Chasin' Tail Charters

   Falll has finally found us! With night time lows dipping into the upper 40's and surface temps in the shallows ranging from 65 - 72 degrees, the Redfish in the Lower Cape Fear basin are beginning to gather in much denser schools as the nutrient rich water of summer starts to clear and bait becomes a lot more scarce. We have been targeting large schools of upper to over slot fish ( 6 - 12 lbs.)on small patches of fertile mud flats adjacent to deeper channels with great success. The topwater bite has definitely slowed, with better shots occurring late in the afternoon on a falling tide. However, these fish are aggressively feeding on soft plastics , spoons, and spinners. As usual, Berkley Gulp! baits like the 5" Jerkshad have been accounting for most of the fish, along with 1/4 oz. spoons in copper color. An additional bonus to these trips are the Bluefish blitzez that are occurring daily out on the shoals as we make our way back after a productive day of Redfishing. You can literally catch blues until your arms fall off! There are still dates available for Reds on the flats, and we will be running plenty of Trout and False Albacore Trips as well. God's Blessings and Tight Lines - Capt. Todd Streeter

      Sandwiched dead between 2 fast moving cold fronts, and with returning anglers Mike and Andrew only being in town for 2 days, Thursday was going to be one of those "just grin and bear it" kind of trips. With the prospect of 15-20kt. Northeast winds and a waterway that runs almost due Northeast/Southwest, it didn't appear pretty.   I wasn't concerned a bit though, as I'm  blessed to run 2  purpose built flats boats from Long Bay Custom Boatworks that allow me to effectively fish conditions that keep most guide businesses at the dock. Getting an earlier than normal start meant that we would be arriving on the flats ahead of the flood tide, and hopefully allow a little sight fishing before the wind stiffened. As soon as Mike and Andrew jumped on board toting thick windbreakers and zip off fishing pants, talk turned to how quickly our weather seems to change in North Carolina, and that we don't experience prolonged seasonal transitions. They were interested in wheter or not the quick drop in temperature had changed the bite pattern from what has been primarily one of top water and so called action baits to the slower more methodical presentation styles usually practiced in cooler water temps. I assured them that the Reds would readily hit a Top Water plug or fast moving spoon as long as water temps remained in their preffered range of 65 - 90 degrees. Our first stop of the morning in one of the many small bays littering the mainland side of Topsail Island found us having to search for solitary fish that had broken away from larger schools after the recent strong Northeast winds had pushed many of the sub adult Reds out into the surf zone to gorge on migrating finfish and shrimp. Our efforts did'nt go un rewarded, and Mike soon had a nice upper slot fish crash his Mirrolure Top Pup adjacent to a spartina grass bank that was in the lea of the now gusty wind. As the fish came boatside, it was immediately evident by the broad wrist, squared off tail, and sunken eye sockets, that this fish was genetically strong and he showed it during several drag punishing runs that had Mike chasing the fish  down one gunnel and up the other making two complete laps around the little 15' flats skiff before finally subduing him.   As we ran against a stiff wind and strong current to another small bay in the narrow intracoastal waterway,  I had to remind my anglers that we were in a boat that only measures 14' 8" and remained completely dry and in no need of a chiropractors services by day's end. Quite an accomplishment for any  boat, let alone a small technical poling skiff! Which brings me to another positive attribute of this neat little boat, I am able to pole all day in stiff, normally unmanagable wind with little effort.  After landing a few more  mid slot Reds on Jerkbaits over a dense oyster flat, we felt a  tremendous sense of accomplishment for locating actively feeding fish in such sloppy conditions. As a guide you can't always pick your days, but you can pick your boats!

  With a perfect Full Moon tailing tide and a brief weather window before the blow started, Darin and I hit a favorite spot for Tailing Redfish near Southport.  With a recipe that includes pre-frontal weather conditions, a tide cresting right at Moon Rise, and hundreds of protein laden crabs, we knew the Reds would be dining. After running a short distance up a marsh gut that feeds the Spartina flat, we saw backing/tailing fish in all directions. There were 3-4 year class fish tailing hard at the terminus of a gut that feeds the South end of the flat, 2-3 year olds playing to our West, and about a dozen nearly overslot fish standing on their heads just to our East. Darin poled softly to the fish at our 12 o' clock, as I stripped fly line in preparation for what should have been the easiest cast to make, a quartering downwind shot about 30 feet away, I let it happen... that endorphin rush that turns normally cool hands into those of a 5 year old with his first Snoopie rod! After 2 straight tailing loops that blew out both fish I was gunning for, Darin spotted a 25" Red swimming directly at us, mouth gaping, as he kept track and ranged him for me, I picked up the spinning rod and lofted a small fluke pinned to an in-line spinner about 5 feet in front of and to the left of the Red's path. As the bait splashed down, he lazily swam over, eyed the offering and tipped to eat. As I came tight, he  rocketted of into the old growth grass and headed  for the creek channel, seeing the 10lb running line leaving the reel at a dizzying pace, and fearing he would make the channel before I could turn him, I jumped from the boat and pursued on foot. Minutes later a fat 7lb. 25" fish came  to hand. With bigger tails waving to our East, Darin snapped a couple quick pics and the hunt resumed. As the 5 foot plus tide flooded the maze of interconnecting marsh pans, I begin to question just what brings these fish from there usual haunts like open mud flats and submerged oyster bars to what seems to be an alien landscape for a fish. The answer I suppose is crabs, crabs, and more crabs. For a species to grow upwards of three feet in as little as three and a half years, there is but one necessity, and that's copious amounts of easy to obtain protein, and it doesn't come much easier than in a creature who's mobility is limited by a stiff exoskeleton and all those tiny oddly jointed legs. Huge colonies of Fddler crabs, Calico crabs, and to a lesser extent, juvenile Blue Crabs seek refuge on these marsh flats that typically only flood on evening moon tides. As the periodic high evening tides begin to flood the flats deep within the marshe's interior, the crustaceans and artropods have nowhere to escape, for fiddler and Calico crabs, safety comes from slipping inside their burrow and capping the entrance with a ball of previously digested detritus or mud. This would effectively conceal their presence from almost every other species of fish with the exception of a Redfish. From the powerful squared off tail that allows them to effortlessly propel themselves through mere inches of water, to the closely spaced eyes that offer them a true stereo visual picture inside a narrow cone of vision(perfect for finding the capped den burrows), to that classic underslung telescoping mouth  that upon closing, simultaneously triggers the lightning quick crusher that quickly pulverizes those hard exoskeletons meant to protect them from just such an attack, in a word, if your walking on six legs and two swim fins, this is your worst nightmare!  Tail, 1 o' clock, tracking toward us Darin called. It was only the sight of that huge copper  tail rimmed by a thin ribbon of blue waving like a flag a few inches above the glassy surface that brought me out of my contemplative state and back into fishing mode. As the tide began to ebb from the middle marsh, and the tails were replaced by numerous pods of finger mullet and shrimp popping and skittering their way back to deeper water, it was hard to imagine that only a small portion of the Redfish angling community ever gets a chance to witness this hidden fishery. The tailing fishery will fall off slightly this month as huge numbers of adult shrimp invade our inside waters, but the call of tides and tasty critters high in the grass will be too much for Scaienops Ocellatus and the Redfish will return with a vengeance for the Hunters Moon in October in the marshes around Topsail Island, Bald Head Island, Oak Island , and Southport before the crabs go into a period of inactivity for the Winter. See you on the water, and Tight Lines - Capt. Todd Streeter

      How's it go? Some days you're the windshield, some days you're the bug! NOAA's prediction of 5-10kts. was just a teeny bit skued today. After having to pole out of the boat ramp due to the 15kt. plus North winds chasing all the water of First Bay, we knew it would be a day ruled by persistence. But, I had an angler on board who was definitely up for the challenge. Tom is a Florida native who has plenty of experience sight fishing Reds in the Indian River basin in places like the famed Mosquito Lagoon. Shortly after arriving, I climbed atop the platform and began poling a very productive stretch of marsh bank bordered by a large sand flat, utilizing the trolling motor to keep the boat from crabbing in the gusty conditions. After nearly an hour fishing the top of the incoming tide with topwater baits, it became evident that the fish were scattered and holed up deep in the grass. Upon switching to a scented shrimp imitation on a weedless jighead, Tom came tight on a healthy 21 inch fish. With a slackening tide and the bait seeking shelter deep in the Spartina, we went into hunting mode, and cast to potholes deep in the marsh that might be holding bait and Redfish. It wasn't until about 2 hours, aided by a easterly wind shift and quickly falling water that we were able to locate a pod of several fish sitting in an eddy downstream of a creek mouth feeding the small bay. Presented with very little time to stay with this small school due to the water funneling off the flat, I spotted a single lower slot fish laid up near a small submergent grass patch, and instructed Tom that it was now or never. Without a hitch, Tom made a perfect cast, just quartering where the fish was facing and subtly hopped the soft plastic shrimp twice before the fish raced out from the edge of the grass and inhaled the offering. With the prospect of having to get out and wade to the rest of the school, we decided to head North to catch the last of the falling tide for some Trout action. The Trout were there, but few were unwilling to stay connected to the small suspending twitch baits. With several hookups, including a nice Ladyfish that threw the hooks right at the boat, only one Trout made it onboard. All in all, it was a memorable day in the backwaters of the Lower Cape Fear River, and once again persistence paid off.  With some of the best Tailing Tides coming up in mid August, what is certain to be a phenominal Speckled Trout season, and lots more action to come as August gives way to Fall, it only gets better from here!

God's Blessings and Tight Lines - Capt. Todd Streeter

     The morning began with Brian and Chris from Clinton wanting to experience some topwater Redfish action on the Lower Cape Fear River. With perfect plugging weather(overcast and just barely a breeze) we tied on the Skitterwalks and Top Pups and headed out with visions of fish bringing  the calm surface to a frothy boil as they attempted suicide on twin trebled baits. We weren't dissapointed when we eased up to the first stop of the morning. Brian cast a Red/White Top Pup to a shallow indention in the grass bank at the rear of a tiny cove, only to have a fish immediately roll and miss the plug. A second cast to the same area was too much for the hugry Red, and the fight was on. Not to be left out of the action, Chris fired a cast to the back of the cove and had fish pouncing on the bait the second he started to rhytmically walk the bait back to the boat. After about four or five weak blow ups, and the Reds acting more than a little nervous, it was evident that a busy fishing weekend had concluded just the evening before, and these fish were still reeling from all the pressure. With so many fish hitting and missing it would have been easy to get frustrated, but these guys kept at it and began hooking up regularly with lower slot fish just adjacent to the Spartina. After about 6 Reds were brought to the boat and many more came unbuttoned, a gentle rain began to fall in time with slack tide. I commented that it was beginning to feel "Trouty" and asked if they wanted to keep on the Reds or see if we could head to another spot and entice some Speckled Trout. The lure of Trout sandwiches were tooo much and they repiled, "let's go". After a 6 or 7 mile run upriver, we eased the trolling motor in and began to prospect for ole' yellowmouth. It didn't take long before the trout were exploding on the plugs in 6 to 7 feet of water. After many nice Trout came boatside and found their way into Brian's cooler, he commented, "I never would have thought that you could catch fish in deep water on a topwater bait, and especially here, what makes this such a good place?" he asked. Instead of going into a typical Guide's explaination of preferred habitats based on forage biomass and vertical relief features or what effect  mid column turbidity or hyper salinity caused by weeks of no rain and a big New Moon flood tide was having, I responded  "the fish are here!" In addition to some great topwater Redfish and Trout, we also got on a world class Ribbonfish bite at the conclusion of the day, with Chris taking multiple trophy class Ribbons on topwater!  Whether it's 60 pound Cobias in a foot of water, rolling Tarpon, packs of voracious Bonnet Heads, or King Mack candy on topwaters, the diversity of the Cape Fear will always leave you guessing when your bait hits that nutrient rich soup that passes for river water.