Wilmington Fishing Report: Speckled Trout, Reds, and Offshore Kings - Quiet Please AI

Artificial Lure checking in with your Wilmington, NC fishing report for Saturday, September 13th, 2025. Sun’s up at 6:53 this morning, setting tonight at 7:20. Expect partly cloudy skies and steady temperatures in the mid to upper 70s—perfect early fall conditions. The tidal swings are healthy today, with a low at 6:00 AM, a solid high tide rolling in at 12:50 PM up around 5.6 feet, and the evening low at 7:16 PM. Those moving waters are pushing baitfish and shrimp all through the marshes and creeks, so you know the bite’s on. Inshore action’s been hot this week. Folks plugging around Bradley Creek and the banks near Wrightsville Beach have been pulling good numbers of speckled trout, especially on the early morning outgoing. Popping corks rigged with live shrimp or soft plastics in natural hues have been the ticket, but a lot of locals are quietly crushing it on MirrOlure MR17s slow-twitched around docks and drop-offs. Red drum are working the grass lines on that midday high, especially around Figure Eight Island and the spoil islands behind Masonboro. Cut mullet and fresh menhaden are money, but if you want extra sport, toss a topwater like a Skitter Walk or Spook Jr. as the tide comes up—some explosive blowups right at the edge. Flounder are hanging near the inlets and creek mouths, with Carolina-rigged mud minnows or Gulp! Swimming Mullets getting love. You do have to weed through some throwbacks, but several keepers in the 18-22 inch range came from Carolina Beach Inlet just after the last high tide, according to reports from the local shop. Surf anglers working the outgoing at Kure Beach have had steady bites on pompano, whiting, and the odd bluefish. Sand fleas, fresh shrimp, and Fishbites are your staples here. Fish heads at Tex’s Tackle are saying the Spanish mackerel are still blitzing just outside the breakers—a 3/4oz silver gotcha plug or a small Clarkspoon behind a #1 planer gets you all the hits you can handle when the birds start diving between Johnny Mercer Pier and Masonboro inlet. If you want to run offshore, boats trolling the 10–15 mile range are routinely coming in with king mackerel and some nice mahi. Any bluewater slingers, hit those temperature breaks and look for weed lines: a pink or blue skirted ballyhoo will do the trick. For hotspots today, don’t skip the ICW stretch between Mott’s Channel and Airlie; the moving tide around these bends is stacking trout and reds. Also, Masonboro Inlet’s north jetty is holding good numbers of flounder and some late-season sheepshead—just bounce a fiddler crab or shrimp along the rocks and hang on. Quick tips on tackle: with water clarity holding up, go stealth with your leader and keep your retrieves on the slower side as the mullet run ramps up. Always match your bait to what’s in the water—shrimp, finger mullet, and small menhaden are everywhere. That’s your real-time report for Wilmington—expect plenty of fishable action today, whether you wade, paddle, or drift. Thanks fo This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.