"Crisp Air, Calm Seas, and Promising Bites: Your North Carolina Atlantic Fishing Update"

Artificial Lure here, bringing you your North Carolina Atlantic fishing report for Wednesday, September 17, 2025. The air’s crisp and you can smell faint autumn around the corner as we turn the calendar. Whether you’re eyeing the surf or planning a trip offshore, conditions today are lining up for a productive day on the water if you play the tides right. Today’s tides for Atlantic Beach: first high tide’s at 4:22 AM at 3.4 feet, low at 10:24 AM at just under half a foot, then high returns at 5:00 PM riding up to 4.58 feet, easing into the last low at 11:31 PM. That sunrise paints the sky at 6:51 this morning, and we’ll lose the last light at 7:10 tonight, giving you a decent window for morning and twilight bites according to Tide-Forecast.com. Weatherwise, the National Weather Service Marine Forecast reports a run of westerly winds around 10 to 15 knots today, moderating the chop. Seas should hover between 2 to 4 feet, trending calmer by evening. Water clarity is improving as a recent low has finally moved out; this is ideal for sight-casting. Now, let’s talk what’s biting. Inshore, anglers are reporting good catches of **speckled trout** and **red drum** in Bogue Sound and near the Core Creek bridges. Early risers working topwaters like the Skitter Walk or MirrOlure She Dog at first light are finding willing trout. After sunup, switch to soft plastics on a 1/8-ounce jighead—Z-Man MinnowZ in Opening Night or New Penny colors have been getting consistent bites. On dropping tides, red drum are cruising the shallow oyster beds and grass lines. Live finger mullet or mud minnows under a popping cork remain your best bet, though Gulp! Shrimp in white/chartreuse do plenty of heavy lifting on their own. Off the piers, Oceanana and Bogue Inlet piers have both seen a mix of **Spanish mackerel**, **bluefish**, and an uptick in late-summer **flounder**. Gotcha plugs and small silver spoons are the lure of choice for the mackerel, especially around the last couple hours of the incoming tide. For blues, stick with Tom’s Tackle glass minnows or fresh cut bait. Flounder are short and sweet near pilings—use a Carolina rig with a mullet strip or mud minnow and work the edges. Offshore, calmer water is allowing smaller boats to make the run to ARs and nearshore reefs where anglers are picking up steady catches of **king mackerel** and **false albacore** trolling Clarkspoons and Drone spoons behind planers. In 60-90 feet, try dead cigar minnows on duster rigs. Mahi-mahi have been less consistent but keep an eye out for weed lines 15-30 miles out. A couple hot spots this week: - The drains inside Fort Macon State Park for early morning trout and drum; plenty of current and bait moving through. - The Beaufort High Rise for sheepshead and black drum—fiddler crabs and barnacles are deadly around the bridge pilings. For surfcasters, try Emerald Isle Point or the southern tip of Shackleford Banks for pompano and sea mullet—sand fleas and shrimp are both workin This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.