Pier Awards & a catching report

A dedication to both fishing and the community has led the North Carolina Fishing Pier Society (NCFPS) to the bestow two awards for achievement and community service to a legendary fisherman and a distinguished fishing pier, said Al Baird, NCFPS founder and fishing advocate

The award ceremony is slated for June 16 at 1 p.m. at the Jolly Roger
Pier, Topsail Beach.

At the ceremony, the NCFPS will recognize Angelo DePaola for lifetime
achievement in pier fishing. This is the first Lifetime Achievement Award given by the organization.

To fishing enthusiasts, Angelo DePaola is a living legend, Baird said recently from NCFPS headquarters in Fort Mill, South Carolina. DePaola’s king mackerel total is equivalent to baseball’s Cy Young record for total wins (511 wins). It will likely never come close to being broken by any fisherman at any pier in the near or distant future.

Since 1958 DePaola has dedicated himself to hauling the big ones and his 490 king mackerel’s are counted in that record. DePaola once caught five of the trophies in one day. He also managed to bring in other species from the pier including red drum, amberjacks, tarpon, bluefish and cobia. DePaola also has a 400 pound lemon shark to his credit and in 1978 he made the rarest of catch a 7-foot sailfish.

A second honor, this one the 2007 Community Service Award, is slated to be presented to the Jolly Roger Pier for its years of serving as a community fishing bulwark stretching out into the turbulent waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Jolly Roger Pier is a landmark in the community and rightly deserves the 2007 Community Service Award, Baird said. This fisherman’s bastion has stood proud and strong serving North Carolina and the eastern seaboard fishing community for over fifty years.

The Jolly Roger is renowned for rebuilding quickly after hurricanes and is an extremely popular with local fisherman and others from all over the eastern United States. Lewis Orr built the pier in 1954 and it is still operated by the Orr family today.

The North Carolina Fishing Pier Society was founded in 2006 to promote the history and traditions of pier fishing in North Carolina. The organization seeks to preserve waterfront access and has submitted testimony to the North Carolina Waterfront Access Study Committee earlier this year.

Catching Report

Drum are being caught in the surf around the inlets with many in the upper slot range. Some Pompano and black drum are also being caught by surf fisherman. Inshore the red drum are on the oyster rocks and nearby channels. Flounder are being caught in good numbers too.

Seaview Pier is reporting anglers catching lots of blues, Spanish and a few pompano and spots. Surf City Pier is also reporting similar catches but also has seen a king and a cobia landed this week. At Jolly Roger they are seeing plenty of Spanish and blues.

The Kings are moving in and can be found inshore near structures like natural and artificial reefs. Most are still in the 20 and under range. Anglers are reporting some very nice catches of cobia this spring with it shaping up to be one of the best cobia seasons in a while. The also are moving in closer with the warming water with some being caught recently in the 23 mile rock area.

Tight Lines to all!

Fishing report - May 26, 2007

Today was an awesome day to be on the ocean. It is suppose to be even better tomorrow and Monday. The fishing was pretty good too.

The cobia were all around the Liberty ship off Masonboro, they were basking on the surface. I bet there was 50 boats in the vicinty. That seemed to turn the bite off. I only heard of one being hooked up and it was lost. Might have been others latter.

There is a nice temp. break in the 20 - 25 mile range with a nice finger of 77 degree water between two cooler bodies just before 23 mile rock. There was quite a bit of floating material and some splotches (no lines yet) of sargasum grass. The kings and mahi were biting around the temp. breaks.

I heard some reports of nice drum and flounder being caught in the intercoastal. Saw one nice flounder being cleaned back at the dock.

Vinita at Surf City pier reports that they are catching Spanish, blues, pompano and some black drum today.

Catch 'em up!

Topsail Island Fishing Piers

A long held tradition on our coast is the public fishing pier. Usually the piers are privately owned but available for all to enjoy. The ocean piers on Topsail Island provide easy access to deeper water and a wider variety of fish. And to be honest, they just plain make fishing easier.

Growing up in this area, like many of the local youths, I learned to ocean fish on our piers. It wasn’t till much later that I had the opportunity to fish from a boat. We would show up in early afternoon, plunk down our money for a ticket and some bait and then proceed to fish to our hearts content. Often we fished through the night and into the wee hours of the morning.

A while back, a friend and I were trying to remember all the names of the piers from over the years. We counted at least seven that have made home on Topsail Island at various times. I think I have fished on most of them at one time or another.

The recent boom in beach development has left many of North Carolina’s beach communities without a public fishing pier. The land is often “worth” more developed for residential use than for commercial purposes. We are very fortunate on Topsail Island to still have three ocean piers, one in each of the three townships.

Located in North Topsail Beach, Seaview pier is the newest pier on Topsail Island. With a pier length of 1000 feet, they also have the longest pier on the island. Their fully stocked tackle shop offers fresh bait for sale and rod rental. Their restaurant will cook your catch for you right on the spot for a small charge. They charge $7.00 per rod for fishing and offer a discount for military personnel.

The Surf City Ocean Pier is located just over the bridge to the right. Originally built in 1948, it was the first pier on Topsail Island. The structure was completely rebuilt after Hurricane Fran destroyed it in 1997. The 937 foot long fishing pier is owned and operated by the Lore family and features a 40 foot octagon with a live well tank at the end for King Mackerel fishing. The pier house is well stocked with tackle and bait. They have a grill with screened in dining and a game room for children of all ages and also will copok your catch for you. The fishing fee is $7.00 per rod for a twenty-four period.

Topsail Beach is home to the Jolly Roger Fishing Pier. Built around 1954 and currently owned and operated by the Orr family, this pier is also a landmark amongst fisherman. The pier is about 880 feet long and offers a grill for hot food and plenty of snacks and drinks. The have a well stocked tackle shop and carry a variety of baits. The cost to fish is $11 per person with each angler allowed two poles. Children under fourteen years of age are charged half price.

All three piers have a “blanket” fishing license so individuals do not need a saltwater license to fish from the pier. However this year you will need one to fish from the surf, sound side or in a private boat. They can be purchased at most of the area’s tackle shops.

Catching report:

The fishing is really picking with the warmer weather. Sound side fishing is producing some red drum near the docks along the ICW with a good number of flounder now being caught as well. Near the beaches the Spanish and blue fish bite has been very strong. There also have been a few nice cobia caught this past week.

In the surf, some pompano and drum are being caught with an occasional flounder. The piers report a nice spring mix of Spanish mackerel, blues, pompano and mullet being caught. The chopper blues are making runs through the shallow water causing some excitement at the end of the piers. A few kings have been caught also.

Off shore fisherman are reporting king mackerel being caught from 10 miles out. They are also picking up some nice mahi further out. Reports from the gulf stream include catches of yellowfin tuna, wahoo and a few billfish.

Happy Memorial Day and tight lines to all!

Relaxing afternoon on the boat

After church yesterday morning, I took my wife and her sister to the beach on Hutaff Island for a picnic. Afterwards we decided to cruise around a bit and then find a nice spot to anchor up and enjoy the beautiful day.

Of course on my boat, nice spot means - fishing spot We anchored up behing Rich Inlet right between Uttley creek - the ladies took in the sun, I cast around for a flounder or two. The wind really picked up - went from 10 knots to 20 and stayed there.

Then all of sudden, I feel a head shake on my line - pop - set the hook and started to reel the line in. Violent head shaking on the other end - not a huge fish but he is really rocking the line - certainly didn't feel like a flounder. I get him to the boat and I can't believe my eyes - it was a COBIA! all 12 inches of him He sure rattled that line for no bigger than he is - back in the big pond till next time do we meet.

Did manage two flounders and a under the slot drum also.

The Cobia hunt continues..................

No cobia, again

Went out Cobia hunting again today - had the same results as Wedensday - NO cobia. It was a lot nicer out there than the forecast called ofr - at least in the afternoon. Checked all there favorite haunts - nada. Did manage to catch a couple keeper ocean flounder. Oh yeah and a ton of blue fish which I saved for cobia bait.

I saw that one cobia a few weeks ago and can't seem to get near one again... Well there's always next week!

Fishing report - May 16, 2007

My buddy Mark and I left Rich inlet about 6:30 yesterday in search of a cobia. A tough fish to target as they move around alot but we decided to try anchoring up at some of their known "haunts" and do some chumming. We had three to four lines out at various depths including a light line on the surface. We tried several spots and even threw a snapper slapper around the NTI buoy on the way back in. Nada - didn't even see one.

Heard reports on the radio of good catches of Spanish and a few bonito nearshore. Also heard kings were being caught out at the schoolhouse and at the third set of box cars.

Tight lines!

Confession time

Okay - time to fess up about my mess up today.

The king mackerel were moving in just before the big blow came last week so I been watching the weather all week hoping for a break. We got one today. I was ready to head out at o'dark-thirty today... ready to catch the season's first king.

As many of you know, I'm an avid king fisherman and make all my own rigs. I make over 250 in the off season of all types and combinations (dead bait, live bait, with skirts, without, with turbo rattlers, etc). I put each one in a heavy duty zip lock bag and then store the bags in a water tight box. I take no chances when it comes to those rigs - they can make or break you in a tournament.

So today being my first outing of the season, I grab the rig box off of the work bench in my study to put it on the boat where it will stay for the season.

I headed off shore to the first set of box cars (8 miles out), jig up some nice cigar minnows and some small blue fish for bait. Head out another 6 miles to the second set of box cars - there's a nice temp break at a set of ledges just off the box cars - I go to get my rig box to load up my rods.... but where is it??? no box. I'm panicking now - 14 miles off shore, bait busting around me - not a single king mack rig in the boat. Not one!

So I consider breaking out the lures and pulling a Wellcraft Dave type fast troll spread but I also don't have a single wire leader on board (they are in a different, seldom used box that got left behind). I don't want to pull those $10 - 25 lures on mono leaders - they won't last past the first toothy king. Man, I'm dying - no king fishing for me today.

I'm still worried - did I leave the box on the bow and it blew off while towing the boat.... did I loose my whole season worth of rigs......

Nope. When I got home, they were on the kitchen table. As I came down from my study, I noticed my wife had gotten up so I stopped in the kitchen to talk to her, guess I set the rig box down on the table.

Learned a valuable lesson today - always have at least 10 king rigs stashed in the water proof tool box under the console!

I did manage to salvage the trip a bit by pulling some lures for spanish a few miles from the beach. Caught enough for a couple fish dinners this week-end.

Fishing report - May 8, 2007

Wind, wind and more wind. That has been the forecast for most days the past few weeks. It has keep most of the fishing fleet at the dock. However an occasional break has allowed for a brief trip or two.

Amazingly enough, a few king mackerel have been caught off of Seaview Pier in North Topsail Beach. I can’t remember when the last time a King was caught on a Topsail Island pier the first week of May.

The piers on south facing beaches in Brunswick county usually see an early king bite but not here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very welcome event. I hope is a harbinger of the season to come!

This wind came just at a time when the Spanish Mackerel and Bonito bite were going strong so I imagine on those days when the marine weather will allow, the Spanish will be there. It’s about the time for the bonito to departing but maybe we’ll have another shot or two at that hard tugging fish before they leave.

Red drum, black drum and occasionally sheephead are being caught inshore. A few flounder have been caught but mostly small ones. Nearshore a few grey trout and black sea bass are still being caught, mainly on diamond jigs.

I heard reports of king mackerel in the 15 mile range just before this last blow started which makes sense based on the fact an occasional one is being caught inshore already.

I don’t have nay information on offshore or the gulf stream as not many folks have been able to get out there this week.

Happy Mothers Day to all the moms. Sons – spend some time with your mom on Sunday – maybe even take her fishing… well okay, maybe shopping or to lunch.

Tight lines to all!

Blog comment response

This is a comment on my blog:

Mike,

Do you know any good areas btwn Figure 8 and Topsail or at Topsail that is good for catching decent sized flounder? If so what bait and tackle and time would you suggest?

Thanks,

Skifishin

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Skifishin - that is one of my favorite areas to flounder fish. Try Uttley channel and the little marsh ditches between it and Rich's inlet. I like to use Gulp! shrimp on a jig head 0r live finger mullet or pogies on a carolina rigged 3/0 circle hook.

Good luck and tight lines!

Bonito & Spanish trip 4-30-07

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting and fishing with a new friend, Gary from Nashville, NC.

We met at the ramp at 5:45 and headed out by 6am. The weatherman got it right, 10 knot winds with 1-2 foot seas - absolutely beautiful today. We headed out of Rich inlet with our first stop being AR364. As we aproached we deployed a few Yozuri deep divers and had a hit with in the first minute. Blue fish. Another bite, blue fish. More bites, more blue fish - all snappers.

We tired of that after 15 or so fish and decided to head to the top secret ship sunk off of Masonboro Inlet - there we fished with what seemed like the entire WB fleet... We hooked up with a pair of nice Spanish Mackerels and a decent sized Bonito all on deep divers. But the bite was slow and we wanted some top water action. Couldn't see that happening with 20 other boats buzzing around so we decided to leave.


Oh yeah, one of those other boats happened to be my friend "Big Al" and his lovely wife. We talked them into going with us to a different location (we really had to twist his arm)


Next stop was that top secret rock about 6 miles off Topsail (same name as a city in Texas that starts with a D). There we found some top water action and hooked up another nice bonito and lost a couple others to pulled hooks and a cut off. Al and his wife found some black bass. We all smiled and had fun (we were the only boats there).



Oh yeah, we had a Mr. Brown Suit (Cobia) come up and check us out at the boat but before we could scrounge up something to throw to him, he left. We also saw a big Ocean Sun fish. Man that is one ugly fish!


Great day with friends and fish!