Wilmington Fishing Report: Drum, Trout, and Stripers Biting in Cape Fear Region [3 min]

# Artificial Lure's Wilmington NC Fishing Report – Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025

Good morning folks, Artificial Lure here with your Wednesday fishing report for Wilmington and the Cape Fear region.

**Weather and Tides**

We're looking at overcast skies this morning with temperatures hovering around 47 degrees—typical December weather. Sunrise is at 6:59 AM and sunset comes early at 5:01 PM, so you've got a short window. The tide situation looks solid for today with a low tide at 2:30 AM and a high tide coming in at 8:30 AM at about 5.3 feet. Perfect timing if you're heading out mid-morning.

**What's Biting**

December is absolutely prime time in Eastern North Carolina. The cooler water has brought fantastic numbers of red drum, black drum, and speckled trout into the shallows. Striped bass are also showing up in the upper Cape Fear River. We're talking good, consistent action right now.

**How to Fish It**

Most anglers are finding success with live bait—mullet and shrimp are working great in the 2 to 6-foot depth range where the drum are holding. If you're feeling confident with artificials, topwater lures and soft plastics are producing when conditions are right.

**Hot Spots to Target**

Head to the shallow flats around Carolina Beach, especially near the Cape Fear River mouth. The upper Cape Fear region is also firing for striped bass if you want to mix things up.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI