Cape Lookout 11/20

[kjgallaher]

Tadpole1 and I made a mad dash to Cape Lookout Tues as I had the day off, the weather forecast was good and reports said the albies were in! We left Fayetteville at 3:30 AM for the approx 3 hr trip to Morehead where we launched uneventfully at the wildlife ramp. The first new experience of the day was boating in pea soup like fog. Thank goodness for channel markers and my Lowrance chart plotter. We inched along until well outside Beaufort inlet until the fog started to lift. Fortunately we were greeted with almost slick calm conditions with only a slight swell. By the time we started to inch down Shackleford bank we started to see birds working. Soon we saw fish breaking on the surface and we had the school all to ourself! No other boaters around. It was not long before Jim yelled "fish on". I think he was surprised at how hard they pulled. I think he used descriptors such as "truck", "anchor", etc. He was worried he would be too worn out to continue fishing. After about a 10 min fight he landed his first ever albie (12#). The fog continued to lift and we saw fish breaking all over. At one point there was easily at least an acre of albies and birds and we had them to ourself! Over the course of the day we landed about 6 albies and broke off more. I was fortunate enough to get 3 on the fly. We also latched on to numerous bluefish that were a respectable 2-3# and pulled pretty well in their own right. Jim topped off the day with a catch that was not able to be landed. I will let him tell the story, but just be aware that an Abu-Garcia baitcast reel spooled with 300 yards of 30# braid, is no match for a Grady-White center console T-top with dual outboards! We ended the day traversing another large thick fog bank that covered the Crystal coast and the inlet. After re-trailering the boat we had a scrumptuous gourmet meal at Sonic drive in and drove safely home where we arrived at about 9PM.

I slept in today!

Keith