Hunting & Fishing

Inshore Fishing Is Great Along NC’s Crystal Coast

The waters all along North Carolina’s Coast are filled with a variety of fish ready to bite, from shore or boat. But if you want the best inshore action, then the choice is clear. Your next destination is the Crystal Coast, which stretches out near Morehead City, NC.

Capt. Jeff Cronk of Fish'n 4 Life Charters has guided clients for more than 20 years on the Crystal Coast. A number of drag-screaming, rod-bending species are waiting to be chased in the Coast’s clearest water, thanks to large, open sandy-bottomed sounds that filter water flowing from rivers and inlets. While working your way around the marsh islands and creeks that make up the massive system, you will actually see the fish before you catch them. 

It’s not just the variety, but the large size of each species that hooks anglers. In the fall, black drum are caught to 100 pounds. In the spring, you can chase cobia up to 90 pounds. Motor into the rivers and inlets in the summer and you’ll catch “doormat” size flounder. If you want to tangle with large stripers and speckled trout, plan a trip during the coldest months of the year. Want to catch them all? Capt. Cronk says come down in May, when water temperatures reach 70 degrees, and all species are available.

Redfish buck the seasonal rotation of the other species and are available in large numbers all year in the shallow waters of the Crystal Coast. Find the schools of redfish in the marshes and you’ll find the action, says Zack Messer, who works at Dudley’s Marina in Swansboro, NC. He helps out on some of the guide boats, when he isn’t out on the water himself. Fish averaging between 4 and 8 pounds can come as fast as every cast. Some of the “bull reds” in these massive schools can tip the scales at 60 pounds. 

The hotter the weather gets, the hotter the redfish action. They love to chase down topwater baits. If you do a lot of freshwater bass fishing, bring your tackle. Many of those tactics and baits cross over to redfish.

If you decide not to hire a guide, Cronk recommends you bring a shallow draft boat with an electric trolling motor and power anchor to navigate the skinny water of the Crystal Coast. A stealthy approach is especially important to catching redfish in the marshes and the anchor will keep you in place so you can keep on catching. 

Inshore fishing can be done either in the marshes or out in front of the beaches where mackerel and flounder are the popular species. Grouper are also targeted, Messer says. You need to find “live bottom” – areas where coral and plant life draw in baitfish, which in turn brings in the larger fish. Using baitfish between 3 and 9 inches in length, you can go toe-to-toe with a grouper, which will give you a taste of offshore fishing, inshore, and a great meal.

A North Carolina Coastal Recreational Fishing License is required for all anglers over the age of 16 fishing the Crystal Coast. You can purchase one online, or find a local license agent, at NCwildlife.org. For more information on booking a trip with Capt. Cronk, or his current fishing report, visit NCcharterfishing.com.

 By Peter Anderson 

added: June 14, 2011

updated: June 14, 2011