[lkelly]

I will be down in Wrightsville, staying beachfront not far from the short pier on the south end. I expect that we will fish the surf and probably Masonboro Inlet from the sand. A few questions, mainly about the inlet:

1. Can you reliably catch sharks in the inlet (assuming moreso at night)?
2. I looked at some depth charts and I would imagine you'd want to kayak/cast your bait out to the drop off for the channel. True?
3. Is that a decent spot for drum (black/red) in early October?

We'll also of course fish the surf in front of the house but I was curious about being able to easily get to some deeper water without having to deal with serious waves.

Any other advice about the area would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Howie]

I don't know what kind of experience you have with beach sharking or kayaking for that matter, but I would encourage you to use caution in the currents in NC inlets.
If you can cast, some sweet spots in the masonboro inlet are typically castable from the walk on side, although I haven't fished it in a few years.

 

[lkelly]

I don't know what kind of experience you have with beach sharking or kayaking for that matter, but I would encourage you to use caution in the currents in NC inlets.
If you can cast, some sweet spots in the masonboro inlet are typically castable from the walk on side, although I haven't fished it in a few years.

Thanks for the reply, and yes I'm definitely aware and cautious about currents. I've fished a few inlets in Texas that are death traps. Looking at the depth charts, it looks like there is some deeper water on the side by the Coast Guard station really close to shore.

Is it common for sharks to cruise up in through that inlet?

 

[Howie]

Yeah there should be at least a couple in the inlet.
You can also fish the surf side. There's the rock jetti right there at the mouth that holds some fish as well.
My castable gear for 3'-5' sharks is typically 18" of 80lbs steel, 36-48" of 80 lbs mono, 6-8 oz sinker on a slide, 60-80 lbs shock leader, 400+ yards 50 lbs (minimum) mainline, on a well maintained 8k-10k spinner.
Castable gear eliminates the need to surf launch a kayak.
October, you'll probably stand a pretty good chance at drum, surf should be loaded with mullet as well.

 

[lkelly]

Yeah there should be at least a couple in the inlet.
You can also fish the surf side. There's the rock jetti right there at the mouth that holds some fish as well.
My castable gear for 3'-5' sharks is typically 18" of 80lbs steel, 36-48" of 80 lbs mono, 6-8 oz sinker on a slide, 60-80 lbs shock leader, 400+ yards 50 lbs (minimum) mainline, on a well maintained 8k-10k spinner.
Castable gear eliminates the need to surf launch a kayak.
October, you'll probably stand a pretty good chance at drum, surf should be loaded with mullet as well.

I was curious how people fish the jetty without a boat. As I understand, it's not a "walk out on it" jetty. Do you just cast out near the structure? How far out below the water level do the rocks go? Lots of hang ups?

I guess my alternate line of questioning is good spots for cast netting bait for drum/trout. Do they cruise through the inlet? Hopefully plentiful in the surf. Any bridges/creeks known to hold bait?

Thanks again for your help.

 

[ncst8man1999]

Sept and into Oct dependent upon Temps you will be hard pressed to throw a cast net and not catch mullet around that jnlet

 

[lkelly]

Sept and into Oct dependent upon Temps you will be hard pressed to throw a cast net and not catch mullet around that jnlet

Don't undersell my incompetence with a cast net.

 

[Howie]

I was curious how people fish the jetty without a boat. As I understand, it's not a "walk out on it" jetty. Do you just cast out near the structure? How far out below the water level do the rocks go? Lots of hang ups?

I guess my alternate line of questioning is good spots for cast netting bait for drum/trout. Do they cruise through the inlet? Hopefully plentiful in the surf. Any bridges/creeks known to hold bait?

Thanks again for your help.

When I fished it frequently, I did it in the off season and it wasn't crowded. If there's fish schooled up on it, there may be boats lined up throwing at it. I don't mess with crowds.
You can walk out to the rocks, they're somewhat slick. Travel light, be careful of your footing, it's not too far to a hospital.
Snags are pretty frequent if you're bottom fishing there. If you fish soft plastics rigged weedless, you may get the hang of it.
I wouldn't throw a cast net immediately around it, but that area in general is pretty productive, front, back, or channel side.

 

[drumchaser]

Plenty of flounder along that wall even though you can’t keep it’s fun to practice catching them.