Topsail Angler Weekly Column - April 24, 2006

Here's a copy of my weekly printed column, The Topsail Angler.

The Red Drum is our official state saltwater fish. This fish is often called puppy drum while in its juvenile form. Red drum is also called redfish, and blackened redfish, which was a cooking sensation in the late 1980s and early ’90s, was made with this species

The red drum lives to be very old for a fish, well past 30 years, and grows very large. The state record catch is 94-pounds, 2-ounces set in 1984 at Hatteras Island. Red drum mature to adulthood in about four years and live in the open ocean. The adults frequent the surf in search of a meal and can be a lot of fun to catch on surf gear.

The juvenile, or puppy, drum lives on the sound side of our barrier islands. While much smaller than the adult version -- weighing less than 10 pounds -- they are also fun to catch on light tackle.

The red drum fishery was over-fished and many were considered "by-product" in commercial fishing nets. The North Carolina Marine Fisheries agency stepped in and set up regulations to restore the population to sustainable levels. These efforts have paid off. As a result, the redfish in our state have made a strong recovery. Currently, anglers are allowed to keep one fish per day, and it must be between 18 and 27 inches in length. Mature females are 28 inches or larger, so the upper limit preserves the brood stock.

Redfish are a favorite target of state anglers year-round, with fall and spring being the best seasons. Targeting and catching drum in the marsh and creeks can be very challenging and rewarding. They eat a range of crustaceans and small fish, with small crabs being among their favorite meal. You will often find them on the oyster bars and marsh banks in very shallow water.

They are usually in schools and are spooky when in shallow water, so approach them carefully. Drifting into them or using a pole to push your boat are both sound methods. You often can spot their tails on the surface of the water. When in the shallow water, they are usually feeding on the bottom. They can get into an almost vertical position when working the mud bottom, so their tails will break the surface allowing you to locate them. Anglers and guides refer to this as a "tailing redfish".

When they are tailing, they are feeding, so just about any bait will work. I like to use grubs on a quarter-ounce jighead or small crabs when available. Whatever you choose, the key is to cast the bait three feet or so in front of the fish. Make as soft of a cast as possible to minimize the sound of the bait entering the water. Then just hang on, if you didn’t spook the school and have your bait in position, a bite is almost assured when they are tailing.

Now for this week’s catching report: Inshore, the red drum and trout bite remains strong with an occasional flounder being caught. In the surf, look for red drum and bluefish to be active. The bonito action has really heated up at the near-shore reefs and wrecks.

Surf City Pier reports the bluefish have arrived. Tyler Davis had the catch of the week, with the youngster catching a 12-pound bluefish on the pier. They also report the mullet bite is still strong.

Jolly Roger Pier reports the bluefish have shown up in numbers this week with flounder, drum and trout in the mix. The first Spanish mackerel of the season was caught this past weekend with water temperatures reaching 68 degrees.

Offshore and Gulf Stream fishing has been very good lately, with kings in the 30 mile and out range. Many boats have reported catching limits of yellowfin tuna in the stream. Wahoo, black fin and dolphin are also being caught.

Tight lines to all!

Weekly Column - April 17, 2006

Here's this week's edition of my column for the Topsail Advertizer:

Quick, call the police. I’ve been robbed! That quip is often heard by those around a fisherman who is “feeding” the fish but not catching. Those near me this past week-end heard it a few times too but for differing reasons.

We enjoyed some nice weather this past Easter week-end although it was very windy part of the time. As a result most of my fishing was inshore. The Bonito did make it to the near shore waters last week but not yet in huge numbers. With the warmer temperatures the inshore fish bite has really picked up. So it worked out perfect…except for those bait stealers.

Baitfishes are starting to show up in good numbers. In the creeks, the inlets, near the beaches just about everywhere. Except, it seems, in my bait bucket. Like many fisherman, I always carry a cast net with me and look for opportunities to fill my baitwell. This past week-end was no different.

I started my fishing day Saturday by hunting for bait. The effort was made difficult by the wind. It was hard to spot the fish through the ripples on the surface. As a result, shallow water seemed the best place to look for them.

Of course the problem with shallow water is that the fish can easily see you too. Usually as you approach, they scatter. So I look for spots that offer fewer directions for them to escape. I found just a place a few years back and go there on windy days especially if the tide in low. It’s at the entrance to a creek which has a sandbar that is parallel to the creek channel. At low tide both ends of the shallow area between the sandbar and land are cut off from the creek. The bait is trapped in there until the tide rises.

This results in ideal net casting conditions. I can walk along the water’s edge so as not to kick up mud in the water and look for the bait. Once I find the bait, I position myself behind them. They have only one direction to flee now, straight away from me. No rights, no lefts, just straight ahead. So I cast my net ahead of them knowing the shadow of the net approaching will cause them to flee. Even if I miss them, they can’t get far so I can try again. Perfect! Except for them nasty bait stealers!

I placed my bucket on the sandbar as I walked up and down looking for the bait. Once I caught some, I’d walk back to the bucket, deposit the fish and return to looking for some more. The first deposit was a meager four fish. I returned a few minutes later to find only two fish?! Hummm. That’s when I noticed a Sea Gull standing near the grass in the center of the sandbar. He looked pretty content which explained where those two fish went missing. Making a larger deposit, I partially missed the bucket with few fish falling to the ground. As I worked to release the others from the net, I noticed the grounded fish were gone. I looked behind me and sure enough, there was my dog, Lucy happily chewing on a mullet. My own dog caught stealing MY bait.

To round things off, my first cast with the live bait resulted in a bite. I missed the fish, so I retrieved the hook only to find a fish head dangling from my hook. Its body was cleanly cut-off behind the gills. No doubt the work of a bluefish, another accomplished bait stealer!

I did manage to catch a few fish after that so as they say “all is well that ends well”.

Inshore the drum and speckled trout bite has heated up. Some Drum, mullet and blues are being caught in the surf. Gray trout, some bonito and a few small flounder are being caught nearshore. The offshore bite has been good when the winds have allowed anglers to get out there. Grouper, black sea bass and snappers are being caught. In the Gulf Stream, reports are that yellow fin tuna and Wahoo are being caught.

Surf City Pier reports a very strong sea mullet bite especially at night with a few small flounder also being caught. The mullet bite remains good at Jolly Roger Pier with a few bluefish being caught on gotcha plugs as well.

Tight lines to all!

Fishing Report - April 15 & 16th

April 16, 2006 3:30pm - 6:00pm
Tide: Low at 4:30PM
Water Temp: 69-74
Air Temp: 88 degrees
Location: Near Figure Eight Island.
Wind: 5-10K
Sky: Sunny

Winds were still strong yesterday (April 15th) but did manage to fish inshore for several hours and caught some Specks. Today the wind had really backed down, it was warm and sunny. nice afternoon on the water. Caught a few small specks and 2 drum. The second, pictured below, was 25 1/2 inched long and weighed just under 7 pounds.

Fishing Report - April 14, 2006

April 14, 2006 6:00am - 4:30pm
Tide: Low at 6:15PM
Water Temp: 61 degrees -ocean/ 64 ICW
Air Temp: 76 degrees
Location: Richs Inlet - Liberty Ship - Masonboro Inlet - Mill Creek and dozens of spots in between.
Wind: 15K
Sky: Sunny

We left the dock at 6am headed out of Rich's inlet looking for the Bonito. There were reports of them being caught near Wrightsville Beach on Wed. It was very windy with 4-6 foot seas. We tried for 2 hours with no bites, no sight of birds and no reports of catches from other boats. So we headed inshore to fish the rest of the day in various locations. PV was my fishing buddy today. I managed one undersize flounder but no trout.

weekly column - April 10th

This is a copy of my weekly column for the Topsail Advertiser:

One of the questions I often get asked regarding inshore fishing is "where do the fish go in the winter?"

Of course the answer is dependent on the species of fish, but often the answer is "nowhere." They stay here. That message usually brings a retort – "Well I never catch fish in the winter."

I was browsing through my fishing log this past week looking for trends. These days I use a computer-based one, having abandoned the little scraps of papers long ago. With it, I try to record the basics of every outing: time, date, location, species, quantity and size. I also find it useful to track the water temperature and tide. The program I use automatically calculates and displays the solunar information for each day and location.

I noticed that I caught speckled sea trout in each of the last 12 months! It appears that the trout stay here throughout the year. The same is true of red drum and, to a lesser degree, flounder. In fact several of the local guides I spoke with recently mentioned "inshore slams" in January, February and March. This term refers to catching a red drum, flounder and speckled sea trout all in the same outing.

Another trend I noticed is the catching sure slowed down in the winter months, but so did my outings. I imagine the cold had something to do with both. Though I went out less often in the past three months, I tried to go out at the best times to catch fish. That is where the logs from previous years came in handy.

If you hang around with enough fishermen for long enough, you will hear nearly every tide condition, weather condition, time of day and general location mentioned as the "best" for fishing. At first that seems impossible -- how can the best time to fish be the last two hours of a falling tide as well at flood tide?

The answer lies in comparing all of the conditions together, along with fish species and time of year. And once again, a log comes in handy in sorting all this out.

Just when you think you have it figured out, a curve ball is thrown to you. Case in point -- my fishing trip this past Saturday. I looked at the tide charts, the weather pattern, the solunar tables and my log, and I determined the best time to fish was dawn and the first few hours after it.

My fishing buddy met me at the dock at o’dark-thirty and off we went. We went to the best spot I know for specks on a flood tide change and we got to work. Nada. So we moved back to a spot that should be good during the falling tide. Again, nothing. Then we moved to a creek that always holds drum on the flats when it’s sunny. Nothing but empty hooks.

Well after several more "smart" moves but no fish, it was getting close to noon and time to pull out and head home. As a last ditch effort I said, "Let’s try this spot where I caught some small bluefish a few days earlier." This was in hope of avoiding a shutout.

We fished there for about 30 minutes and then the wind jumped from 12 knots to close to 20 knots. About the time I said to my buddy, "Let’s head home …" WHAM – I had a fish on.

Expecting a small bluefish, I reeled him in and was surprised to see it was a speckled trout! At a place and time I never catch trout, no less We caught a few more before the wind blew us off the water. Conclusion: fishing logs help, but you never really know until you wet the line and give it a try.

Sea View Pier reports mullet and spots being caught, with many customers filling their coolers. Jolly Roger also reports Virginia mullet being caught in good numbers and a few spots, too. They report the best fishing times have been on the incoming tide at night but folks are catching fish at all times of the day. Surf City Pier reports mullet being caught in good numbers with some good-size fish in the mix.

On a final note, don’t forget to head over to East Coast Sports in Surf City for their one-cent-per-yard "Spin it On" monofilament line sale this weekend.

Have a great Easter weekend and tight lines to all!

Area Catching Report - April 7, 2006

Inshore/nearshore: The Red Drum bite is strong with nice slot sized fish being caught in the creeks and marshes. Some nice Specks are being caught with some Gray Trout mixed in as well. The chopper blues are biting but no big ones yet.

Surf/Piers: The Topsail Island Piers report Sea Mullet being caught in good numbers and some puffer fish still being caught. Early morning and late afternoons have been the best this week. Drum and mullet are being caught in the surf.

Offshore/Stream: Black bass and grouper are being caught in the 10-30 mile range. Blackfin Tuna near the stream.

The off shore weather looks to be rough the next few days so best to stay nearshore.

Tight Lines!

Weekly Column - April 4

This is my column this week, the Topsail Angler, which is printed in the Topsail Advertizer.

It’s official -- spring fishing has begun!

The mullet, drum and trout bite is going strong, and the bonito should be here this weekend -- if not as you’re reading this. I’ve talked to guys who have limited-out on gray and speckled trout at the same time this past week.

Last week, I touched on several of the fisheries that are active this time of year, but this week’s focus is on the Atlantic bonito. It is one of my favorite fish and really gets my fishing blood warmed up in the spring. The bonito visit our coastline around this time of year and stay until mid to late May.

Once the water gets above 62 degrees, you can start looking for them. They will come very close to the coastline but seem to prefer structures that break up the currents. The near-shore artificial reefs are a great place to hunt for them. While they do come fairly close to shore, it would be rare to catch one from the shore or pier.

The best time to target them is early in the morning around first dawn, but you can find them at other times. They usually travel in large schools and often can be seen busting on balls of baitfish at the surface. It’s quite a sight to behold for a set of winter-fatigued eyes!

Bonito spook easily, so you will need to approach them from up current, if possible, and then drift toward them. If they are not on the surface, use your fish finder in combination with a vertical jigging rig to find them in the water column.

Once you have located them and get close enough, they are fairly easy to target. They are a bit leader-shy, so I use a fluorocarbon leader -- never a metal or heavy monofilament one.

You can fish for them much like you would for Spanish mackerel. I like to use a fast action, light duty rod and reel, much like a flounder or sea trout combo with 10- or 12-pound test line. Many fishermen like to use a light metal jig, like a Maria lure or a Lurh Jensen crippled herring, to target them on the surface. Anywhere from ½ to 1 ½ ounces usually works well depending on the water conditions. If they are deeper in the water column try using a diving-type lure, such as the Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow Deep Diver, or pull a Clark spoon on a trolling weight.

The bonito will seem almost an easy pull at first bite. But when the fish realizes it is being pulled away from the school it will make a FAST run trying to catch up. Then they will begrudge you every inch of line as you reel them in. Once they see the boat, it starts all over again, only this time the run isn’t quite as far.

The bonito is a great-tasting fish, especially if treated properly on the boat. Much like a tuna, they are warm-blooded. Bleed them while they are still alive and ice them down right away. I like to use a slush made from two parts ice to one part sea water. It cools faster than ice alone.

Next week-end will be a great time to get your monofilament-spooled reels refilled if you haven’t already. East Coast Sports in Surf City will fill your reels with new Sufix Monofilament for only1 cent a yard during their spring "Spin-it-on" sale (April 13 through April 15). So gather up your reels, and head down there to gear up for the season!

This week’s catching report indicates that the spring bite is on!

Surf City Pier opened on March 31 with the first mullet being caught around 6:30 p.m. by Mike Forsyth of Goldsboro. As winner of the annual contest, Mike won a free season pass to the pier. They report that mullet and blow fish are being caught in good numbers. Jolly Roger pier reports the mullet bite is strong, with good numbers being caught at night on a rising tide. The report from Sea View Pier is that the fishermen are catching some good-sized mullet and a few small spots. They report the bite is strongest in the early morning and late afternoons.

Get out there and catch ’em, spring has sprung!

Tight lines to all!