Topsail Angler Blog

We Moved

2008-03-10T05:32:00.002-04:00

We moved to www.topsailangler.com, come visit us there for regular Topsail Island fishing reports, a fishing wiki, forums and more!

Tackle UP & get ready to fish!

2008-02-27T10:00:00.002-05:00

Even though it has been a relatively mild winter in eastern NC, fishing activity for most folks slows down the first few months of the year. When I’m not spending my free time in the winter fishing, I use the time to get ready for the next fishing season.

If I can’t fish, at least I can get ready to catch a few once the fish begin to bite. A little time spent now preparing for the season will help me get off to a great start this spring and fish right on through the fall with fewer missed opportunities.

Like many anglers, I enjoy making my own rigs and this time of year is a good time to stock up on them. I make my own flounder, grouper, and king mackerel rigs. It saves a little money but the “reel” pleasure is a certain satisfaction I get when catching fish on something I handcrafted. It also keeps me connected to fishing activities when cold or stormy weather forces me indoors. The materials are simple and are available at most well equipped tackle shops.

Maintenance of my gear is very important too. I check my lures to make sure they are still serviceable. Looking for cracks or deep dings in the lure body or connecting materials and then replacing or repairing those lures as needed. That will prevent them from breaking when fighting that next smoker fish.

Some of them may need to have the hooks changed if corrosion or rust has appeared. Even if the hook looks fine, it probably could benefit from sharpening. I’ll have a better chance at catching fish with very sharp hooks.

Also it’s important to check leaders made from monofilament or fluorocarbon material to make sure there are no nicks or cuts and that the knots are still tight. I always replace the line if questionable rather than chance losing a prized catch. I also replace any wire leaders that are bent, crimped or with loose crimps.

Now is also a good time to get organized well. Cleaning out my tackle boxes and tackle bags will help free up some space and make it easier to find items. It also shows me where I need to restock. Now I’m getting closer to being prepared for the busiest fishing times.

It is also the time to clean and lube those reels. I check the guides on my rods to make sure the wraps haven’t begun to fray. Also checking for nicks on the inside of the guides, these can cause the fishing line to break and let the BIG one get away. I replace my monofilament line each fishing season. Even if it looks okay to the eye if it’s been in the water last season, it is in a weaken condition. Monofilament fishing line once wet will absorb some of the water then dry out causing the line to lose strength over a period of time. Catching fish also stretches the line and weakens it.

I also go through all my other gear like gaffs, landing nets, cast nets, etc to make sure they are in good shape and ready for another season.

Alright, time to make a trip or two to the tackle shop an now I’m ready for another season of fishing!

Tight lines to all!

Wintery Day at Sea

2008-01-26T16:12:00.000-05:00

Last night as I prepared to go fishing today my wife asks "have you seen the forecast for tomorrow". I answer yes, to which she says "you must be crazy".

Cabin fever will do that to a man, make him crazy I mean. I've been cooped up indoors too long with the bad weather. Dave B. agreed to join me for the day. He too is hard core about fishing and needed to get out and smell the salt!

We left this morning with temperature hovering at 36 and the skies threatening rain. The wind was fairly light but the weatherman promised that would change as the sun rose further in the sky and it did.

We anchored up about 8 miles off shore and started catching fish right away. First just some small Black Sea Bass, then some bigger ones. Pretty soon we were stacking up 15 inch plus black bass in the cooler.

Then I had a tug on my line that I knew was no Sea Bass. Several minutes latter this creature comes up to show its slimy self. Looks kind of pre-historic or something. We punched his round trip ticket and off he went.

Now the sharks show up. We noticed the creature had shark escorts when we brought him boat side and they decided to stay. So Dave says, rig me up the "big gun" as he prepares some bait. I get out the Penn 6/0 which is mounted on a broom stick pole and tie it off with a double swivel and a pair of 9/0 heavy duty hooks. Dave baits up, drops down and Wham - hooked up. Small dogfish shark, ugh. He baits up again and drops down. He keeps feeling something "big" knock his bait but can't get it hooked up.

Finally he checks his bait and he has two LARGE black bass on, one has been partially shredded by a shark. "OK - I'm gonna get 'em this time" he says. Baits up, drops down and pretty soon I hear a big grunt and then "gottcha!" coming from him. Tugging and pulling up comes not one but 2 large dogfish sharks. Hmmm.

The rain is falling now and the wind is howling in my ears (literally). So we do inventory: Raining, cold, dogfish everywhere, cooler of nice black sea bass = time to go home.

We only fished a couple of hours but it cured the cabin fever and felt good to taste the salty water on my mustache again.

Man I love this place!

Update

2008-01-16T08:03:00.000-05:00

I've been lax in posting lately, I haven't had much time to fish and when I did have time the weather didn't co-operate.

A quick reminder to self and all of you, check your fishing license for its expiration date before you go fishing next time. In NC it expires one year from the date you purchase it.

I have reports from friends that Striper and Speckled Trout fishing has been hot in the Cape Fear and Brunswick river. Some really nice Specks in the 3-5 pound class are being caught on live shrimp and gulp. The Stripers are falling for swim shads, eels and bucktails.

Hopefully we'll have some decent marine weather next week and I can get out and try for some ocean flounder & maybe grouper!

Till then, tight lines to all!

Fishing Trip - Dec 19, 2007

2007-12-23T14:20:00.001-05:00

I had the pleasure of fishing with a buddy of mine from Raleigh this past week. Randy owns and operates the web site, NCAngler.com He pulled his 21' Triumph and brought along a friend of his, Richard.

We headed out about 7:30 on Wed. morning. It was an absolutely calm and virtually windless day. There wasn't even 6" swells and not a ripple on the water. We headed out of Topsail Inlet aiming for a set of ledges about 13 miles offshore. We fished there for a few hours. It was slow catching but we managed a few black bass.

We headed about another 9 miles out to another series of ledges. As soon as we arrived I knew it was going to be a good stop, the fish finder shown lots of fish through out the water column. We even saw some bait fish breaking the surface of the water.

We dropped our lines down and immediately began catching fish. We caught some very large black bass, a couple of gag grouper, a few pinkies, grunts and tow dogfish (which went back). Then after about two hours and a fish box almost full, the bite just stopped. We fished for an hour or so longer then about 3:30 headed for a reef on the way back where I have good luck catching flounder this time of year. We only had 30 minutes to fish wanting to hit the inlet by sunset. We did manage to catch 2, on was a little short but the other was a nice 3 pounder.

Once again, I fished exclusively with the Shimnao Butterfly system, the other two guys used traditional bottom gear with dead bait. I added a new species to my lengthy list of species caught on the butterfly jigs, a nice size Octopus!

Great day of catching, friendship and boating!

2007-12-18T19:53:00.000-05:00

It’s almost 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. My favorite way to target them is with 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 fishing are also good in the winter but you will have to travel out about 20 - 40 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 slow but they are still biting, 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 further out. If you want to head out of the Topsail area, the Stripers are biting in the Cape Fear and some nice Blue Fin Tuna are being caught out of Morehead City.

Fishing trip 12-08-07

2007-12-08T18:50:00.000-05:00

Left the dock about 8:15 this morning and headed out to a spot about 13 miles out of the inlet. The seas were flat and the wind was calm - awesome weather, and on a Saturday to boot.

Today I decided to exclusively use Shimano Butterfly jigs on a Shimano Trevala rod with the Avet reel. Man those jigs are awesome. I boated a 9 pound grouper, two 18 inch flounders and a hand full of nice sized black sea bass and one white grunt (go figure). Threw back quite a few smaller ones including some smallish but legal BSB.

Nice day & now some good eating!

Catching report 12-06-07

2007-12-06T13:30:00.001-05:00

It’s wacky weather time. More often than not it seems each year we get some wacky weather this time of year.

Sometimes it comes in the form of temperatures that are out of the norm, like an 80 day in February or like this past week when the temperature vacillate between hot and cold. Sunday and Monday we had highs in the 60’s with an overnight in the high 50’s. Monday night thermometer plummeted from 62 in the daytime to 32 that night. A 40 degree shift! Brrrrr.

It pays to wear layered clothing, that way you can add or take off layers depending on the weather at hand. I also try to keep something water/wind resistant on top. That helps to keeps me warm and dry.

The fishing has been decent in spite of the wacky weather. From what I’m hearing and seeing we aren’t having a spectacular speck season this year in this area. Some are being caught but not as consistently or in the huge numbers we have seen the past two years. But that could still change as the water temperatures are still above average for this time of year.

The flounder bite has been got. A lot of little fish are being caught with some nice keepers mixed in. One just has to be patient and persistent. Natural bait, Gulp! shrimp, mirro-lures, X-Raps and Billy Bay shrimp are all working well for the trout and an occasional drum. Finger mullet (yes, there are still some here) and Gulp! are working well for the flatfish.

In the surf some very nice speckled trout are being caught. The north end of the island has seen the best action. The schools of drum are still making occasional visits to the inlets along the shoals. Plenty of grey trout are being caught on the ledges and rocky bottom areas in the 1-3 mile range.

Further out the black sea bass bite is going strong with some decent size fish being picked out of a ton of smaller ones. The grouper are still fairly close. Several of the big charter boats out of Morehead have been catching blue fin tuna if you want to give that a shot.

With the slower fishing season, I’ll be going to an every other week format through March.

I hope you catch ‘em up!

Catching report 11/21/07

2007-11-21T16:38:00.000-05:00

The weather has been awesome the past few days. cool nights, warm days, very little wind. The catching has been decent. A few specks are being caught in the sound, mainly near the inlets. They have been on fire up in the New River though. Try around the creek mouths. With so little rain this year the water is crystal clear earlier than normal. Also the salinity levels are high so they are way up the river this year (folks been catching them as far north as in Jacksonville between the bridges).

On the south end of the island, the flounder bite has been steady. A lot of undersize fish with an occasional keeper. The red drum bite is HOT on the south shoals of Rich's inlet. Lots of quality over the slot fish have been caught this week.

The kings have been biting in the 12 -15 mile range but will probably be heading further out after this next cold snap. Grouper bite has been hot and cold but they are still in 60' of water in some areas.

Hope you have a great THANKSGIVING!

Catching reports

2007-11-12T20:43:00.000-05:00

Someone recently asked me “where do you get the information for the catching report?”

I smiled broadly.

Most weeks I fish several times myself, so some of the information comes from my own experiences. Many of my friends fish and share their experiences with me. Obviously I check with the three piers on the island. But a good deal of information comes from charter boat captains. I have a number of them that I talk to on a regular basis. From all of that I boil it down to a few paragraphs of what I hope will be useful to our readers.

That same person asked me why I called it a “catching report” instead of the usual “fishing report”. Again, I smiled broadly. Then answered, “Folks want to know what is being caught, not sought.” She stopped “fishing” for information at that point.

Speaking of charter captains, we are blessed with some good ones in our area. They range from inshore specialist to saltwater fly experts and of course offshore big game guides. I have personally been out with a number of them. Even though I grew up here fishing in these waters, I learn something every time I go out with one.

I get quite a few messages via email and private messaging from out of town folks that will be visiting Topsail. They usually want to know what will be biting during the time they will be down. Most of them also want to know where and how to fish in the local waters. I help as much as I can but usually the best advice I give is to hire a guide for a half or full day trip. There is no better way to learn the local waters in a short time frame.

In fact, that is good advice for locals too. Have been meaning to learn a new style of fishing, maybe fly fishing or butterfly jigging? Perhaps you fish mainly inshore but have been itching to try some big game offshore fishing. Hire a guide and get a personalized lesson, plus you get to catch fish while learning! Speaking of learning, another good way to learn is to attend one of the many fishing schools in the off season. But I’ll save that for a future column.

Catching report

The piers are reporting some nice catches of mullet and loads of blues. The bite has been strong around dusk. Some flounder and black drum are still being caught. Reds and specks are being caught in the surf. The false albacore have been very active from just off the beach to about 1 mile out, just look for the birds.

The kings have moved off shore just a bit but can be found from eight miles on out to about 20. Grouper are being taken in about 60 – 90 feet of water with plenty of black bass and nice size white grunts being caught too. Offshore a few tuna have been reported caught. The Wahoo are still biting too.

Tight lines to all!

Catching report

2007-10-30T14:12:00.000-04:00

The wind has been blowing fairly steady and the swells have been rolling in, however the fall bite is in full swing.

Wayne at Seaview pier reports the Spot bite has been good as well as seeing some nice black drum and a few sea mullets come over the rail.

At Surf City Pier Vinita reports that while the king bite has slowed down the spot bite is stronger than ever. She hasn’t seen any of the yellow bellied spots but anglers are catching them “two at a time” on both sides of the pier! She says they are seeing some nice schools of Spanish but they are a little fickled when it comes to the bite.

The king bite has been hot says Robin at Jolly Roger pier. He also reports a “wide open” spot bite and feels this is one of the best fall fishing seasons he has seen in a long time. Nice size black drum in the 4 to 5 pound range are being caught as well as some flounder.

In the sound and waterway some nice drum are being caught near the inlet and along docks behind the island. The speckled sea trout bite is picking up with the New River area producing the best results right now. Again some flounder are being caught but many of them are undersize.

Tight Lines to all!

Spots

2007-10-27T10:09:00.000-04:00

Spots, Spots. I’m seeing spots!

‘Bout now you can hear those words from folks up and down Topsail Island. They are of course referring to the fish by that name. This tasty pan sized fish is a favorite with locals and visitors alike, many claiming they would just as soon eat a spot as a steak.

A friend of mine that works at Surf City pier says this time of year, 9 out of 10 phone calls are folks wanting to know if the spots are biting.

The fish get their name from the distinctive black spot just behind their gill. The fish looks similar to a croaker but have little barbell-like bumps under their chins, are smoother and wider, and have forked tails. Like a croaker, when caught the spot will make a croaking sound but usually softer and less frequently.

An occasional spot will be caught about anytime in the summer and fall. However this month is prime time for the little fish. They are caught from ocean piers, the surf and on the sound side from boats and the shore.

They often travel in large schools. At times you can fill a cooler full of the tasty fish in a short period. Other times, the bite can be, well, spotty.

Blood worms and shrimp pieces are two of the best natural baits. “Fish Bites” is a favorite artificial used to catch this fish. In either case, use a two hook bottom rig with a pyramid sinker is most often used. When the bite is hot, anglers will pull the fish up two at a time!

Catching spots, a time honored tradition in these parts!

Latest report from the piers are they are catching them 2 at a time and some of the yellow bellied ones have finally arrived. While the rain hasn't dimmed the bite from the piers (spots love "dirty" water), they still aren't many in the waterway.

Hot King Mackerel bite

2007-10-22T17:10:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday le left at 8:30 which is later than usual as the wind was suppose to (and did) lay down as the sun rose higher in the sky. We found some beautiful menhaden at one of our usual spots and headed out of the inlet.

Because the SW wind had been blowing most of the week and now it was from the west, we felt Surf City ledges was the best spot to start. We put out four lines and began to troll. We were fishing with friends in three other boats. There were probably 3 or 4 others in the vicinity too.

Of our four boats, 3 of us landed fish. We boated 2 kings, a 19 pounder and one that went almost 24 pounds. Our friends on the "Island Time" landed 4 and was spooled by a fifth that they lost. Johnny and his gang caught at two nice kings and 2 HUGE Red drum - we estimated them at over 40 pounds each. They hit menhaden on the king rigs.

As noted above he kings are still on the beach which is later than usual. The water temp. was 76 degrees! However with the cooler weather coming in this week, I'd look for them to move to the mouth of the inlet later this week then start their move to deeper water by next week-end or so.

Tight lines!

Blue Water Candy Lures

2007-10-19T21:00:00.000-04:00

Blue Water Candy lures are made right here in Hampstead, NC. They have been my favorite for kings, dolphins and offshore trolling for a number of years. They are quality made products that work well! They just plain raise & catch fish! In the last year or so they have really expanded the line. In addition to their staple products like skirted rigs, dolphin chains, sea witches and daisy chains, they now have dredges, umbrella rigs, Jags, Chuggers and even bottom rigs for grouper and sea bass.

They are now available online at NC Angler's eStore. Tell 'em Topsail Angler sent ya!

A fish tale & a catching report

2007-10-16T08:13:00.000-04:00

Warning: this column contains a fish story, while it’s a clean story, if you are sensitive to the truth being stretched, twisted, altered, or obliterated, you may want to avoid politics and stick to reading stories from fisherman.

On fishing trip last year off shore I had the opportunity to catch a fish, twice. The same fish twice that is.

The seas were calm with a gentle breeze and a few clouds in the sky. The kind of day that is very enjoyable just to be out in the ocean. You know what I mean, peaceful, serene, and relaxing.

We decided to head out about 20 miles to some ledges and try our luck bottom fishing. I made up some of my super, duper grouper rigs the night before. Much like the ones you can buy in tackle shops but with a unique bead pattern. I alternate red, green and silver beads above the hook but below the lead weight and swivel. A tradition I started one day years ago while goofing around on a slow fishing day.

I had a few assorted colored beads in my tackle box. Having nothing better to do, I decided to string a bunch of them onto my bottom rig. I figured at least it would give the fish something to stare at. No sooner than I dropped it down, I had a bite. The tugging and pulling indicated it was a grouper. Sure enough up came about a 12 pound grouper!

I put the rig down again and after a short wait, I hooked and landed another grouper about the same size. The third attempt resulted in a broken line, loosing my fancy bead work. I had no more beads and no more grouper rigs so I headed home. But a tradition was born.

Ever since then, I make my rigs using the same pattern of beads. Not that fisherman are superstitious or anything.

On this most recent trip, I anchored over one of my favorite ledges hoping to find some nice grouper. I lowered a big fat cigar minnow down to the bottom one of my super, duper rigs. It no sooner landed than I felt a slight tug on the line.

One thing you learn early on about grouper fishing is that you need to pull the fish off the bottom as quickly as possible. The whole battle is usually decided in the first 10 feet.

When a grouper grabs a bite to eat, they immediately turn to their hole or rocky ledge to digest the meal. Once in a hole it is very tough to get a grouper out of it. I liken it to trying to pull up a freight train that is wedged in a cliff.

On this occasion because he bite it so quick, I wasn’t prepared. When I felt the soft bite I was slow to set the hook and begin the retrieve. Just slow enough that the grouper made it to the safety of his hole. I pulled and pulled. He wasn’t budging an inch. Finally he broke the line off. When I pulled it up, the tell-tale signs of the line rubbing on a rock was evident.

I tied on a rig and lowered another cigar minnow. This time, knowing the exact depth, I stopped 10 feet short of the bottom. My hope was to lure a grouper away from the ledge and the safety of his hole. Nothing after 5 minutes, so I lowered it 5 more feet.

Bam, fish ON!

I quickly set the hook and turned the reel handle as fast as I could. It felt like a ton of bricks on the other end but I was making some progress. Finally I get the fish to the surface, a nice 15 pound grouper. As I’m removing my hook, I notice another rig hanging from his mouth.

It was another of my super, duper grouper rigs with the unique bead pattern. I had caught this fish not once but twice on this day! I think that was the best tasting grouper to ever pass through my lips.

Catching report

Inshore the speckled trout bite has been on and off but should be improving with the cooler weather. Mirrolures are working well as are live bait under a popping float. Flounder continue to bite striped mullet and soft artificial baits. Grey trout are still being caught on the near shore ledges and patches of hard bottom. Try a diamond jig worked vertically just off the bottom for good results. The spot catches have been strong at times in the surf and from the piers but be patient because the bite seems to go in streaks right now. Not many have showed up in the waterway and sounds yet but maybe with a steady NE wind for a few days that will change

Red drum, black drum and some trout are being caught in the surf. The pier reports a great fall bite. Lots of spots are being caught when the wind is out of the northeast. Anglers are also catching a few pompano, some flounder, and some big kings. The Virginia mullet are biting in the late evening and at night.

The near shore king bite has been excellent but I expect them to start moving further out anytime now. Many fish in the 15 – 30 pound range are being caught on live and dead bait from the beaches out to 15 miles. The grouper have moved in closer and can be found in 65 foot of water on ledges and reefs.

Grab and pole and go fish! Tight lines to all.

Spots, Kings, Spanish, WOW

2007-10-11T21:14:00.000-04:00

The fishing has been pretty darn good this week. The kings are back on the beach, the spots are chewing big time and the Spanish are still biting. I also saw some nice Pompano and VA Mullet caught this week with a few flounders to round out the catches.

Grab your rod & reel and go Catch 'em up!

Pier tours stop at SCP 10-10-07

2007-10-10T20:04:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Al and his lovely wife at Surf City Pier this morning on their week long NC Pier tour. Johnny (Fishin' Topsail) also was there and we fished side by side tryin to catch the largest fish on a gotcha plug. Sea Striker gave Al shirts and hats to give away at each pier for the biggest fish caught on their lure.

I caught several blue fish and then finally landed a 14" Spanish that ended up taking first place. Al also caught a nice 14" Spanish. Johnny finished in second place with a 10 inch blue fish (Al's fish doesn't count in the contest as he's the judge).

There were lots of folks on the pier and I saw quite a few nice fish come over the rail, mainly spots, blues and some nice pompano. We also saw a nice 16 pound king caught while we were there. He wrapped around five other lines but they still managed to get him to the gaff and over the rail! Another one hooked up at the same time but pulled the hooks.

As on most given day, you usually see something cool or different when fishing on a busy pier. Today I saw a large skate caught on a snoopy style combo. Yup - got a picture to prove it! (the gaff is in him to lift over the rail but he was caught and brought to the pier on the snoopy pole)

Freckled fish & a catching report

2007-10-02T08:32:00.001-04:00

Freckled fish. I heard that term said one day almost in a whisper by an angler answering his wife’s inquiry about what was in his cooler. freckled fish. That is code for Speckled Sea Trout. Or around these parts we just say Specks.

Speck fishermen are some of the most secretive anglers I know. Oh don’t get me wrong, they will tell you exactly how they caught the fish, what bait they used, what tackle was used, what technique was employed. But try to learn the location of the catch and you might as well try to take a piece of meat out of a lion’s mouth.

As one speck fisherman told me, “catching specks is easy, finding them is the hard part”. He went on to say “they will eat just about any bait when they are hungry”.

The hard part is FINDING them. You see specks move around throughout the day in rhythm with the tides, currents and especially the bait. Getting a handle on these patterns will help you locate them next time you go out. So location of a particular day’s catch becomes top secret information!

Here’s a conversation you might encounter with an ole salty speck fisherman while he is on top of a school of specks:

Visitor (V.) How's the fishing today?
Fisherman (F.) Just got here myself (translation - "just" can mean anytime up to a full tide cycle).

V. Having any luck lately?
F. Nary a bite (translation - he's only referring to the time since you arrived).

V. Nice looking trout rod you have there, you have much luck with it?
F. That ole thing? trout you say – ah, so that's what it’s for. (translation - his most prized possession).

V. Well have a nice day, hope you catch some specks.
F. Aye-up (translation - I will just as soon as you get out of my sight).

One thing that will help you catch specks is to take notice of the conditions when you catch fish and keep a log. If you keep track of those patterns you can look for them in the same place when those conditions re-occur. Items you will want to keep in your log include: location, tide, current, time of day, moon phase and the type of underwater terrain where you caught the fish.

By the way, the specks are biting now….somewhere, I just can’t remember where.

Catching report

The big news this past week has been the king mackerel are back on the beach! Vinita at Surf City Pier reported one day last week that they had caught 20, count them 20, kings before noon. Sea View and Jolly Roger piers also have reported excellent catches of kings. The ends of the pier are also producing nice catches of Spanish and blues. Spots, grey trout, Va. Mullet and croakers are also biting hard on this recent NE wind. A few pompano, flounder and specks have been caught as well.

Grouper are being caught in the 12 mile range with some nice size fish being bagged. The mahi bite is tailing off but some can still be caught in deeper water. Wahoo and tuna are being caught near the Gulf Stream although the weather lately has limited the ability of angler to get to them.

Tight lines and hope you catch ‘em up!

Spots

2007-09-29T19:33:00.000-04:00

The question I get most often this time of year from folks is "are the spots biting yet?". The answer is yes. they have been catching them on the pier, sometimes two at a time when the wind is favorable. This week they started catching them in the ICW near Topsail Creek, slow bite there but its a starts.

On a related note, I made my annual pilgrimage to the NC Spot Festival. It's exactly one mile from my house. Traffic is usually backed up but I can walk there since they moved it from the Topsail HS grounds last year. The spots seemed a little small this year and they definitely cut back on the fries and hush puppies (at least on the 2 dinners I bought late in the day). They were good though. They are open for business tomorrow too. Just come down hwy 17, you can't miss it.

Fall fishing

2007-09-25T22:09:00.001-04:00

Fall is in the air. Feel it? Cooler temperatures, first at night then the days begin to cool down too. With those cooling temperatures come some rain and thunderstorms. But generally the weather is mild barring a major storm.

Avid anglers around coastal fish year round but for many targeted species fall offers the best fishing of the year. From about mid-September as the days get shorter until mid-December, the catching really picks up.

As the water temperatures begin to fall up north, the fish migrate south to warmer waters. Species like Spanish mackerel, Atlantic Pompano, blues, spots and others make a visit here on their way south. Some of these species have been here all summer but really show up in big numbers this time of year.

Some of the other species, especially bottom fish, make a move into shallower water from the deeper waters offshore. They will stay nearer to shore until the water temperatures drop below 60 degrees. Then they will move back out to deeper water. King mackerel is also a species that will come in close to shore in the fall. They usually stay until the water drops below 66-68 degrees.

Other species seem to get bigger appetites and thus more active. Species like speckled trout and drum which are both main stays in the repertoire of fall anglers. Big doormat sized flounder can also be found. A few fish from each of these species will be here all winter long but fall is the time when they are the thickest and most active.

The cooler temperatures are also a lot easier on the angler. While there is still plenty of sunshine to enjoy it’s not as hot and muggy. In fact the crispness of the morning air is a welcome feeling to most of us about this time of year. Even without the great fishing, there is something special about being out on the water in the fall, it is refreshing!

Catching report

Inshore activity is really picking up. The spots are being caught on the piers “two at a time” and should be moving into the waterway in the next week or so, probably after this full moon. The pompano are chewing on fresh shrimp and sand fleas when you can find them. Some nice one to two pounders are being caught in the surf and on the pier.

Speckled trout are still in the surf and can be found near the marsh grass and in creeks and ditches near the inlets. They are biting well on live shrimp but gulp! Artificial bait and a variety of lures are working well. Drum are still biting in the waterway with the falling tide seeming to be the most productive.

The Spanish mackerel bite has been very hot near the inlets and beaches with the best bite in the early morning and late afternoon. Clark spoons and diamond jigs are working well. Get them now as they will be moving south soon. Plenty of blue fish are also being caught.

Pompano fishing and a catching report

2007-09-18T07:18:00.001-04:00

It’s one of the best tasting fish in this neck of woods, but you won’t find it at the grocery store. It’s not on the menu at any of our local restaurants. Don’t look for it at the fish markets. If you could find it, you would pay a small fortune for it.

The fish I speak of -- Florida pompano.

This prized fish is caught only on hook and line, and while they run in schools, they are not caught commercially in large numbers. An occasional pompano can be caught in the summer here any time the water temperature is above 70 degrees. However, they show up in the biggest numbers in September when the northern waters begin to cool down, and they head south to their winter home off the coast of Florida.

An average pompano weighs about a pound, with some of the bigger ones reaching more than two pounds. They feast on small crabs and shrimp, and the sand flea (sand mole crab) is their favorite meal.

They can be caught in the surf or from the pier. Anglers catch them in the shallow water right at the base of the breakers where they hang out waiting for the sand fleas to be washed out in the surf.

To catch them, most anglers use a surf rod with a two- or three-hook bottom rig. Get a small shovel and dig up some sand fleas in the shallow water on the beach. Some folks use rat wire (hardware cloth) to sift them out, but running your hand through the loosened sand works just as well.

I like to use a #2 or #4 khale hook to hold the sand flea and about a 3 ounce sinker to hold the bottom. Cast the rig out just past the breaking waves and hold on. Believe it or not, they put up a great fight for a small fish, especially if you hook up with two at once.

Sometimes you can fill a small cooler on a single tide; at others you might only catch a mouthful. In either case, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this tasty fish!

Catching report

The bite is starting to pick up with the cooling water temps. Should only get better over the next few weeks, Flounder fishing has been real good lately especially near the creek mouths and near the inlets on the last of the falling tide. There have been some reports of some nice specks being caught up on the northern part of the island. Puppy drum continue to bite in the creeks and waterway.

In the surf some nice pompano are being caught as well as an occasional drum and a few specks. The Grey trout are chewing on the ledges and hard bottoms just outside the inlets. Spanish fishing should continue to be great for the next few weeks until the water cools into the low 70’s. The piers have reported nice catches of spots and mullet especially after dark. They also are seeing some nice Pompano caught.

The near shore king mackerel bite recently returned to the near shore waters with several nice ones being caught on the island’s three piers as well as boats trolling in the 1-3 miles range. The gag groupers have moved close to shore and can be found in the 12+ mile range.

Fall is in the air! I hope you catch ’em up.

Catching report - 8/30 & 8/31

2007-09-01T07:37:00.000-04:00

Went out Thursday afternoon to fish the last hour of the falling and first hour of the rising. Went back to the spot I had been fishing the past week. Caught 5 red drum all in the 28-30 inch range. Again, couldn't get through the drum to get to the flounder. Look for the drum on the oyster rocks at low tide - they are tearing up the bait!

Friday I went out with a couple of my buddies on their 25' Hydrasport WA. We have been laying low the past few weeks from trolling cause of the hot water but decided to "test the waters" today. We went out to the first set of boxcars and jigged up greenies, google eyes, hard tails and cigar minnows. Then we headed out to the 23 mile reef area and slow trolled live bait.

We fished those great baits all morning - nothing but one short strike. So we decided to switch to ballyhoo and target the Mahi by fast trolling. Bingo - we had two hook ups and managed to get one of them to the boat - a 10 pounder. Slow day - still need some cooler water for the trolling bite to pick up again.

Drum

2007-08-29T21:36:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-25T17:38:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-23T15:33:00.000-04:00

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!

2007-08-21T19:21:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-19T16:55:00.000-04:00

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

2007-08-14T20:12:00.001-04:00

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

2007-08-08T15:21:00.001-04:00

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!

2007-08-05T13:50:00.002-04:00

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!

Fishing report

2007-07-31T17:17:00.001-04:00

Fishing remains hot and the marine weather has been pretty good overall this year! I hope you have had plenty of opportunities to wet a line!

This past week-end I fished in a small King Mackerel tournament in Southport. It was friendly tournament with most of the proceeds going to charity. In this case it was the Cameron Boys camp run by the Baptist children’s homes. The Baptist Children’s Home is a great cause that helps families and children in distress.

Several of the boys from the camp came to the awards banquet and told us how the camp had changed their lives. They also had the chance to unload a 65 pound Wahoo that was caught by one of the boats in the tournament. The fish was caught less than 20 miles from shore on a dead cigar minnow. Catching a Wahoo that way is very unusual but what a nice experience for those guys!

Catching Report

Inshore and offshore fishing has been hot lately. Drum, trout, flounder and sheepshead are being caught in the waterway, creeks and marshes. Look for the drum near the marsh banks or on the nearby flats. Flounder are being caught near docks and pier pilings. There have been some nice Spanish caught but only a few here and there. The blues are biting near the inlets and along the tide line just off the beaches.

Red drum, a few pompano and some croakers are being caught in the surf. The piers are reporting a mixed bag of bottom fish. They also are seeing some big sheephead taken early in the morning and late afternoon on sand fleas near the pilings. Small blues and mullet round out the catching.

The Kings seem to be everywhere. Some are closer to shore with some being caught around the near shore reefs and ledges as well as off the piers. Mahi are being taken from 10 miles and out -- look for a good weed line to work. Some nice sailfish, marlins and Wahoo are being caught out near the Gulf Stream.

Tight lines to all!

Surf City Pier tournament & a catching report

2007-07-24T19:59:00.000-04:00

Saltwater tournament fishing has become very popular on our coast. There is a tournament of some sort just about every week-end and sometimes several. Many of them have huge cash prizes and big entry fees. Some are smaller and designed more for fun than for winning money.

But almost all of them are based on fishing from a boat. There are a few exceptions including the Mike Martin Memorial tournament. This annual event is held at Surf City Ocean Pier in memory of their former manager, Mike Martin.

This event was actually the brainchild of Martin. His idea was to promote the fun of fishing and some bragging rights during the hot weather time of the season.

Tragically he passed away suddenly while still planning the first tournament. Later the pier management team picked up the ball and ran with it. Fittingly they decided to name the tournament for Martin.

This year’s tournament will be the third annual event and will be held August 18th and 19th at the pier. Fishing starts at 6am on Saturday and continues through noon on Sunday. The award presentations will be made at 2pm on Sunday.

There are ten categories of fish ranging from flounder to king mackerel. An angler can choose one or more categories to compete. The entry fee is very reasonable at $5 per category or $35 if you wish to enter all 10.

Each category except speckled trout has a payout of $100 for first place and $50 for second place. The grand prize of $500 goes to the angler that catches the heaviest Speckled trout. They also have a special category for children. For further details visit their web site at www.surfcityoceanpier.com or call them at 910.328.3521

Catching report

The piers are reporting many, many catches of king mackerel with many of them over 20 pounds. Regulars on the pier are saying this is the best year for king fishing they have seen in years. Bottom fishing is yielding a few mullet and an occasional flounder.

The puppy drum continue their usual summer pattern of feeding near the marsh grass on the high tide half of the cycle and around the docks and other structure at low tide. Flounder are being caught on live finger mullets, fin-s lures and Gulp as well as other soft baits. There have been some big red drum caught on cut mullet in the surf with the best bite being at the north end of Lea island.

Offshore the kings and mahi continue to chew and can be caught on a variety of natural bait or on lures. A few sailfish continue to be caught in the 5 – 25 mile range.

Tight lines to all!

King fishing from a Pier

2007-07-13T17:25:00.000-04:00

We are fortunate to have three ocean fishing piers on Topsail Island. Like many boys in the area, it is where I learned to saltwater fish growing up. I still have fond memories of fishing all day and half the night, filling coolers, and eating burgers in the pier house among others.

While bottom fishing is the mainstay of the pier fishing crowd, targeting king mackerel from the end of the pier has always been very popular too. It does require more equipment and preparation however.

Here’s a quick overview of one of the most popular techniques for catching kings from a pier.

You will need two rods and reels for live bait king fishing. One rod is used to cast your anchor line. The anchor rod is typically a 10-15 foot surf type rod, using 20 pound test to sling a 4-8 ounce anchor.

The bait is attached to the end of the fighting rod which is a medium to heavy action, 6-7’ foot with 4/0-9/0 reel and using on average 30 pound test.

Make the leader for the fighting/bait rod out of 6-foot of 100 pound mono attached to two feet of 90 pound seven strand wire and two #4 treble.

Take your anchor rod and sling the anchor out and secure it to the bottom. Then you will attach your baited fighting line to the anchor line. This rig consists of a loop clip, a weight and clothes pen. The loop clip, usually something like a shower curtain clip with weight goes on your anchor line and the clothes pen attaches to the bait line. An alternative is store bought release clip.

Now lower your bait down to the water on the anchor line. You can adjust the depth of your bait in the water by how far up the bait line you attach the clothes pen. Most fishermen keep the baits down about 3-4 feet, but it’s not uncommon to see baits on top or as far deep as 6 feet.

The force of a strike will release the bait line from the clothes pen. Take multiple clothespin/release clips – that way you don’t need to pull up the anchor line every time the fighting line releases from the clip.

Live baits of choice vary-but almost always consist of what is available from the pier at the time. Bluefish, pogies, spots, pinfish and even lizard fish are used as baits.

You will need a grapnel type gaff that is lowered by rope to gaff the fish and then hauled on deck. It looks very similar to the anchor weight, except bigger and heavier.

Now you are ready to catch kings from the pier!

Catching report

The puppy drum can be found under the docks in the waterway around low tide. Try fishing for them around the marsh grass during high tide using top water lures. The flounder bite has been somewhat slow with many undersize fish being caught. Around the inlets seem to be producing some keepers size fish.

There have been some nice pompano caught from the surf and piers. Large red drum have started to show up in the surf, especially around the north end of Lea Island. There also have been some reports the tarpon have arrived. Try live baits around the inlets for this hard hitting, fun to catch fish. Remember to release that tarpon alive, they aren’t good to eat but are fun to catch.

The king mackerel bite near shore has slowed down some these past few weeks but plenty of kings are being caught near the ledges in the 8-15 mile range. Lots of dolphin and a few sail fish too. Keeper size grouper are being caught in the 20 mile range with some other nice bottom fish in the mix as well.

Tight lines to all!

King fishing - 07-07-2007

2007-07-08T17:27:00.001-04:00

Left the dock at 5:45 this morning - gathered some nice pogies very close to home and headed out of Rich's inlet with high hopes for a spectacular day of catching. First stop was Dallas Rocks. We had the baits in the water by 6:40 - fished there till after 8. Nothing but a Barracuda to show for it.

We moved further out to a place called 9 mile rock, just before we got there we found a huge patchy weed line. I saw a huge fish jump a few hundred yards ahead of us (can't be sure but I think it was a sailfish), then we spot a dolphin off our starboard side but couldn't get him to come play in our spread. Sight casted to him but no go there either. No further action at this spot, save one shark on the down rigger line.

Tried a couple of other spots and then we hit pay dirt near 18 mile rock. We found large schools of bait and worked around them. We boated some nice kings and parted ways with some toothy sharks before we spotted the dark clouds to the southwest of us (headed northeast - toward us).

So we raced for the hill, just beating the thunderstorm and rain to the dock.

Total for the day:
Invited into the boat - 4 kings (biggest was 12 pounds).
Denied permission to board: 1 big stinky, 4 sharks
Declined invitation to play - one gaffer dolphin

Topsail King Mackerel Tournament results

2007-07-02T21:05:00.000-04:00

Topsail Offshore Fishing Club held its annual King Mackerel tournament this past week-end. The 23rd annual tournament was once again a Southern Kingfish Association (SKA) sanctioned event.

SKA teams fishing in the event received points based on how they performed in the tournament. These points and the ones they earn in the other three qualifying tournaments in the division are used to determine who goes to the national championship at the end of the season.

Of course many other local boats fished in the tournament as well. This year the town of Surf City was a co-sponsor and provided the facilities at Soundside Park for the club to use during the tournament. Club President Wayne Batson said that the club was very appreciative to have use of the park for the tournament headquarters, weigh in and awards ceremony.

While the marine forecast held back some teams that would normally enter this annual event, almost 100 teams fished in this year’s tournament. Teams from all over the state entered the event in hopes of capturing the grand prize of $15,000.

Captain Henry Moore fishing on the boat, Bobcat, took first place with a fish weighing in at 32.70 pounds. During the weigh-in of the fish, Moore said “we needed this, the team has been working real hard all season and it’s great to have a big fish to weigh-in today”.

Close behind in second place with a fish weighing 32.15 pounds was the Liquid Fire team captained by Mark Henderson. Third place went to Allen Kinney’s team on the Gambler with a 31.85 pound king.
First place for boats 23’ and under went to Phillip Cottrell on the boat Long Overdue. The top lady angler prize went to Porshe Johnson fishing on the Squeeze play with her fish tipping the scales at 26.90 pounds. The junior angler award was captured by Crockett Henderson on the Liquid Fire team.
The tournament paid the top 30 boats, complete results can be found on the club’s web site at www.tofc.com. Congratulations to all the teams and the club for another successful tournament!

Catching Report

The king bite has been strong with fish being caught everywhere from the beaches out to the 30 miles. Fishermen are saying this is one of the best years for King mackerel they have seen in years. Same goes for Mahi Mahi with fish being caught as close as 5 miles offshore.

The piers are reporting catches of kings, blues a few Spanish and a variety of bottom fish. The red drum bite has been strong inshore and some nice flounder are also being caught. Live bait is plentiful and the choice of many anglers right now.

Offshore a few wahoo are still being caught and their have been reports of a number of nice sailfish being caught and released. A few marlin have also been reported. The grouper bite is still strong in the 35 mile and out range.

Tight Lines to all!

Kings and Mahi - June 26, 2007

2007-06-27T18:56:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to go fishing with my good friend, Randy Durham owner of NC Angler.com. The Lord blessed us with one of the most beautiful days on the ocean I have ever seen. Not a cloud in the sky and hardly a wind or swell to be found on the sea - it was like a mirror.

We headed out about 24 nm and started trolling ballyhoo for Mahi. It wasn't too long before we had a hook up. Only trouble is that before Randy could get it to the boat, a toothy critter decided to make the back half into his breakfast. We did manage to catch a whole one a little later. We had several short strikes (most likely kings) and lost another one on the way in.

We only had one pack of ballyhoo (the bait store was wiped out). So after that was gone we decided to come in a little closer and king mackerel fish. Our first two stops resulted in NO fish, so we tried a third spot. We didn't even get the first bait all the way out when we got our first strike. Once again, Randy got half of a fish (King) to the boat. So I started calling Randy, Mr. Halfafish.

It wasn't long before we landed a whole king, then a few more. Most of them where in the 8-10 pound range. Randy did have one smoker that looked to be a 25 pounder at the boat side but it turned at the boat, slacked the line and threw the hook..... We finally had to leave the fish biting as it was getting late.

Great day on the water with a good friend and some good fishing!

King fishing - June 23, 2007

2007-06-23T20:40:00.000-04:00

Went out this morning with two friends trolling for kings. We met at the dock at 6 am and didn't have to go far for bait. In fact we didn't even leave the dock as the menhaden swam right by the boat, I threw the net on them and we loaded up. We had to cull them as some were small but there were some nice 7 inch ones in there too. One more cast and we were ready to head out.

We had heard the beach bite was strong the day before so we headed out of the inlet and started to troll around the Topsail ledges. Apparently half of the folks in the Jolly Mon KMT heard the same thing and decided to come up here to fish. We saw over 35 boats. We hooked a few small fish and boated a ten pounder.

The bite being slow and the fish being small, we headed off shore about 14 miles. We found large schools of bait busting the surface (being chased) and trolled around them. We also jigged up some of the greenies they were chasing and used a mix of pogies and greenies in our spread. We hooked up several nice fish including a smoker that weighed in at 32 pounds! Then the bite died.

We came back to Topsail ledge and finished the day off with a 6.2 pound Spanish!

That smoker was the fattest King I have ever seen! I've caught longer and heavier but not a fatter one - he ate well for sure!

Nice day of fishing for sure!

Menhaden and a catching report

2007-06-22T06:58:00.000-04:00

King mackerel anglers have enjoyed a great start to the season this year. The king bite has been very hot, especially near shore with plenty being caught from both pier and boats.

One of the big reasons is the abundance of menhaden schools near the beaches this year. Often referred to as pogies or bunker by local anglers, they are tops on the menu for king mackerel. I have seen school after school pogies this year. Some of the schools are as big as a football field. They often are so thick they form a big dark blotch in the water when seen from above.

While some of the largest schools are in the ocean, many smaller schools have moved into the waterway and the salty portions of the creeks. It is easy to spot a pogy, especially in the early mornings or late evenings they like to flip just at the surface. Not a fully exposed out of the water jump like a mullet. Rather a popping like action right at the surface. In the dark just before dawn, you can often find the schools by listening for them.

Most anglers use a 5/8inch mesh net in the 8 -12 foot diameter range to catch menhaden. It helps to have at least 1.5 pounds of lead per foot of net to get the net down fast. Menhaden spook easy and move fast.

Once caught it is important to keep menhaden well aerated in a live well as they are somewhat fragile. Once there noses start to turn red or they loose the slim coating on their scales, the kings will loose interest in them.

The pogy is then put on a hook and wither tethered to an anchor line from the pier or slow trolled behind a boat. Once the king finds the pogy swimming about, he usually tries to make a quick meal of it. Then the fight begins!

Catching report:

Kings are being caught off the piers and near shore. We are starting to see some of the bigger ones too with some reaching over 30 pounds. Some medium to small Spanish mackerel are also being caught near shore.

Off shore the Mahi bite has been strong with ballyhoo and squid chains being the most effective baits right now. Some very nice grouper are being landed in the 35 – 45 mile range. A few bill fish and wahoo are being reported in the stream.

Inshore some keeper flounder are being caught near the inlets with a few large specimens being landed near bridge and pier pilings. The red drum bite has been a little slow but they are starting to show up in the surf. Some nice catches of black drum and sheephead are being reported as well.

Tight lines to all!

King fishing 6-19-07

2007-06-20T14:11:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of fishing with Al on his boat yesterday and also with his friend, Gerald. We got some pogies back in the creek where we launch the boat and headed to the beach. We fished the southern half of Topsail Island with a few knockdowns but no landed fish. Then the long line went screaming. I thought for sure we had a smoker king on. Forty minutes later we saw that it was a Hammerhead shark. We brought him to the side of the boat for pictures then let him go. I'd say he was 6-7 feet long and weighed in around 100 pounds.

We were in 20 feet of water about 1/2 mile from the beach when we hooked up the hammerhead.

Later we moved out to an area known as the battle zone. Gerald landed his first ever King Mackerel. Way-To-G0 Gerald! We had several other hook-ups including a few more sharks.

King Fishing - June 16, 2007

2007-06-17T16:25:00.001-04:00

Got a late start yesterday morning as the wife had been sick and I wanted to make sure she was fine before I left. Ended up going with a friend and his daughter on their boat.

We left the dock around 11:30 and started looking for some pogies. There was so much boat traffic we couldn't find any inshore so we headed out of the inlet and up the beach looking for some. We found them about 2 miles south of Surf City Pier in 17 feet of water.

We had the lines in by 12:30 and fished that area for an hour. We decided to move and we started pulling the lines. Had them all in but the medium-long line and ZINGGGGG... off went the clicker. 5 minutes and three runs later we had a 17 pound king in the box.

As you guessed, the lines all went back in the water and we went back to fishing. 20 minutes later I noticed our prop wash bait was rolling. So I pulled it in to put on fresh bait - then I saw why it rolled - it had it's lower third slashed. A sure sign of a King hit. So quickly I baited up and feed the line back out. Sure enough, there is Mr. King in the prop wash swimming next to the fresh bait. We dropped it back a bit - still watching but not biting. Then he disappeared. Thirty seconds later there he is again, looking at that bait again... Waiting.... waiting, then he drops back 10 feet, I'm thinking he's about to leave again. Then ZING - he charges the bait, hooks up and makes a run for the deep water! A few runs later, 12 pound King in the box.

We also caught a nice size Spanish and a nuisance shark. Not bad for a short, late starting fishing day!

King Fishing

2007-06-12T08:30:00.001-04:00

This is the time of year when pier fisherman and small boat fisherman anxiously anticipate that a "smoker" king will find the bait they have dangling from their lines. Kings are migratory, but unlike many other pelagic species that visit out coast, they move more in an east-west direction than a north-south. This is the time of year they spawn and the time the really big fish can be found up near the beach.

Fishermen refer to the really big kings, those more than about 20 pounds, as "smokers." Some say the slang term is used because once they get that big, the best way to eat them is to smoke them on a cooker. Others attribute the moniker to what a fish of that size does to the drag on your reel. Regardless of where the term originated, it represents the prize fish every king fisherman hopes to catch.

One columnist once wrote that smoker-sized king mackerels "race like a greyhound and fight like a cornered hog." This is a very appropriate description in my opinion. In fact, I think it describes the basis for why king mackerel are such a popular fish to catch. The adrenaline rush produced by fighting a 30-pound fish on light tackle is enough to keep fisherman on the lookout for hours and days at a time.

Big kings move in this time of year following the bait schools that can be found right now off our beaches. Sometimes these schools are the size of a football field and can be spotted from the beach. These attract those spawning kings hungry for an easy meal.

Boat fisherman will head just off the beach, find some clear water and look for the schools. Then they troll their baits near them, waiting for the kings to show up. While patience is required, it is a technique that is often rewarded with multiple hook-ups of prize fish.

Pier fishing for kings is done from the very end of the pier. Most of the piers on our coast have special set-ups at the end reserved just for king fisherman. Local king fisherman often use a two rod configuration to extend their live baits out off the end of the pier and get the best coverage possible from a fixed location.

The thrill of catching a 20- to 30-pounder makes the wait worth while!

Catching Report

Inshore the Black drum bite has picked up with some nice catches of flounder and Red Drum also being reported. There is plenty of bait in the creeks and waterway too.

The King bite has been very strong this past week, especially near shore, in fact the pier fisherman have enjoyed a sensational week! Many of the fish caught off all three of our island’s piers have been in the 20 pound and up range. Also some catches of Spanish, blues, pompano and flounder are being reported on the piers.

Mahi are being caught in the 10-30 mile range using ballyhoo and squid chains. Some nice gag grouper are being caught in the 15 mile and out range however you may have to throw back 3 or 4 undersize ones for every keeper you cactch (min. size is 24 inches).

Tight Lines to all!

King Mackerel fishing - June 2, 2007

2007-06-03T08:32:00.000-04:00

I feel like I just received a gift or something. After having great marine weather for over a week, the seas began to get a little rough at the end of this past week. My fishing club's monthly inner club king mackerel tourney was yesterday (first Sat. of each month) so I really wanted to get out. I fish in the smallest boat in the club (19'), so weather is a big factor for me.

We headed out at 5:30am unsure about the seas as the reports didn't look very promising - in fact they said the weather would get worse as the day wore on. We hit the inlet and was met by 4 foot seas on the other side with lots of chop and mixed direction rogue waves (sloppy).

While it was doable in my boat, we decided that going to the originally planned spot 23 plus miles out was not going to be a pleasant prospect so we decided to shorten the trip and head on more of a easterly (ENE in fact) heading because that was a "smoother" ride than the original direction we intended (SSE).

Our first stop 6 miles out was unproductive but after an hour we noticed the wind died sown some and the seas were calmer and all the waves from the same direction. So we took our cue and headed further out. We hit some reefs and ledges in the 14 - 17 nautical mile range.

We caught 4 small kings but no big ones. However I did manage to place 3rd in our club tourney. A few of the other boats in our club caught some nice mahi in that range also. The trip back in was smooth as silk, so we ran in at top speed cause we could see the storm clouds coming.

The weather gave us a window of opportunity - two hours later the wind was howling at 25-30 knots and the rain had begun.

Pier Awards & a catching report

2007-05-29T07:36:00.001-04:00

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

2007-05-26T19:10:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-22T20:41:00.001-04:00

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

2007-05-21T07:53:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-19T20:26:00.001-04:00

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

2007-05-17T07:21:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-12T20:24:00.001-04:00

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

2007-05-08T17:45:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

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

--------------------
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

2007-05-01T07:10:00.000-04:00

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!

The Spanish have arrived....

2007-04-28T20:22:00.000-04:00

Well a little bit to our south anyway. There were a few nice Spanish Mackerel caught today at Sheepshead Rock off Fort Fisher. That's were they usually show up first in these parts every spring. So they should be up here next week sometime. The Bonito are still here and are biting mainly on deep trolled and jigged lures - not much surface action latley.

We should be catching Spanish and bonito next week as well as blues fish! I love spring fishing!

The Spanish are coming!

2007-04-23T21:32:00.000-04:00

The Bonito and blues have been strong the past few weeks. Some of the best bonito fishing has been around Diver’s rock just a few miles from New River Inlet. They also have been caught on nearby ledges and on the south end of the island at AR360 and Dallas Rocks.

One of the most amazing sights I have seen this year occurred while I was bonito fishing earlier this week near Dallas Rocks. I saw several bluefin tuna chasing bonito right out of the water. Both the bonito and the bluefin were airborne. What a sight to behold. The bluefin probably weighed in the 200 – 300 pound class. Simply amazing to see such a sight only a few miles off shore.

Soon that favorite target of near-shore anglers, the Spanish mackerel, will invade our waters. Often called simply "Spanish," this fish is the smaller cousin of the king mackerel, and there is a strong family resemblance. In fact, a mature Spanish looks very much like a juvenile king mackerel. The easiest way to tell them apart is to check the front portion of the first dorsal fin -- on the Spanish the bottom front part of the fin is black, on a king it is not.

It is very important to distinguish this difference, as the creel and size limits are different for the two species. The current regulations for state coastal waters require a minimum length of 12 inches for Spanish with a daily limit of 15 fish.

Spanish mackerel are migratory and return to our coastal water sometime in May when the water temperatures reach into the high 60s and above. They usually stay until early fall. These fish travel in schools and sometimes can be picky about their meals. At other times they are less discerning. Occasionally they will even hit bare gold hooks in the late afternoon sun.

These tasty fish are often caught off our piers as well as in small boats trolling close to the beaches and inlets. One of the favorite lures used by many anglers is the Clark Spoon -- a metal spoon that comes in several colors, including gold and silver. It can be cast or jigged from a boat or pier. Boat anglers often pull them on a trolling weight or behind a Booney bird for that extra edge. Another favorite for targeting Spanish (and blue fish) is the ‘Gotcha’ Plug.

The big Spanish, those that are five pounds and up, will also be here soon. However they only stay in close for a few weeks. After that they can be found in 10 – 20 mile range. A good way to target them is with live bait much like fishing for king mackerel.

Catching report

The bonito and blues are running strong right now near shore. Blues can be found in the inlets and nearby channels too. Some nice catches of black sea bass and gray trout are also being caught. In the sound some nice black drum, red drum and a few flounder are being caught along with an occasional sea mullet.

The piers are reporting good catches of sea mullet, black drum and blue fish. Surf City Pier had an angler land a 28 pound black drum this week!

Off shore kings are out in the 20+ mile range and should be moving in closer each day as the water continues to warm. Further out some nice mahi are being landed as well as a few wahoo and yellowfin tuna.

Tight lines!

Bonito Report

2007-04-18T10:38:00.000-04:00

We finally got a break in the marine weather forecast so I decided to try and find some bonito. I left the dock 30 minuetes before sunrise and headed for a spot off Topsail Beach. I decided to troll two Yozuri deep divers at about a 9mph clip and watch the screen for bait and fish.

I tried the first spot for about 30 minutes with no luck. I moved out and north a few miles to another spot and deployed the deep divers again.

Wham! within 5 minutes I had a double hook up. Being alone I decided to set the hook on both and leave one in the rod holder with the engine in gear at idle speed. I reeled in the first line landing a nice 4 pound Bonito! Okay now for the second line but I was half expecting the fish to be gone. To my surprise he was still on! Another 4+ pound Bonito.

I trolled that spot for another hour. Nothing. tried another spot nothing. Decided to call it a morning as I had some work to do and now I had some fish for supper!

Fishing report - 4/17/07

2007-04-17T20:24:00.000-04:00

The fishing is definitely picking up. The catching too! We were dealt a little bit of a set back from the Nor’easter and cooler air that blew through here earlier. But that hindered our ability to go fishing. I don’t think it bothered the fish. They are biting just fine now that we can get back out to them.

My understanding is that a fish can go several days without eating a substantial meal. But otherwise they need to eat pretty regular just like most animals. However how much they eat can vary with the metabolic rate which is influenced by many factors.

Some folks claim the barometric pressure influences a fish to eat or not eat. Others make a case for the tide direction or strength of the tidal current. I’ve heard others claim the time of day, the phase of the moon and many other factors.

I’m certainly no expert in that area but I have given it some thought. When it comes to saltwater game fish, I think they are opportunist more than anything else. When there is plenty of food around, they eat. Of course on any given day, the time of day and the period of eating activity will vary.

Which leads me to the best advice I know about fishing and this comes from a friend of mine’s wife. She says about fishing, “nothing to it, just find a hungry fish!”

Speaking of hungry fish, we seem to have a lot of those around once again!

Inshore red drum are biting real well but are starting to scatter a bit. Look for them on the sand flats near inlets and good tidal flow areas. The black drum are starting to show up and can be found near inlet channels. I’ve heard of a few nice trout being caught but only a few. The ocean piers are reporting good catches of sea mullet. A few blowfish and small spots are also being caught. The snapper blues have been biting pretty well too.

Near shore Atlantic bonito have been very active off of New River inlet especially in the early mornings. They are biting sting silvers, Maria jigs and other flashy metal lures. The blues continue to be aggressive and some nice catches of sea mullet and a few grey trout are being reported. No reports of Spanish mackerel yet but they should be coming soon.

The kings are still way out but a few are being caught in the 30 mile range. Some very nice grouper are being caught in the 40 mile range with nice catches of grunts and b-liners in the same spots. Wahoo and Yellowfin tuna are being caught hard out in the Gulf Stream when the weather allows boats to get out there.

Tight lines too all!

Looking for Bonito

2007-04-13T18:18:00.000-04:00

I went out this morning looking for Bonito - left out of Rich inlet at 6:10 (30 minutes before sunrise). Headed to the AR off Figure Eight Island - worked that for about a half hour. Few birds but none diving. No Bonito either.

Talk to some buddies on the radio that were fishing south of me at th eLiberty ship. Same report from there. So decided to head over to Dallas Rocks. Fished there for an hour or so. No luck except a couple of blues. Seas started getting sloppy so I headed to the liberty ship. There was half a dozen boats there - no bonito.

They were catching them earlier in the week up near New River, should be here any day. Water temps on surface was still about 60 - needs to be 62 or better.... getting close.

DMF enforcement & a catching report

2007-04-09T21:13:00.000-04:00

Most folks are aware that as of January first of this year a coastal recreational fishing license is needed to fish on NC’s coast. There are a few exceptions. The public piers have a blanket license and so do most charter boats but check with the captain before going out. He isn’t required to have the blanket license so you may need your own anyway.

One of the items the money from the license is supposed to fund is enforcement of our fishery rules. Most of that enforcement is done by the Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF). Not that enforcement is new to them. Quite the contrary, they have been enforcing the laws all along. It’s just that now they should be able to beef up the force and perform more enforcement activities.

If my experience is any indication, it’s working. I have been stopped four times in the three months since the year began. Last year I was stopped once in the entire 12 month period. Two of the four times there was an “officer in training” with the veteran officer. They were very pleasant but did seem to be in a bit of a hurry.

I’m all for it. Let them check as often as they can. The more often they check the more likely folks will comply with the size and bag limits. I think most fishermen adhere to those regulations but I know some that don’t.

A few weeks ago I was fishing about 35 miles off shore for grouper. Another boat pulled up and anchored almost on top of us. We could easily hear them talking and see their catch. Both boats were catching plenty of grouper but only 1 in 3 was legal keeper size. They kept them all. We never saw them put a single fish back. And to top it off, we saw them catch at least 25 fish. The legal limit is 5 red grouper per person, there were only 3 of them on board. I’m sure they kept on fishing after we left too.

Growing up here on the coast, we felt like anything we caught was ours to keep. But the fisheries can’t keep up with the kind of fishing pressure it is receiving without quotas and limits. Unlimited harvests just aren’t sustainable.

Another thing the license money is supposed to pay for is additional research in preserving and maintaining sustainable harvests of our resources. Again, I’m all for that!

Catching report

The piers are reporting good catches of sea mullet, some blowfish and a few croaker. There have even been a few black drum and speckled trout caught recently. The blues have been showing up early and late in the day.

A few bonito have been caught around the north end of the island and out toward AR355. The large schools haven’t shown up as of this writing but should be here any day now. Black sea bass are still being caught in the 3- 10 mile range with some nice gray trout being caught too.

Off shore reds, gag and scamp grouper are being caught in the 30 – 40 mile range. Some nice pinkies and grunts are being caught too. Wahoo and some nice size yellowfin tuna are being caught near the Gulf Stream.

Tight lines to all!

Atlantic Bonito

2007-03-28T20:55:00.001-04:00

Usually one of the first migratory species to visit us in spring is the Atlantic Bonito (Sarda Sarda). The bonito is related to both the tuna and mackerel families and shouldn't be confused with a similiar fish, the False Albacore, that also visits our coast in the spring. To further confuse the two fish, in Florida they commonly call the False Albie a Bonita (notice the A instead of the O).

It is one of my favorite fish and really gets my fishing blood warmed up in the spring. The bonito arrive on our coast around the first to middle part of April and usually stay until about the middle of May. Once the water gets above 62 degrees you can start looking for them. When they first appear they usually are in schools by themselves but toward the end of their stay they sometimes will be mixed in with schools of Spanish mackerel.

They visit most of the NC coast but seem to congregate mainly in Onlsow Bay and off the Brunswick County beaches. They will come very close to the coastline and seem to prefer underwater structure that breaks up the currents. The near shore artificial reefs are a great place to hunt for them as well as some of the natural reefs and ledges in 40 - 50 feet of water.

The best time to target them is early in the morning around first dawn but you can find them at other times too. They usually travel in large schools and often can be seen busting on balls of baitfish at the surface. Often you can find them by looking for large flocks of birds that will be swarming and diving on the bait. Quite a sight to behold for a set of winter-fatigued eyes!

They spook fairly easy so you should approach them from up current and then drift toward them. Never run into the middle of the school or the busting birds, they will scatter and go deep if you do.

If they aren't on the surface, use your fishfinder 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 metal or heavy monofilament.

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 at first bite seem almost an easy pull, 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 then ice them down right away. I like to use a slush made from two parts ice to one part sea water. It will cool them down faster than ice alone.

You can catch a bunch of fish in hurry when the bite is on. While they are a tasty fish, they spoil within several days of being caught. They do not freeze well even in a vaccum pack. The flesh becomes very mushy. So keep only what you plan to eat within a couple of days and release the others.

Tight Lines and catch 'em up!

Off shore grouper trip 3/24/07

2007-03-24T21:23:00.000-04:00

I headed out this morning at 4:45 to go off shore grouper fishing. There were six of us in two boats (identical 19' Maycrafts). We left the inlet around 6AM and headed straight for an area 30 miles SSE of the inlet. We fished there and a couple spots 8 miles east of there. We caught a bunch of red grouper, some keeper size but no huge ones. Also caught a bunch of short ones and some short Gag grouper.

Water temp out there was 64 degrees on the surface. We had very calm seas in the morning but was a bit snotty for the ride home.

Spring is in the air!

2007-03-20T09:47:00.001-04:00

Ah. Spring is in the air, can you feel it? I can. Warmer days, the southwest winds have started to blow and the Azaleas are about to bloom. All these point to spring fishing ahead.

I, like many resident anglers, fish the NC coast year round. I’ll admit I don’t get out as often in the winter. For one I dislike the cold but even on cold days I’ll head out if the weather and seas allow.

Winter fishing for me is mainly limited to speckled trout and drum on the inside and bottom fishing in the ocean for black sea bass, grouper and flounder. Bottom fishing is often referred to as “meat fishing” because rather than sport, it fills the freezer. Don’t get me wrong, I eat some of those specks and an occasional drum but most get released.

Earlier this week I went bottom fishing and caught some nice grouper and black sea bass. It makes my wife happy, she loves to eat fresh fish. It makes me happy, I love being on the water with the sun in my face and the tug on the fishing line. Even my dog is happy about my fishing trips as she enjoys eating those fish tails when I clean the fish.

However what really gets me excited is chasing a sport fish. On my way back to the inlet from this week’s trip, I noticed hundreds of birds working a patch of ocean. Diving, circling and diving again, it looked like something from a WWII war movie. That is usually a sign that some predator fish has the bait fish all “balled up” near the surface. When this happens birds feast on the opportunity. So do anglers.

With the water temperature in the mid 50’s it is too early for Bonito and Spanish mackerel. I headed over thinking maybe it was some nice bluefish chasing that bait. A decent size blue will tighten up your line and gets that adrenalin flowing.

I stopped a few hundred yards away from the birds. I still couldn’t see what they were chasing but they were still very active. I needed to change the lures on a couple of rods to ones more appropriate for that type fishing. As I tied the last knot and looked up, to my dismay all the birds were resting on the water’s surface.

Just sitting there they were. Oh there were a few “lookouts” flying in search patterns near the flock. But no diving, no flurried activity. My heart sunk. I was looking forward to the “battle”. I trolled around the edge of what seemed like acres of birds for about 15 minutes with no bites then headed home. Still a smile on my face, after all I had a cooler full of fresh fish and memories of a wonderful day on the water.

But it won’t be long now. Spring fishing is just around the corner.

Catching report

The speckled trout and red drum activity has picked up with the warmer days. Look for them at the mouths of creeks and on sand flats. There are a few being reported in the surf too. Some sea mullet are being caught along with toad puffers, skates and small sharks.

Offshore the grouper and black seas bass continue to bite well. Wahoo and yellowfin tuna are being caught out near the Gulf Stream.

Seaview Pier and the Jolly Roger pier are open and ready for the new season. Surf City Pier will open on March 30th and as in previous years will award a free season pass to the first person catching a sea mullet from their pier to start the new season.

Tight lines to all!

Fishing Trip - March 19, 2007

2007-03-19T19:43:00.000-04:00

Weather man hit it on the head today! I left the dock before sun rise reaching the inlet just as the sun was peeking over the horizon. The ocean was like a lake - flat with maybe a 6 inch ground swell, very little wind but what wind there was came from the SE, it shifted to the south and picked up some in the afternoon.

Headed out to a set of ledges/reefs in the 15 mile range cruising at 26 knots all the way out, made great time (esp. for my little ole boat). Anchored up over one of my favorite spots and caught my limit of Gag groupers (2) and Black Sea Bass (15). Caught a few other gags but had to put them back (you should have been there to increase our limit.....lol). The grouper and most of the BSB were caught on chunks of Northern mackerel. The rest of the bass came on stingsilvers.

Stopped at the box cars on the way back to see if the flounder are still there - pulled up two undersize ones but by then I was tired and ready to come in so I left them for another time.

Quick trip

2007-03-08T19:57:00.000-05:00

I couldn't stand it any longer - had to go fishing. I checked yesterday and still no shad and the lock & dam so I stayed close to home and fished for some reds near Figure Eight Island. I found a big school of red drum, maybe 75 or more fish. Everytime I would cast in their vicinity, a few would rush over and take a look at the bait, even nudge it occasdionally. But no takers. I tried every bait I could muster - Gulp, slurp, top dogs, shad raps, rattle traps, even some live mud minnows. Nothing, nada.

After I put the boat away, I ran up to the Food Lion for some groceries. As I was getting out of my truck, some one called my name. Expecting to see a familiar face I turn and saw..... Joe. I didn't know him, he reads this blog, lives in Hampstead and recognized me from my pictures on the site. It was very nice to met you Joe! Thanks for saying hello and introducing yourself.

It was nice day to get out and enjoy the water even without a bite. There's always....... the next time.

American Shad

2007-03-06T21:26:00.001-05:00

The weather has started to warm a bit but the fish inshore are still a bit sluggish. Further offshore has been hard to reach because of all the wind and high seas the past few months. For those of you whom cabin fever is taking its toll, there is relief in sight. It is spelled S-H-A-D, as in American Shad, also known as white shad.

American shad is a saltwater fish and is highly migratory. They spend most of their time up north in large schools in the Gulf of Maine. They move into deeper ocean waters for the winter. However they are anadromous, meaning they swim up rivers to spawn. They can be found in most of the coastal rivers from St. Lawrence to Florida.

Many of them spawn in the coastal rivers of North Carolina, including the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear rivers. They start showing up in the river in late February and run through March before returning to sea.

One of the best spots to find them is a lock and dam #1 in East Arcadia, about 30 miles above Wilmington. The locks are still functional and the lockmaster does lift a number of them up the lock and past the dam but very few in comparisons to the number that migrate to that point. This makes for good fishing in the vicinity below the dam.

The site is one mile off of highway 87 on the right shortly after you pass the East Arcadia city limit sign. There is limited shore fishing at the dam site so it’s best to fish from a small boat. There is a public boat ramp right at the dam facility and plenty of parking.

It can get rather busy in that area when the shad are there but you should be able to find a spot with no problem. Just be considerate of your fellow boaters and fishermen. You will want to anchor up as there is a heavy current below the dam. I recommend you use a concrete block for an anchor as there is a lot of debris on the bottom and you likely would lose an anchor.

American shad range in size from around 2 pounds up to eight pounds with mainly females reaching the larger size. The males are called bucks and the females, roe. Shad are a re good eating fish and a favorite to smoke. The roe is also considered excellent table fare. They also put up a good fight on light tackle. When the bite is on, they will wear you out with a hook-up on just about every cast for hours on end.

Most folks use what is a called a shad dart, a small lead jig with a 1 – 2 inch grub threaded on. Small spoons are also popular lures. It seems shad are fond of bright colors like chartreuse and pink, often in the same lure.

One of my favorite things about shad fishing is the catfish and striper fishing. Yup! The stripers follow the shad schools and are often found mixed in with them or nearby. So you will want to keep at least one rod rigged and ready for striper.

You’ll also want to have a heavier rod rigged up for bottom fishing to target the blue catfish that hang below the shad waiting for a meal ticket. These cats get big with fish in the 20 pound plus range not being uncommon. My favorite rig is a tube jig with strips of fresh shad threaded on a 4/0 hook. Just cast it out and let it rest on the bottom. Make sure your rod is secure though, because these cats will fight like the dickens!

Catch all three in one trip and we'll call that a river slam! And we'll call you tired but happy.

Tight lines to all!

Shut out

2007-02-17T19:52:00.000-05:00

I had the pleasure of fishing with a friend from Sanford today. Unfortunately old man winter blew 20 degree air last night and left frost on the ground and slush ice on the creeks. We did manage to see one fish (probably a red) splash near our boat and Dave did have one fish mouth his bait. But that was it all day.

The morning was cold but sunny with a light wind. After 1 o'clock the wind really picked up blowing from the SW and putting small white caps on the ICW. We had worked our way up to above the Surf City bridge so we had a long run into the wind coming home.

Still we enjoyed the day on the water and had fun trying.

Tight lines!

Getting ready for a new season

2007-02-13T09:03:00.001-05:00

Cold, cold and more cold has been the forecast the past few weeks. There are still a few fish biting but you have to really want to fish to brave the cold and slow bite.

This is the time of year to get ready for the new fishing season. That’s right if you can’t fish at least you can get ready to catch a few once the fish begin to bite. A little time spent now preparing for the season will help you get off to a great start this spring and fish right on through the fall with fewer missed opportunities.

If you make your own rigs, winter is a good time to do that. I like to make my own Flounder rigs and King Mackerel rigs. It saves a little money but the “reel” pleasure is a certain satisfaction I get when catching fish on something I handcrafted. It also keeps me connected to fishing activities when cold or stormy weather forces me indoors. The materials are simple and are available at most well equipped tackle shops.

Maintenance of your gear is very important too. Check those favorite lures to make sure they are still serviceable. Look for cracks or deep dings in the lure body or connecting materials and replace those lures that will likely break when fighting that next smoker fish. You may need to change the hooks if corrosion or rust has appeared. Even if the hook looks fine, it probably could benefit from sharpening. You’ll catch more fish with very sharp hooks.

Check your leaders made from monofilament or fluorocarbon material to make sure there are no nicks or cuts and that your knots are still tight, replace the line if needed. Replace any wire leaders that are bent or with loose twists or crimps. Now is a good time to organize them as well. Go ahead and clean out that tackle box and tackle bag, you’ll be happy you did when the bite is hot and you need another terminal rig quickly.

Now is also the time to clean and lube those reels. Check the guides on your rods to make sure the wraps haven’t begun to fray. Also check for nicks on the inside of the guides, these can cause your fishing line to break and let the BIG one get away.

If you are using monofilament line on your reels it needs to be replaced each fishing season. Even if it looks okay to the eye if you had it in the water last season, it is in a weaken condition. Monofilament fishing line once wet will absorb some of the water then dry out causing the line to lose strength over a period of time. Catching fish also stretches the line and weakens it.

Once that is complete, take a trip to your favorite tackle shop and treat yourself to that new reel or lure you have had your eye on. You are ready to fish!

Catching report

The cold weather has really slowed down the inshore bite but a few fish are being caught. I saw some nice reds hit the deck this week. Try fishing the sand flats on sunny afternoons. I also saw a few being caught in the surf this week on a warm, sunny afternoon. A few trout are also being caught but very few it seems. Try down sizing your bait and retrieve very slowly.

Some very nice grouper are being caught off shore. Red, gag and scamp grouper are being caught in the 30-45 mile range. Some nice grunts, b-liners and ring tails are also being caught. I even saw pictures of one cobia landed while bottom fishing last week. There have been a few tallow fin tuna caught out close to the Gulf stream. Black sea bass and grunts have been reported being caught near shore.

Tight lines to all!

Trout fishing in the Nantahala River

2007-01-30T09:41:00.000-05:00

Winter weather has set-in across the state, but fish still need to eat. Many leave for warmer waters but some stay here for the winter, fish like specks and red drum. Avid anglers pursue these fish all winter long braving the cold for the enjoyment of the catch.

I took a different tack this past week. I went to a colder climate looking for a fish that thrives in the cold water, not just survives. That of course would be trout, freshwater trout that is.

Growing up on the NC coast I was able to spend part of my summers in and around North Carolina’s mountains, the Smoky Mountains, Cherokee Forest, Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests. I learned to fish for the elusive native trout using the same gear I used in the sound. Often I could be found climbing over rocky embankments and dropping a line down into the cool summer waters in hopes of catching a monster brown trout.

Ah, the cool waters on a hot summer day. It seemed logical to me. To go fishing in those cold waters in the middle of winter never crossed my mind. I never thought about how the trout preferred cold water and thus would not become as lethargic in cold water as do their warm water preferring cousins.

On those trips I often would see folks using fly rods. It always looked odd but somewhat intriguing. It seemed kind of scary to me with all that line dangling down at their feet, the long rod slicing back and forth through the air with line whipping around like a snake. Being a clumsy kid who didn’t develop refined motor skills until I was older, I always wondered how in the world they managed not to catch themselves.

Last week I had the opportunity not only to learn how to use a fly rod but to fish for trout in the middle of the winter. Wow! That says it all. I had an expert instructor, Daniel Boone who heads up Nantahala Fly Fishing Company in Robinsville, NC. Yes that is really his name. And like the Daniel in our history books, this Daniel knows a thing or two about wilderness living. He also knows a lot about fly fishing for trout.

Within the first hour, I was not only handling that rod with a bit of confidence, I caught three trout on three casts, a nice brown trout, a brook and a rainbow. They tell me that feat is called a mountain trifecta, along the lines of our inshore slam I suppose.

This time of year I am accustomed to retrieving very slowly and expect a light bite from our specks and drum. I was surprised at how feisty the trout were. They would hit my lure and hold on, first running toward me then heading down stream as fast as they could. Wow. Yup, that says it all.

Looking for some mid-winter action – put on the long underwear and give Daniel a call. You will be in for a treat! Daniel can be reached at 828-479-8850 or through his website.

Catching report

Back in these parts – specks and drum continue to bite in the creeks in deep and on the sandy flats on sunny warmer days. There have been a few reports of the yellowfin tuna action starting up offshore. Grouper and snappers are biting in the 25- 35 mile range Try the artificial reefs from some nice black sea bass and a few keeper flounder.

Tight lines to all!

Winter fishing activity (TA column)

2007-01-16T14:56:00.000-05:00

The past few weeks have been unusually warm. Unusual not in the fact that we reached the 70’s in January, that happens in many if not most years around these parts. Rather it is unusual in the fact we have had so many of those days strung together.

A number of fishermen including myself have taken advantage of the nice weather. In the past three weeks we have caught plenty of flounder, black sea bass and grouper on several occasions. Of course every winter these fish are available offshore. What is different this year is that we are fishing for them in short sleeve tee shirts and are able to get out more often.

However we have had a few cold snaps mixed in with the warm spells. In fact, just enough cold weather to remind us that it is January. The latest cold spell finds me in my shop working on fishing gear, lures and tackle. This is the time of year when I sneak in a trip whenever possible but spend most of my “fishing time” preparing for the next season.

Some of my friends make some beautiful flies and plugs. I stick mainly to tying bucktails and pouring some lead molds for jigs and sinkers. I also make most of my terminal tackle – rigs for king mackerel, Carolina rigs, bottom rigs and others.

This year I have decided to learn how to make rods. I’m still gather information and acquiring the tools I’ll need but I’m about to begin my first rod next week. I think rod making will add another dimension to a sport I already enjoy.

Rod building hobbyists tell me that they get great satisfaction in catching fish with something they handcrafted. Plus the rods are built to fit their styles and preferences. I’ve seen some beautiful and unique examples of that recently during my research.

I sure am glad we can enjoy the sport of fishing year round!

Catching report

Specks are being caught in the creeks and channels. They have schooled up with the cooler nights so look for them in deep holes and channels. Try down sizing your bait and retrieving very, very slowly. Puppy drum are also being caught, most of them are sized under the slot but fun to catch none the less. Look for them on the sand flats on bright sunny days.

Black sea bass are being caught in the area 3 to 15 miles offshore. Vertical jigs and cut bait on bottom rigs are working well. Flounder are being caught in sixty to eighty feet of water on ledges and reefs. Grouper are biting in the 20 – 35 miles range. There have been plenty of kings and a few wahoo caught out at Cripple Rock and further east.

So when the weather allows, grab a rod and catch some winter fish.

Tight lines to all!

Floundering around

2007-01-13T21:37:00.000-05:00

Well maybe I should call the thread - FLOUNDER TIME!

I decided to head out this morning bent on catching a flounder dinner. I succeeded. Actually I believe you'll agree I caught quite a few flounder dinners.

I caught 14 today, keeping my limit of 8, the smallest I kept was 18 inches, the biggest was 22 and weighed in at 4 pounder 12 ounces (missed that first citation of 2007 by 4 ounces). There is only 7 in picture because I gave one away to my neighbor before I thought to get the camera out. You'll just have to trust me on the eighth

All were caught with bucktails tipped with strip bait in about 60' of water.

Reflections on 2006 & Happy New Year!

2007-01-02T12:02:00.000-05:00

I wonder if fish celebrate the New Year. If they do, do they eat caviar?

Like many folks, as I prepared for 2007 to be ushered in I found myself reflecting on 2006. For me it was a fine year from an angler’s prospective.

We had a mild winter which meant that there was no “freeze” kills of drum and trout. Thus many of the fish that would have been killed grew larger and provided some nice catches this fall. I caught more red drum and speckled trout this past year than I have in many, many years. Not only more, but the fish were on average larger. Last year’s spike size specks were this year’s keepers.

Flounder are not as affected with the weather, so mild winters do little to help them. Still I caught my fair share of keeper flounder in 2006. My largest this year was a 4.5 pound fish. Large enough to have been a citation size catch in 2005 but the state upped the citation weight for flounder to 5 pounds in 2006. I even caught a few flounder last week. With that said, the pressure on flounder is very heavy and we as a fishing community need to take care in preserving this important fishery for the future.

I have a computer disk full of fish pictures from 2006. They testify to some great catches and some good times this past year. From king mackerel to red drum and many species in between, I have plenty of fond memories fishing in 2006.

Red Drum, now there’s a success story. Our official state fish was on the verge of becoming a relic of our memories. For so long little was understood about this fish’s life cycle. When I was young, it was commonly thought that puppy drum and red drum were two different but closely related species. Then studies were performed and information that the fish grows slowly and lives over 20 years became available. Once the life cycle was better understood, management of this important fishery could be effective. Today red drum are thriving in our waters. They still need to be protected but they have a chance now.

Speaking of studies, many anglers are hopeful that much of the revenue generated by the new Coastal Recreational Fishing License - CRFL or saltwater license as it is called by many - will be used for studies to protect our fisheries as well as to increase our fish stocks and enforcement of our laws. This is an excellent opportunity to enhance our saltwater fisheries, let’s keep the pressure on our government to use the money wisely.

Regarding the new CRFL, in case you haven’t heard it went into effect on January first this year. In the past you didn’t need a license to fish in North Carolina’s coastal waters. Now you need one for all public waters in NC, fresh, salt or brackish. But they are two different licenses. If you have a freshwater license that you purchased last year, you will still need to purchase a CRLF for 2007. They can be purchased from the same place, at the same time but require 2 separate fees. Of course just a CRFL can be purchased if you don’t plan on fishing in waters regulated by the Wildlife Resources Commission (freshwater).

A couple of important points – in the past you could fish on public waters in your county of residence with natural bait (dead or alive) without a license. This is no longer true. Starting on January 1, 2007 you will need a license for all fishing on public waters unless you qualify for an exemption (see the WRC rules for further details). Also, if you purchased a lifetime sportsman license before Dec 31, 2005 (the date is not a typo) you will never have to buy the CRFL.

Wishing you tight lines and a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Trip report - Dec 29, 2006

2006-12-29T18:54:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-28T17:28:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-20T21:25:00.000-05:00

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.

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.

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

2006-12-18T20:42:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-16T21:52:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-05T09:17:00.000-05:00

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!

Trip report - Nov 24, 2006

2006-11-24T20:28:00.000-05:00

Decided to take a quick trip out this morning and explore some of my favorite fishing holes. we have a a LOT of rain the first of the week and I figured the water would be stained. It was, major league. Tried fishing near the inlets where the water was cleaner, even there it was a murky greenish brown. No luck fishing either. Well try again tomorrow.

Weekly Column - November 20, 2006

2006-11-20T14:39:00.000-05:00

You may have heard that North Carolina will implement its new coastal recreational fishing license (CRFL) on January 1, 2007. Beginning on January first most recreational anglers will be required to have this license to fish in the state's saltwater estuaries and coastal waters. The license is regulated by the NC Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) but will be sold by the Wildlife Resource Commission (WRC).

What you may not know is that the license can’t be purchased until January 1^st. Up to very recently the state planned to make the license available for purchase on December first to avoid a New Year Day rush on the license. However plans for advance sale of the license have been scrapped for several technical reasons according to Lisa Holcutt, customer service manager at WRC.

So if you plan to fish on January first you will need to buy the license that day. All of the current WRC license sales location will also sell the new CRFL and new sites along the coast are being added. You can also purchase the license from the WRC web site - http://www.ncwildlife.org - starting on January first at midnight. On-line purchasers will be able to print out the license.

The coastal fishing license also will be available on Jan. 1 by calling WRC at 1-888-248-6834 or 919-707-0391 from 8 a.m until 5 p.m. Customers will receive a confirmation number, and the sale will be immediately entered into the license database used by marine patrol officers.

The license is available for short or long term periods. A short-term license covers 10 consecutive days, and costs North Carolina residents $5 and non-residents $10. An annual license costs residents $15 and non-residents $30.

Anglers on charter-boats and piers will not need an individual license if those businesses purchase a blanket license that covers all of their customers. It is anticipated that most pier and charter operations will purchase the blanket license but check with them first to make sure they have one. If they don’t have the license, you will need a CRFL to fish with them.

Fishermen under 16 years of age, subsistence fishermen with a waiver issued through a county department of social services, and persons who purchased certain lifetime WRC licenses before 2006, are not required to buy the new license.

The license is not required for the recreational harvest of shellfish. It is required to land fish in NC that were caught in federal waters (3 -200 miles off the coast).

I hope that each of you have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Tight lines to all!

A MirroLure technique for Specks

2006-11-12T15:08:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite lures for catching speckled trout (spotted sea trout) is the MirroLure made by the L&S Bait Company. There are several different models and many techniques for using them ranging from trolling to casting to pitching them.

My favorite way to target specks with mirrolures utilizes the MR series and is best described as a modified cast. I'll explain in more detail below. These lures have been around for decades and are a favorite of many speck fishermen. The MR series is considered a sinking twitch bait. That is because it slowly sinks if left alone and the best action comes by giving the rod tip a twitch from time to time.

L&S recently introduced an updated version of the MR52 series. The updated model is called the MR52 Series lll. Same shape, weight and sink rate as the original but it features a holographic foil on the side of the lure and sports red hooks instead of the original silver ones. The original and the series lll are currently available and both have some new color combos. The series lll costs slightly more than the original model.

Sometimes I locate the specks by trolling. But more often than not I try to find them by reviewing my logbook before I leave home. I take note of current conditions (tide, temp, solunar conditions, etc) and match those to similar conditions when I caught specks, take note of the locations and head there. If I don't find the fish there then I troll usually pulling the Rapala X-Rap series lures or a grub.

Once I find the fish trolling or get to my destination, I anchor up and bring out the trusty mirrolures. My favorite colors are the EC (hot pink back, silver side, chartreuse belly) and the 808 (black back, gold side, orange bottom). I try to anchor up parallel to the structure I'll be fishing and slightly down current.

I use a lightweight spin outfit, something in the 8-10 pound class with a soft tip (fast action) and loaded with 10# test braided line. The braid gives you better sensitivity for feeling that soft speck bite while the fast action rod helps soften the hook set which is especially helpful when using the non-stretching braided line. I put 3-4 feet of fluorocarbon on the end to make the line less visible. I tie the lure directly onto the fluorocarbon (no swivels or snaps).

I then cast the lure up-current but in line with the structure I'm fishing. To help visualize this, from the bow of the boat and facing the direction of the structure you are working, cast at about 1 o'clock. Let the lure drift back toward the structure. Keep the line taunt but do not retrieve the lure, let it float down current. The lure will begin sinking as it floats in the current. Every once in while give the line a slight "twitch", how often depends on the speed of the current. The twitch will raise the lure in the water column and give the impression of a "sick" fish. Experiment with the hardness of the twitch and the frequency, it won't be long before you get the feel for it based on conditions.

If you are fishing when there is no current, you may need to anchor in line with the structure and slowly retrieve the lure toward you over the structure. Use this pattern and vary as needed - cast, retrieve a few feet of line, wait wait wait, twitch, wait wait wait, retrieve a few feet of line, etc.

If there are feeding trout nearby they likely will not be able resist this combination of lure and action. There is nothing quite like a trout exploding on a slow sinking mirrolure - I'm sure after you catch the first one, you'll be back for more using this technique!

Skunked - well almost

2006-11-10T19:43:00.000-05:00

The weather forecast looked so good, I took the day off to go fishing. The weatherman got it right. Sunny, warm, 1-2 seas and less than 10 knot winds. Beautiful. The only thing missing was the King Mackerel.

Two of my fishing club buddies went out as well. The three boats all were on the way before 7AM this morning. We went to the first set of box cars adn jigged up some bait. There wasn't much bait around so we headed to the third set. There we found some bait but it wasn't real thick.

We started trolling around 8am and trolled till about 12:30 - We moved spots several times fishing Emery Ledge, 14 mile rock and getting as far out as 200/200 and SE rock. One of the boats had a couple knock downs. The other boat as well as myself caught a shark. No Kings.

Finally I had had enough trolling and left them heading northwest. I went about 5 miles to do some bottom fishing. I tried that great spot my buddy told me about and I fished with great success a few weeks ago. I put a chum bag on the bottom and dropped baits down to the ledge.

One shark and a few small black sea bass. Very slow fishing today.

I headed in about 3pm and hit a few speckeled trout spots on the way. I caught a couple between 12 & 14 inches which I released. But at least I got the skunk off the boat!

Column - November 6, 2006

2006-11-06T20:50:00.000-05:00

Eat fish, live longer. Eat oysters, love longer.

I grew up hearing that said many a time. Perhaps it was dreamed up by some marketer, but it sure seems like good advice to me. At least it’s an enjoyable creed to follow.

As an avid recreational fisherman, I have a healthy respect for the environment. It only makes sense that we can’t constantly draw down the fish stocks to a level at which they can’t sustain themselves.

The Department of Marine Fisheries is responsible for keeping an eye on the fisheries. The minimum size and creel limits they set for different species are meant to allow the stock to stay at a sustainable level. They don’t always get it right the first time, but their fishery management techniques have made a positive impact on the recovery of several species.

Red Fish is a prime example of successful management and restoration of a "depleted stock." In fish management circles, a depleted stock is one that has dropped below sustainable levels, not one that has disappeared totally.

Catch and release fishing has become very popular with many fisherman. With this method, fishermen can still enjoy catching fish but don’t put as much "pressure" on the stock. Many anglers keep cameras with them so they can "prove" it really was "the biggest trout you ever saw in your entire life."

I practice catch and release on many occasions, but I still remember the little jingle at the beginning of the article -- eating seafood is good for you!

I bring home my fair share of fish. I often throw back "keeper" size fish preferring to throw back the smaller ones to catch them some other day. I only keep what I plan to eat, freeze or give to a friend.

But keep a fish or two, I do! Nothing like a fresh batch of fish or crabs or clams or oysters or ... Well, you get my point.

If the oysters I ate last week are any indication, the local oyster crop is going to be stellar this year -- if not in numbers, then certainly in quality. I had two occasions last week to eat Stump Sound salties. Yum, yum. They were plump, meaty, juicy and, of course, salty!

So get yourself a plate of fresh fish and oysters so you too can live and love longer!

Catching report

Fall fishing is in full swing! Some nice size speckled trout are being caught in good numbers; they are biting shrimp, soft baits and mirrolures. Plenty of flounder, spots, red drum and mullet are being caught, too. Surf City Pier reported an 8-pound black drum this week.

The kings have moved offshore just a bit but can be found from 8 miles out to about 20. The bite has been hot with them taking frozen or fresh bait. Look for false albacore schooling near the inlets and artificial reefs. They are busting bait in large numbers and can be found early in the day.

Grouper are being taken in about 80 to 90 feet of water with plenty of black bass and nice size white grunts being caught too. Offshore, a few tuna have been reported and the wahoo are still biting.

Tight lines to all!

Fishing Trip - Nov 4, 2006

2006-11-05T12:44:00.000-05:00

I had planned to King Mackerel fish today in my fishing club's monthly inner-club tourney. I made it three miles out of the inlet when I hit a pair of 6 footers mixed in with the 4's. I said one more of those and I'm turning back. 30 seconds later I was doing a 180 and heading back for the inlet. Weather man missed it again.

But of course I had my trout/flounder gear with me too. I headed to one of my favorite spots for mid tide, strong current (with an almost full moon, mid tide was producing some white water rafting style currents). It's a nice little area with some V shaped sand bars that cause slow eddy currents, something trout just love.

I caught 4 keepers but only keep the 2 biggest, one 17 3/4" and the other over 16".

Then I went to our club meeting and ate steamed oysters till I about popped. These were also Stump Sound salties. The guys down here are having a great start to the season!

Fishing Trip - Nov 1, 2006

2006-11-01T17:38:00.000-05:00

The weatherman was calling for a beautiful day today and I had the itch to fish. So I decided to get a quick trip in BEFORE work. I launched the boat at 5:30am with my friend Chris meeting me at the ramp. We headed to our first stop for some trout.

Chris had just finished saying, I've never caught a Speck on a top water lure, when you guessed it, he caught a speck on his top water lure! That came at before first light at 6AM. Unfortunatley that would be the last speck for the day. We tried some other spots, but no luck on the trout or drum.

We then headed over to one of my favorite flounder holes. There we managed to catch six, keeping three that were 15 inches or more. Chris did most of the "catching" but we both had fun and there was no "skunk" on the boat today.

Then back to reality and work..........

Column - Oct 31, 2006

2006-10-31T19:45:00.000-05:00

Ready, set ...

Wait. Yeah, that was me last week-end. I was ready and set to go fishing, but Mother Nature had other ideas. She sent a "blow" in and what a blow it was, with winds gusting to more than 50 miles per hour and seas reported at the ILM3 buoy in excess of 15 feet!

That certainly changed up the fall fishing. In fact, it just about came to a complete halt. Even after the wind died down Saturday night, the seas were still kicked up and the water was very "dirty."

The good news is, the fish still need to eat, so once things calmed down the bite was back on during the week. In fact, the beginning of the week the weather was so calm I thought I lived next to a lake instead of the mighty Atlantic.

Well, maybe not but it was very calm.

Weather interrupted fall fishing but that’s it, just a short pause. The bite is back on and the weather is allowing anglers to go get ’em.

Catching report

Inshore the bite has resumed in full force -- speckled trout, puppy drum, red drum and flounder are being caught. The roe mullet are in the creeks and marsh ditches, and look for the drum to be close behind them. The spots are starting to show up in the ICW in decent numbers.

In the surf, plenty of red and black drum are being caught on cut bait and shrimp with an occasional keeper flounder and small blues. There are still a few pompano, but I expect they will be gone any day as the water temperature continues to drop.

On the piers the bite has been strong. Mullet, flounder, spots, drum, blues and croaker are being caught in good numbers. Fish bites, shrimp, worms and cut bait are all producing well.

Off shore, the kings continue to bite and can be found along the 10 fathom (60 feet) curve about 12 to 15 miles out. Some grouper and nice size black bass are being brought up from the bottom from about the 15 to 20 mile range. There have been a few wahoo and tuna caught further out.

Tight lines to all!

Fishing Trip - October 26th

2006-10-26T21:33:00.000-04:00

Took the afternoon off today and headed off shore. The weather was wonderful! Sunny, very light breeze, 1-2 foot seas! The weather is suppose to get real nasty tommorow and Sat, so I wanted to get a quick trip in before then.

I was by myself (all my friends had to work) and only had a few hours. I ran out to an area off Topsail called the river bed (a large, general area running NE/SW). It has some really nice ledges about 15 miles from the inlet. I caught a mess of black bass, biggest was 18 inches (kept two of the biggest), 2 gag grouper - 26 & 30 inches (kept them of course) and a bunch of Grunts (kept a few of the biggest). Only one shark! All caught on live and dead cigar minnows.

I had a float rig out with a huge live mullet on it hoping a king would pass by for lunch. No takers though.

Not bad for a quick afternoon run.

Column - October 23, 2006

2006-10-23T16:38:00.000-04:00

Warning: This column contains a fish story. While it’s a clean story, if you are sensitive to the truth being stretched, twisted, altered or obliterated, you may want to avoid politics and stick to reading stories from fisherman.

On a recent fishing trip off shore I had the opportunity to catch a fish, twice.

The seas were calm with a gentle breeze and a few clouds in the sky. It was the kind of day where it’s very enjoyable just to be out in the ocean. You know what I mean -- peaceful, serene and relaxing.

We decided to head out about 20 miles to some ledges and try our luck bottom fishing. I made up some of my "super duper" grouper rigs the night before; they’re much like the ones you can buy in tackle shops, but with a unique bead pattern. I alternate red, green and silver beads above the hook but below the lead weight and swivel. It’s a tradition I started one day years ago while goofing around on a slow fishing day.

I had a few assorted, colored beads in my tackle box. Having nothing better to do, I decided to string a bunch of them onto my bottom rig. I figured it would at least give the fish something to stare at.

No sooner than I dropped it down, I had a bite. The tugging and pulling indicated it was a grouper. Sure enough, up came a roughly 12-pound grouper!

I put the rig down again and after a short wait, I hooked and landed another grouper about the same size. The third attempt resulted in a broken line, and I lost my fancy bead work. I had no more beads and no more grouper rigs, so I headed home. But a tradition was born. Ever since then, I make my rigs using the same pattern of beads -- not that fishermen are superstitious or anything.

On this most recent trip, I anchored over one of my favorite ledges hoping to find some nice grouper. I lowered a big, fat cigar minnow down to the bottom one of my "super duper" rigs. It no sooner landed than I felt a slight tug on the line.

One thing you learn early on about grouper fishing is that you need to pull the fish off the bottom as quickly as possible. The whole battle is usually decided in the first 10 feet. When a grouper grabs a bite to eat, they immediately turn to their hole or rocky ledge to digest the meal. Once in a hole, it is very tough to get a grouper out of it. I liken it to trying to pull up a freight train that is wedged in a cliff.

On this occasion, because he bit it so quick, I wasn’t prepared. When I felt the soft bite, I was slow to set the hook and begin the retrieve -- just slow enough that the grouper made it to the safety of his hole.

I pulled and pulled. He wasn’t budging an inch. Finally, he broke the line off. When I pulled it up, the tell-tale signs of the line rubbing on a rock were evident.

Bam, fish ON!

I quickly set the hook and turned the reel handle as fast as I could. It felt like a ton of bricks on the other end, but I was making some progress. Finally I got the fish to the surface -- a nice 15-pound grouper. As I removed my hook, I noticed another rig hanging from his mouth.

It was another of my rigs with the unique bead pattern. I had caught this fish not once, but twice, on this day! I think that was the best-tasting grouper to ever pass my lips.

Catching report

Inshore, the speckled trout bite has been on and off but should be improving with the colder weather and the northeast wind. Flounder continue to bite striped mullet, pogies and soft artificial baits. The spot catches have been strong at times; just be patient because the bite seems to go in streaks right now.

Red drum, black drum and some trout are being caught in the surf. Surf City Pier reports a great fall bite. Lots of spots are being caught when the wind is out of the northeast. Anglers are also catching pompano, flounder, drum and some big kings. The Virginia mullet are biting in the late evening and at night.

Off shore, the king bite has been excellent. Many fish in the 15- to 30-pound range are being caught on live and dead bait from the beaches out to 15 miles. The grouper have moved in closer and can be found in 65 feet of water on ledges and reefs.

Grab and pole and go fish! Tight lines to all.

After Work trip

2006-10-20T20:08:00.000-04:00

Snuck out after work for an hour or two of fishing. Loaded up on a some small pogies that were convienently lounging by the boat ramp. Boated over to one of my favorite areas for flounder and tossed out a pogie at 4:45. First cast, fish on. 13.75" flounder. Next cast to same spot. Fish on. 13.5" flounder. Dang. Third cast to same spot. You guessed it - Fish on. Another 13.5 flounder. Cast to some different spots, nothing. Cast back to that same spot. Bam - fish on. 13.25" flounder.

I must have found the nursery....lol.

Never did catch a keeper size flounder. But had a blast trying!

Total = 6 undersize flounder. 0 keepers.

Column - October 16, 2006

2006-10-16T18:16:00.000-04:00

The Topsail Offshore Fishing Club holds an annual king mackerel tournament that pulls in anglers from all over the state as well as some from other states. This year the tournament was held the second weekend in October, a shift from its former August date. This later date was to avoid conflict with other tournaments.

This year they also added the Sloop Point Volunteer Fire Department as the beneficiary of profits from the sale of tournament advertising. In turn, the VFD helped in the planning and execution of the tournament.

More than 100 boats entered this year’s tournament, including one from yours truly. My little 19-foot center console craft was dwarfed by some of those big 30- and 35-foot boats, but with calm weather and the kings in close to shore this time of year, it was worth a shot. There were a number of other smaller boats with the same idea.

Most king mackerel tournament fishermen prefer live bait; large menhaden is probably the top bait choice for most teams. Finding good bait of any sort proved to be the big challenge this year -- the heavy rains last month caused many of the baitfish to move out of the area due to the lower salinity levels. With the cold weather pending, it seems they just kept heading south.

My team knew this, so we headed out Friday looking for a reliable source of menhaden. All we could find where smaller ones, so we opted to go a different route. We spent the afternoon trolling and jigging for blue fish, which we then penned up to use on Saturday. This proved to be a good decision, as many teams wasted what proved to be the best bite period of the day catching bait. We also spent part of the day fishing some different areas to help determine where the big kings might be found.

Tournament rules call for 7 a.m. to be the earliest lines can be in the water. We left the dock at 5:30, picked up our penned blue fish and headed for some last-minute checks for menhaden. Finding none, we headed out of the Topsail Inlet and motored to our fishing spot.

We arrived at 6:55 and spent the last 5 minutes before the tournament’s official start making last minute checks of our gear and rigs. Satisfied all were well, we put out our first line at exactly 7 a.m.

One other boat was also there with us at the start, and by 8:30 there were 21 boats in that same area. But most were too late for that spot.

We had our first strike before 7:30 and our last one of the morning before 8:00. We hooked the fish we ended up weighing at 7:43. It was a 15.5-pound fish, far less than the hoped for 30-pound smoker. Still, it gave us confidence we had made the right choices and lifted our spirits as we fished the rest of the day.

We did get a couple of strikes in the afternoon, but no smokers. So we headed to the weigh-in with our 15.5- pound fish. We finished 39^{th out of 109 boats -- only 51 of those entered even weighed in a fish. Not bad for our first KMT as a team! We had a blast to boot!}

^{Congratulation to the Ocean Isle Fishing Team, which took first place with a 45.5-pound smoker! And kudos to the Mount Maker team, which finished 6th overall in a 17-foot boat -- the smallest boat in the tournament to weigh a fish.}

Catching report

The kings are all over. From the beach out to the 15 mile range there are plenty of 15-20 pound fish to be caught with some smokers mixed in as well. False Albacore, small Spanish, and blues are also being caught. In the 17 – 30 mile range the grouper bite has been ON. Some nice grunts and black bass are also being caught on the bottom.

Inshore the drum, grey trout and flounder bite has been steady. The speckled trout bite is picking up with the recent cold snap. Live finger mullet and shrimp are still available for bait. Many folks are using mirro lures, X-raps and gulp to target the specks.

Vinita at Surf City Ocean Pier reports that black drum catches have been steady using cut shrimp. She also reports catches of small pompano and some flounder in the daytime with sea mullet biting at night. Anglers at Sea View Pier are catching sea mullet and black drum. Folks fishing from the Jolly Roger pier have been catching pompano, black drum and sea mullet.

Tight lines to all!

Topsail King Mackerel Tournament

2006-10-15T21:33:00.000-04:00

Mark, Pat V. & I fished the Topsail King Mackerel Tournament yesterday.

Mark and I "pre-fished" yesterday to scout out the kings and to locate bait. We decided that our best chance was in an area called Topsail Ledge, Ole Smokey #1 and some other ledges in the vicinity. Bait has been scarce since the heavy rains last month, we could only find small mendaden, too small. So we went trolling for some blue fish to use. We found some near the Topsail inlet shoals. We penned them up overnight. We also caught a few Spanish by accident...lol

We headed out at 5:30 in the morning, did some quick checks for bait - nothing - picked up our penned blues - three escaped overnight (must have flipped over the top) but still had enough to get started. 7 am was the official start time, a major bite time for today was at 7:34 so we were on station and ready at 6:55. First lines in the water at 7:00 sharp. We were joined by 17 other boats over the first hour. At 7:23 we had a short strike. At 7:27 we had a hook up but he tail whipped the line above the wire leader and cut it off.

At 7:43 we hooked up what was to be our only fish of the day. A 15.50 pound fish caught on one of our flat lines using a blue fish. We had one other strike later, slow afternoon.

We finished 39th out of 109 entries overall, 4th in the 23' boat and under class. But we had a great time and enjoyed the sunny weather.

Column - October 9, 2006

2006-10-09T22:44:00.000-04:00

I’ve been scuba diving for over 25 years. I’ve been fishing for more than … well, a long time by any account. Some days I do both -- that really puts a smile on my face.

While scuba diving, I really have a chance to explore the environment that supports the fish. Oh sure, when someone first starts diving all they notice is that there are some really big fish, and "Hey this air tastes pretty good, think I’ll have another."

After a few dives, the diver begins to notice more and more about the wonderful world under the sea. First the novice begins to notice some of the smaller fish within their hiding places. Later, the diver takes note of the fish’s habits and preferences -- like where they hide, what direction they swim in relation to currents, structure and bottom types. The experienced diver will even note what species seem to hang out together.

Armed with all this information, a diver begins to understand how to be a better fisherman.

Many fish love structure. Hang around a fisherman long enough and you’ll here them talk about structure. By structure, they mean anything that breaks up the bottom. Ledges, reefs, sloughs, rock piles, oyster bars, and points of land all are structure.

Small fish use these structures to hide. Bigger fish are attracted to such places in search of a meal, compliments of the smaller fish. And you correctly guessed by now, the angler is attracted to structure by the bigger fish they find there.

The first time I dove on an artificial reef, I soon realized I had been fishing all wrong. This particular reef was made from an old barge. The top of the barge was there, but had been mangled, as was part of the hull. Diving on it helped me see how it was laid out and, more importantly, where the flounder lay.

I had always fished the middle sections and had some luck, but nothing spectacular. I noticed on my dive that the flounder where all stacked up around the ends of the barge. They were in the sand and facing the wreck, just waiting for a smaller fish to round the end of the wreck and get within grasp. Next time I fished there, armed with this new information, I caught my limit of eight flounder.

Scuba has helped me with ledges and rock piles as well. I enjoy scuba diving on its own merits; however, using it to enhance my fishing catch is just plain SWEET.

Catching report

With the water temperatures hovering near 70, the fall bite is really picking up! Inshore, speckled trout, red and black drum, flounder and spots are biting well. The trout are feeding on top water baits early and late in the day. Flounder and drum are making the most of the finger mullet bounty, so use them for bait.

The king bite has been hot. The fish are moving closer and closer to shore. Hopefully the smokers will be near the beach this weekend for the King Mackerel Tournament sponsored by the Topsail Offshore Fishing Club. They are feeding on live pogies and will bite cigar minnows and other natural baits as well. Some very nice size Spanish are being caught on the ledges and reefs 3 to 5 miles off shore. The false albacore seem to have disappeared, though.

Further out in the 15 to 30 mile range, grouper and black sea bass have been a staple these past few weeks. Squid and Spanish sardines are working well; live pogies and pin fish will get the grouper bite sizzling. too.

Wish me well in the tournament this weekend.

Tight lines to all!

Column - October 2, 2006

2006-10-03T15:49:00.000-04:00

The crisp, cool nights and sunny, warm days of autumn are here. And so is the best saltwater fishing of the year!

If you ask just about any avid angler about fall fishing in North Carolina, their eyes light up. That’s because the fishing from late September into mid-November offers some of the best variety and largest catches of the year.

The trade winds blow from the southeast or southwest most of the summer, keeping the warm water on our coast. This time of year, the trade winds shift to come from the north and northeast. This brings cooler air and cooler water to our coast. It also brings bait and game fish from the north as they make way for their warm-water winter homes.

Perfect! The wind direction blows the bait right up to our inland waters and beaches. Trout, flounder, puppy drum, blues, king mackerel and other local fish have a smorgasbord to feast on, becoming very active feeders. Summer resident fish load up on the buffet brought to them. East-west migratory fish like kings move in close to take advantage of all the bait fish brought near the shore.

It also brings that other migratory creature, the Saltwater Angler, to the beaches. Fishers from all over the east coast make the trip to the N.C. coast this time of year. The epicenter of this activity is the outer banks, but we get our share of activity here, too.

Surf casting for big bull red drum occupies local anglers all summer long. However, in the fall, their ranks soar as other anglers look to get in on the busiest action of the surf season. Just about any spot that might hold trout or flounder will have at least one boat over it, and often a crowd of boats can be seen at some of the more popular spots.

The piers see the best action of the year, too. Often anglers will line the entire length of the pier from end to end, taking advantage of the bounty of fish chasing bait right below them.

Look off to the east from our beaches on a weekend this time of year, and you likely will spot a number of boats trolling the waters for king mackerel, blues and Spanish.

It’s a great time to fish! Grab a pole and get in on the action.

Catching report

Trout, flounder, drum, spots, croakers and mullet and being caught near shore. Kings are close to the beach as well as Spanish, blues and false albacore. Offshore, the grouper and snappers are biting hard.

Tight lines to all!

Column - Sept 18, 2006

2006-09-18T14:37:00.000-04:00

Spots, Spots. I’m seeing spots.

‘Bout now you can hear those words from folks up and down Topsail Island. They are of course referring to the fish by that name. This tasty pan sized fish is a favorite with locals and visitors alike, many claiming they would just as soon eat a spot as a steak.

A friend of mine that works at Surf City pier says this time of year, 9 out of 10 phone calls are folks wanting to know if the spots are biting.

The fish get their name from the distinctive black spot just behind their gill. The fish looks similar to a croaker but have little barbell-like bumps under their chins, are smoother and wider, and have forked tails. Like a croaker, when caught the spot will make a croaking sound but usually softer and less frequently.

An occasional spot will be caught about anytime in the summer and fall. However this month is prime time for the little fish. They are caught from ocean piers, the surf and on the sound side from boats and the shore.

They often travel in large schools. At times you can fill a cooler full of the tasty fish in a short period. Other times, the bite can be, well, spotty.

Blood worms and shrimp pieces are two of the best natural baits. “Fish Bites” is a favorite artificial used to catch this fish. In either case, use a two hook bottom rig with a pyramid sinker is most often used. When the bite is hot, anglers will pull the fish up two at a time!

Hampstead holds the annual “North Carolina Spot Festival” each September. This year is the 43^rd festival and is being held September 22 – 24. The festival has moved it’s location a few miles further south this year. It is being held off of Hwy 17 on the southbound side about a quarter mile south of the intersection with 210 west.

In addition to plenty of spot dinners – spot, French fries, slaw and hush puppies – there is plenty to do at the festival. Featured are musical performances, arts and crafts, static displays, and many vendors that are out supporting our community. All proceeds go to benefit local schools and volunteer fire departments.

Catching report

The king bite has been very slow with mostly small kings being reported and very few at that. Bottom fisherman working the ledges and reefs from 10 miles and out have been experiencing good catches of grouper, snapper, black sea bass, grunts and other bottom species. Further out, the wahoo bite has really picked up on days when the seas are calm enough to make it out there.

Inshore the flounder bite remains good on the nearby ledges. Many old red drum are being caught and released in the surf. When you can find clear water, the speckled trout have been biting early in the morning and on a turning tide. Pompano, black drum, croakers, gray trout and of course spots are all being caught as well.

Tight lines to all!

Fishing Trip - September 16, 2006

2006-09-16T19:25:00.000-04:00

We had a lot of rain this week and the seas have been kicked up so I wasn't sure what to expect. There had been a few big kings caught from the Topsail piers earlier in the week and the forecast was for 2-3 foot seas with a north wind of 10-15 knots.

I headed out earlier and couldn't find good bait, neither could my buddies in a couple of other boats. I had been toying with the idea of using blue fish for bait when fishing near the beach so this seemed a good time to try that experiment.

I easily caught a half dozen or so blue fish in the 12-14 inch range with one around 16 inches...perfect. I had rigged up some special tackle already (been planning to do this for a few weeks when the time was right). These rigs are much like the live bait rigs I make for use with menhaden, cigar minnows and the like. However I used a #5 wire instead of #4 with a 3/0 live bait single hook (heavy) for the nose and then two #2 trebles for stingers.

I pulled these up and down Topsail Ledge (the nearshore one), Old Smokey ledge and a few other in the area, nothing. Then I moved over a bit and pulled across the inlet and the sea buoy. I had one knock down, took two thirds of the blue fish but missed the hooks! Must have been a big King by the looks of what was left. I tried backing off the throttle to let the remaining bait drift back but he was long gone.

Anyway, the baits stayed alive a long time and ran natural, so I think I got the rigging right. The water is still very dirty near shore so maybe this technique will work better in clearer water.

There were a lot of birds and Spanish working bait close in so I decided to do some sight casting and chased the schools. Caught a dozen or so decent Spanish and a bunch of small ones. I have a lot of fish this week already so I didn't keep any, I don't like frozen Spanish either.

Seas were flat to start but the wind picked up around 10 O'clock and put some chop on the water. Sunny too. Nice day on the water!

Spots, I'm seeing spots......

2006-09-13T10:29:00.000-04:00

The reports of large schools of spots near the beaches this week-end brought cheers from the the pier crowd. The much anticipated arrival of the Spot has materilized on the ocean side. The sound side should see schools of spots invade the inshore waters very soon as well.

Around these parts, the Spot is held in high regard and is a favorite of many locals. In fact Hamsptead has an annual Spot Festival to celebrate the fishes annual pilgramage to the area. This year it is being held Sept. 22-24.

Reports from the three piers on Topsail Island indicate that at times during the past few days, the spot bite was strong enough to fill the coolers of a number of anglers. At times they were even being caught two at a time.

So if you like spots, grab a pole and GO FISH!

Column - Sept 11, 2006

2006-09-11T20:01:00.000-04:00

Some of the best fishing of the year for coastal North Carolina is in September, October and the early part of November. This is the time of year that the north-south migrations bring those fish south from the cooler northern waters as they head south for the winter. It’s also the time of year that many of the east-west migratory fish move into the shallow waters of our coastal sounds and creeks.

The result is spectacular catches of a variety of fish. One of the favorite fall species of many inshore anglers is the speckled sea trout or commonly just called “speck”. In fact the specks are nearby all year round. This time of year they are more active in our channels and creeks because the bait they feed on is so readily available. In fact I caught some nice 2-3 pound specks this past week-end.

This prized catch has been on a rebound in recent years but still has not reached the levels seen before the 1970’s. One thing I have noticed about speck fisherman is they are very closed lipped about where, how and if they are catching fish. In fact they can be quite elusive and might even down right tell a lie to prevent someone from fishing in “their” favorite spot.

Here’s a conversation you might encounter with an ole salty speck fisherman while he is on top of his favorite fishing spot:

(Visitor) V. How's the fishing today?
(fisherman) F. Just got here myself (translation - "just" can mean anytime up to a full tide cycle).

V. Having any luck lately?
F. Nary a bite (translation - he's only referring to the time since you arrived).

Now if this happens to you, don’t take offense. I wouldn’t try to move in on his spot either. But you might want to find a similar spot and try your luck there.

One thing that will help you catch specks is to take notice of the conditions when you catch fish and keep a log. Specks follow certain patterns and if you keep track of those patterns you can look for them in the same place when those conditions re-occur each cycle. Items you will want to keep in your log include: location, tide, current, time of day, moon phase and the type of underwater terrain where you caught the fish.

Catching report

Seaview pier reports good catches of Spanish, black drum and spots with a few reds and flounder also being taken. Spots, flounder, speckled trout and some Spanish are being caught at Surf City Pier with a few kings also being caught. Jolly Roger Pier angler’s have seen very good catches of spots as well some nice black drum and Virginia mullet.

Big red drum are being caught in the surf and shoals around the inlets with some over 40 inches in length being reported. Founder and speckled sea trout are being caught in the creeks and channels. Grunts, black sea bass and gag groupers are being caught in the offshore reefs and ledges. The kings have been elusive the past few weeks but some have been caught near shore.

Tight lines to all!

Fishing trip - Sept 9, 2006

2006-09-11T14:58:00.000-04:00

Inshore fishing has been good this week, offshore is a different story.

I went out early this morning and pulled pogies for some kings...nada. It was pretty bumpy and windy but decided to anchor eup and bottom fish for a while. Caught some nice black sea bass and some grunts, after about 2 hours being anchored up with 4-5 foot swells I headed inshore. Caught a three nice speckeled trout, all around 15-16 inches. Also caught a bucket full of shrimp! The creeks are full of white shrimp, some really ncie size ones too.

Reports I received from others: King fishing was dead just about everywhere today. A few blues and sharks were caught. Big Drum are pounding the surf and shoals. If you've never done this, you ought to try it! Nothing like catching a 35" fight-like-the-dickens Red Drum on surf tackle! Plenty of flounder being reported, a few spots and croakers in the waterway and channels. There are some nice Pompano being caught in the surf too.

Grab a rod and go fishing!

Recent Fishing trips

2006-09-08T09:22:00.000-04:00

This past labor day week-end I fished several days and then last night I went fishing on Surf City Ocean Pier. Even though we received a lot of rain from Ernesto, the fishing has been pretty good, espicially in and near shore. I think think the east winds had a lot to do with shutting down the off shore bite last week.

On Saturday we hooked up on some small kings adn a nice Spanish but the trolling was very slow so we switched to bottom fishing and caught some nice grunts and black sea bass at Dallas rocks. On Monday we trolled near the beaches with no action so we headed further out where we managed to get one knock down and one hook-up of a small king.

Then we headed for Dallas rocks. We had a nice king on the hook and almost to the boat when a barracuda struck and took half the fish. He then came back for the other half and got hooked up. A 45 minute fight pursued before my buddy Mark landed him.

Last night I went to the SCP. The fishing action was steady. I saw some nice catches of pompano, blues, flounder, black drum and one undersize puppy drum. I caught pompano and a 2.1 pound flounder.

This week-end looks promising. Grab your rod and go fish!

Topsail Angler column - Sept. 4, 2006

2006-09-05T12:25:00.000-04:00

The fish I speak of -- Florida pompano.

An average pompano weighs about a pound, with some of the bigger ones reaching more than two pounds. They feast on small crabs and shrimp, and the sand flea (sand mole crab) is their favorite meal.

They can be caught in the surf or from the pier. Anglers catch them in the shallow water right at the base of the breakers where they hang out waiting for the sand fleas to be washed out in the surf.

Sometimes you can fill a small cooler on a single tide; at others you might only catch a mouthful. In either case, you’ll enjoy this tasty fish!

Catching report

While Ernesto made a mess out of the coastal water with all the floodwaters, fishing has recovered quickly. The bait fish are more plentiful than I can remember in years, so the predator fish are also here in big numbers. Fall fishing this year promises to be one of the best seasons in a long time.

Anglers are catching black drum, red drum, flounder and pompano on the beaches and piers. There are few Spanish and blues still hanging around near shore. In the marshes and ICW, drum, flounder and speckled trout are being caught; a few spots have starting to show up, but their numbers remain few.

Off shore, the king bite remains strong, but mostly small fish are being caught close in. Grouper have been caught as close in as 10 miles, and the grunts and black sea bass have also been biting.

Tight lines to all!

Fishing Trip - August 29, 2006

2006-08-29T21:01:00.000-04:00

Right after work today, I made a quick trip back tot the area we fished last saturday. I just kept thinking about that doormat that got away and had to go try once again. The tides were just right, the wind was blowing from the SW so the creek I was fishing was protected from the brunt of the 15 knot wind.

I anchored up and proceeded to cast in the same geenral area. After about an hour and no luck, I moved a hundred yards down the creek and promptly hooked-up on a 16 incher. Then a few moments later, another. I didn't find the doormat but hey, I'll take two keeper flatties anyday.

Enjoyed a beautiful sunset then headed to the hill.

Weekly Column - August 28, 2006

2006-08-28T14:29:00.000-04:00

Beautiful sandy beaches, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, delightful ocean activities, fun-filled days and nights -- sounds like the description of some distant vacation destination?

Well, it is if you live far from here; otherwise, it aptly describes our home.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of taking a couple of friends fishing. They live in Cary and rarely get down to the coast. Seeing them reminded me of what I already knew -- how great it is to live here.

After leaving the boat dock, we navigated the channel through the salt marsh, and I heard several comments on how beautiful it is here. As we cruised down the IntraCoastal Waterway, I again heard comments on the beauty, this time accented with an observation about the peacefulness.

We anchored up in a marsh creek and began to fish -- still more comments on the beauty and peacefulness of the area. Then several porpoises passed near us, playfully displaying their gracefulness. Besides the "ooohs" and "aaahs," I heard remarks on the "wonders of this place."

Then came the big question from my visitors -- "Do you ever get tired of this place?"

After about two nanoseconds had passed, I answered with a decisive "NO." Interspersed with the laughs from my guests were comments like "Are your sure?" and "Do you want to think about it?"The answers to those questions was, of course, made clear by my response.

I grew up in the Topsail area. I cut my teeth swimming, fishing and frolicking in these waters. Then I moved away for a number of years. During my Navy years, I traveled and lived in many different parts of the country and of world. Later I did the same with my civilian job. After 20 years I was able to move back here, and I have no intent of ever moving away again.

Having seen the world, I choose Topsail! I really appreciate the beauty and joy that we have in our surroundings here. I hope you do to.

Oh yeah, did I mention that as a bonus to all the beauty, peacefulness and natural wonders, we caught some fish? Well we did, and I felt I should mention that since this IS a fishing column.

Catching report

The eastern wind seemed to shut down much of the offshore bite this past week. However a few kings, Spanish and mahi were reeled in. Days when the wind was from the south or southwest were more productive. In spite of the weather, flounder and drum fishing near the shore remained strong.

In the surf, reds continue to bite, especially near flood tide. Pompano, spots and Virginia mullet should be showing up in good numbers soon -- try shrimp, blood worms, sand fleas and cut bait on a double hook bottom rig to target these tasty favorites.

Jolly Roger Pier reports scattered catches of Spanish mackerel and blues in the mornings and evenings, with some black drum being caught at night. Fishermen at Surf City Pier have been catching spots, Spanish mackerel and a few pompano and one nice-sized king mackerel this past week. A couple of small kings and some nice Spanish mackerel were caught at Seaview Pier, where they also saw some Pompano, spots and croakers hauled over the rails.

Tight lines, and wishes for a wonderful Labor Day weekend!