Inshore around Wilmington, the creeks and marsh edges are waking up on the morning incoming tide, with a softer bite through midday and better life again on the afternoon fall. Specks, reds, and a few stripers are all in the mix if you move with the water and slow things down.
## Tides, sun, and weather
Expect a predawn low, a solid mid‑morning high, then water dumping back out through mid to late afternoon, so plan to work mouths of creeks and deeper bends as that water moves. Sunrise is right around 7:00 a.m. and sunset just after 5:00 p.m., giving you prime low‑light windows at both ends of the day. Cooler early‑December air and water have things feeling crisp, with light north to northwest breeze early, building a bit in the afternoon, so it will feel cooler on open water and under that wind.
## What’s biting and how
Inshore, speckled trout are the headliners in the Intracoastal and feeder creeks like Hewletts and Bradley, holding on ledges, oyster edges, and deeper bends; mixed in you’ll find slot and over‑slot reds cruising the same structure, plus a few schoolie stripers up the Cape Fear around town. Nearshore, the closer reefs and hardbottoms are giving up gray trout, seabass, and a few flounder to folks bouncing bottom rigs and jigs.
## Lures and bait
Soft‑plastic paddle tails and shrimp imitations on 1/8–1/4 oz jigheads in natural or new penny colors are producing specks and reds when worked slow with long pauses. Live shrimp, mud minnows, and small mullet on a light Carolina rig or popping cork are hard to beat if you can get bait, while cut mullet or fresh shrimp will tempt reds and drum when the current is pushing.
## Recent catch notes
Reports from local anglers up and down the ICW have trout coming in singles and small pods, with better numbers when the rising tide overlaps with first light. Reds have been more tide‑dependent, with the higher water letting them push onto flooded grass edges early, then dropping back to creek mouths and deeper holes as the water falls. Offshore‑minded crews sneaking out on lighter wind windows have still been finding decent seabass and a few grouper on the ledges, especially when they bring plenty of bait and keep it near the bottom.
## Local hotspots
Two solid plays today:
- Wrightsville Beach area: Work the bridges, docks, and creek mouths off the ICW for specks and reds, then slide outside to the nearshore reefs if the ocean is manageable.
- Masonboro and Carolina Beach inlets: Fish the jetty rocks and adjacent bars on the moving tide for trout and reds, then probe the deeper channels and drop‑offs as the sun gets higher.
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Dec 5 20253 m