Insane Redfish Action NC Style

Just got back from a trip to the low country.  Fishing was tougher than normal with the heat and bait everywhere.  Got back to NC and hit some of my favorite  flats and they were waiting on me.  Found two large schools of reds plowing down the bank crushing pogies at my first stop.  I had a family from Germany on the boat with me on this day and they were in for some insane topwater action.  They had experienced some great action with me two years prior but nothing like this trip.  They were triple and quadruple hooked up a few times with several doubles on topwater , spoons, and soft plastics.  Awesome day on the water.  Hit two more flats and found the same thing.  Great to be back in NC.

Low Country Vacation

Had an awesome week fishing in Charleston with Capt Ren. We caught quite a few redfish, trout and flounder. Several reds were over slot but tons of fun! The tides were not the best for that area so we did a lot fishing in the short grass for tailing redfish. I had never pitched a bait to a tailing red so i was very excited when I had the opportunity to do so. Rennie caught a few then I took a shot at it and threw it right in front of a 22" red and he couldn't resist it. That was the most exciting type of fishing to date. We moved around to different spots in search of perfect tournament winners. We found new schools and dud quite a bit of catching. Getting hung up on oysters became a bit of a joke after I hooked a rather large redfish and thought I was just hung again on an oyster. Once it started taking drag Rennie was more than happy to point out the fact that I wasn't having a very smart moment and informed me that yes,I was hung, but I was hung on a fish. He joked about my "oyster hang up" the all week. I also later managed to get "hung" on a 3' bonnet head shark. I was pretty excited about the shark but Rennie wasn't too thrilled. We fished all week preparing for a tournament that we ended up not fishing. We were unaware of a rule stating we had to be off the water by 4:00 the day before the tournament. We were told about this at 4:15 so once we got to the captain's meeting we informed the tournament director that we had broken the rule and let him make the decision to disqualify us or not. His decision was to disqualify us, which we thought was fair because a rule is a rule. I was devastated because I was looking forward to showing a group of boys how it was done. Needless to say, I don't think we'll forget to read the rules before any other tournaments. All in all we had a great time aside from the major buzz kill of not being able to fish the tournament. We'll get them next time - Shannon

Large Red in the Short Grass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeYtsXYHR7I Check out this video of Captain Ren in action. Fishing the short grass is where Capt Ren loves to spend most of his time pursuing redfish. Watch as this 30 inch pig pounces on a soft plastic in grass. This was one of many tailing and cruising reds caught this morning.

Calm morning in the skinny

Captain Ren sticks a slot red in the short grass. This was one of 6 fish Captain Shannon Clark and I caught on this flat. What a beautiful morning fishing with my wife.

Video of an awesome take in the short grass

Watch as Captain Ren pitches a soft plastic to a tailing redfish right behind the boat. One of several tailers we stuck on this awesome afternoon on the flood tide.

Epicurian Charity Trip

I donated a trip to the Wilmington Methodist Epicurian Charity Event again this year and on this day the winner of that trip: Becca Fergusen and her two oldest kids fished with me at Wrightsville Beach.  Becca caught an inshore slam consisting of a speckled trout, flounder, and a 32" redfish on artificials.  The kids were great and ended up baiting their own hooks, releasing and taking off their fish.  They caught grouper, ringtails, flounder, pinfish, and a shark.  Non stop action on this half day trip.  Thank you to the Fergusen family for supporting the charity and fishing with me.

Shrimp Minnows Irresistible to Reds

Fishing has finally turned on in the Cape Fear region. Last week I had my best day on the water for redfish this season. I watched school after school chewing on shrimp as they plowed down the banks. I caught over thirty fish hitting over twelve flats without beating any of the fish up on any of these flats. They could not resist the Category5 shrimp minnow in the New purple reign color on a weighted hook. These fish fought over this bait when I pitched out in front of them as they roamed the flats. I also caught flounder and trout in good numbers on the same baits. Try some of these baits out for urself and u will see why these baits r so effective. The action on these baits along with their chartreuse tail attracts fish a long way away. U can order straight thru the Category5 website or thru bass pro or cabelas. These things really work this is not just a sales pitch.

Shrimp Minnows Irresistible to Reds

Fishing has finally turned on in the Cape Fear region. Last week I had my best day on the water for redfish this season. I watched school after school chewing on shrimp as they plowed down the banks. I caught over thirty fish hitting over twelve flats without beating any of the fish up on any of these flats. They could not resist the Category5 shrimp minnow in the New purple reign color on a weighted hook. These fish fought over this bait when I pitched out in front of them as they roamed the flats. I also caught flounder and trout in good numbers on the same baits. Try some of these baits out for urself and u will see why these baits r so effective. The action on these baits along with their chartreuse tail attracts fish a long way away. U can order straight thru the Category5 website or thru bass pro or cabelas. These things really work this is not just a sales pitch.