Fall Fishing
As the temps are dropping every angler on the eastern North Carolina coast is getting more and more excited. There is a lot to look forward to during this time of year, from migratory populations, unique fish behavior, and my personal favorite fewer people at the boat ramps. From re-rigging, to a change in game plans we will cover the basics of fall fishing in the Topsail area.
North Carolina is home of some pretty amazing species, debatably the two most sought after species on the entire south Atlantic coastline are Speckled Trout and Redfish. Although NC has a resident population on both of these great fish, during the fall we see a migratory push and change in scenery. Once it start to cool down the Speckled Trout will start to flood into our inlets and estuaries before the find their winter homes. This makes inlet creeks and deep slews around the inlets a great place to target Trout. As far as redfish go you will see two things happen. The slot redfish ( 18in.-27in.) will start to spend their days in the shallow flats, feeding on shrimp and baitfish, preparing for winter. towards the end of fall those slot fish will school up, forming groups of 100-200+ fish in a school. This can be a great time for sight fishing and fly fishing in the shallow waters of NC. The other thing you will see Redfish do pertains to the breeders ( 30in.- 50in.) during the fall these fish are making their way back from breeding ( which is done on the northern parts of the coast) these larger fish usually travel in schools down the coast line in about 30 feet of water and can often be found right behind the breakers.
There are many tactics and options for tackle to target these fish, what i like to do is start with what ever size bait i see swimming around or coming through our inlets. From there I will change bait size and color based on fish behavior, for example if the fish are acting spooky or I’m not getting bites than I will down size my bait. However if I am getting bit but not catching the quality fish I’m after then I will up size my bait to eliminate the smaller bites. When it comes to color of baits and flies, every angler and every fishery is different. I always start with my main color combinations: purple/black, pearl white, pink, olive and tan. Through out a day of fishing i will cycle these color patterns until one works, in the instance that none of these patterns work then we get creative and tie a new color on frequently until we find what they want.
I hope this helps put more fish over the rails of your boat, I appreciate everyone tuning in, and if there is any topic you like to see discussed or talked about feel free to shoot me an email marker23inshoreadventures@gmail.com
