Wilmington Fishing Report: Trout, Reds, and Drum Biting on Inshore Creeks and Jetties

Name’s Artificial Lure checkin’ in with your Wilmington salt report, from the river to the beach. We woke up to cold, clear high‑pressure over the Cape Fear this morning. Ventusky’s got us starting in the low 40s, climbing into the low 50s with light northeast winds around 5 knots, easing east through the day. PredictWind at Mason Harbour Yacht Club shows seas just under 3 feet at about 7 seconds off the beach, so it’s a much friendlier ocean than yesterday’s small‑craft‑advisory mess from the National Weather Service. Sun popped over the horizon right around 7:00 a.m. and it’ll duck out about 5:01 p.m., according to SolunarForecast. They’re calling today “season’s best” for fishing, with a solid minor feed right at daylight from about 7 to 8 a.m. and another flurry late afternoon, 4:30 to 5:30, plus a big push late morning 11:20 to 1:20. Tide-wise, NOAA’s Wilmington gauge has a predawn low around 3:30 a.m., then a good high mid‑morning, about 9:40 or so, and another low mid‑afternoon. That gives you a nice incoming through the early morning and a falling tide for the afternoon bite in the creeks. Inshore, this is classic winter pattern. The Wilmington NC Fishing Report Today podcast has been talking about speckled trout, slot reds, and a few black drum chewing best on that moving water in the creeks off the Cape Fear and the ICW. Yesterday and the day before, folks picked up mixed bags of 15–20 trout a trip, with a handful of keepers, plus 3–6 reds and a couple of drum when they soaked bait. Best producers: - **Lures**: 3–4 inch soft plastics on 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads in opening‑night, glow, and new penny; MirrOlure MR17s in chartreuse/silver; small paddle tails slow‑rolled near the bottom. - **Bait**: live mud minnows and small shrimp under a popping cork for trout; cut shrimp and small chunks of fresh mullet for black drum and reds around dock pilings and deeper bends. Fish activity is bunched up. Look for that 48–52° water in the deeper creek holes and along the ICW drops. Work slow; if you think you’re working slow enough, slow it down again. Off the beach, the ocean’s finally settling. Nearshore reefs and hardbottoms in the 3–8 mile range are giving up gray trout, sea bass, and a few flounder releases when folks can get out between blows. Vertical jigging small metals and dropping cut squid or shrimp on two‑hook bottom rigs has been the ticket. Couple of local hot spots to circle on your map: - **Bradley Creek and Hewletts Creek**: fish the mid‑depth bends and dock lines on the last of the incoming and first of the fall for specks and reds. - **Masonboro Inlet and the jetties**: trout and reds stacked on the rocks and along the channel edges; toss soft plastics upcurrent and let ’em swing down. If you’re bank fishing, the downtown riverfront and the public access near Snow’s Cut bridge have been giving up a few drum and stripers to folks soaking fresh cut bait and working small swimbaits along the rocks. T This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.