Photo by Mike Marsh.

May is decision time. There are so many saltwater fish biting it’s tough to make a choice about what to go after. Most of the favorite inshore fish of North Carolina’s anglers have desirable characteristics that distinguish them from other target species. There are perennial favorites, including the red drum, the official state saltwater fish. The bag limit is one fish and the fish are also subject to a slot limit.

For someone who wants to take fish home, obviously red drum are not the best choice simply because of the bag limit. Flounder, however, can fill the meal ticket because the bag limit is liberal and their flesh is so white and flaky.

For those who like casting lures, spotted seatrout fill the bill. However, for sheer abundance and exuberance, nothing beats schooling Spanish mackerel. When Spanish mackerel armadas attack the inlets, catching limits of fish in a very short time is relatively easy to accomplish.

Gray trout are blessed with times of abundance followed by times of scarcity. Recently, they have been biting well in the state’s inshore and nearshore waters rounding out our selection for North Carolina’s top five saltwater fish.

RED DRUM
Red drum go by many names, including puppy drum, redfish, channel bass, spottail bass and others. Anglers speaking of puppy drum refer to juvenile fish of up to 12 pounds. Adult fish are called channel bass for their habit of sticking to the deeper channels of estuaries and inlets.

During winter, puppy drum form huge schools in backwaters. Anglers can sometimes catch them on warm-up days. But the hibernating schools can very exasperating when they won’t bite.

However, in spring, puppies begin moving with the tides, invading grassbeds on high tide, cruising the edges at middle tide, and then moving into deep holes at low tide. Knowing this pattern is key to success with juvenile redfish.

Their feeding activity is evident whenever they are chasing baitfish or shrimp in the grass. However, they can also be docile, feeding head down as they look for crabs. Sometimes an angler will spot the tail or the dorsal fin of a puppy moving through an opening in the grass. Sometimes the only sign of a redfish may also be nudge of a grass stem.

Anglers try to see the fish before it spots them. Casting a topwater lure beside the fish and working it back toward the boat usually gets attention. Walk-the-dog lures are tops for topwater action. Although floating soft plastics, propeller lures and buzzbaits will also work well.

Sometimes there are large schools of redfish, especially in the spring, before they break up for summer. The sight of several redfish chasing a surface lure is enough to make any angler lose his nerve. But the key to hooking a fish with a topwater lure is waiting to feel the fish strike the lure before setting the hook

Spoons, spinnerbaits and jigs also work well for taking redfish in the grass. A fly rod with a spoon fly, rattle shrimp or copper flash pattern also works well.

When the fish move to the grass edges, they can still be caught with the same lures. However, popping cork rigs with jigs or live baits work exceptionally well. Live baits have the advantage of attracting a strike when the angler can’t see the fish. The boat is anchored along a point or small creek or ditch as the water falls from the grass and the baits placed strategically to intercept redfish leaving the grass as the tide falls.