Coastal Carolina Fishing Report: Winter Bites on the Atlantic Side

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your coastal Carolina fishing rundown from the Atlantic side. We’re working an early **morning low** along most of the central coast. Atlantic Beach tide tables from Tide-Forecast show low around 7:15 a.m. with a solid **afternoon high** a little after 1 p.m., then falling back out around sunset. Sunrise is right around **7:10 a.m.**, sunset just after **5 p.m.**, so that lunchtime high lines up nicely with the midday solunar push that Fishingreminder and SolunarForecast both like for this stretch of coast. Marine forecasts from the National Weather Service and the Wilmington office are calling for **light north to northeast winds** and **2–3 foot seas** off Cape Fear and up toward Cape Lookout – very workable for nearshore and just-off-the-beach runs. According to NOAA marine forecasts, no major fronts hammering through today, so expect cool, stable winter conditions. Inshore and just outside the inlets, it’s classic late-December action. Grandslam Inshore Charters and other Eastern NC boats report **good numbers of red drum, black drum, speckled trout, and some striped bass** in the rivers and sounds this month. The reds and trout have slid into deeper creek bends, bridge pylons, and rock edges where that slightly warmer water stacks up. Best producers right now: - **Artificial lures:** 3–4 inch paddle-tail swimbaits and straight-tail soft plastics on 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads in natural or “electric chicken” colors; MirrOlure-style suspending twitchbaits for specks over shell and drop-offs. - **Live and cut bait:** Shrimp and cut mullet for drum, mud minnows on light Carolina rigs around oyster bars and docks. Local tackle shops like Frank & Fran’s on Hatteras keep preaching simple: shrimp for drum, minnows or small plugs for trout. Fish activity bumps hard around that **midday high** and again on the **evening fall**, especially where current rips along structure. Tides4Fishing and the Oak Island ocean tables show decent tidal coefficients – enough current to move bait without making it unfishable. Couple of **hot spots** to circle: - **Bogue Inlet and the Atlantic Beach/Oceanana Pier area:** Work the jetty rocks, pier pilings, and the first couple miles of beach for specks, slot reds, and the odd gray trout on jigs and suspending baits. - **Cape Lookout rock jetty and shoals:** On a 2–3 foot sea, you can pick at winter reds, sea mullet, and blues along the edges; fish the deeper pockets on the falling tide with shrimp and small plastics. For surf casters along Emerald Isle, Topsail, and Oak Island, go with double-drop rigs tipped with shrimp or Fishbites, cast just beyond the bar for sea mullet, puppy drum, and the occasional black drum nosing along the cut. That’s the word from the Atlantic side of Carolina. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.