Coastal NC Fishing Report: Cool Temps, Tides Spark Bites on Reds, Trout, and Sea Bass

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Atlantic-side North Carolina fishing report.

We’ve got a classic cool, clear December pattern along the beaches and nearshore. Light northwest breeze early turning more west by mid‑day, seas 2 to 3 feet inside of 10 miles, and air temps climbing through the 50s into low 60s. The National Weather Service marine forecast off Hatteras is calling for generally fair weather with only modest swell, so it’s a green light day for most small boats.

Sunrise along the southern coast comes a little after 7:10 a.m. with sunset just after 5:05 p.m. That gives a tight window of low-angle light, which has been the prime bite both in the surf and around the nearshore wrecks.

Tides are in a nice, workable cycle. Tide-Forecast’s Cape Hatteras table shows a predawn high around 2:15 a.m., dropping to low around 8:30 a.m., then pushing back toward an afternoon high. That means your best moving-water bites line up with the tail end of the morning fall and the first couple hours of the flood.

In the surf from Oak Island up through Surf City, reports this week have been steady on red drum, speckled trout, and a mix of smaller black drum and puppy drum. Fishers working cut shrimp and fresh mullet on double-drop bottom rigs have been bending rods most of the morning on the rising tide. MirrOlure MR17s in natural baitfish colors and 3-inch paddle-tail plastics on 1/8-ounce jigheads are taking the better trout at first light.

Nearshore, the 2–5 mile reefs and wrecks off Wrightsville, Carolina Beach, and down toward Ocean Isle are holding good numbers of sea bass, grunts, and a few late-fall flounder. Local captains are reporting boat limits of keeper black sea bass with plenty of shorts mixed in. Squid strips and cut sardines on standard two-hook bottom rigs are the ticket. Where the water’s a touch clearer, small bucktail jigs tipped with Gulp! have out-fished plain bait.

Up around Cape Lookout and Hatteras, anglers drifting live mullet and menhaden around the shoals edges are still seeing scattered citation-class red drum plus some false albacore busting glass minnows on the clearer side of the bars. Small metal jigs, epoxy jigs, and 3/4‑ounce casting spoons in silver or olive have been money on the albies.

Best artificial choices right now:
- For trout and slot reds in the surf and sounds: soft-plastic paddle tails in pearl or new penny, MirrOlure suspending baits, and 1/4‑ounce jigheads.
- For sea bass and mixed bottom fish: 2–4 ounce bucktails, Gulp! swimming mullet, and plain squid-tipped bottom rigs.
- For albies and Spanish-style action when they pop up: 1/2 to 1‑ounce glass-minnow profile metals, fast‑cranked.

If you’re looking for specific hot spots, put these on your list:
- The AR reefs off Carolina Beach and Wrightsville, especially the closer numbers inside of 8 miles, have been very productive for sea bass and grunts.
- The Cape Lookout Rock Jetty and nearby shoals edges are still giving up trout and drum on the inside and albies on the outside when the tide and birds line up.

Fish activity overall is solid for December: slower in the slack, but when that tide starts rolling, bites have been quick. Focus on the last hour of falling tide and first two hours of incoming for your best shot at quality fish.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI