  If you don’t good action you are going to have a hard time getting that Redfish to come get your lure!  Learning the proper way to work a top-water is very important to catch Redfish.  Try a MirrOlure Top-pup or She-pup for a simple top-water action lure to learn with.  If you want to try something new or a little bit of a challenge try Sebile’s Ghost Walker lure in calm waters or a Sebile Slim Stick is choppy or stained water applications.  If you would like to go with live bait; try a Saltwater Assassin Kiwk-kork set up with a ten to fourteen inch leader and a live mullet or small menhaden.

The Flounder fishing has been very good this year and continues to be pretty good with some very nice fish over four pounds mixed in most trips.  Most of the Flounder fishing I’m doing is just off the beach and around the inlets, I’m catching a few in the creeks, but most of the flounder coming out of the creeks are smaller.  I’ve caught Flounder on both live and artificial baits lately, what I have seen is more numbers on live bait, but more keepers on artificial baits.  Mud minnows and mullets on light Carolina rigs with #one L42 Eagle Claw hooks are catching the numbers of Flounder, Berkley Gulp Jerkshads in five & six inch sizes are getting the most keeper Flounder.  Tip of the day: In most cases bigger bait will catch you bigger Flounder, but you will catch less numbers of Flounder by going with bigger bait.

Casting and trolling for Spanish mackerel has been very good lately, when you find cleaner/clearer waters; I’m seeing Spanish and Blues all up & down the beaches in fifth-teen to forty-five foot of water as well as around all the local inlets.  There has been a few very nice Spanish in the three to six pound ranger caught around the area too.  Spanish mackerel have very good eye sight and to the catch the bigger ones you really should try a fluorocarbon leader, you would be surprised how this can make a difference sometimes!

I’ve had the best luck with deeper spoons on number one planners, yes I’m seeing a few on the top line but the best has been deeper.  Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash.  The Spanish hitting the top baits are hitting Blue Water Candy’s Spanish Daisy chains in colors pink, blue and silver; the great thing about this rig is you can pull it off lighter tackle outfits.  When the Spanish are jumping I’m casting spoons in sizes one to three inches long with a fast retrieve and keeping my rod tip low to the water to keep the spoon just under the surface.

Fishing Gear I use:

Reels:  Redfish, Flounder and Spanish mackerel casting: Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes. Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound.  Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF.  Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

*Are you on FaceBook?  Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed live reports, photos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!  Just Fan (like) the page and you will be entered in to the monthly random drawing for free tackle!

Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know.  Don’t’ forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Fishing to you,

Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

I hope everybody is enjoying there summer so far and I don’t know about you, but I’m happy to see a little cooler and drier air coming in!  It will not be long before we know it and it will be fall; I can’t wait!!!  It’s still warm and the summer fishing is good; here is all that info in this months fishing report!

I have got to start with a favorite of mine due to the fact we finally got one to the boat season.  The Tarpon fishing has been good this year, but I’ve had a real problem getting hooked up with these high flying, hard pulling and hook proof fish!  On August 15 my friend and client Lewis Dunn got his first Carolina Tarpon, the fish was sixty-four inches and around eighty-five pounds.  Congrats Lewis!

Tarpon fishing takes time and patients, but put in your time and you’ll get one!  I fish for Tarpon on the bottom and free lining, using live and fresh dead baits like; spots, mullets, bluefish and Menhaden.  I’m rigging these baits on fish finder rigs, with three to five feet of 80 to 100 pound mono leaders.  Circle hooks are the best bet for good hook ups and landings for Tarpon in hook sizes 7/0 to 10/0 depending what hook series/maker you like.  I have also had a fair share of Tarpon on my kite rig with live baits like mullets, bluefish and menhaden especially in the ocean.

Flounder have been a big part of our charters lately.  We are catching numbers and there size is getting better too!  I’ve caught a few Flounder in the last two weeks over five pounds.  Most of the action is coming off
Mud minnows and small finger mullet have been the best baits for us lately; there is a lot of bait around now too!  Rigging the live bait on carolina rigs with EC 042 1/0 hooks and thirty to forty pound mono or Fluorocarbon leaders.  On the artificial side of things; jig heads rigged with Berkley Gulps new Mud minnow/croaker pattern have been great for our Flounder trips in the last few weeks.  Also the Gulp Ripple Mullet and the Gulp Jerk shad have caught some bigger Flounder too. 

Another bait that is new to the market I just started to use for Flounder that has a good price tag on it is the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig soft plastic lure.  This is a bass (fresh water) bait but man when you see this thing you’ll know it is sure to catch Flounder as well as Redfish too!  The colors I’m using in the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig are pearl white silver fleck, swamp gas and california.  Just remember to work those jigs slowly to cover the bottom well and the Flounders will not be able to resist your lure!

  The Bull Reds starting to show up in the ocean on hard bottoms and around the inlets.  You never know when you might hook one of these giants!  When I fish for Bull Reds, I use fresh cut or live menhaden and Mullet.  I use fish finder rigs (larger carolina rigs) with 7/0 to 9/0 circle hooks and eighty pound Berkley Big game mono leaders. Don’t forget to keep your drag tight when using circle hook so they will do there job.  When you catch one of these Reds keep your eyes peeled for a yellow tag coming out of the back of the Red.  Lots of Bull Reds in NC are tagged and you can get a little reward for turning in the info on you Red.

The Sheephead fishing is still going very good and should be good until late October.  Rigging is easy for Sheephead; I use a short carolina rig with forty pound mono or fluorocarbon leader about eight to ten inches long.  The hook is a number one or 1/0 live bait nose hook; small, sharp and strong, very important for Sheephead!  Look for Sheephead around pilings, bulkheads and large oyster rocks that stay covered up by water most of the tide.  For bait, I catch fiddler crabs on mud banks on the ICW.  Sheephead fishing takes patients and time to catch them but it’s worth the time!

 Fishing Gear I use:

Reels: Flounder and Sheephead casting: Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes.  Tarpon and Bull Reds Fishing reels: Penn Battle 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD and Torque 12 & 15.  Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Tarpon and Bull Reds Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono.  Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF.  Tarpon and Bull Reds Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series or Penn Torque jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting.  Leader material: Tarpon and Bull Reds; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound.  Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

*Are you on Facebook?  Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed live reports, photos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!  Just Fan (like) the page on I’ll have monthly random drawings of Fans for free tackle!

Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know.  Don’t’ forget to take a kid fishing!

Good Fishing to ya!

Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139

The Flounder fishing has been good to very good this season with a fair amount of nice fish coming in over four plus pounds.  The name of the game for me this season has been using artificial baits to catch the bigger Flounder.  Two baits that have really worked well for me are Berkley Gulp five and six inch Jerkshads in colors pearl white, chart pepper neon and new penny.  A new bait I just started to use for Flounder that has a good price tag on it is the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig soft plastic lure.  This is a bass (fresh water) bait but man when you see this thing you’ll know it is sure to catch Flounder as well as Redfish too!  The colors I’m using in the Berkley Havoc Grass Pig are pearl white silver fleck, swamp gas and california.

When rigging the Jerkshad and Grass Pig baits, I prefer a long shank jig head to hold the baits on securely.  Sebile and Blue Water Candy both make a very good jig head with this design of a longer shank.  Colors of jig heads for Flounder fishing does not seem to be a big deciding factor, but I stick with mostly gray, red and white (pearl).  I prefer forty pound fluorocarbon leader from Stren’s tinted line in Gumsmoke for clear waters and Tannic for brown/river waters.  Just remember when you hook that door mat Flounder to take your time and don’t pull his head out of the water, for she may just shake that hook out!

The Spanish Mackerel are biting most days, but the best bite has been earlier in the morning when the sun is lower in the sky; also the fish have been a little deeper in thirty to fifty feet of water for the last few weeks.  When you mark big balls of bait with your fish finder this is usually where you’ll find the most Spanish biting.  Clark-spoons in sizes 00 and 0 are doing the trick in colors silver, gold and pink flash behind number one planners.  The Spanish hitting on top are hitting Blue Water Candy’s Spanish Daisy chains in colors pink, blue and silver; the great thing about this rig is you can pull it off lighter tackle outfits.  Another new lure that is working well for the Spanish when I’m casting to them is the River2Sea Sea Rock lure, these little casting jigs are just the right weight and size to get those fast moving Spanish to bite!  All the colors that the Sea Rock comes in seem to work and I prefer the two smallest sizes of Sea Rock in the number seven and four-teen.  All so the hook that comes on these lures is great, finally a good hook on a lure right out of the package!

Tarpon fishing this season has been hot, with lots of fish being hooked and caught off many of the local piers and just off the beach in boats.  Tarpon fishing is not easy; it takes patients and time, but the payoff can be very rewarding!  I fish for Tarpon on the bottom or free lining, using live and fresh dead baits like; spots, bluefish and Menhaden.  I’m rigging these baits on fish finder rigs, with three to five feet of 80 to 100 pound mono leaders.  Circle hooks are the best bet for good hook ups and landings for Tarpon in hook sizes 7/0 to 10/0 depending what hook series/maker you like.  I have also had a fair share of Tarpon on my kite rig with live baits like mullets, bluefish and menhaden.  Hey give the Silver King a try sometime; you never know the fish god might hook you up with a Tarpon!

Fishing Gear I use:

Reels:  Redfish, Flounder and Spanish casting: Penn Battle spinning in sizes 2000, 3000 & 4000 sizes.  Tarpon Fishing reels: Penn Battle 6000 & 7000, Penn 320LD and Torque 12 & 15.  Line: Spiderwire Ultra-cast and Berkley Fireline braid in 8, 10 and 15 pound. Tarpon Line: 30 or 40 pound Berkley Big Game Mono.  Rods: Fenwick HMG GS 70M-MF.  Tarpon Rods: Ugly Stik Tiger Lite Jigging series or Penn Toarque jigging series in 50-100 class spinning and casting.  Leader material: Tarpon; Berkley Big Game mono & Fluorocarbon in eighty to one hundred pound.   Stren Fluorocarbon leader material in Tannic and Gunsmoke tints; tannic for river and stained waters, gunsmoke for clear water applications.

*Are you on Facebook?  Check out my page Capt. Jot Owens/Jot It Down Fishing Charters LLC for lots of good info on local fishing, fishing tips, detailed live reports, photos and tackle giveaways; yes free stuff!  Just Fan (like) the page on I’ll have monthly random drawings of Fans for free tackle!
The first tackle give away will be on Monday August the first!

Thanks for reading these reports, if you have any questions or comments just let me know.  Good fishing to you and stay cool out there!

Capt. Jot Owens
Penn Tackle Elite Staff
Ranger Boats Pro Staff
www.captainjot.com
910-233-4139