Summer 2026 Crystal Coast Fishing Report

It's been a little while since I posted a fishing report, so I thought I'd knock one out.  It's been an interesting summer with about 50/50 nearshore/inshore fishing.  

We have experienced some really good Spanish Mackerel fishing this summer.  We had a few weeks in July, where you could almost walk across the Spanish from Beaufort Inlet to Cape Lookout.  The Spanish bite slowed down a little bit in early August but is firing back up again recently.

We've had a few surprises while chasing Spanish outside of Beaufort Inlet.  Always fun to hook into a surprise Cobia on light action spin tackle.

Spanish fishing this year has been great for getting beginner anglers on lots of opportunities for success.

Most of the Spanish have been on tiny larval Bay Anchovies, which has made fly fishing for them often more successful than spin fishing.

Plenty of Bluefish around too and very willing to bite.  Our big fish from this spring are up north and will likely return in October.  Until then, there have been plenty of 2-3lbers around schooled up.

It's also been a very sharky summer with plenty of species around, both babies and adults.

Plenty of 3-5ft sharks around, like this Blacknose, which are a bunch of fun to fight without being stuck in a long, drawn-out battle.

The perfect "fun size" shark.

It's always a blast having fly anglers on the bow.  Whether it's their first time casting in the ocean, or their 100th time, it's always an adventure.

We've had a few run ins with these guys in August.  Although I don't usually start seeing them in predictable numbers until September, we always get a few fly-bys in August.  These fish have been on the tiniest larval bait, but very catchable if you are fast enough.  They've got me excited for this fall!

We haven't spent the entire time in the ocean, we've been fishing plenty inshore also.

The last couple of weeks, we have chased Redfish on both flood tides and mud tides.  

When the water's high, gurglers and other topwaters have worked well along with spinning rod standbys like spooks and skitterwalks.  When the tide is low and dirty we have been stalking them by slowly poling along the flats looking for any signs of color and contrast moving through the murky water.

We also ran a handful of inshore kid friendly trips this summer and those are always a blast.

We'll finish out this report with a few more shots of anglers with the fish that started my business 14 years ago.  

Pretty three spotter.

We've had to work for our Reds this summer, but on most days the effort has paid off.  So with that being said, I sincerely appreciate everyone who fished with me this summer and put in the effort.  You all rock.

Thanks everyone.  We've got one last month of summer fishing as we transition into northerly winds and cooling temperatures.  It should just keep getting better from this point on.