Drum

Monday I decided to go back to the spot where I caught the flounder last week. This time I arrived about an hour before low tide. I had caught some small menhaden where I launch the boat so I decided to use those. I rigged them on a small jighead.

My first cast and I was hooked up. But it was obvious it was no flounder, I was loosing line quick! I didn't want to tighten the drag with the fish running so hard so I started the boat and chased him down. Landed a 28 inch drum which I released. I proceeded to catch 5 more all from 27 1/2 inch to 29 inches long.

I couldn't get to the flounder for all the drum! Nice problem to have.

Flounder time

I went out on Atlantic Lake today. It's also called Onslow Bay but as flat as it was this morning you would have thought it was a lake or something. The weather man called for 3-4 footers with 10K winds but I left the inlet at 6:30 and was met by 2 footers (and that's a stretch) that were on about 10 second intervals - in other words - very calm. It stayed that way till noon except for periods of NO wind when the ocean would shine like a mirror. After noon the wind did pick up a bit to about 10 knots but still was nice. Anyway - enough on the weather.

I wasn't sure if I was going today until last night so I wasn't able to get a crew on short notice. So I decided to work some of the near shore ledges by myself. I caught a zillion black bass all but about 20 of them under the 12" limit. I keep the 6 biggest, all over 14". I also caught 4 keeper flounder and a few smaller ones. Of course I caught a bunch of small/medium size sharks and a truck load of ringtails, lizard fish and other nuisance creatures. Not a bad day for the middle of the "dog days of summer". Fall fishing is right around the corner!

Lunch time flounder

Today I had the chance to duck out into the waterway at lunch time for a quick cruise. The result during my 30 minute lunch cruise were these 2 nice flatties - one at 16" and the other 19".

What's for lunch? Flounder of course!

Nice Folks!

This past week-end I discovered something I already knew. Has that ever happened to you?

I entered the Surf City Pier’s fishing tournament and arrived bright and early Saturday. Ready to catch fish and hopeful of winning one of the top prizes, I set-up my gear and began to fish. I did plenty of fishing, not a lot of catching mind you, but a lot of fishing.

I didn’t know any of the folks in my general vicinity but it wasn’t long before several of us struck up a conversation. This repeated through out the day as people would come and go. I noticed the same thing happening all over the pier, strangers meeting each other and making new friends.

That’s when the revelation hit me. You know -- the thing that I already knew but just discovered. Fishermen and women are nice people. Every time I go fishing in a place where there are other anglers near by (like the pier), I meet new people, nice people. Helpful people too – need to borrow a net or a pair of pliers, no problem there will be several willing to lend them to you. Need advice on how to tie that rig, you count on someone nearby that will be eager to help you.

As I pondered this idea, it also occurred to me that another group of people are like anglers. Campers! My wife and I enjoy camping, both on the beaches near by and in the mountains. We always meet very nice people camping too.

As I discussed this idea with a friend I had just made on the pier, he says to me “maybe it’s because being in the outdoors helps people relax and relieves the stress”. Ah – I think he’s on to something! Fishing, camping and many other activities where we enjoy God’s creation helps us to relax. Then the best in us shines bright!

So my conclusion is this, if you are feeling stressed out or just need to meet some new friends, go fishing!

Catching report

On the piers the early morning bite seems to be the best overall with some nice fish also being caught in the evenings. The hot weather has slowed down the inshore bite but anglers are catching flounder, black drum, blues, spots, some nice pound plus pompano and a few croaker, just not a lot of them. There also have been some nice Spanish caught but mainly on live bait.

In the creeks and waterway the puppy drum continue to feed near the marsh banks and docks. Some very nice flounder are being caught near the inlets with the first two hours of the rising tide be the most productive for many anglers. The gray trout have started to show up on the nearby ledges and live bottom. To target the grays, try bouncing a diamond jig or sting silver near the bottom.

With the very warm near shore waters, the king mackerel and mahi have moved back out into the 10 - 20 mile range and can be found on the ledges in 70 -90 feet of water. The best king action seems to be coming from live bait slow trolled on the downriggers. The sailfish are still in close but the bite has slowed down.

Off shore some nice catches of grouper, black sea bass, snapper, and grunts are coming off the bottom. Wahoo and billfish remain favorite targets in the Gulf Stream for those days when the seas allow anglers to get out that far.

Tight lines to all!

Surf City Pier Tournament results

I had the opportunity to fish on Surf City Pier yesterday in the Annual Mike Martin Memorial Tournament and attend the awards ceremony today (not as recipient but for the newspaper).

The morning bite was definitely the best overall yesterday although the winning flounder (4.23 pounds) was caught about 8pm. The morning started out very calm with a steady bite of flounder, black drum, blues, spots, some nice pound plus pompano and a few croaker. Then the wind started to blow out of the NE and then east and the bite just shut off until the wind died in the evening. A few nice Spanish were caught late in the day.

Here's a run down of the winners:

Spanish: 1st - Beverly Vause with a 4.76 pound fish caught on a yellowtail. 2nd - Jim Burke 3.34

Flounder: Andy Spoon with a 4.23 pound flattie caught on a Carolina rigged finger mullet. Margaret Ingram finished 2nd with a 2.86 fish

Pompano: 1st - Beverly Vause with a 1.41 pounder that swallowed cut shrimp on a bottom rig. 2nd place was captured with a 1.32 fish caught by Shirely Miles.

Va. Mullet: Cathy Allen finished in 1st Place with a 1.30 pound fish caught on cut shrimp. Second went to Augustine Hernandez with a 1.24 pounder.

Spot: Cody Hairr finished first with a .47 pound fish with Bryan Glassnap right behind him with a .33 pounder.

Blue: James Helms landed in first place with a 2.27 pound fish and Russ Becker brought a 1.32 pounder over the rail for second place.

In the children's division, Shoal Sullivan finished first with a .76 pound Angel fish. Dalton Williams took second and third with .67 & .62 pounders.

No Red Drum, Kings, Sheepshead, or Speckled Trout were caught during the tournament but 2 slot sized red drum were caught an hour after the tournament ended!

Photo's from the awards ceremony can be viewed here

Catching Report - 8/14/07

Surf City Ocean Pier is hosting the 3rd annual Mike Martin Fishing tournament this week-end. The competition begins at 6am on Saturday and runs till noon on Sunday. There are 10 categories of fish ranging from spots to kings. Each category cost $5 to enter or you can enter all 10 for $35.

The heaviest speckled trout pays $500.00 with each of the other categories paying $100 for first place and $50 for second place. They also have a special division for children 12 and under.

The awards ceremony is at 2PM on Sunday. They are also having a raffle and giving away door prizes throughout the week-end.

Catching report

Anglers fishing inshore have been catching some nice size flounder and red drum. The creeks and structures near the waterway have been the most productive. Live finger mullet and Gulp! Alive! Baits have been productive.

In the surf there have been some nice catches of speckled trout using live shrimp. Try them under a popping cork for added attraction. Some nice old drum are also being caught in the surf on cut mullet and live menhaden. Sand fleas are producing some nice catches of pompano.

The Spanish bite remains strong just off the beach. The kings are still biting but the bite has slowed. The best results right now are coming from live bait trolled very slow. Menhaden and cigar minnows are working well.

Some dolphin are still being caught around Cripple Rock and other ledges in that vicinity. There also has been a lot of sailfish activity with some being caught as close as 7 miles offshore. Both are falling for rigged ballyhoo.

Gag grouper are moving inshore for the summer spawn. They are being caught in areas as close as 12 miles. Live and cut baits are working well. The reds are in the 30 plus mile range. Many anglers are vertical jigging for them using butterfly jigs.

Tight Lines to all!

King fishing 8/7/07

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting and fishing with Fred. He is Muskie fisherman & guide, hailing from Toledo, Ohio. He is on vacation this week here on Topsail Island with his wife and children. My buddy Mark was able to join us too.

Mark and I left the dock at 6:00 to pick Fred up at the dock near Serenity Point on the south end of Topsail. Unfortunately a very inconsiderate boater decided to hog the entrance to Banks channel so Mark and I had to push my 2000 pound boat off the sand bar. We picked up Fred just a few minutes later than planned and off we headed.

The seas were very calm with a small chop on top (perfect to disguise the boat).

We went to the first set of boxcars about 8 miles off NTI, jigged up some nice cigar minnows and greenies. We even got a few nice size squids which I saved for later. We trolled that area for a couple of hours with only a barracuda to show for it. So we went further off shore and fished some ledges.

We caught 2 sharks and one king. We did have another king hooked up, he was probably a smoker as he reeled off almost 200 yards of line before the wire leader broke (must have had a bend in it).



Fred - I really enjoyed fishing with you and getting to know you today. I hope to get up your way for some Musky fishing someday.

BTW - the "dog days of summer" are here so the fishing will be real slow for a few weeks. Expect the kings to be spread out and the bite to be sporadic for a couple of weeks.

Sailfish!

My friend Gery and I headed out yesterday morning at 4:30 am for the Seagate KMT. Put the boat in the water and couldn't get the bow or anchor light to work Fiddled with it for 45 minutes and finally got the anchor light working but not the bow lights. Sunrise was now approaching quickly and light was available so we headed out for bait.

We arrived at our fist bait stop and nothing, so we quickly moved to stop two and filled up with menhaden. Out in the Ocean we went. Lines in by 6:30. First fish on at 7:30 - he was a whopper but not a king - he was a.................

............... Sailfish







He hit a live menhaden on a double pogy rig on the medium flat line. First He tail walked four times - what a sight, then when he couldn't throw the hook, he started on a screeching run of over 350 yards. Gery was working the reel and doing a fine job of keeping just the right amount of pressure on him. I cleared the other lines and the downrigger then turned the boat and chased the fish down with the boat with less than 75 yards of line left. Once Gery got him turned, we idled and the fight continued for over 20 minutes.

Once we had him in the boat we took pictures, measured him - a WHOPPING 73 inches! and then revived and released him to fight another day. What an awesome catch Great job Gery!

We ended up catching one king under 10 pounds and a few sharks. Lost a couple of small kings and an amberjack. Didn't weigh in at the tourney but we had a blessed day from our Father in heaven and enjoyed every minute of it!