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Crystal Coast Fishing Report: Mahi, Tuna, and Trout Abound on North Carolina's Summer Seas
This is Artificial Lure with your Atlantic Ocean, North Carolina fishing report for Friday, June 13, 2025.
If you’re heading out today, expect textbook summer action up and down the NC coast. The sunrise came in at 6:02 am and sunset’s at 8:25 pm, giving you a solid window, and the weather’s holding in the mid-80s with water temps right there at 85°F. Winds are light out of the south, gusting 15–22 mph, and the sea’s moving at around 3 mph with 3 to 4 footers, so pick your spot and be careful on a smaller boat.
Tidewise, we’re working with a pre-dawn high tide around 3:30 am and a low at about 9:00 am, followed by another high near 10:15 am and low again close to 7:00 pm, based on charts from Surfline and Tide-Forecast. That late morning high stacked with the warm water is prime for the morning bite, especially on the beachfront and near the inlets.
Offshore, it’s been nothing short of blazing—yellowfin tuna and mahi are going off from Hatteras right down to Carteret County. Captain Daniel out of Morehead City reports recent hauls of big mahi and a few early season blackfin tuna. Trolling with ballyhoo or bright skirted lures is the ticket, with boats running planers or putting out deep-diving plugs. Keep your eyes peeled for any weedlines; they’ve been loaded with mahi and the occasional cobia. If you see a bait ball or a sea turtle, try live bait for cobia, as there’s still a late push moving up[Crystal Coast Fishing Forecast - June 2025, Fisherman’s Post, YouTube: NC Saltwater Fishing Report June 7, 2025].
Inshore bite is steady and strong—Spanish mackerel are still pushing up, though just a touch behind schedule, so metal jigs (5/8oz or 3/4oz) and glass minnow imitations are hot for casting at breaking fish. Bluefish are in big schools, smashing topwater plugs and silver spoons near the surf and inlets. The flounder bite is solid for anglers bouncing bucktails or soft plastics—my pick is a white Gulp! swimming mullet, worked slow off the bottom.
Red drum remain thick in the marshes and soundside sloughs, especially where you spot live bait. Live finger mullet, menhaden, or shrimp under a popping cork are getting consistent eats. Also, don’t sleep on the speckled trout: the topwater bite’s a little slow this week, but soft plastics and live bait are putting fish in the cooler when worked along deeper grass edges.
For bottom fishing near the nearshore reefs and wrecks, anglers are hauling in plenty of gray trout, black sea bass, and some hefty sheepshead—crabs or fiddler crabs are your best best for the sheeps.
This week’s hot spots? The Cape Lookout Bight for drum and cobia, the inshore reefs (AR 315, 320, and 330) for big flounder and gray trout, and anywhere west of Bogue Inlet for bluefish and Spanish.
Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to subscribe for more local intel and stay up to date on all things fishing along the Crystal Coast. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
If you’re heading out today, expect textbook summer action up and down the NC coast. The sunrise came in at 6:02 am and sunset’s at 8:25 pm, giving you a solid window, and the weather’s holding in the mid-80s with water temps right there at 85°F. Winds are light out of the south, gusting 15–22 mph, and the sea’s moving at around 3 mph with 3 to 4 footers, so pick your spot and be careful on a smaller boat.
Tidewise, we’re working with a pre-dawn high tide around 3:30 am and a low at about 9:00 am, followed by another high near 10:15 am and low again close to 7:00 pm, based on charts from Surfline and Tide-Forecast. That late morning high stacked with the warm water is prime for the morning bite, especially on the beachfront and near the inlets.
Offshore, it’s been nothing short of blazing—yellowfin tuna and mahi are going off from Hatteras right down to Carteret County. Captain Daniel out of Morehead City reports recent hauls of big mahi and a few early season blackfin tuna. Trolling with ballyhoo or bright skirted lures is the ticket, with boats running planers or putting out deep-diving plugs. Keep your eyes peeled for any weedlines; they’ve been loaded with mahi and the occasional cobia. If you see a bait ball or a sea turtle, try live bait for cobia, as there’s still a late push moving up[Crystal Coast Fishing Forecast - June 2025, Fisherman’s Post, YouTube: NC Saltwater Fishing Report June 7, 2025].
Inshore bite is steady and strong—Spanish mackerel are still pushing up, though just a touch behind schedule, so metal jigs (5/8oz or 3/4oz) and glass minnow imitations are hot for casting at breaking fish. Bluefish are in big schools, smashing topwater plugs and silver spoons near the surf and inlets. The flounder bite is solid for anglers bouncing bucktails or soft plastics—my pick is a white Gulp! swimming mullet, worked slow off the bottom.
Red drum remain thick in the marshes and soundside sloughs, especially where you spot live bait. Live finger mullet, menhaden, or shrimp under a popping cork are getting consistent eats. Also, don’t sleep on the speckled trout: the topwater bite’s a little slow this week, but soft plastics and live bait are putting fish in the cooler when worked along deeper grass edges.
For bottom fishing near the nearshore reefs and wrecks, anglers are hauling in plenty of gray trout, black sea bass, and some hefty sheepshead—crabs or fiddler crabs are your best best for the sheeps.
This week’s hot spots? The Cape Lookout Bight for drum and cobia, the inshore reefs (AR 315, 320, and 330) for big flounder and gray trout, and anywhere west of Bogue Inlet for bluefish and Spanish.
Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to subscribe for more local intel and stay up to date on all things fishing along the Crystal Coast. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
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By Quiet. PleaseThis is Artificial Lure with your Atlantic Ocean, North Carolina fishing report for Friday, June 13, 2025.
If you’re heading out today, expect textbook summer action up and down the NC coast. The sunrise came in at 6:02 am and sunset’s at 8:25 pm, giving you a solid window, and the weather’s holding in the mid-80s with water temps right there at 85°F. Winds are light out of the south, gusting 15–22 mph, and the sea’s moving at around 3 mph with 3 to 4 footers, so pick your spot and be careful on a smaller boat.
Tidewise, we’re working with a pre-dawn high tide around 3:30 am and a low at about 9:00 am, followed by another high near 10:15 am and low again close to 7:00 pm, based on charts from Surfline and Tide-Forecast. That late morning high stacked with the warm water is prime for the morning bite, especially on the beachfront and near the inlets.
Offshore, it’s been nothing short of blazing—yellowfin tuna and mahi are going off from Hatteras right down to Carteret County. Captain Daniel out of Morehead City reports recent hauls of big mahi and a few early season blackfin tuna. Trolling with ballyhoo or bright skirted lures is the ticket, with boats running planers or putting out deep-diving plugs. Keep your eyes peeled for any weedlines; they’ve been loaded with mahi and the occasional cobia. If you see a bait ball or a sea turtle, try live bait for cobia, as there’s still a late push moving up[Crystal Coast Fishing Forecast - June 2025, Fisherman’s Post, YouTube: NC Saltwater Fishing Report June 7, 2025].
Inshore bite is steady and strong—Spanish mackerel are still pushing up, though just a touch behind schedule, so metal jigs (5/8oz or 3/4oz) and glass minnow imitations are hot for casting at breaking fish. Bluefish are in big schools, smashing topwater plugs and silver spoons near the surf and inlets. The flounder bite is solid for anglers bouncing bucktails or soft plastics—my pick is a white Gulp! swimming mullet, worked slow off the bottom.
Red drum remain thick in the marshes and soundside sloughs, especially where you spot live bait. Live finger mullet, menhaden, or shrimp under a popping cork are getting consistent eats. Also, don’t sleep on the speckled trout: the topwater bite’s a little slow this week, but soft plastics and live bait are putting fish in the cooler when worked along deeper grass edges.
For bottom fishing near the nearshore reefs and wrecks, anglers are hauling in plenty of gray trout, black sea bass, and some hefty sheepshead—crabs or fiddler crabs are your best best for the sheeps.
This week’s hot spots? The Cape Lookout Bight for drum and cobia, the inshore reefs (AR 315, 320, and 330) for big flounder and gray trout, and anywhere west of Bogue Inlet for bluefish and Spanish.
Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to subscribe for more local intel and stay up to date on all things fishing along the Crystal Coast. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
If you’re heading out today, expect textbook summer action up and down the NC coast. The sunrise came in at 6:02 am and sunset’s at 8:25 pm, giving you a solid window, and the weather’s holding in the mid-80s with water temps right there at 85°F. Winds are light out of the south, gusting 15–22 mph, and the sea’s moving at around 3 mph with 3 to 4 footers, so pick your spot and be careful on a smaller boat.
Tidewise, we’re working with a pre-dawn high tide around 3:30 am and a low at about 9:00 am, followed by another high near 10:15 am and low again close to 7:00 pm, based on charts from Surfline and Tide-Forecast. That late morning high stacked with the warm water is prime for the morning bite, especially on the beachfront and near the inlets.
Offshore, it’s been nothing short of blazing—yellowfin tuna and mahi are going off from Hatteras right down to Carteret County. Captain Daniel out of Morehead City reports recent hauls of big mahi and a few early season blackfin tuna. Trolling with ballyhoo or bright skirted lures is the ticket, with boats running planers or putting out deep-diving plugs. Keep your eyes peeled for any weedlines; they’ve been loaded with mahi and the occasional cobia. If you see a bait ball or a sea turtle, try live bait for cobia, as there’s still a late push moving up[Crystal Coast Fishing Forecast - June 2025, Fisherman’s Post, YouTube: NC Saltwater Fishing Report June 7, 2025].
Inshore bite is steady and strong—Spanish mackerel are still pushing up, though just a touch behind schedule, so metal jigs (5/8oz or 3/4oz) and glass minnow imitations are hot for casting at breaking fish. Bluefish are in big schools, smashing topwater plugs and silver spoons near the surf and inlets. The flounder bite is solid for anglers bouncing bucktails or soft plastics—my pick is a white Gulp! swimming mullet, worked slow off the bottom.
Red drum remain thick in the marshes and soundside sloughs, especially where you spot live bait. Live finger mullet, menhaden, or shrimp under a popping cork are getting consistent eats. Also, don’t sleep on the speckled trout: the topwater bite’s a little slow this week, but soft plastics and live bait are putting fish in the cooler when worked along deeper grass edges.
For bottom fishing near the nearshore reefs and wrecks, anglers are hauling in plenty of gray trout, black sea bass, and some hefty sheepshead—crabs or fiddler crabs are your best best for the sheeps.
This week’s hot spots? The Cape Lookout Bight for drum and cobia, the inshore reefs (AR 315, 320, and 330) for big flounder and gray trout, and anywhere west of Bogue Inlet for bluefish and Spanish.
Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to subscribe for more local intel and stay up to date on all things fishing along the Crystal Coast. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.