Slow Fishing on the Saltwater Side

It's been awhile since my last post, but things have been busy, and until recently, the fishing had been good. However since Tropical Storm Barry blew through things have been quite rough. The large roe seatrout have been spotty at best, and the odd redfish might only be found on a high tide in the grass. Heavy rain, though a blessing for farmers and landscapers alike, has made the water quite muddy. Even offshore, the greenwater extends out almost to the Navy towers.

Captain Johnny of Amick's Deep Sea Charters said that this is one of the toughest years they have ever had bottom fishing. The big red snapper and grouper are few and far between, and it is a struggle to limit out on even beeliners. They have had very consistent bites, though, from amberjack and dolphin. Mike Argenta, Assistant Store Manager at Bass Pro Shops, was fishing in 300 feet of water Sunday and caught a surprising amount of kings for that depth. The dolphin bite was hot, too, and they broke off a decent tuna. Cobia fishing in the Broad River and offshore continues to be good as well. A couple of reports of tarpon have been filtering in from the Brunswick area as the tarpon season gets a good jumpstart. Hopefully this year will be much better than last year's lackluster performance from the silver kings.

Surf fishing has been hit-and-miss. Whiting and bluefish are biting well, and those who fish a live whiting or blue on a wire fishfinder rig might get to tangle with a big blacktip or sand tiger shark. Good seatrout catches have been reported on the beaches using live mud minnows.