"Prime Time Saltwater Action on the North Carolina Coast"

This is Artificial Lure with your North Carolina Atlantic coast fishing report for May 10, 2025. We are rolling into prime time for saltwater action up and down the beaches from Wrightsville all the way down to the Cape Fear region. The water temperature is creeping up, the summer bite is taking off, and it is a great weekend to get out. Today we’ve got mostly clear skies with a southwesterly breeze and air temps in the upper 70s to low 80s. Sunrise was at 6:07 AM and sunset is around 8:05 PM, giving you plenty of daylight to work all your spots. Tide-wise, expect a morning high just after sunrise with a good outgoing flow into midday and a low just before late afternoon. That falling tide is usually a ticket for inshore and surf fishing. Nearshore, the Atlantic bonito and Spanish mackerel are stealing the show. They are thick along the beaches and especially around nearshore artificial reefs, ledges, and inlet mouths. Big Nic Spanish Candy spoons in ½ ounce to 1.5 ounce sizes are outfishing just about everything else for both species. Fast retrieves on 15-20 lb braid will get you bites, and don’t be surprised if bluefish and even a few small king mackerel mix in on these schools. Fly anglers can get in on the fun with a 7 to 9 weight rod and flashy streamers. Just check those kings for size before you toss them in the box, as there have been a number of shorts caught with the Spanish lately. The inshore bite remains strong for redfish, especially around creek mouths and marsh points. Paddletail soft plastics and popping cork rigs with live mud minnows are both top producers. The black drum bite around boat docks and structure has also been very productive, with fresh shrimp being the best bait. You can expect a few nice fish here, especially on a falling tide when they come out to feed. While speckled trout are catch-and-release until July, there are plenty in the mix, moving out from the creeks into rivers and deeper water. Catch them on shrimp imitations or light soft plastics in natural colors, fished slow with a popping motion to make a little extra noise in choppy conditions. For hotspots, Wrightsville Beach’s artificial reefs and the nearshore ledges off Carolina Beach are loaded with Spanish, bonito, and the occasional king, while the docks along the Wrightsville Intracoastal and the marshes at Masonboro Inlet are prime for redfish and black drum. In summary, expect fast action on Spanish mackerel and bonito with metal spoons and high-speed jigs nearshore, solid redfish and black drum on shrimp and paddletails inshore, and release-only speckled trout as they scatter into deeper water. The bite is on and summer is getting started, so grab your gear and get tight. Tight lines and hope to see you on the water! This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.