[swag]

Down here with my parents, vacationing for the week at Indian Beach. I have taken them fishing in the jon boat in Bogue Sound (public ramp near Chapel By the Sea) the last 2 mornings, with very little luck. We caught 2 'croakers' and a few lizardfish, but haven't been able to find any flounder or drum. Could any of you inshore wizards help me figure out what we're missing?

-We have been fishing on the rising tide, in the mornings
-Topwater in the early morning, with jigheads/gulps later on
-We follow the mullet and fish around bait activity, but that is often in 2' of water (no real sign of feeding reds, just bait)
-We also have been pitching baits around some docks/pilings
-We mostly stay in the marshes/around the channel.
-We have been fishing nearest the windward bank (the bank lessens the wind a bit i guess)

Anyway, I'm thinking I need to switch up my tactics somehow, any ideas? Popping corks? Live bait? Deeper water?

Thanks in advance.

 

[led0321]

If you are close to the ICW the boat traffic may be hurting you.

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[Island Man]

Try catching some of those baitfish/mullet your seeing and put them out on a carolina rig.

 

[stevef]

The ICW has been kinda lousy this summer around where you are staying. I live directly across the waterway from there. Mr. Island's suggestion is one I'd follow. You should be able to net some bait shrimp, too. I would look for deeper water right now. Creeks on either side of the ICW, channels leading into developments, and boat docks that have at least 4' of water off the end should produce something for you.

 

[swag]

Thanks for the ideas. Ended up fishing near Bogue inlet on Friday and netted some mullet. Not much luck, but caught a shark (3' maybe?) with a live mullet under a popping cork. Definitely the largest fish I'd ever caught on a 2000 series reel, haha. We had him by the boat, and were wondering how we were going to land/unhook this fella, but he helped us out by finally breaking the leader. A thrill though, for sure!

 

[Muddy Water]

I went out yesterday and put in at Cedar Point Park to fish the lower White Oak. Easily netted a bunch of shrimp from a park pier, and fished around the two islands. Caught 3 flounder from my kayak. Another kayak angler I ran into had caught his limit of trout, including one citation. I ended up fishing with a voodoo shrimp because I couldn't keep the bait fish from decimating the real shrimp within seconds of casting.