Thursday, September 29, 2016

Sept 29- Not Quite Epic, King Mackerel Chewing

Chris and I went on a killing mission...... Just what I needed.Total Catch for the Day: 10 King Mackerel up to 14 lbs, 3 Albacore up to 4 lbs, and 1 Bullet Mackerel at 1 lb

Monday, September 19, 2016

Sept 19- Twenty Eight Years Ago Today

28 years ago today, Tony Englehardt and I were in his 17 ft Boston Whaler fishing. It was a beautiful day. We found ourselves down to the SW between the AR's. We were chasing small 3-5 lb Albacores and casting stingsilvers at them..Tony and I had each released a couple Albacore........

Tony raced up to the next school and I fired a cast. Routine. Just like all the others. Only this one was tougher. Tony was anxious to continue the chase to the next school. I cant budge him, turn towards him and track him down. Tony did and we were soon straight up and down over my fish. Now, I cant lift him, hes boring down hard, I replies as my rod deeply bowed and tip pulsed to the unseen fish's tail beat..... What on Earth is this one so different for I wondered? With crystal clear water, no wind, and bright sunlight, conditions were perfect. I peered over the side,  and way way down deep, 40 feet perhaps, laid a 50 lb Yellowfin Tuna. Holy shit Tony, I got a Tuna! As the shock wore off, now the tension increased. Ten worrisome minutes later, he was laying on deck. My first Yellowfin Tuna ever. 50 pounds. Caught on a stingsilver on 10# test. Small spinning rod. 28 years ago today.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Sept 14- Great Casting and Vertical Jigging

I have just returned from Memorial Hospital in Greenville and ECU. I was there with my Dad who recieved excellent care. Id like to thank everyone we came into contact with, everyone there was nice, helpful, and professional. Eastern North Carolina has a great resource there in Greenville. That being said, unless its to go to The Bonefish Grill, I hope we don't go back anytime soon..... Because my Daddy's surgery recovery spilled over into my Work Week, I had to take off, and with nothing to do this morning except check my Dad's incision, I jumped at Ryan's offer to go help him catch a hundred pounds of Albacore. So at 645 am, off we went!  And what a beautiful day it was. Partly cloudy with increasing clouds, light North winds, cool temperatures. Great weather, FOR ANYTHING. Especially running the Ocean armed with spinning rods and stingsilvers. And it really was "one of those days". Schools of breaking gamefish nearly everywhere we looked. Albacore, Spanish Mackerel, and Bluefish were most numerous. By dropping out stingsilvers to the bottom near an Inshore Wreck also gave us a shot at all sorts of other fish. And we found good stuff here, including King Mackerel, Amberjacks, and Gag Grouper. It was funny that of the dozen or so Boats that fished near the Wreck today, all the other boats were really clubbing small Black Sea Bass and not really catching anything else. Yet our Boat and one other Boat that was crushing Big Spanish Mackerel on peanut Shad, caught all sorts of other varieties but we never saw a Black Sea Bass on our hooks! I did manage a 14 lb King Mackerel and Ryan caught a stud 6 lb Spanish Mackerel. . In the end, we didnt manage to capture our 100 lbs of Albacore, but we did end up with a nice catch.... Total Catch for the Day: 9 Albacore from 4 to 8 lbs each, 4 King Mackerel from 3 to 14 lbs, 15 Spanish Mackerel from 10" to 6 lbs, 15 Bluefish from 1 to 3 lbs, 3 Amberjack, 1 Crevalle Jack, 3 Gag Grouper, and 1 monster Pinfish

Friday, September 9, 2016

Aug 30 to Sept 5-Striped Bass on Fly

Well, in 7 the  night period...... I think I actually tried it 5 nights. Really made an effort on 2 nights.     And I landed 18 Striped Bass. No Hybrids. No White Bass. Straight Striped Bass. Being no expert, I marveled at their beauty,  wondered their age (I guess 2 to 3 tr old) , and I am constantly amazed at their chosen niche and strategy in LIVING. Smarter than the Pacific Salmon, whose lifestyle is similar.  Our Bass dont have to pay the Ultimate Cost as the Salmon do, but thanks to our hooks and nets, many do....... The ones I caught didn't. Holding a beautiful, frisky fish, that just happens to be GREAT EATING.... But, to me, killing this fish, at 12 inches, aside from being totally illegal by the way, but why or how could anyone eat it. Left alone, it will grow to 40, 50, even 60 pounds. It will create millions of its kind. It will thrill dozens who encounter it. Eventually some fisherman will outsmart him and land a legal trophy that is still great eating. Hopefully, this will occur one night during the November Full Moon. Around Hatteras Inlet. About 2024. Eel Migration. My 12" Striped Bass will become someone's FISH of a LIFETIME. Total Catch for the Period: 18 Striped Bass from 10" to 15", 1 Pinfish , and  1 Menhaden