Wilmington NC Fishing Report: Reds, Trout, and Stripers Biting Strong on Changing Tides

This is Artificial Lure with your local Wilmington, NC fishing report for Sunday, November 2, 2025. After those brisk late October cold fronts, fall fishing is locked in and the Cape Fear waters are showing their true colors. We’ve got cool mornings, highs expected in the mid-60s, and clear skies—perfect fishing weather to get after it. The sun came up at 6:32 AM and will set at 5:17 PM, so you’ve got plenty of daylight to put in some casts. The tides are moving strong today. Low tide was at 1:21 AM, with a big high at 6:03 AM, right around daybreak. The next low hits at 12:49 PM, then we’re back on a full flood by 6:29 PM. These November swing tides push a lot of bait out of the creeks, which turns the bite on in a major way for trout, striper, and red drum. Fish those transition periods hard—especially around creek mouths and current seams, where predatory fish are pinning mullet and shrimp against the banks. This past week, according to Fisherman’s Post, the Cape Fear River from Surry Street and over into the Brunswick has delivered some beautiful nearly over-slot red drum and plenty of hard-charging stripers working those 8-12 foot banks. The locally famous “River Slam”—red drum, striper, and speckled trout—all came to hand for anglers bouncing weedless flukes and deep jig rigs tight to structure. If you’re not losing a jig head or two to a snag, you’re not working the bottom hard enough! Red drum are thick and still feeding hard. Most catches are coming on a slow, natural presentation right on the bottom. The best setup has been a Z-Man Texas Eye 1/4-ounce jig with a soft plastic fluke in natural or darker tones. Cast up current, let it sink, then give it gentle hops back. Live mullet or mud minnows on a Carolina rig are also producing well, especially around creek mouths off Snow’s Cut or the lower Brunswick. Speckled trout bite is improving daily as the water cools. Drifting live shrimp under a cork along grassy ledges in 4-6 feet is pulling bites, but plastics on a 1/8- or 1/4-ounce jig head will work, too. Try a MirrOlure 52MR in the clear water around Wrightsville Beach. Striped bass are staging deeper, hugging ledges near bridges and pilings upriver—think the railroad bridge near downtown. Same soft plastics or a 3-5 inch paddle tail will draw reaction strikes, and don’t be afraid to slow your retrieve way down. Out on the surf, as reported by Tex’s Tackle, bottom fishing is still productive with good numbers of sea mullet, whiting, and pompano. Surf anglers are finding red drum, flounder, and even a stray speck using cut bait, shrimp, or a strip of mullet on a bottom rig. A couple of hot spots to put on your list today: - The Brunswick River banks just above the 74/76 bridge—loaded with drum and stripers this week during both tides. - The Wrightsville Beach jetty at sunrise and the public docks off River Road for speckled trout on the morning falling tide. As for fresh reports, local angler Kenneth Lemaster brought in his This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.