Chasin' Tail Charters

 We are proud to announce a new partnership with Coastal Angler Magazine! Florida's largest fishing magazine has come to the Cape Fear and Crystal Coast of North Carolina. As a contributing editor for the Lower Cape Fear, I will be providing feature articles as well as monthly fishing forecasts for our area. Free and available at most coastal shops and restaurants, and inland as well. Check out the April issue online by clicking on the graphic above, or pick one up the next time your out.

  After an endless procession of backdoor cold fronts, coastal lows, and enumerable days spent at the tying bench in a effort to retain what sanity  Old Man Winter hadn't so coldly  attempted to pry from my soul, it's here!  With the first tailing tides of the year come the promise of what I live to witness... Redfish once again doing their thing high in the Spartina Marsh.  Tails waving skyward as hungry fish dine on emerging Fiddler Crabs, Marsh Hens cackling, and a Cape Fear Sunset painting the green tips of newly sprouted Spartina with a golden hue. It's why I make my daily pilgramage to this marsh Mecca. Regular shots at tailing Reds are occurring mainly on the afternoon flood tides this month through May. As we transition into Summer, the morning spring tides will offer plenty of chances as well. The weather and the fish are here... so give a shout whenever you want to experience the true Cape Fear! - Capt. Todd Streeter

   Falll has finally found us! With night time lows dipping into the upper 40's and surface temps in the shallows ranging from 65 - 72 degrees, the Redfish in the Lower Cape Fear basin are beginning to gather in much denser schools as the nutrient rich water of summer starts to clear and bait becomes a lot more scarce. We have been targeting large schools of upper to over slot fish ( 6 - 12 lbs.)on small patches of fertile mud flats adjacent to deeper channels with great success. The topwater bite has definitely slowed, with better shots occurring late in the afternoon on a falling tide. However, these fish are aggressively feeding on soft plastics , spoons, and spinners. As usual, Berkley Gulp! baits like the 5" Jerkshad have been accounting for most of the fish, along with 1/4 oz. spoons in copper color. An additional bonus to these trips are the Bluefish blitzez that are occurring daily out on the shoals as we make our way back after a productive day of Redfishing. You can literally catch blues until your arms fall off! There are still dates available for Reds on the flats, and we will be running plenty of Trout and False Albacore Trips as well. God's Blessings and Tight Lines - Capt. Todd Streeter

      Sandwiched dead between 2 fast moving cold fronts, and with returning anglers Mike and Andrew only being in town for 2 days, Thursday was going to be one of those "just grin and bear it" kind of trips. With the prospect of 15-20kt. Northeast winds and a waterway that runs almost due Northeast/Southwest, it didn't appear pretty.   I wasn't concerned a bit though, as I'm  blessed to run 2  purpose built flats boats from Long Bay Custom Boatworks that allow me to effectively fish conditions that keep most guide businesses at the dock. Getting an earlier than normal start meant that we would be arriving on the flats ahead of the flood tide, and hopefully allow a little sight fishing before the wind stiffened. As soon as Mike and Andrew jumped on board toting thick windbreakers and zip off fishing pants, talk turned to how quickly our weather seems to change in North Carolina, and that we don't experience prolonged seasonal transitions. They were interested in wheter or not the quick drop in temperature had changed the bite pattern from what has been primarily one of top water and so called action baits to the slower more methodical presentation styles usually practiced in cooler water temps. I assured them that the Reds would readily hit a Top Water plug or fast moving spoon as long as water temps remained in their preffered range of 65 - 90 degrees. Our first stop of the morning in one of the many small bays littering the mainland side of Topsail Island found us having to search for solitary fish that had broken away from larger schools after the recent strong Northeast winds had pushed many of the sub adult Reds out into the surf zone to gorge on migrating finfish and shrimp. Our efforts did'nt go un rewarded, and Mike soon had a nice upper slot fish crash his Mirrolure Top Pup adjacent to a spartina grass bank that was in the lea of the now gusty wind. As the fish came boatside, it was immediately evident by the broad wrist, squared off tail, and sunken eye sockets, that this fish was genetically strong and he showed it during several drag punishing runs that had Mike chasing the fish  down one gunnel and up the other making two complete laps around the little 15' flats skiff before finally subduing him.   As we ran against a stiff wind and strong current to another small bay in the narrow intracoastal waterway,  I had to remind my anglers that we were in a boat that only measures 14' 8" and remained completely dry and in no need of a chiropractors services by day's end. Quite an accomplishment for any  boat, let alone a small technical poling skiff! Which brings me to another positive attribute of this neat little boat, I am able to pole all day in stiff, normally unmanagable wind with little effort.  After landing a few more  mid slot Reds on Jerkbaits over a dense oyster flat, we felt a  tremendous sense of accomplishment for locating actively feeding fish in such sloppy conditions. As a guide you can't always pick your days, but you can pick your boats!