April 21- Crazy Hatteras Inlet Fishing Tall Tale

We'll see if this one is believable! Later tonight there will be a picture to go along with this tale..... So I'm back to work, first day at Hatteras Inlet in 22 days. First trip across on the Ferry and at 8am Billy Harris and I walk out on the Beach on the north end of Ocracoke Island during our 30 minute layover. Check the Beach out, look for Shells and cool Driftwood. As we wonder south towards the Ocean, we cross a shot of yellow stren 20# mono that dead ends in the sand in a knot of seaweed and plastic debris. The other end disappears in the Inlet..... I tell Billy, "I wonder if someone's Rod N Reel is on the other end. I bend over and pick up the line and start hauling it in...... (Y'all know where this is headed?). Well, as I come tight, it quickly becomes apparent that there will be NO LOST ROD-N-REEL. Instead, the line starts fighting back! Amazing. 150 feet of line later, I reach a 10 ft section of Shock Leader, followed by a 8 lb Red Drum. Thankfully, Billy was there to photo my catch because I didn't have the heart to kill this Fish. Billy snapped a quick photo and I slid a dead tired Red Drum gently back into the Inlet. I did remove the circle hook from his throat, which still had a pretty fresh chunk of Mullet on it. My biggest dilemma was to re-cast the bait or clean up the plastic pollution. Wonder what I did? Total Catch for the Day: 1 Red Drum at 8 lbs