I'll tell ya this folks, if you did not catch a king in September, you were doing something very wrong.
The kings were abundant and aggressive. They were also close to the beach early morning and late afternoon.
I had my buddy Frank aboard and another new friend I met at Goose Creek, Jim.
The largest fish Jim had ever caught was about 2 pounds.
We ran out to Station Rock and I put the first line out. As I turned to grab rod number 2, rod number 1 went screaming. Fish number 1 in the box. This continued for the next 30 minutes. We could not even eat our breakfast sandwiches I had prepared.
The bite slowed a little and I finally got the entire spread out. The way back line went screamin and Jim was up to the plate. He had a nice smoker on the business end of the PENN 320 GT2. Jim would gain a little and the fish would take more. Jim got the fish to the boat 3 times and the gaff man (me) beat him to death trying to sink cold steel into... [Read More]
Flounder, flounder, flounder, flounder. Did I day flounder?
Every trip produced more than 10 fish, but not many keepers.
We worked the shoals between cans 2 and 4. Incoming tide, outgoing tide, did not matter. We always hooked up within minutes of arrival, just no big ones.
The bait of choice was Berkley Gulp's Swimming Minnow in the New Penny color. Many bait shops could not keep the 3 inchers in stock.
We tried live mullet, mud minnows, shrimp alive and dead, and cut bait.
Nothing out fished the Gulp.
The rig we used was a conventional Carolina rig, but much longer than normal.
Take a 4 foot piece of 50 pound mono and tie a 2/0 circle hook on one end. On the other end, slide a number 3 crimp down a foot and crimp it. Next, slide a glass bead down to the crimp, then a 2oz egg sinker. Finally, tie on a small barrel swivel and you have a nice flounder rig that allows the Gulp to do it's THANG.
Lisa and I went out Saturday morning in search of Spaniards. After we cleared the inlet, Lisa took over on the wheel and started putting lines out. I grabbed my starboard downrigger rod and too my amazement, there ain't line on it!!! How? Why? What? Where? I had no clue. I got the lines in with one rod short and found some good marks off Hammock's Beach and started workin'em hard. The seas weren't too bad, but it was a little rolly and my partner started feeling queasy so we headed back inside with 1 lizard fish and 1 blue fish for our efforts. We dropped the hook just inside the inlet and cooled off a little. As we chilled out, we heard thunder in the distance and decided it was time to go.
We headed to Dudley's to fuel up. If you need on-the-water gas in the Swansboro area, Dudley's is the place. They are only a few cents higher on the gallon. Several nice folks at the dock helped us tie up and cast off.
With a full belly of fuel, we headed to the ramp because of the omin... [Read More]
My brother James and I set out in search of kings on Saturday. The weather was nice early and the inlet was a breeze. We headed to the key post numbers and put lines out. We were pulling ballyhoo and Yozuris at various depths. I never saw much bait around key post out, so we tried key post in and Tom Smith's, then station rock. Not a sniff.
Heard a lot of chatter on the radio. The bite was on at Jerry's Reef, 15 miles from us. I did not want to chance it in my bay boat, knowing the wind was supposed to kick up later.
One of my Sanford buddies was out there and told me they were catching some nice spanish on the east side of the inlet. We pulled up and ran towards the inlet. I changed out all the gear and we started spanish trolling.
I had planned on coming in at noon because of the wind, and I forgot the snack bag. James and I were both getting a little hungry, so I started getting lines in.
I pulled in the port-side downrigger first. I popped it off the clip and I felt... [Read More]
Friday I towed the HOT SPOT down to her summer home at Goose Creek.
Me and my friend Jeff had plans to go king hunting on Saturday. I was a little nervous about navigating the new water, but Jeff has been out of Bogue several times and I had a track line from a couple weeks ago.
We splashed the boat shortly after 6:30AM and cleared the Inlet at 7:00AM. About a mile out of the Inlet, I realized something was missing.....my tackle bag!!! What a bonehead!!! Luckily, Jeff had enough stuff with him so we could fish.
We headed towards the Bogue Inlet pier. We had both heard and read reports of good catches in the area. We put lines out and started trolling towards the Key Post.
Jeff had some really nice looking homemade hook up rigs with jig heads, shirts, and a stinger. We used these rigs on small dead ballyhoo. The looked really good in the water and had a natural looking swimming action. I had never pulled ballyhoo before, just cigar minnows. The ballyhoo pulls much better... [Read More]
I had the pleasure of taking Stephen and Wendy Dorman of Angier out for some striper action and education. Stephen and Wendy are serious fisher folks and share the same passions as I do. We shared stories of Chesapeake, the NC salt, and talked about our kids.
What a beautiful day on the water! Slightly overcast with a mild breeze. Not too hot, and not chilly.
On this day, this standard "old school" stuff was the way to go. White and chartreuse bucktails with white and chartreuse trailers in any combination.
The fish were in the upper third of the water column which normally means a good bite. We were running our lures between 8 and 12 feet at 2.5 mph.
It only took 8 minutes after lines in before we had one on.
Stephen and Wendy took turns on the hook ups and they landed many nice fish. They kept 2 smaller ones for dinner and released the rest.
Sunday was a washout, but I was not upset. We needed the rain and my yard needs even more.
What an absolutely beautiful weekend to be on the water. You can tell summer is not far off as the boat traffic this weekend was pretty heavy.
Ralph and I fished the Jordan Lake Striper Club's April 21st tourney and finally caught a fish to weigh in. It was no monster, but got us 10th place points out of 20 boats. We had a good time and took a lunch break to visit my daughter Kristen and her friend Katlin over at Popular Point. They were camping and offered to cook us some lunch. Johnsonville Brats are always good!!
Sunday, I had the pleasure of having Brent, Nelson and Danny aboard. Brent is a return customer and he always brings his horseshoe with him. Every time he is aboard, my boat gets this fishy smell.
I stuck to my guns and headed to my favorite spring location. Even with the water 6 foot higher than normal, the fish were still there. We caught 50 or so with 14 keepers.
We were slow trolling with 8 long rods baited with live minnows. The spawn looks to be almost... [Read More]
I was back on the water Sunday with Chad Hartley and his two boys Tyler and Casey. The Hartleys are from Welcome and are avid fishermen. Chad wanted to put the boys on some crappie and we had a beautiful morning to hunt for them.
We left the ramp and headed to the same location Randy and I fished Saturday afternoon. It was overcast and warm with a slight breeze, perfect crappie weather!
The fish were still scattered and the bite was slow and steady just like the day before.
We caught almost 40 fish with 12 keepers in the mix.
The Hartleys had a good time and the boys were true fishermen. Landing their own fish, baiting the hooks, you name it, they could do it!
I love to see young folks so enthusiastic about fishing!
Do yourself a favor, take a kid fishing.... [Read More]
I had the absolutely pleasure to take our own Randy Durham out Saturday afternoon in search of some Jordan Lake slabs.
Randy and I have a lot in common and shared stimulating conversation for hours. I am pretty sure we solved at least some of the world's problems!
This is PRIME TIME as far as crappie fishing goes. The little front that came in late last week scattered the fish and the bite was slow, but steady. In the coming days, the bite should be awesome. The fish will continue to move up into the shallows to spawn. You should be able to find fish in the backs of the larger creeks and coves, especially the areas with soft bottoms.
I prefer to slow troll with live minnows on double rigs. I use 13 foot telescoping Bass Pro Shops Uncle Buck's Deluxe Crappie poles with Shakespeare Synergy Steel spin cast reels loaded with 10 pound Green Stren monument. These long rods get the minnows out away from the boat and help prevent line tangles. It took ole Randy a few times to get... [Read More]
Pollen on the water and Dogwoods in full bloom means it's time to wet a hook!
I set out Saturday morning in search of the old linesider with Keith and Ellen Bilger of Holly Springs. Keith and Ellen are Jordan Lake regulars that wanted to learn some tips and techniques for catching fish on Jordan.
As I do with all my clients, I rattled on for hours about my favorites places and techniques. I am sure Keith's head was spinning when he got off the boat!
This time of year, striper still prefer smaller baits. On this day, we found the fish in 20 foot of water, sitting almost on the bottom.
I set the downriggers at the right depth so that our 3/8 once chartreuse bucktails with chartreuse grubs were running 2 feet above the marks. Stripers feed looking up gang, so you need to pull your bait/lures above the marks on your sonar. The number 1 mistake most folks make when striper fishing is fishing too deep.
Keith's first Jordan striper weighed in at 6.6 pounds and was released to... [Read More]
Hi folks. I would like to share some of my Weldon experiences with y'all in hopes it will help you have a more enjoyable trip.
My first Weldon trip was an awesome experience to say the least. My buddy Bill talked me into going. I said, "Bill, my boat is fiberglass." He said, "mine is too and I have been fishing the Roanoke for many years with only a ding on my skeg to show for it." Bill's confidence made me feel good about towing the HOT SPOT two hours for a day of striper action.
Bill certainly knew the ropes and made my first trip fun and exciting. He had a plan for everything.
The first and most important thing I will tell you is go with someone that knows the ropes. Go with them in their boat, or tag along in your boat. You will gain a lot of knowledge and confidence.
The second most important thing I will tell you is, do not fish on Saturday or Sunday. The weekend crowd is enormous with many folks being "Weldon Rookies." Do yourself and... [Read More]
So, I go upstairs and poke Ralph (he's been sick for two weeks) and he says he don't feel like going. I see Kristen's light is on, so I stuck my head in the door and asked her if she wanted to go trolling for a little while. She said yes, and we were off.
We launched, she pulled the truck up and parked it for me, then we started putting lines out. I had both downriggers deployed and had a leadcore rod in my hand to deploy and Kristen said, look at the depth finder. WOW, black screen down deep. I immediately laid down the rod in my hand and lowered the starboard downrigger 2 more feet. I picked up the leadcore rod to start letting it out and BAM, the downrigger I had just let down got slammed. I jerked the rod out the rod holder and passed it to Kristen. The fish did not feel like much, but then all of the sudden, the fish surface way back behind the boat and made a huge swirl and drag starting screaming.
She pumped the fish and got it turned toward the boat. I started my t... [Read More]
Another great year has passed with the Tarheel Striper Club. We fished all 10 tournaments this year and had a blast with all the gang.
Ralph and I finished in 4th Place in the Angler of the Year points chase. There is no one else I would want to share this trophy with.
I have been deeply involved with the Tarheel Striper Club since 2003. They are a great group of anglers. The last two years, I served as club President which was a great honor.
These great folks surprised me with a plaque on Saturday night for Outstanding Leadership of the club in 2005 and 2006. I was truly touched and grateful.
Friday after Thanksgiving, Ralph and I decided to venture out to see how high the water was at Jordan. Normal pool is 216, and the lake was at 224. The docks were flooded and lots of debris everywhere. We launched at New Hope and rode around in search of clean water.
The water in the S turns was very dirty, so we ran north in the main lake until we found the cleanest water, which ended up being at the 64 bridge. We marked tons of bait and fish, so we put lines out. A few minutes later, we boated a striper.
We had a party that afternoon and got them hooked up on two big fish, but luck was not on their side and they lost both fish.
Saturday, we fished our final Tarheel Striper Club tournament of 2006 at High Rock. Like Jordan, High Rock was dirty, but had a ton more debris. We found bait and fish, but they would not cooperate. We tried everything in the bag to no avail.
Around 1:30 PM, one of the downrigger rods starting singing and Ralph was on it like a cat. He fought t... [Read More]
Sometimes, you have to go small to get big results. Larger baits don't always catch larger stripers. As the water continues to cool down, use smaller baits and a slow presentation to get big results.
Jason caught this 11 pounder on a 3/8 jig head with a 3 inch sassy shad. A few minutes later, his brother David caught a 8 pounder on a similar lure.
Please practice catch and release and only keep what you need.
A very special thanks to all the Veterans out there.
Saturday was a beautiful day on the water. I had Brian and Michele from Camden aboard along with my brother James.
We striper trolled until noon, then headed up to Farrington in search of a crappie bite. We arrived at the Farrington bridge and saw a "fleet" of boats with little to action going on. We gave it a try, but the wind picked up and the boats were getting log jammed, so we decided to go back and troll some more.
Low and behold around 2:00PM, we found some active fish and landed two within 15 minutes, then it was time to load up.
I took an old friend out today. Larry and I worked together many moons ago. He wanted to learn some spots and my technique for fall crappie.
We pulled up to our spot and I put 12 rods out. Minutes later, 9 rods went down and it was on. We cut back to 4 rods and it was all we could do to keep those 4 rods in the water.
We caught 110 plus fish in 4 hours. Larry kept 20 that were all over 12 inches for the frying pan.
Had a great day today. Tom, his son Keith, his grandson Cody, and friend Tim were eager to catch some fish. These guys were a hoot and the laughter was non stop.
It was Tom's birthday and he was rewarded with a double hook up and Cody's rod went off at the same time. Granddad and grandson did an awesome job getting all three fish to the net for a quick picture and release.
Tom said it was the best birthday present ever, better than socks and ties!!! Tom was good for chuckles!!!
11-13-2007 12:54 PM
