# Fishing Cape Fear River for the first time



## NaClH20 (Sep 27, 2010)

I am going to take my newly rigged hobie revo to the Cape Fear river and see if I can find some striper. Anyone fished the river before around downtown Wilmington? Any suggestions on places that I might find a striper? Should I bring heavier or lighter gear? From what I have read I think I will bring gulp and powerbait swimbaits and jerkbaits. Any other help would be appreciated!

Or if anyone else has a kayak and wants to fish all morning/ all day let me know and I would be happy to meet up!


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## speckhunter80 (Oct 3, 2011)

Recommend you visit FryingPanTower.com and NCAngler.com


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## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

They are being caught from the upriver side of Wilmington from Point Peden (sp) to smith creek as far as I have heard. I dont fish for them specifically. Have friends that do and seems they have been doing alright so far.


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## NaClH20 (Sep 27, 2010)

Awesome! I am going to put in at the ramp and head north toward smith creek. Any tips on how to catch them? Should I look for deep holes and drops or fish the banks?


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## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

Take plenty of tackle and leader and plan on retying often or fish them weedless with 1/2 oz bullet weights, zoom super flukes in white DOA jerk shad in new penny calcutta swim baits rapala xraps yozuri crystal minnow deep diver rattle traps 1/2 oz. saltwater assassin in candy corn, new penny, pearl/chartreuse tail 4in. sea shad 1/4 or 3/8 oz jig heads


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## NaClH20 (Sep 27, 2010)

Well the weather was absolutely perfect but I didn't hook up with any fish. My depth finder was marking fish all over especially in deeper water. I tried everything from powerbait pre rigged shad, zoom flukes, deep diving crank bait, kastmaster gulp ripple mullet. The only strike I got was when I pulled the zoom fluke up next to my boat to make sure it was swimming correctly and I watched a nice sized striped come to the surface and try to grab my bait. Got my blood pumps.g but nothing to show for. Overall a nice day on the water but sure wish one of those fish on my screen was hungry

I even had my flip camera rigged and running for a while bit got nothing more than a different view of downtown and the battleship. Maybe next time!


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## NaClH20 (Sep 27, 2010)

Also, I was using lighter jig heads. Maybe next time I will try heavier so I can get down 25+ feet where I was marking fish. I did not try any rattletraps....maybe that would have been better than the crank bait


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## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

Those fish marked deep can be hard to get to bite, alot of times when marking those fish deep they will move on to the flats on the rise to feed. Most fish I have caught deep were on 3/4 oz. bucktails tipped with white 6" curly tails.


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## BlaineO (Jan 22, 2001)

Be aware the Striped Bass fishery in the Cape Fear River is strictly catch and release at this time. There is a moratorium that has been in effect since 
~2008.

That having been said, when they are deep in cool water, a single dropper rig with fresh cutbait seems to work as well as anything, or used to.

I just found this online, do any of you local folks fish this tournament? http://www.cfrw.us/stripertourney.html
Entry looks a bit steep, but just curious if many are targeted and caught during the tourney.

Happy Holidays!

Blaine


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## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

The striper tourney is invite only.


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## BlaineO (Jan 22, 2001)

Thanks KB.

Blaine


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## speckhunter80 (Oct 3, 2011)

KB Spot Chaser said:


> The striper tourney is invite only.


Not exactly according to the website. It is essentially a tournament for young anglers who are invite only based upon an essay they wrote: 
Young Anglers are invited to compete for a spot in the 2012 StiperFest Catch, Tag and Release Tournament to be held January 14th on the Cape Fear River by submitting an essay! Entry normally costs $1000 and all proceeds go to the preservation of Striped Bass. The winner gains free entry into the tournament and is given a boat and a captain. Striped bass will be tagged and then released. Here are the details: 
•Contestants must be in 9th grade up to 12th grade.
•The essay should be between 500 and 1,000 words in length.
•The topic of the essay is "How a Strong and Healthy Cape Fear River Fishery Will Benefit The Entire Region".
•The winning essay will convey the angler's passion for conservation minded fishing as well as his or her understanding of the special characteristics of the Cape Fear River.
•Entries must be received by 5:00pm, January 6th, 2012.
•Entries will be judged by the Cape Fear River Striper Foundation whose decision will be final.

According to the website they are still looking for anglers to take these young fishermen fishing in the tournament:
HOW CAN I HELP?


•Fish in the 2012 Tournament. A few angler slots are still available. Click here for more information about entry.


•Attend the Kick Off Banquet and Auction at the Coastline Convention Center on Friday, January


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## NaClH20 (Sep 27, 2010)

Im going to try the river again tomorrow. This time I have deep diving lipless crankbaits, 1/4 oz and 1/2 oz lead for jerk baits, and a couple jigs tipped with grubs. Hopefully I can tempt some of deeper fish to bite this time. Any other tricks I could try?


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## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

Fish hard move around until you find some fish that are ready to feed, can't say exactly where, there is plenty of structure in the river that holds stripers, probably even some that hardly sees any pressure.


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## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

Posted some pictures up on the facebook page.
Sencfishing

Some friends of mine fishing. Better bite there then here (hatty) right now.

One day the state will remove the locks to allow these fish to spawn right and bring back the river and ocean stripers for the senc coast.


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