Fishing the Wilmington, NC area in the Spring
| Month | Avg. Air Temps °F (Hi/Lo) |
| March | 61° / 49° |
| April | 68° / 57° |
| May | 75° / 66° |
It takes a little while for the water temperatures to warm up in the spring, but as spring progresses, the fishing gets better and better. Whether you are fishing inshore, nearshore or along the beaches in the surf, there are plenty of fish to target in the Wilmington area. Anglers target black sea bass, striped bass, black drum, snapper, redfish, bluefish, triggerfish, whiting, pompano and more. Earlier in the spring, you can still find plenty of striped bass in the Cape Fear River. As weather warms up the inshore waters towards the end of spring, the inshore fishing heats up for a variety of species.
Fishing the Wilmington, NC area in the Summer
| Month | Avg. Air Temps °F (Hi/Lo) |
| June | 82° / 74° |
| July | 84° / 76° |
| August | 83° / 76° |
In the summer, the fishing heats up as the summer tourists start to fill up the area beaches. Anglers find tarpon along the beaches and in the inshore areas too. Redfish, trout, flounder and jacks are common inshore. Nearshore, anglers may find bluefish, cobia, tarpon, tripletail, Spanish mackerel and more. Offshore, anglers target grouper and snapper. The Gulf Stream is within reach from this area and you will have several offshore fishing charters available to target the gulf stream currents for billfish, wahoo, mahi mahi and tuna.
Fishing the Wilmington, NC area in the Fall
| Month | Avg. Air Temps °F (Hi/Lo) |
| September | 80° / 71° |
| October | 72° / 61° |
| November | 64° / 51° |
The fall is one of the best times to fish in this area since the fall mullet run will bring tons of migratory fish with them as they head through this area on their way down to southern Florida. The resident fish go a little crazy too as all this bait moves into the area. It’s one of the best times of year to target big tarpon and big redfish. Striped bass start moving into the Cape Fear River as temperatures cool off towards the end of fall. Offshore, the charter boats are still doing well fishing the reefs and wrecks for bottom fish as well as the Gulf stream currents for pelagic species.
Fishing the Wilmington, NC area in the Winter
| Month | Avg. Air Temps °F (Hi/Lo) |
| December | 59° / 47° |
| January | 54° / 41° |
| February | 56° / 43° |
The winter brings tougher fishing for many species of fish. There are plenty of cold fronts that bring plenty of wind to go along with their cold air temperatures, so there will definitely be days that you won’t want to be out on the water. Going offshore to fish the reefs and wrecks gets a little harder to do with the heavier winds. Inshore and nearshore, you aren’t going to find the migratory species that you found from spring through fall. However, a lot of fish will move back into the tidal creeks and rivers here, so it does make it a little easier to find fish concentrated in smaller areas. Sheepshead are found inshore in good numbers during the winter months and more importantly, they feed well when it is cold outside. On the warmer days in between cold fronts, anglers usually do well with redfish, sea trout and flounder. Striped bass fishing gets really good in the Cape Fear River, however, don’t expect to find good numbers of big striped bass like you can find further up the coast.
