Nine years ago, on Oct 19, 2003, was a very windy day. Around
20-25 Northeast to be exact. I took my
23 ft Maycraft up to the
Cape Lookout Shoals with plans to destroy the
Bluefish. The wind and seas made them "untouchable". I was really disappointed. I returned to
Hunter's Dock where I had a
few Finger Mullet in a bait bucket. I didn't have
my primary dock fishing weapon with me. (A
conventional reel loaded with
80# powerpro to
deal with tight spaces and many
barnacle encrusted pilings) All I had was
2 spinning rods with well worn, twisted and stretched
10# mono that needed changing! Ah, who cares I thought, this day is shot! I fished around all my usual nooks and crannies and I had caught a
few Flounder and a couple of
Red Drum. I was suprized my luck was holding up because one of my
Flounders was a
20", cookie cutter
3 pounder and the
Red Drum were
5 pounders.
Fish in this class were a 50/50 proposition at this location due to heavy structure. It surely seemed my day had taken a turn for the better. Then I moved to the
fingerdock farthest inshore. And for the first time in
30 years of fishing this Dock, I dropped my bait straight down at this exact location. No, I actually swung it backwards, slightly under my feet.
I felt something weird. my bait shifted, but it wasn't a bite..... Peering down in the dark, 4 foot deep water, I reeled up and inspected my bait. No marks, but it was a feeling I didn't yet comprehend. The sinker (and bait) had moved. It was like the bottom had shifted. In the shallow water, fishing nearly vertical, you could feel everything so I couldn't be wrong.
Besides, I'm Capt Marty Moore, just ask Jennifer, I've never been wrong! Anyway, I quickly re-dropped and wham bam,
something hammered my mullet. I gave 10 seconds slack and lifted my rod sharply.
A deep bow quickly developed and my rod tip bounced in huge gyrations. Heavy as hell. The fight was on and I had a huge fish on. Unfortunately, I had old brittle well used
10# mono and my fish was now framed in my poor choice of fishing area.... Basically a framed up with barnacle laden pilings in a square about 4 foot by 4 feet. In other words, if this fish actually ran laterally, even one time,
it had a 99% chance of escaping. But it didn't. I slowly lifted this fish. When it came up it was a
huge Doormat Flounder. All it was doing was trying to swim backwards. Its head was slanted upwards and it was undulating backwards.
I reached for my net and expected at any time for this fish to "right itself" and explode. It was capable of making a 75-100 foot run and one quick burst! But it never did. The damn
Flounder allowed itself to be netted. This fish weighed
10 lb 11 oz and remains my
career largest Flounder. The only time I've been close was a
10 lb 6 oz Flounder that I caught in
Hatteras in 2004. wow. So yesterday, on the
9th Anniversary of that Fish, I fished the
Dock. Once during the day and again later that night. My catch was a mixed bag with a couple of
Flounder and a couple of
Red Drum as well.
NO 10 POUND KICKER FISH though. Today's true trophy fish were my career best
"Dock Gag Grouper" and a well developed
Lizardfish. By the way, from the story above.
That "feeling I didn't yet understand"....
The movement of the bait and sinker.... I understand now.... If you are wondering.... I had dropped my
egg sinker directly onto the
Flounder's back. I felt the
Flounder shift positions to get the
2 oz weight off his back! Another oddity of
Flounder fishing is their
willingness to bite an
egg weight even though there is a fat
finger mullet 8-10" away. Trust me, it happens all the time!
Total Catch for the Day: 2 Southern Flounder up to 2 lbs, 2 Red Drum at 24" and 25", 1 Gag Grouper at 1lb 4oz, 8 Pinfish, 1 Hogfish and
3 Inshore Lizardfish up to 2 lbs
