The coast is full of trout, the red drum and the black drum, the triple tail and the head of a sheep. Near the coast, you can also fish for albacore, bonito and great kings. Launch a line from North Carolina's only concrete pier and a Wrightsville beach icon, Johnnie Mercers Pier. The dock extends 1,200 feet into the Atlantic Ocean and is not only a perfect place to catch a big fish, but also to enjoy a fantastic view of the coast.
The dock shed has a gear store, a grill, a gift shop and a game room for those who need a little break from the sun. Fishermen of all seasons will find drums, kingfish, mackerel, flounder and more. Stop by the pier to see a recount of the day's fantastic catches. You can also fish at Crystal Pier, towards the southern end of the island, or walk to the beach through a public access to fish in the waves.
Drive to Jack Parker Beach Access and walk to the Northern Rock Jetty to find a good spot to catch one on the line. If you're looking for a place to launch a boat, look left after crossing the drawbridge and you'll find the boat access area of Wrightsville Beach. Rick, from Living Waters Guide Service, reports that deep-sea trolling has been improving now that mid-summer fishing has passed. I place these baits in fish search teams, with fluorocarbon leaders of 80 to 100 pounds between 1 and 3 feet.
Located in the heart of Wrightsville Beach, Johnnie Mercer Pier is the easiest fishing dock for local visitors to access. Visitors who want to spend part of their vacation pulling a line will find plenty of opportunities to go fishing on Wrightsville Beach. While it's true that anywhere along the coast can serve as a fishing spot, Wrightsville Beach and the surrounding Cape Fear area are also home to several fishing docks and boat ramps where it's easy to embark on a fishing adventure. River fishing, coastal fishing, near-shore fishing, deep-sea fishing, reef fishing, wreck fishing, backcountry fishing.
Most anglers picture the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway when they think of Wrightsville Beach, as they are its eastern and western boundaries. North Carolina isn't well known for tarpon fishing, but every once in a while I see them pushing right in the southeastern inlets and down the Cape Fear River. Bennett said that the combination of water moving around the tip and being broken by oyster rock makes it a great place to fish. Bennett said that, however busy the ICW is on Wrightsville Beach, there are often some flounder that they hold along its edge and in a small pocket on the north side of the bridge between the continental shore and the bulkhead.
A little inland, in southeastern North Carolina, the Cape Fear River runs and Cape Fear is home to one of my favorite winter fisheries, striped bass. Last but not least, fishing for cobia is in full swing at the beginning of June and should be good until the beginning of July; so far this year it has seemed unpredictable to me.
