Trip report - Dec 29, 2006

Another beautiful December day. The seas were a bit choppier and the swells closer together today but very reasonable for a 20 minute boat ride. I headed out to the first set of box cars (AR362) to do a little flounder fishing.

I found a spot that looked like it was holding fish and anchored up. I dropped down a 1 1/2 ounce white/chart bucktail tipped with strip bait and began bouncing the jig off the bottom. Soon I had my first taker, a 17 inch flounder. I proceeded to catch five more, two under 14 inches, two right at 14 inches and a 15 incher. I kept the 15 & 17 inch models..lol. I also caught a few black bass and kept the biggest - a 15 incher.



All in all, not a bad catch for a quick 2 hour winter trip!

Trip report - Dec 28, 2006

The weatherman forecast 2 foot seas and a light wind with sunny skies, perfect for a December run out to grouper fish. I linked up with Johnny B & and Scott K, a new friend. We headed out at first light. We took Johnny's 21' Mako and headed to a spot called Snapper ledges.

It is 36 nautical miles from New Topsail Inlet. We cruised at 28-30 knots most of the way and arrived in about 90 minutes. We dropped some chunk baits and cigar minnows to the bottom and hooked up pretty quick. We caught 5 red grouper but only 3 were legal size. We also caught some nice sized black bass, white grunts and a gray snapper. The wind & seas did pick up some out that far but still it was manageble. It was very flat once we reached 15 miles of the coast. We did a little more bottom fishing on the way in and reached the ramp right about 4PM.





Great day on the water with good weather, new friends and fish in the box!

Weekly Column - Dec. 20, 2006

It’s officially winter time. Does that mean the fishing has stopped? Nope, not in these parts anyway. There is still plenty of fish to be caught along our coast. Granted, the bite is slower and you have to work a little harder. However for an avid angler, there are fish to be caught.

Speckled trout and red drum are here all year round as are a few flounder. The big drum head out into the deeper waters of the ocean but the juveniles stay here. They gather in schools when the weather gets cool and can be found in the creeks. Look for them on the sand flats or shallow oyster rocks on a sunny day. Often they will tear up any bait or lure you send their way as the pickings are sparse in the winter. However a slow retrieve works best. Winter often also means clear water, so concentrate on presentation and stealth.

Much of the above goes for specks too. However, they tend to school up in the deep pools and channels. Mud holds warmth longer than sand. So at the beginning of the cold weather, mud bottoms are a good place to look for trout and for an occasional flounder. Yes I said flounder. While most of the flounder head into the ocean when water cools and the large schools of bait depart, some stay through the winter. Again, remember to slow down your retrieve.

The black sea bass have moved into our near shore waters and will remain there through the winter. This past week-end my fishing buddies and I caught a cooler full of black sea bass. Most of them were in the 12-15 inch range and were caught on some ledges 3 miles off Surf City’s beach. We were using 2 ounce diamond jigs on light tackle. Just drop the jig straight down to the bottom and then vertically jig it up and down till you feel a bite. That makes for some fun fishing and some fresh fish on a nice winter day.

Grouper and snapper fishing are also good in the winter but you will have to travel out about 20 - 30 miles. And of course if you have the right boat or go on a charter the Gulf Stream fishing is good all winter.

Another option is the Cape Fear River & North East Cape Fear River near Wilmington for striped bass. This fishery has rebounded nicely in the last few years. The stripers in the river don’t get to be as big as those in the ocean but still it’s not uncommon to catch an occasional 20 pound with many in the 5- 8 pound range. Try around hard structure on a falling tide. Just be prepared to loose some tackle as there is plenty of hard structure underwater to cut off your line.

Catching report

The speckled trout bite is slower but remain very good, look for the fish in deeper holes and channels now. The drum are schooling in the creeks. A few flounder are being caught but most are undersize. Black Sea Bass are in the 3 mile range with grouper and snapper much further out. Stripers are biting in the Cape Fear.

Cape Fear River - Stripers

I have been wanting to get over to the Cape Fear River and fish for stripers. Today was the day for it, low tide was at 2:30 in the afternoon and the weather was forecast to be beautiful. Indeed it was, 75 and not a cloud in the sky with just a light breeze.

At 10:00 we launched the boat at the ramp beside the Memorial bridge in Wilmington and headed up river. We decided to troll for the first hour or so then we would cast to structure on the last half of the falling tide. About 10:30 Chris' rod bent and the clicker made a short sound - no hook up but something knocked it down. My line was further back and when it crossed that same spot - wham! I hooked and landed my first Cape Fear Striper! It was around 20 inches and went for a X-Rap slashbait in white with an orange spot. We trolled that area for a while longer but no more bites.

Then we started casting to structure. There is plenty of it in the river. In fact we lost a handful of lures due to all the hard structure. We were casting bucktails and soft baits having put away the expensive hard baits. Chris landed a 20 incher on a gitzem jighead with a white Berkley Power bait shrimp (not Gulp!).


Then I landed two more fish, these coming on a Storm wild eyed shad in white. One was another 20 incher but the other was a FAT 25 inch striper weighing in at over 7 pounds. He was a blast to haul in on my medium-light trout rod!



Those 4 fish were spread out over a 4 hour period, so we didn't exactly "tear 'em up", but we had a blast and what a beautiful day to be on outside. As you probabaly noticed, white was the color today. We tried a whole lot of other colors in different baits but all the bites cam on white ones!

Fishing Report - Dec 16, 2006

Fishing inshore has been excellent this week. The specks are still hanging around the inlets up near the marsh grass and on colder nights moving into the nearby deep holes and channels. The water temps are in the mid 50's so you need to slow down your retrieve. I caught fish this week on Gulp! shrimp in several colors and on mirrolures - the MR808 is working best. Some of my buddies are using live shrimp under a popping cork and doing well.

Today as a buddy and I were fishing for specks near New Topsail Inlet, we had a great view of the ocean. It was almost flat as a lake with very little wind. After a while we could stand it no longer. We pulled up anchor and headed out of the inlet. With no real plan in mind, we rode out to a couple of reefs and ledges nearby. Pretty soon we were on top of a huge pile of black sea bass. I love to eat BSB and so does my buddy, so we decided to meat fish for a while.

We caught over 40 fish, keeping two limits (15 each). Most where in the 12-15 inch range. We were using sting silvers on our trout rods. What a blast and only three miles off the coast.



Someone had the bright idea to have a contest for the biggest and samllest fish of the day. The picture below will probably give you a clue as to which I won :)



Tight lines to all!

Column - Dec 4, 2006

I have had a fascination for the origin of words since my ole “disc jockey” days when I was young. I spent six years in the Navy and now of course enjoy recreational boating. Below are some terms in our culture that have roots in nautical life. These are just a sample as there are over 100 of them that I know of so far.

Buccaneer
From the French boucan, or grill, for cooking dried meat. Originally referring to those who hunted and smoked meat, it expanded to include those who ate it (or stole it) as well. Predominantly in the Caribbean in the 1650's, buccaneers differed from pirates in that they did not attack their own nation's ships.

Cup of Joe
Navy lore: Josephus Daniels (18 May 1862-15 January 1948) was appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913. Among his reforms of the Navy were inaugurating the practice of making 100 Sailors from the Fleet eligible for entrance into the Naval Academy, the introduction of women into the service, and the abolishment of the officers' wine mess. From that time on, the strongest drink aboard Navy ships could only be coffee and over the years, a cup of coffee became known as "a cup of Joe".

Deep Six
A fathom, the unit of measurement in most maritime countries for the depth of the sea, is six feet. Sailors used the term to refer to throwing something overboard and it has come to mean getting rid of something.

Filibuster
Buccaneers (see above) were known in England as filibusters. From the Dutch for vrybuiter (freebooter) translated into French as flibustier. It is now used as a political term meaning to delay or obstruct the passage of legislation (as opposed to sailing vessels) by non-stop speech making.

Footloose
The foot is the bottom of a sail, whether triangular or square, that is attached to the boom to keep it stretched. A sail that is not attached to the boom is said to be footloose and is very difficult to control as it moves with the wind. The term 'footloose and fancy free' refers to the motion of a footloose sail.

Knowing the Ropes
This is pretty obvious if you've ever seen a tall ship. It was such an important skill on sailing vessels that an honorable discharge from service was marked, at one time, with the term 'knows the ropes'. Land-side it still means a person with experience and skill.

Port and Starboard
Port and starboard are shipboard terms for left and right, respectively. Confusing those two could cause a ship wreck. In Old England, the starboard was the steering paddle or rudder, and ships were always steered from the right side on the back of the vessel. Larboard referred to the left side, the side on which the ship was loaded. So how did larboard become port? Shouted over the noise of the wind and the waves, larboard and starboard sounded too much alike. The word port means the opening in the "left" side of the ship from which cargo was unloaded. Sailors eventually started using the term to refer to that side of the ship. Use of the term "port" was officially adopted by the US Navy by General Order, 18 February 1846.

Shows his true colors
Early warships often carried flags from many nations on board in order to elude or deceive the enemy. The rules of civilized warfare called for all ships to hoist their true national ensigns before firing a shot. Someone who finally "shows his true colors" is acting like a man-of-war which hailed another ship flying one flag, but then hoisted their own when they got in firing range.

Took the wind out of his sails
Often we use "took the wind out of his sails" to describe getting the best of an opponent in an argument. Originally it described a battle maneuver of sailing ships. One ship would pass close to its adversary and on its windward side. The ship and sails would block the wind from the second vessel, causing it to lose headway. Losing motion meant losing maneuverability and the ability to carry on a fight.

Tight Lines to all!