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.

  Saturday July 11 2009                                                                                           

         Tournament partner Darin Strickland and I had high hopes as we traveled to Beaufort for the second cup event of the Redfish Action Series on Saturday July 11 2009. Having located a couple extremely large schools all containing 3 and 4 year class fish on several previous Topsail Island Charter Trips, we decided to make a 60+ mile run (one way) from Beaufort. After an extremely well organized Captain's Party hosted by Town Creek Marina, we retired to the hotel to strategize for the tournament.  Knowing that the run would leave little fishing time and quite possibly be the farthest ever made in this series, we knew that the 21 Fin Chaser we were fishing out of would get us there and back without issue. With visions of the hundreds of happily mudding upper slot fish that awaited us on the little sand washed mud flat 3 counties away, we decided we would "hero or zero"

         We were the 5th boat to clear checkout at 5:30 am on tournament day(thanks to Darin's mystical ability to always draw a 7 or better in the checkout lotteries!) We arrived at our spot around 7:15 to find perfect sight fishing conditions(little to no wind and a bright rising Sun). After poling stealthily into the little bay, we began to wonder if we made the right decision, as the surface was devoid of any signs of Reds or bait activity. Within about 15 minutes, as the tide began to funnel in bringing with it thousands of skipping shrimp, the first fish blew up on Darin's Mirrolure Top Pup. Deftly walking the bait back to the boat Darin soon came tight on the first fish of the morning, a healthy upper slot Red that showed us it was much too early to celebrate  by throwing the hooks a short while later. While we should have been discouraged by losing such a quality fish, we knew that there were easily hundreds more in the school that was pushing water off to our starboard side. By 8:30 we had 2 Reds totalling about 12.5 lbs. in the livewell and had culled several others. After several more top water fish and seeing hundreds upon hundreds of tightly schooled Reds bringing the water to a boil, I decided it was now or never, and cast a copper spoon to the edge of the most active school, resulting in a beautiful 7.5 pound Red that was scarily close to being over the 27 inch slot. Knowing we had an extremely long run ahead of us and guestimating that we had 14 pounds or more, we decided to leave them biting at 9:30 in hopes that we could take our time getting back and not beat up the fish in the livewell. Thanks to Darin's forward thinking when he built the boat and installing two seperate pumps, we avoided arriving at the scales with dead fish after the livewell pump became clogged with mud while poling off the flat. The first to weigh in at 2:00 pm when the scales opened, we were optimistic, but weary, as there were several extremely competetive teams still on the water. It turns out our 14.09 pounds were only good enough for second, as Capt. Rennie Clark and Drew Arndt hit the scales with a whopping 14.45 pounds to seal the deal and put us in second place for the tournamnet. Congratulations guys, that was impressive!

        With 36 of the 48 teams weighing nice fish, this event cemented in me how truly lucky we are to have such a healthy fishery here in North Carolina, yes we have some things that definitely need fixing, but the weights posted rival or better those than are seen in any other state hosting these events! Thanks to Capt. Lee Willis and his dedicated staff for putting together a first rate tournamentt series right here in our backyard!

    I had Kevin from Wilmington onboard today for some Topsail Island Redfish on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the season, and it wasn't the temps that were on fire, it was the action! Kevin is an accomplished nearshore angler with lots of experience trolling and bottom fishing, but was looking for a primer on backwater Redfish in North Carolina. We left the dock around 5:30am with a stiffening North wind from a weak cold front nudging the Bermuda High we had been experiencing a little offshore before sliding right back on shore later in the day. It was the perfect set up for pre frontal fishing! We arrived at our first spot just as the sun spilled over the horizon. A few casts with a topwater plug to a thick patch of live oyster on a shallow flat resulted in several half hearted blow ups, but no hook ups. They were telling us that the tide wasn't quite there yet and they were just getting ready to feed. So we headed accross the small bay to a mud bank with several feet of water where the fish would be moving. Immediately we were rewarded with 2 healthy middle slot Reds on a Bone/Chartreuse Rapala Skitterwalk. Wanting to demonstrate to Kevin some other areas that hold pods of Reds on a Full Moon flood tide, we left the fish biting to check another flat a couple miles away. While poling onto the flat, we were greetd by 2 adult Bald Eagles perched on a dead Cedar overlooking our fishing grounds. While watching the majestic birds, we were distracted by a huge push caused by a large school of cruising Reds finning over an extremely shallow sand overwashed mud flat. Without even having to mutter a word, Kevin fired a cast with the small topwater bait to the edge of the mudding fish. A blow up reminscent of someone tossing a cinder block into the water occurred, and Kevin resisted the urge to set the hook on the short striking fish, instead working the plug with a steady walk the dog action. The hungry Red came back for seconds, and this time Kevin came tight to a strong overslot fish. It was "game on" and as the drag payed out against the surging run the big shouldered Red was making, the remainder of the school spooked and scattered in all directions. We stayed on the school numbering easily in the hundreds for the remainder of the slack tide and about an hour and a half into falling, catching fish after fish on both topwater and Gulp! jerkbaits. There were literally finning and rolling fish everywhere you looked, including several trailing a couple big Cow Nose Rays that were mudding on the edge of the flat, picking up the left behind morsels of the Rays as they fed on small crabs and tiny Copepods in the mud. With water leaving us fast and a trip that went 2 hours beyond the planned half day, we headed back to the dock with not only a happy angler, but a happy Guide as well. This was truly one of the most memorable days I've had while in pursuit of Mr. Redfish. It was the perfect opportunity for Kevin to learn all about sight fishing the backwaters, and ruined him for life I'm sure! Connecting with people is probably my biggest joy in guiding, but watching an angler tremble like a bird dog locked up on point while watching numerous Redfish race to fight over his bait just seals the deal! The summer fishing is as hot as the weather, so give a shout if you would like to experience a little Cape Fear Tug of War! 

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