Well folks, the days are getting longer and winter is more than half way over. I’m really looking forward to this coming spring! Don’t forget, this is a great time to check over all your fishing gear. Clean up your rods and reels, oil the reels and put a touch of wax on your rods. It also maybe time to put new fishing line on your reels and check those hooks on your artificial lures. A little work now; will make spring fishing a little easier on you! To the fishing report >>>!
With the weather being very up and down lately, the fishing has been that way too! On some of the warmer days we have caught some fish. The large mouth bass fishing has been good the last couple of weeks. We are fishing some of the local lakes and the North East Cape Fear River. Most of the bass are hitting Bass Assassin rubber worms in colors black and red shad “red and black”. Rigging the worms Carolina style seems to work the best.
Redfish are schooling in the surf, we are always looking for a nice day to get out and chase them. They are pretty easy to catch; you just got to find them. That part can be a bit harder, trust me! A sunny, light wind day and good polarized sunglasses are the keys to catching these Reds. Grubs seem to be the easy go to bait for surf Reds. Saltwater Assassin “Blurps” in pearl and molting color work very well. You need to use heavier jigs heads, ½ and 5/8 plus for casting. Color of the head is not a big deal Red, white and black all work just fine. Hold on tight, they fight great even in cold water!
There are still a few Cape Fear River stripers biting. The water is really starting to cool down. Most of the fish are in the four to twelve pound range, with a few bigger ones mixed in as well. We are catching the stripers on hard and soft baits. In the hard bait range; X-raps and mid-water crank baits are working well. As far as soft baits; Saltwater Assassin (Blurp) jerk shads in colors pearl and electric chicken. We are rigging the blurps Texas style, with a large bass worm hook.
Fishing gear we use:
Stripers and trout: Pflueger Medalist spinning reels in sizes 7035 and 7040. Ugly stick lites 6’6” and 7’ rods in med-light and med action. Bass fishing Pflueger Supreme spinning reels 9030XT and an All Star ASR series rod 7’ ASR844S “great fresh water combo”!
I would like to thank everybody that came out to the Saltwater Sportsman seminar at the Hilton hotel this last weekend. We had a sell out show; I really enjoyed speaking with everyone at the show. I hope they bring it back here next year!
In Other Fishing News: There are a few great boat and fishing expos still coming to North Carolina. If you like fishing and boats you don’t want to miss these shows and fishing seminars! Here are the one’s that myself as well as other Ranger boats pro staff members will be at this winter.
February 20-22, 2009 - Carolina Power & Sailboat Show NC State Fairgrounds - Raleigh, NC.
www.ncboatshows.com This show will have lots of nice boats to see!
March 21, 2009 Saltwater Fishing School Saturday, 2615 Jefferson Davis Hwy (US 1 South) - Sanford, NC.
www.northcarolinasportsman.com
This all-day event will feature successful tournament anglers, prominent charter captains, top notch guides, knowledgeable pro team members, experienced local fishermen and well-informed industry professionals giving tips, plus explaining lures and techniques used to catch everyone's favorite fish.
If you get a chance you should really take the time to visit some of these shows and seminars. You will learn lots of great info from the fishing seminars and see some great new boats! For more info on these shows and seminars just go to the links on this page.
Thanks for reading this report; I’ll see ya on the water!
Good Luck Fishing,
Captain Jot Owens
Wilmington Winter Fishing Report 
