November 7 Wilmington NC Fishing Report: Specks, Reds, and Fall Blitzes

Hey folks, this is Artificial Lure with your November 7, 2025 fishing report for Wilmington, North Carolina, bringing you the latest from our local waters and ready to get you on the bite. We’re seeing a crisp and sunny morning around Wilmington Beach—temperatures right now are kicking off at a comfortable 67 degrees and it’s expected to warm up as the day goes on. With sunrise at 6:36 AM and sunset not until 5:13 PM, there’s plenty of daylight to wet a line and chase those trophies. Tides are moving big today. High tide hit at 8:26 AM with a solid 6.55 foot push, so you’re working with a strong morning flood. After that, we’ll see a low tide at 2:51 PM, dropping down to -0.21 feet, and then a high again at 8:46 PM. With these spring tides, expect fish moving in and out of the marshes and creeks—perfect scenario for both inshore and surf anglers, especially around the swing on those tide changes, according to the latest Wilmington Beach tide charts from Tide-Forecast.com. Fall is prime time in southeastern North Carolina, and right now the action’s as hot as a cast iron skillet. Speckled trout are front and center, especially with recent cooling temps. There’s been a good number taken at Bradley Creek and up around Wrightsville’s docks—some pushing 20 inches. Anglers are filling the box on soft plastics like Z-Man MinnowZ in opening night or chartreuse, as well as on MirrOlures when the water’s clearer. Shrimp and mud minnows under a popping cork are still deadly on the trout and even bonus puppy drum. Redfish, especially the slot fish, continue to patrol the oyster bars and grass edges around Masonboro Sound and Hewletts Creek. Best bite's coming on the outgoing tide, using Gulp! swimming mullets (white or new penny) on quarter-ounce jigheads and Bomber Badonkadonk or Skitter Walks for a topwater thrill in low light. If it’s flounder you’re after, remember the short fall season is closed for harvest, so it’s catch and release—but they’re showing up in the creeks near the inlets and around docks. Live finger mullet is the go-to if you want numbers, and flashy bucktail jigs will draw hard hits when bounced over sandy holes. Off the beaches, Virginia mullet (whiting) and a string of bluefish have been running along Carolina and Kure Beach. Sand fleas and cut shrimp on double drop rigs are catching the whiting, while metal Got-Cha plugs and spoons are enticing bluefish blitzes—walk the surf early or late for best results. A few pompano are mixed in for the lucky, especially on the cleaner-sand stretches. For the nearshore boats, king mackerel are holding over the ARs and ledges just a few miles out, hitting slow-trolled live menhaden and spoons. There’s also been an uptick in gray trout and bigger black sea bass on the 10–20 mile grounds, according to some of the charter captains heading out of Wrightsville and Carolina Beach. If you want to fish like a local, here are a couple of hot spots to try: - **Banks Channel at Figure Eight Island** This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.