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!