Sept 28 Tough Fishing in Rough Conditions

I knew there was a Front coming. I thought we could beat the weather and catch a couple of nice Kings. I've never been wronger. Is that a word? The day started out okay; even though when we first left Taylor's Creek and turned to the south at Lennoxville Point, I knew we were in trouble. By the time we got to Beaufort Inlet, we faced a stiff SW wind, whitecaps everywhere, and dirty brown water. First place we went was the Shackleford side of the Inlet, where right in the rip, we caught about 8 Bluefish on metal. I figured it was little too rough (Ha Ha) so we moved on. We ran towards Cape Lookout, with the wind at our backs and bait was everywhere. I stopped and made 1 throw with the cast net and Brent and I hauled 25 dozen menhaden into the Boat. Great. ....We should've quit right then. Four hours later, we had 2 strikes. Jay caught and released a 4 lb Bluefish and we lost a 50 lb Blacktip Shark after the third jump. It was a great flurry of action losing that Shark. Then we looked around and 7 foot swells were tossing us like a toy and the SW wind was howling 25+ kts. We ran back towards Beaufort Inlet and took 1000 waves that sent walls of water across the boat. Jay hid behind me. Brent and I got soaked. It was a disaster. Back in the Inlet to save the day on Bluefish. But, no Bluefish on their Shoal and 4 foot breakers there anyway. Finally, we headed back to Taylor's Creek where we caught and released a hand full of bottom fish. Amazingly, Jay had a blast , but Brent and I had......we expected a little more! Can't quite qualify for the worst day of the year! Total Catch for the Day: 9 Bluefish up to 4 pounds, 8 Spot, 3 Black Sea Bass, 3 Pinfish and 2 Hogfish

Sept 26 Good Mackerel Fishing

The weather forecast was horrible. The actual weather wasn't that bad. My party cancelled. So I went fishing. The past 3 years, that scenario has usually meant a good day for me, today was no exception. Here's how it all played out.....Since I was already in the boat this morning when my anglers bailed out, I rode out to Beaufort Inlet to look around. Things looked bleak and I almost headed back home. Over off Ft Macon a flash of silver caught my eye. A Spanish Mackerel jumping. I headed that way and found the best "Spanish Mackerel" casting of the year. Some of these Spanish Mackerel were well over 2 pounds. There were a few Bluefish mixed in. I caught a few Bluefish and dropped them in the live well, just in case. The Mackerel were busting in tiny fry west of the Inlet, but the best fishing was west of the Ft Macon rocks. Here the bigger class of Mackerel were terrorizing schools of finger mullet right off the surf. The casting action was excellent. After I boxed a dozen and turned about 10 loose, I was ready to go home. The wind was howling and I was all bloody and wet. But something told me to run east. Take my 7 live Bluefish and let them swim while the wind blows me back to Beaufort Inlet. So I ran nearly all the way to Cape Lookout, knocked the boat out of gear, and tossed 3 Bluefish out on King Rigs. The first strike didn't take long. A foul hooked 18 lb King Mackerel that put up a long battle. Ten minutes later a nice King Mackerel skied on another Bluefish. This one swam up right beside the boat. I couldn't understand how I was about to land this fish so quick if I saw that larger King jump. Then my fish ran off at a right angle away from me, changed directions, crossed the stern with my line ripping the water apart, and then he smoked 200 yards directly offshore. That's more like it. A short while later I gaff a 28 lb King Mackerel. All the Spanish Mackerel I wanted and 2 nice Kings and it aint even 10am yet. Hope my boys read this. I ended up running inshore and catching a few dozen Menhaden and kept fishing. Looking for a 40 pound King to fill out my limit. I had 5 more stikes and released 3 King Mackerel in the lower to mid twentys. I missed 2 strikes and never got my big one. That's alright, I gave away 24 Spanish Mackerel fillets and hopefully I'll cut a deal for some smoked King Mackerel. Plus, I got to go fishing on a crappy day when the fish were chewing! Total Catch for the Day: 5 King Mackerel up to 28 pounds, 22 Spanish Mackerel and 7 Bluefish ***1465 Total Fish in 2009***

Sept 24 Croakers and Spots

Looking for a Fish Fry? The Menu in Taylor's Creek is full of two pretty good choices for the main dinner guest. Standing on the Dock, in an hour, I caught 20 Croakers and 8 Spots. That's nearly 1 fish every 2 minutes. I'm fishing with Fishbites, so if any of you guys ever used them.....I spent half my time cutting cheese cloth off my hooks. The rest of my time was spent dueling Croakers on ultralight. In this fishery, a 1 pounder is a good one, so I broke out the 4# spinning rod. First drop produced a double header on the Croaker. Quite a tussle. Total catch for the Day: 20 Croakers and 8 Spots

Sept 23 Night Mission

Clifford and I tried to pull a late night Red Drum heist. In and out in 2 minutes....Things went bad. I broke off a slot Drum in the pilings while Clifford cast his mullet onto a dock and broke off his rig. We regrouped and returned to the scene. This time things went according to plan. We each got a 24" Red Drum, but we got caught. The BPD was on the scene. Hopefully we talked our way out of trouble, it was pretty legit and honest. We were wrong and we confessed. Fishing addicts are just like Dopeheads! We were powerless once we saw what was under that light. Our fate was sealed. What can I say? Night time fishing on the Beaufort Waterfront has changed in the last 2 years. ALL the FISH are in 1 place. Tonight we flirted with disaster to deliver our baits into 30-40 Red Drum that were swimming in a tight circle under 1 particular light. We got our 2 and escaped. Clifford also caught 2 big Croakers on live finger mullet. Total Catch for the Night: 2 Red Drum and 2 Croaker

Sept 23 Two Coolers Full of Fish, Plus Releases

Monty, Sean, and Tom fished hard today. We covered a lot of water and we caught lots of fish. Casting to Albacore and Spanish Mackerel in the morning was pretty good. Then we went East and found dirty water and confused seas. Back the other direction and we caught more Spanish Mackerel, plus a mixed bag on the bottom. Tom got a 16" Summer Flounder on a speck rig. Sean got a big Pinfish chomped in two and I hooked him up with a treble hook on a wire. Thirty minutes later he a released a 31 lb Barracuda on 8# spinning tackle. This was a Great Barracuda and it lived up to his name with 4 great jumps and about 10 changes of direction, and then slugged it out in the deep for 15 minutes. Not bad for an 10 year old, even one on his way to the NFL. Then we ran to Beaufort Inlet and caught all the Bluefish the guys wanted on metal and top water plugs. Then we made our only mistake. Back to the East 8 miles for nothing. We did see an amazing Bottlenose Dolphin gathering and aerial show. Finally, back in Taylor's Creek and we bailed the Croakers, Spots, Sea Bass, and more Pinfish. Monty freaked us out when he caught an oddball 22" Red Drum out of a school of Croakers. Total Catch for the Day: 1 Barracuda at 31 lbs, 7 Spanish Mackerel, 16 Bluefish, 6 Albacore, 1 Red Drum, 1 Summer Flounder, 5 Black Sea Bass, 1 Rock Sea Bass, 2 Hogfish, 30 Croaker, 3 Spot, 2 Scup, 3 Menhaden and 20 Pinfish

Sept 22 Croakers Chewing

How long has been since a day worthy of that title. How about 23 years. Last year I remember catching 4 Croakers one day and that was memorable. Honestly, I don't really bottom fish inshore much anymore, so maybe I'd catch more if I tried! This morning I had a few Jumping Mullets to fillet for the grill tonight. The tide was right so, you know me; I can't go near the water without tossing a hook. When I tossed it today the rod immediately doubled over. Felt like a small Red Drum but it turned out to be a large Croaker. Fifteen minutes later, I had 12 Croakers , a Black Sea Bass, and a 20" Flounder. My biggest Croaker was a 1+ pounder and the smallest was "plenty big enough to keep". Taylor's Creek is alive. Looks like a fishy forecast this week with some sketchy weather. I also caught a nice net full of finger mullet. Later in the afternoon, at dead low tide, I made a few more casts and caught another 20" Flounder and lost a nice mystery fish. Sure felt like a Flounder and ran like a 5+ pounder. Total Catch for the Day: 12 Croaker, 2 Southern Flounder and 1 Black Sea Bass

Sept 15-21 Not Much Action at Hatteras

I had a bad work schedule this week that didn't allow me to do what I wanted to do. This was a Flounder week! For the last 7 years, I always had a great week of fishing at night, in September, at Hatteras. Last shift things weren't quite right. This week, all the elements were there except me.....I could "feel" the Flounder under my feet during the day, but I couldn't make it back at night. So I settled for a little Sheephead fishing and Cast Net throwing instead. I caught a 7 pound Sheepshead and around 5 dozen Jumping Mullets. Some of these Mullets were grown ones, pushing 4 pounds. I also caught 4 Lookdowns. I could've had a blast fishing all night, but it wasn't my turn. Too Bad! I don't count netted fish here, therfore: My Total Catch for the Week: 1 Sheepshead

Sept 14 Red Drum, Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Albacore, and Jacks

Steve and Sandra had a great half day of Sight casting and casting metal into very fishy areas! First thing in the morning we went to where Chris and I had left about 500 Red Drum yesterday afternoon. Our three big schools were missing, but left behind was a scattering of fish on the Beach and we got our 3 fish bag limit of 22" to 24" Red Drum pretty quickly. We also released a couple more and Steve got a keeper Flounder. Then it was off to the East to see what we could find. We found alot. Casting metal in feeding frenzys would produce strike after strike from Spanish Mackerel, Bluefish, Albacores, and Crevalle Jacks. Spanish Mackerel were the preferred target, but the Bluefish were more numerous and larger. We caught all the Blues and Albacore that Sandra could stand along with a few Crevalle Jacks. Steve wanted more Spanish Mackerel but in the end we settled for the 6 that we had and headed back to the Beach for more Drum. Before leaving the Shoals, we saw a 500 pound Hammerhead Shark and many Blacktip Sharks. I also had a shot at a Barracuda. My lasting impression was the Bluefish. Acres of fish. 10's of 1000's of 2 pound Bluefish. Back on the Beach we found them again and this time it was the motherlode. Sandra released 2 Red Drum over 10 pounds and Steve released 3 that were in the slot. I even released one. This Beach ride resulted in 6 more Red Drum releases. Total Catch for the Day: 11 Red Drum up to 10 lb 8 oz, 20 Bluefish, 8 Albacore, 6 Spanish Mackerel, 1 Summer Flounder, and 2 Crevalle Jacks

Sept 13 Sight Casting to Red Drum and Crevalle Jacks

Since I'm fishing with clients tommorrow morning, I needed to go on a scouting mission today. I pretty much knew what I was looking for and I had a good idea where to look! So Chris and I went out to see what we could find. We found the motherlode! Unfortunately, with all the nets in the water, what we found this afternoon could be gone by the morning. Nothing we can do about that, but it sure was fun for us. Fishing on 3 different schools of Red Drum produced 13 Red Drum for Chris and I. These Drum ranged from 25" to 33". We caught them on plastic, metal, and top water plugs. We also caught and released 6 Crevalle Jacks that were rampaging up and down the beach in packs of 10-100 fish. Seeing them from the tower was awesome. I've seen more Crevalle Jacks this year than any year going back to around 1988. They are always a welcome catch on my boat. Hopefully, we will get a whack at some of the 25-30 pounders somewhere in the next month! We saw very few Spanish Mackerel and Bluefish. I did catch a 2 lb Bluefish that was under a bait ball. We also saw none of the Albacore that everybody has been raving about. However, we didn't leave the dock until 2pm and we were back at 5pm. All we did was "catch fish". Total Catch for the Day: 13 Red Drum, 6 Crevalle Jack, and 1 Bluefish

Sept 10 Cubera Snapper Fishing off Key Largo

Always looking for a new challenge, I decided to try something new on Sept 10. This plan carried me 900 miles from home. I went Cubera Snapper Fishing. Unfortunately, I didn't get my hands on a Cubera Snapper. However, I did get a hook in one and what an amazing show of brute strength! Too bad my luck gave out and my fish made it into structure and broke me off. I usually don't dwell on a lost fish, but I need to spend a minute on this one! This fish ate a live Lobster, 220 feet deep, on 100# braid, with 25 lbs of drag, a long ways from the wreck, and he flat out smoked a 50 wide and made it back to structure. I was praying for a 50 pounder and it sure seemed like I found an 80+ pounder instead. The guys fishing Cubera Snappers off Key Largo burned up the 20-50 pounders 2 weeks ago, but since then everybody has had slow fishing. But the few bites have resulted mostly in big tales of Giant Snappers that broke off! Add me to that list. After that we had 1 mystery bite ate a live Blue Runner and pulled the hooks. Cubera? Who knows. We also got a Barracuda and my first ever Horse-Eye Jack on the Cubera spot. So, in 5 hours of drifting live Lobsters and Blue Runners on the best Cubera Snapper location on the US East Coast during prime season, I got one sure bite and one mystery bite and lost them both! Before dark, we fished for Yellowtail Snapper with some success. It was a struggle because there was absolutely no current. There were a few other things around that made fishing interesting. Catching bait was a blast. We caught lots of Blue Runners off an old wreck inside Biscayne Bay and we also nabbed 15 Spiny Lobsters off the patch reefs in 20 feet of water. Total Catch for the Day: 20 Yellowtail Snapper, 1 Cero Mackerel, 1 Red Hind, 1 Horse-Eye Jack, 1 Barracuda, 15 Blue Runner, and 15 Spiny Lobsters ***Those 11 Lobster Tails in the picture were meant to be Snapper Bait but they sure will be good***

Lavender Sky at Hatteras

This was the sunset on Friday, Sept 4.

Sept 1-5 10lb Sheepsheads

Another shift at Hatteras and conditions were horrific. However, the Sheepheads that have made my summer were still there. Casting straight into a 15-25 kt NE wind made things tough. Feeling a bite with your bait being blown right back in your face was hard too. Regardless, I managed to catch 1 to 3 Sheepsheads per night. I also had a co-worker that caught his first 2 Sheepsheads including a 10 lb 4 oz trophy. Way to go Doug! Two other of my "trainees" caught at least 4 nice Sheepsheads, but I'm not sure of their size. My biggest Sheephead of the week actually escaped after a botched netting attempt when my fish got his dorsal spines hung in the net and never was "in the net". My little buddy, Stevie B, who is only 5 feet tall, couldn't see over the rail, but he felt the weight and started lifting my big Sheepshead. Screaming at him to lower the fish did no good. As the monster neared the rail, he exploded and fell out of the net and he was free. Once again, the biggest one escaped. For the week, I caught 7 Sheepheads, including a 10 pounder and a 9 pounder. The one that got away was probably a 12 pounder. Oh well. My 9 pound Sheepshead was an adventure. I had already put my net up and decided to make one final drop. I quickly hooked up and knew I was in trouble. With no other options, I handed the rod to a cool Asian Couple and told the guy "Good Luck, it's a nice one and I'll be back in a minute with the net!" By the time I got back to the scene there was a crowd of 30 people watching the action! It was a good show, apparantly this dude didn't know about the Reel. He and his wife were both lifting the rod over and over, but were not taking in any line! They were also screaming and very excited. The problem was the fish was still 80-100 feet out on the darkness. Once I showed him the reel and what to turn, everything went smooth and we decked the fish. I wish I had a camera with me to post a picture of them with that fish! They will never forget that battle and I gave them the fish to take home. Sheephead fishing has got to be over for me now. Bring on the Flounder. Total Catch for the Week: 9 Sheepheads up to 10 lb 4 oz