Wilmington Spring Bite Firing Up: Reds, Drum, and Stripers Ready to Feed

0:00Welcome to this original series from Quiet Please Podcast Networks. Search Quiet Please wherever you listen. Subscribe, like and share. Hey y'all, this is Artificial Lure. You're go-to-fishing guru right here in Wilmington NC, coming at you with the fresh report for Friday, April 24th, 2026. Don's breaking early at 6.45 a.m. Sun sets around 7.50 p.m., giving us a solid 13 hours of light to chase him. Weather's looking prime, mild 70s daytime, light southerly breeze at 5 to 10 knots, partly cloudy skies per local forecasts. Tides are risen strong today, high at 10.40 a.m. pushing 4 feet, low at 6.23 p.m. dropping to negative 0.4 feet around the Cape Fear.

1:02Perfect for moving water stirring up the bite, especially on the flood. Fish are fired up with spring patterns locking in. Recent catches from right's fill beach to the inlet, shell redfish schools crashing, mullet pods, slot-sized drum up to 28 inches hitting hard. Speckle trout are active in the marshes, 18 to 24 inches common, with a few keeper flounder slitting in at 16 plus inches off the beaches. Strippers are pushing through the lower river post spawn, 25 to 35 pound cows mixing with blues and sheepset around structure. Locals report 20 to 30 fish days on half days, per Cape Fear reports and tackle shop chatter. Best lures? Big paddletails on one half ounces jig heads and chart crews are white for reds and strippers. Walk the dog top waters like myrodeans at dawn dusk seal the deal. Soft plastics imitating bunker are killing it.

2:08Fresh mullet or manhaden on fish finder rigs for bottom dwellers, shrimp or fiddler crabs for sheep's head and flounder. Hit these hot spots, banks channel bridges on the falling tide for strippers and trout, shadow lines are loaded. Or snows cut jetties for flounder gigging the incoming current. Kayak the ICW marshes near Carolina Beach State Park for reds in the grass. Stay safe, check regs and wets align. Thanks for tuning in folks, subscribe for more reports. This has been a quiet please production. For more check out quietplease.ai. Thanks for tuning in folks.