Wilmington Summer Bite: Reds, Trout, and Flounder Firing Early and Late

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Wilmington fishing report. We’ve got a classic summer setup along the lower Cape Fear. Light southwest breeze early, building 10–15 by afternoon, with scattered clouds and that sticky coastal humidity. Air temps climbing through the 80s, nearshore water temps riding in the upper 70s. Sunrise was right around 6 a.m., sunset just after 8:30 p.m., so you’ve got a long window, but the best bite is stacking up early and late. Tide-wise on the Cape Fear and around Masonboro, you’re looking at a morning incoming that tops out mid‑morning, then a falling tide through the afternoon. That clean, pushing water on the first half of the flood has been money in the creeks; the first two hours of the outgoing are firing around the inlets and jetties. Inshore, redfish and speckled trout have been the headliners. Local charter captains around Wrightsville and Carolina Beach report solid numbers of slot reds on the grass lines and oyster edges, especially where there’s a little current wrap and bait stacked up. Trout have been chewing at first light on the ICW drop‑offs and around the bridges. Flounder catches are picking up too, with a mix of keepers and shorts around dock pilings and creek mouths. Best inshore lures: - For reds: 3–4 inch paddle‑tail soft plastics in new penny or dark mullet colors on 1/8 to 1/4 oz jigheads; topwater walkers in bone or chrome at daybreak along the grass. - For trout: small paddletails in pearl or gray on light jigs, MirrOlure style twitchbaits, and spook‑style topwaters at first light. - Flounder: Gulp shrimp or mullet on a jig slowly bounced along the bottom, or a simple live mud minnow on a Carolina rig. Best baits: live finger mullet, mud minnows, and shrimp under a popping cork on the edges of the marsh. That cork‑and‑shrimp combo has been putting mixed bags of reds, trout, and the occasional black drum in the boat. Nearshore, just off Wrightsville and Carolina Beach Inlets, boats have been finding Spanish mackerel and some big bluefish on the tide lines and near the nearshore reefs. Glass minnows and small menhaden are thick; when you see birds dipping and bait spraying, slide in and cast. Good producers are small Clarkspoons and Yo‑Zuri style minnows trolled on light planers, or 1/2 oz metal spoons and gotcha plugs cast into the schools. A few king mackerel have been coming off the closer reefs on slow‑trolled live baits. A couple of local hot spots to circle on your map: - Masonboro Inlet: work the jetty rocks and nearby creek mouths on that incoming tide for trout, reds, and flounder. - Carolina Beach Inlet and the Snow’s Cut area: good current, structure, and plenty of bait – redfish and flounder have both been coming from that stretch. If you’re bank fishing, hit the public docks along the ICW at first light with live shrimp or mud minnows; plenty of folks have been walking away with dinner lately. For surf anglers, fish the deeper cuts and sloughs with shrimp or sand fleas for sea mullet, small drum, and the occasional pompano. That’s the rundown from around Wilmington. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn