Winter's Wakeup: Trout, Reds, and Nearshore Bites on North Carolina's Atlantic Coast

North Carolina’s Atlantic side is waking up to a classic early‑winter pattern: cool water, stiff northerly breeze, and fish that want a slower, smaller presentation but are very much still chewing. Inshore creeks, surf troughs, and nearshore structure are all in play if you time your trip around the rising and high tides.

## Tides, sun, and weather

Along the southeast coast from Oak Island up through Topsail and Masonboro, you’re looking at a strong morning flood pushing in just after daybreak, with a solid evening high as well. That gives you two quality windows: first light through mid‑morning, and then the last couple hours of daylight on the incoming. Sunrise is around 7 a.m. and sunset shortly after 5 p.m., so plan short, focused trips instead of trying to grind all day. Expect cool air, choppy seas outside the inlets, and a north to northeast wind that will make the ocean side bumpy but keep the creeks and ICW more comfortable.

## What’s biting and how

Inshore, speckled trout are the main story, stacked in deeper bends of the ICW, creek mouths dumping into the waterway, and around bridge pilings and docks with good current. Red drum are mixed in on the mudflats and shell banks just off those same drops, especially where the sun has warmed the water a degree or two. Surf anglers are still seeing sea mullet, black drum, and the odd pompano or slot red in the deeper outer bar sloughs, with better action when that incoming tide starts to put some water on the beach. Nearshore reefs and wrecks a few miles out are holding gray trout, small black sea bass, and a grab‑bag of bottom fish for anyone willing to ride out the chop.

## Baits, lures, and tackle

For trout and reds in the creeks, think subtle and slow:
- 3–4 inch soft plastics on light jig heads in natural shrimp or mullet colors, twitched just off bottom.
- Suspending hard jerkbaits worked with long pauses over deeper holes.

Live shrimp, mud minnows, and small finger mullet under a cork will still out‑fish artificials when you can get them, especially around docks and rock walls. On the beach, fresh cut mullet, shrimp, and sand fleas on double‑drop rigs will handle sea mullet and drum. For the nearshore reefs, drop squid strips or cut bait on standard bottom rigs, and keep a heavy jig or bucktail handy if marks slide up off the structure.

## Hot spots to try

Two areas stand out right now:
- Masonboro and Wrightsville: Work the ICW side creeks, bridges, and jetties for specks and reds, then slide out the inlet on nicer seas to poke at the nearshore rocks.
- Oak Island and Ocean Isle: Target the river side and ICW creeks for trout on the morning flood, then move to the surf at Oak Island or Ocean Isle Beach to soak cut bait in the outer sloughs for sea mullet and drum as the tide tops out.

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