Weekend at Harker's

[backlash]

The wife and I decided to throw together a last minute trip to the beach a couple of weeks ago and had heard quite a bit about Calico Jack's Inn on Harker's Island and decided to give it a try. Calico Jack's turned out to be a perfect little place for fisherman to base their trip. The Inn and Marina is set up to accomodate fisherman and the staff worked very hard ensuring that our needs were taken care of. We arrived late on Friday and were met by Keith and Jeanette Gallaher and with help of Keith and Johnny(manager of Calico Jacks) I was off my trailer and guided to my slip. After discovering another of my rookie mistakes of having enough dock lines, Keith and Johnny ensured that I was properly secured so my boat wouldn't be damaged. I found the service at Calico Jacks excellent and the rates are very reasonable.

Saturday morning brought in a rain storm but once it had passed through we made the trip out around the Hook were we found the Bluefish and Spanish by trolling Yozuri Crystal minnows.

Sunday brought clear skies and light winds and so we motored down around Fort Macon and began trolling Shackleford Banks and picking up more Spanish and Blues. My son began to get a little bored with the trolling so , we decided to AR 315 for some bottom fishing.. The bite was pretty steady for small Black Sea Bass and a few small groupers but it keeps the youngster's interest .

My wife's treat was the fact that we could motor up to the Beaufort waterfront. We tied up and had lunch at one of the local restruants with Keith and Jeanette. After lunch and a short shopping trip we were back off to 315 after be anchored up for an hour , we got a call from Jeanette saying that they were on the Sharks and that we neeeded to join them. Knowing that the Sharks would make the trip for my son we headed off. Keith and Jeanette had put out a chum bag and were covered up in 2 to 3 ft Sand Sharks. The sinker on my first cast had barely touched bottom before the rod took a deep bend and we were hooked up. Keith and Jeanette had the majority of the action. In that they had several double catches. However, we managed to get my wife and son on several fish before it was time to head back to the dock.

It was a great time and I recommend that you look into Calico Jack's if you're heading down that way.