Wilmington Fishing Report March 22 2025 - Hot Inshore Bite, Offshore Kings Heating Up

Hey there, fellow anglers! Artificial Lure here with your Wilmington fishing report for March 22, 2025. We've got a beautiful Saturday ahead of us with temps reaching the mid-60s and partly cloudy skies. Sunrise is at 7:12 AM and sunset at 7:25 PM, so we've got plenty of daylight to work with. Tides are looking good today, with a high tide at 1:43 AM and 2:01 PM, and low tides at 8:19 AM and 7:46 PM. The water's warming up nicely, sitting around 62°F inshore and 65°F nearshore. Inshore fishing has been on fire lately. Speckled trout are really heating up in the creeks and along the ICW. Anglers have been having great luck using soft plastics like Z-Man MinnowZ in electric chicken color or live shrimp under a popping cork. Redfish are also active, especially around oyster beds and docks. Try using cut mullet or Gulp shrimp on a jighead for best results. Flounder are starting to show up more consistently, particularly around the inlet areas. Bucktails tipped with Gulp or live mud minnows are your best bet for these flatties. Offshore, the king mackerel bite is picking up steam. Boats running out 15-30 miles are finding good numbers of kings in the 10-20 pound range. Slow-trolling live menhaden or blue runners has been the ticket. Don't forget to bring some Clarkspoons and planers for the Spanish mackerel that are starting to show up as well. Bottom fishing remains solid, with plenty of black sea bass, grunts, and triggerfish coming over the rails. Squid and cut bait on double-drop rigs are working well. For you surf anglers, whiting and black drum are biting well in the suds. Fresh shrimp or sand fleas are your go-to baits here. As for hot spots, I'd recommend trying around Masonboro Inlet for some mixed-bag action or heading to the rocks at Fort Fisher for some quality sheepshead fishing. If you're looking to stay in the Cape Fear River, the area around Snow's Cut has been producing some nice reds and specks. Remember to swing by Tex's Tackle or Intracoastal Angler for all your bait and gear needs. Those boys always have the inside scoop on what's biting and where. Tight lines, everyone! This is Artificial Lure, signing off until next time. This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.