Coastal Fishing Report: Macs, Drum, and Offshore Bonanza on the NC Coast

Artificial Lure here with your Wednesday, June 18, 2025 fishing report for the North Carolina coast and Atlantic Ocean waters. Sunrise at Atlantic Beach came at 5:53am with sunset on tap for 8:21pm, giving anglers a nice long day of light. Today’s tide at Oceanana Pier saw a high at 12:41am (3.6 ft), low at 7:00am (0.2 ft), another high at 1:21pm (3.8 ft), and a quick fall again to a low at 7:41pm (0.4 ft), so plan your outings around those moving waters for best results. Weather has been cooperative along the coast, with light winds and warm temps making it prime time for both inshore and offshore action, as reported by the local crew at Coastal Angler Magazine and on the latest North Carolina Saltwater Fishing Reports. Rising water temperatures mean there’s a bounty of baitfish in the surf, sounds, and estuaries, so break out the cast nets and load up on menhaden and finger mullet. This week, Spanish mackerel and bluefish continue to congregate thick just off the beaches. Trolling Clarkspoons or Drone spoons behind planers is the ticket for numbers, but if you find busting fish near the surface, casting 5/8oz or 3/4oz metal jigs like Stingsilvers will put you right in the meat. Inshore, the red drum bite is fired up—fresh menhaden, finger mullet, or live shrimp under a popping cork or Carolina rig have all been producing steady action, especially where bait is thick in the water. Bottom fishing off the Morehead/Atlantic Beach area has been stellar. Boats working the 120’+ depths are finding triggerfish, grouper, and vermilion snapper. Bounce bucktails or drop squid-tipped rigs to put meat in the box. Inshore reefs like AR 315, 320, and 330 continue to spit out gray trout and hefty flounder; soft plastics bounced slow along the bottom have worked wonders. Offshore, Carteret County boats have reported killer catches of mahi, with yellowfin tuna blitzing the northern Outer Banks—reports from the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament out of Morehead City include not only billfish but big numbers of these pelagics as well. Cobia are still prowling around Cape Lookout and the inlets; keep a rod rigged with a large bucktail jig or live eel handy and cast toward rays, turtles, or bait balls. Hotspots to try today: - Cape Lookout Shoals and nearby nearshore reefs for cobia and flounder. - The stretch from Bogue Inlet to the Surf City piers for bluefish, Spanish mackerel, and the odd tarpon showing early this year. - Inshore creeks between Morehead City and Swansboro for slot drum and specks using shrimp or soft plastics. Best lures right now are shiny metal jigs, classic spoons, and bucktails for a mixed bag, while the top bait choices are fresh menhaden, finger mullet, and live shrimp. Thanks for tuning in to the report! Don’t forget to subscribe for your daily dose of coastal action. 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.