Topsail King Mackerel - June 16, 2007

[Topsail Angler]

Got a late start this morning as the wife had been sick and I wanted to make sure she was fine before I left. Ended up going with a friend and his daughter on their boat.

We left the dock around 11:30 and started looking for some pogies. There was so much boat traffic we couldn't find any inshore so we headed out of the inlet and up the beach looking for some. We found them about 2 miles south of Surf City Pier in 17 feet of water.

We had the lines in by 12:30 and fished that area for an hour. We decided to move and we started pulling the lines. Had them all in but the medium-long line and ZINGGGGG... off went the clicker. 5 minutes and three runs later we had a 17 pound king in the box.

As you guessed, the lines all went back in the water and we went back to fishing. 20 minutes later I noticed our prop wash bait was rolling. So I pulled it in to put on fresh bait - then I saw why it rolled - it had it's lower third slashed. A sure sign of a King hit. So quickly I baited up and feed the line back out. Sure enough, there is Mr. King in the prop wash swimming next to the fresh bait. We dropped it back a bit - still watching but not biting. Then he disappeared. Thirty seconds later there he is again, looking at that bait again... Waiting.... waiting, then he drops back 10 feet, I'm thinking he's about to leave again. Then ZING - he charges the bait, hooks up and makes a run for the deep water! A few runs later, 12 pound King in the box.

We also caught a nice size Spanish and a nuisance shark. Not bad for a short, late starting fishing day!