Wilmington’s fishing scene is in prime form this June 7th—good light winds, warm temps, and a mixed bag of fish to chase from the river edges to the nearshore reefs. Sunrise today was right at 5:59 AM and sunset will be at 8:22 PM, giving us plenty of daylight to get after it. High tide hit at 7:28 AM with another one coming at 8:04 PM, and lows at 1:50 AM and 1:51 PM, so time your moves around those transitions for best success, especially working the falling tide along marshes and creek mouths.

Inshore, red drum are out of their winter schools and scattered along the ICW, creeks, and points at inlets. They’ve been a bit pressured lately, so you’ll have to hunt, but there are plenty of slot-sized reds around. Early and late, topwater lures like the MirrOlure Top Dog Jr or Top Pup are drawing great strikes—especially along oyster rock edges and grass lines. As the sun climbs, swap to soft plastics like a Berkley Gulp Shrimp or Powerbait Bonga Shrimp fished deeper around docks and holes. Search baits and slow-rolled swimbaits like the 5" Powerbait CullShad are also drawing attention.

Flounder and speckled trout are mixed inshore as well. Trout are coming mostly in the low-light hours, hitting small hard baits or MirrOlure suspending twitch baits, while flounder are grabbing live mud minnows on Carolina rigs or slow-fished artificials. Sheepshead are stacked up for those fishing live fiddler crabs around pilings and bridges.

Surf anglers are seeing steady action on bluefish and Virginia mullet, with some pompano in the mix. For bluefish and Spanish mackerel along the beach, pulling Clarkspoons behind planers or casting metal jigs to surface-feeding schools early in the day has been hot. The Spanish bite on the nearshore reefs and just off the beaches has been described as “fantastic” on the troll with deep diver plugs or spoons, and there’s king mackerel showing about 10 miles out—live menhaden is the bait of choice for them.

Bottom fishing remains solid with catches of red and scamp grouper, vermilion snapper, black sea bass, and triggerfish on reefs and ledges. There’s even a few cobia being picked up on the nearshore wrecks—again, live menhaden is best.

A couple of today’s recommended hot spots: try the Masonboro Inlet marshes and edges early for red drum, then move to Snow’s Cut as the tide starts dropping for a mix of flounder and trout. For nearshore action, the AR-372 and AR-378 reefs are producing great Spanish mackerel, kings, and the occasional cobia.

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