Likely going to be there within the next month just to get the kids outta the house. I might be up for a little surf casting. NOT looking to mess with live bait. Will take a 6 1/2' Med/Heavy freshwater rod with some 30lb braid. What handful of artificiale should I take to toss ?? Looking to pack light and fish light. What species would be most likely in the surf at Emerald Isle in the next 2-4 weeks ??

Thanks for the look !!

Try Berkely Gulp 4" pearl white shrimp with 3/8oz jig heads in the surf and inland waterways for flounder. Just caught a 27" flounder on one Tuesday and a couple smaller ones that were legal but I am in SC right now. Just happened to think; Check the regulations! I think it is illegal to have a Flounder in possession in NC right now. Sorry but I pretty much just flounder fish.

God Bless, Louis

Hey.......that's a start !!! Thanks for the info !!! 👍👍

Fish bites work for about anything. Should be blues in the surf. Spanish mackerel morning and evening using gotcha plugs. Big whiting have been around. Pompano on sand fleas, you can dig your own. Sharks and skates are always around. Flounder season doesn’t start til August 16. I would put some fresh shrimp and fish bites on a 2 hook bottom rig, find a good slough, fish the 2 hours before and after high tide and just see what is around.

Thank you !! Appreciate it !! 👍👍

Is there a size of Gotcha that you prefer for what I'm doing ?? 5/8 ?? 7/8 ?? 1 oz ??

Try to match it to any bait size you might see or what your rod will cast. Go slightly bigger than smaller. For Spanish, which is about all I use them for except the occasional blue, I like the white body with red head. Tie the line directly to it and reel fast with some jerking motion. It can get intense when a school gets within casting distance and the seagulls are working the baitfish too. Try to avoid catching a bird.

Just make sure the plugs have gold hooks and not the silver ones. A spanish or blue will hit a gold hood by itself. Especially with a piece of red coffee stirring straw on it.

God Bless, Louis

Yep, forgot about the gold hooks. That is a good tip about the red coffee stirrer.

Good info, fellers !!! Thank you, MUCH !!

I've caught bluefish, flounder, puppy drum and sea trout on Rattletraps at Oregon Inlet. Don't know how they'll work in the surf but I'd think they'll work for any inshore salt water inlets and the sound. Hard to beat live bait but cut bait on a bottom rig will work in the surf.

Give the Bogue Inlet Pier in Emerald Isle a shot - it's been extensively rebuilt since Hurricane Florence and is a nice pier with a good restaurant . Gotcha Plugs are especially designed for Spanish off piers - it's a high angle lure - Gold or Silver body with the gold hooks are good. Down at the point you can fish in the Inlet itself, check out the fishing reports from Pogie's in Swansboro and Freeman's Discount Tackle in Atlantic Beach - both updated frequently on their respective Facebook pages. Croaker, Mullet, Spanish, Specks, all being caught right now. Good luck!
Ps the point is a good walk from the meager parking available - bring your surf/pier cart.

👍👍

OK.................question............

If designed as a high-angle, pier plug, are they still effective from the surf ?? My feet on sand ?? Would they be best retrieved rod tip held high ??

From the surf I would use a Clark Spoon, Hopkins, etc., something that attached from the front of the lure. The Gotcha could work in the surf, rod tip held high would help.

How did this ever turn out, do any good?