Early Summer Bite: Topwater Reds and Specks Around Wilmington

This is Artificial Lure with your Wilmington fishing report. We’ve got a classic early-summer setup around Wilmington. Morning temps are starting in the low 70s, climbing into the mid to upper 80s by afternoon, with a light southwest breeze building sea breeze-style toward midday. Skies are partly cloudy, humidity is up, and that’s got the inshore bite turning on around the moving water. Sunrise is right around 6 a.m., sunset near 8:25 p.m., so your prime windows are first light to mid‑morning and the last couple hours before dark. That low‑light period has been key for specks and topwater redfish in the creeks. Cape Fear River and ICW tides today run on a mid‑morning high and late‑afternoon low, with about a 4 to 5 foot swing depending on how close you are to the inlets. Think closer to 5 feet around Masonboro and Carolina Beach inlets, a touch less up the river. Plan to fish the last of the incoming and first of the falling; that’s when the water is cleanest and bait is moving. Inshore, local chatter from tackle shops around Wrightsville and Carolina Beach has red drum, speckled trout, and flounder all showing decent numbers. Reds are slot‑class with a few over‑slots on the flats and along marsh edges, especially where mullet and shrimp are thick. Specks are mixed sizes, a lot of 14–18 inch fish with the odd bigger one around creek mouths and dock lines. Flounder reports are picking up around the inlets and in deeper bends of the creeks. Best lures right now: - For reds: walk‑the‑dog topwaters in bone or chrome at first light, then 1/8 to 1/4 oz jigheads with 3–4 inch paddle tails in new penny, electric chicken, or natural baitfish patterns once the sun is up. Gold spoons still produce along grass lines. - For specks: suspending twitch baits in natural glass‑minnow colors, plus soft plastics on light jigs bounced along drop‑offs. A small popping cork rigged with a shrimp‑imitating soft plastic is working well on the edges of oyster bars. - For flounder: slow‑rolled Gulp swimming mullet or grub‑style plastics on heavier jigheads near the bottom around inlets, bridge pilings, and channel edges. If you’re soaking bait, mud minnows and finger mullet are the go‑to inshore baits right now. Live shrimp, if you can find them, have been deadly under corks for trout and reds. Cut mullet is getting plenty of attention from bigger drum along the river ledges and around current breaks. Nearshore, the artificial reefs and ledges within 10–15 miles have been giving up Spanish mackerel, blues, and some king mackerel, plus a mix of sea bass and other bottom fish. Clarkspoons and small dusters trolled fast along the beach are a solid bet for Spanish, especially early when the glass minnows are showering. For kings, slow‑trolling live menhaden on stinger rigs is still the top play. A couple of hot spots to circle on your chart: Masonboro Inlet and the adjacent jetties continue to hold flounder, reds, and a mix of Spanish just off the beach. Work the slack to early falling tide with jigs and live bait. Up the road, the creeks and marshes off the ICW behind Wrightsville Beach are producing specks and reds around shell points and docks, particularly on that early morning incoming water. Boat traffic and heat will push fish tighter to structure and shade by late morning, so downsize your leader, slow your presentation, and fish the shadows of docks, bridges, and deeper creek bends. 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 gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn