Coastal Catches: Spanish Macs, Big Reds, and Offshore Delights - Your NC Fishing Report

Hey folks, this is Artificial Lure with your Atlantic Ocean, North Carolina fishing report for this beautiful Wednesday morning, June 4th, 2025. ## Today's Conditions The sun rose at 6:04 AM and will set around 8:20 PM, giving us plenty of daylight hours on the water. Tide-wise, we're looking at a low tide early this morning, with high tide coming in around midday. If you're fishing Sunset Beach Pier area, expect the tide pattern to follow similar to what we've been seeing the past few days. ## What's Biting Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish are still showing up in large numbers along our coast. These speedsters are providing plenty of action for anglers trolling spoons behind planers or trolling weights. If you spot fish busting the surface, casting those 5/8oz or 3/4oz metal jigs will definitely put some smiles on faces. The Red Drum bite continues to improve inshore, with a nice mix of smaller 16-18 inch fish and some quality slot-sized reds. They're most active around oyster points and shoreline grass edges, especially during rising tides. Fresh cut shrimp, finger mullet, or live shrimp under a popping cork or on a Carolina rig has been the ticket when artificial lures aren't getting it done. Reports from Carolina Beach show a good mixed bag in the surf - whiting, croakers, sharks, bluefish, and some pompano. Inshore anglers there are doing well on black drum, and the flounder action in both the ICW and Cape Fear River has been phenomenal. ## Hot Spots For those looking to target Spanish Mackerel, check out the nearshore artificial reefs and ledges. Big Nic Spanish Candies in sizes from 1/2oz up to the new 1.5oz have been producing consistently. High-speed spinning reels are key to getting more bites. Wrightsville Beach has been hot for both Spanish and some early King Mackerel. These kings are running smaller right now, so check your fish carefully to avoid keeping undersized ones. If you're heading offshore, the deeper structures are producing some quality grouper. For those venturing to the Gulf Stream (400-1200 feet), mahi are starting to show up, and there have been reports of blue marlin in the 800-1200 foot range. Blackfin tuna and wahoo are staged up around ledges closer to the break. The big news that folks might not know yet - we've got reports of tarpon and barracuda being caught from ocean-side piers! That's some serious action without needing a boat. Remember, when bottom fishing, keep two spinning rod setups ready: a heavier one with a large bucktail for cobia and a lighter one with a smaller bucktail for mahi, as both species might come check out your boat. Thanks for tuning in to your Atlantic Ocean, North Carolina fishing report. Be sure to subscribe for daily updates on where they're biting. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.