A mix of clouds and sun. High around 70F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph..

Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.

My worn mantra as far as bait goes, is “metal, plastic, sometimes wood!”

Proper choice of your artificial bait for the circumstance and projected target and appropriate presentation will often determine success or failure for your day’s fishing efforts. This, of course, is not only true while fishing artificial baits, but most certainly applies to natural and semi- or pseudo-natural baits too. So, if you are a consummate lead chunker, how do you approach your baits to maximize fishing success, often misconstrued as “luck.”

First, here are some of the most common natural baits with shrimp topping the list…there is almost nothing that won’t eat shrimp, which is a great bait but not very fish specific. Next are crabby critters, sand fleas (aka mole crabs), any other crab like critters, fiddlers, lady, blue (hard or soft), mud and their bits and pieces. Now common fish baits are live, freshly dead or frozen as fillets or cut into chunks. Now for the creepy crawlies – blood worms, sandworms or even red worms work best. Finally, sea urchins are good if you are targeting sheepshead.

So, what’s the secret? First for shrimp – pier and surf sharpies use “people-eating shrimp” (you know what I mean), not thrice frozen and thawed, mushy stuff that won’t stay on your hook, but sushi grade. It’s what the fish expect and deserve and will enable you to always catch more and bigger fish. It should be kept in your cooler and on ice, not in the sun reducing it to shrimp jerky. And if you have some left over, you can steam it up for a shrimp cocktail with dinner.

Presentation is also important. Many of the pier jockeys tie their own rigs with a little freer line to the hooks to enhance presentation versus standard store-bought, two-hook bottom rigs. Check out some of the homemade rigs you can see on the pier. By the way, please don’t use leftover cooked shrimp for bait!

For crabby-like baits, I want to focus on sand fleas. They are just starting to show along the beach around Bogue Inlet Pier. These little critters are favorites for the likes of many of the drum family, especially a favorite of sea mullet which are plentiful right now, and pompano too. When fleas are thick along the beach, make sure you fish in the suds right along the surf. It’s where the drums and croakers and sea mullet are actively feeding on the fleas. For a good natural presentation of the fleas, many use a Carolina Rig.

If you can find the softies, you will even do better, but that is an art of its own, I’ve never had much success, but the fish love them. They also love the egg-bearing ones, the ones with orange on the underside. That’s why you see many bottom rigs, both commercially and home-crafted, donning orange beads. Also, if you get a really BIG thumb-size flea, many anglers cut them in half and place each half on one of the two hooks and think…bait and chum all in one!

Sand fleas are seasonal and disappear to somewhere in late fall and through winter. One solution is to do a big gathering in the fall and parboil and freeze them. They turn a brilliant orange, freeze well and are a killer bait when fresh fleas are unavailable. For a treatise on crabs for bait, including stalking the elusive soft flea, check out: https://www.ncoif.com/crabs-for-dinner-anyone-baits-that-cant-be-ignored/.

Next week, I will finish up with the care and feeding of some common natural baits, including exposing the “secret” new sea mullet bait of the year! You won’t believe it, but I saw it with my very own eyes.

We’ve just passed mid-April, and one thing is for sure – surf temperatures are warmer than usual, and some fish are showing a few weeks early.

I’ve recorded surf water temperatures at Bogue Inlet Pier since 1995, and for 2022 from New Year’s Day through mid-April, they have averaged a good 3 degrees above my over 25-year average. We have seen a strong and early run of sea mullet, the Atlantic bonito are here, as well as Spanish mackerel, which have been just a few miles out and now come into the piers and beaches on Bogue Banks and on Topsail Island two to three weeks early.

The normal arrival of Spanish at piers has been during the first week of May as water temperatures rise to around 68 degrees. Catches of easy limits have been customary within a few miles of the beach, near inlets, Cape Lookout and over live bottom areas, as well as nearshore artificial reefs. Bonito catches also have been steady with blues to 3 pounds in the mix. Best baits are Spanish Candy, Thingama Jigs and trolling YoZuris. With the early arrival of a number of species, I know many out there can’t wait for the first cobia to show.

Here are some notable catches of the week: How about the 3- and 4-pound pompano in the Cape Lookout surf or the 6.34-pound gray trout and the 12-pound sheepshead jigged up with a Stingsilver while fishing at one of the local artificial reefs. I also heard of a sea mullet topping 2 pounds from the Emerald Isle surf.

Oceanana Pier reports big sea mullet around high tide, especially at night, gray trout, black drum and a few blues.

Bogue Inlet Pier had a great week with a pandemic of puffers, blitz of blues, murder of mullet and a garrison of grays!

Seaview Pier had a great week too with BIG mullet, slot black drum, blues and grays galore.

Surf City Pier reports a great evening sea mullet bite, blues and a gaggle of grays.

Jolly Roger Pier had an interesting report with the expected suspects of puffers and sea mullet, slot black drum and more Spanish.

In the Roanoke River, shad fishing is cooling off, but striper action is heating up. That’s a very fun fishery.

Inside, red drum and black drum action is great in the marshes with schooling fish, whereas trout action has cooled off a bit, but there’s still time to give your topwater baits a go.

I fished the local “pea soup” in one of the Highway 24 creeks with only a torn-up halo shrimp to show for my efforts. I had one good solid hit, then only a few small fish grabbing the tail. The clumping algae has taken over and soon will find its way out the inlet and into the Emerald Isle surf at The Point.

Offshore again has been a bit bumpy, but when accessible, there are wahoo to be had and good bottom fishing, including a good sea bass bite.

Remember, next week, I’ll reveal this year’s “secret” bait!

1) Check me out at www.Facebook.com/Dr.Bogus.

2) Log onto my website at www.ncoif.com. It’s now better than ever.

3) I’m located at 118 Conch Ct. in “Sea Dunes,” just off Coast Guard Road., Emerald Isle, NC 28594. Mailing address is P.O. Box 5225, Emerald Isle, NC 28594. Don’t forget a gift certificate for your favorite angler for fishing lessons or my totally Bogus Fishing Report subscription. Please stop by at any time and say “Hi” (252-354-4905).

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