A full service boat yard
75-ton travelift • 350-ton railway
ABYC-Certified Master Marine
Technicians on staff
NOW OPEN FOR BUSINES
Be a r ing Ma r ine Boat Work s , l lc
3410 River Road • Wilmington, NC 28412
(910) 401-3079 • bearingmarine.com
42
WBM june 2012
T
hese top fishing
spots are
well known to
local anglers, but
how they were named and what lies
beneath the surface of the water is
not. Some were named by fishermen
ages ago; some were named for what
was sunk at the location; and some
are official names given by the state
or the federal agencies that built the
reef.
Manmade artificial reefs begin a
few miles out and continue 15 miles
offshore or more. There are also a
large number of naturally occurring
ledges and live bottoms, as well as
aging military wrecks and bombed
freighters and boats from the World
War I era.
Some of these locations are a
highly kept secret, known only to
those who have searched and found
them while venturing from one location
to another. Other spots are wellknown
hideouts that normally hold
a fish or two should your boat be the
first one to arrive.
Johns Creek
Traveling south from Masonboro
Inlet and lying about three quarters
of the way to Carolina Beach Inlet
with a depth of 25-30 feet is Johns
Creek, an old underwater creek bed
that used to contribute to an old inlet
located along the island. The area
provides some excellent fishing for
flounder, Virginia mullet, bluefish
and gray trout. Between Johns Creek
and the warm offshore Gulf Stream
waters lies an exorbitant amount of
live bottoms, coral reefs and ledges,
which harbor safe locations for baitfish,
bringing in the larger fish to feed
on them.