By Capt. Alan Cain
2018 was a very rainy/bad weather year here in NC. We had over 102 inches of rain in Wilmington. It made for tough fishing and very dirty water most of the year. In 9 years of guiding and 14 years living here in Wilmington, this past year was the worst weather and most challenging fishing I have ever seen. Most everyone I have talked to agrees it was the worst fishing year they can remember. We also had a hurricane make a direct hit to our area that caused historic flooding. Luckily, 2018 is over and our fishery is already improving. With the mild winter we are having, 2019 should be a significantly better year.
I got back from my 3-month guide season in Louisiana a few weeks ago. The Louisiana marsh is well known as the best fishery for redfish in the nation, but even a world class fishery has off years such as the 2018 season. By any other Atlantic or Gulf state’s fisheries standards, it was still good red fishing, but by Louisiana standards it was a challenging season. I was there November-January and over a 3-month period, we had rain/wind/bad weather 5 out of 7 days every week. Don’t get me wrong, we had some great days and caught lots of giant redfish in shallow water, but you really had to work for them.
I’m already looking forward to the 2019 season in Louisiana. I will be there from November-January again this year. I only have 4 days left open in November, 10 days left open in December, and about 12 left open in January. Flights into New Orleans are easy to find and there are many hotel/lodging options available. If you’re interested in making the trip give me a call or send me an email and I will help with lodging and any other logistics. The fishing and food in Louisiana is second to none.
I will also be making my annual trip to Weldon NC to guide for striped bass on the Roanoke River in May.
Just as Louisiana is known for redfish, the Roanoke River in NC is known for stripers. It’s been called the “Rockfish Capital of the World.” Every year hundreds of thousands of striped bass migrate up river from the Atlantic Ocean and Albemarle sound to spawn in the rock rapids at Weldon. This is the easiest striper fishing you will ever experience due to the vast numbers of fish concentrated into a small area. It is not uncommon to have 50-100 fish days whether fishing fly tackle or conventional light tackle spin fishing gear. Most stripers in the river at that time are males in the 2-6-lb. range, but there are many females around as well that are often 30 to 40lbs. It is more of a quantity over size fishery, and is a great place to bring kids or anglers just getting into fishing…or a good place for the seasoned angler to come and really rack up some numbers on these hard-fighting fish.
The season starts in April, but the prime fishing is usually late April into early May, which is when I head up there. The only reason I go to Weldon is for the opportunity to catch large numbers of fish, so I don’t bother going until the fishing gets good in late April. The topwater popper action is also better in May.
The keeper season ends April 30, but fishing typically gets better after the keeper season is over. This is also good because the boat traffic on the river will drop by over 50% after the keeper season ends.
This fishing takes place near Roanoke Rapids and is only an hour north of Raleigh, right on the NC/VA state line. I have 1/2 day and full day availability in early May.
The fishing in Wilmington and the surrounding beaches should really start to take off over the next month. I have been seeing a few large schools of redfish in clear shallow water lately. On the warm/sunny days this time of year can offer some excellent sight-fishing opportunities…you just have to play the weather.
We are having a mild winter, with many days lately having temps in the 70s. That should help warm the water early and help kickoff the spring and summer fishing. Redfish should be the main target over the next few months, but as we get into late spring many seasonal species will also start showing up.
Feel free to give me a call/email if you have any questions or need anything. I look forward to fishing with you or seeing you all on the water.
Capt. Allen Cain, 336-613-2975,www.sightfishnc.com
