[Funtime]

Hi All,
I just moved here from California, the SF. Bay Area and the only fishing I know is SW fishing on the Pacific Ocean, and want to learn about East Coast, fish. I always fished for salmon and bottom fish, all my gear is in the 15# 25# range, (love a good fight).
They tell me that my 19 cc is to small to go out to the Gulf,( it is the smallest I've had) but I fished in water up to 25' swells with a 4+' wind chop on top so tell me is the water that bad here???
I would like to fish for Tuna,Kings and Wahoo and of course bottom fish I usually release most bottom fish, About how far is it to the gulf steram from Moorhead City,.
I'm going out on the Bill Collector, charter next month to see what I can see on the sea and maybe get some fish to eat.
Any help you could give me on the ocean here would be great. and what channels do they use out here other than #16.

Thanks for any help

Don (funtime)

 

[NCangler]

Welcome aboard and to NC Don. Your 19' is perfect for some great inshore fishing. And on a good day you can get out the Beaufort inlet with no problem at all. Weather conditions can change here very quickly so I personally wouldn't feel too safe going out too far, but 10-15 miles on a good day is no problem in my mind. We have many guys on here with 19' boats and under so I'll let them jump in on that. Your 15#/25# gear is perfect for trolling for Kings, Wahoo and bottom fishing wrecks off the coast. I'm sure the guys at Bill Collector can fill you in on the trip to the Gulf Stream out of Morehead City and about the weather/water here. But if you're used to 25' swells and 4+ wind chop you should have no problems at all. VHF68 is used mostly at the coast. Again welcome aboard!

 

[puppydrum48]

hey whats up there funtime, i think you have found the right site for any kind of help you will need.

 

[Funtime]

I hope so, I know I will need help out here.

Don
(funtime)
Hope for bent rods and tight lines....

 

[backlash]

Welcome Funtime. You'll find plenty of help here. I'm sure you'll be off and running on your own before long.

 

[Dave B.]

Big Rock and the gulf stream is 'bout 42-46 miles out (for north east big rock and South West Big Rock) via Beaufort inlet/Ft Macon, by way of the knuckle bouy (14 bouy). Along them shoals (Cape Lookout) shoals... I surely wouldnt go out that far in a 19. They call this area of the coast Grave yard of the Atlantic if that tell's ya anything...

To give you an idea it changed from 1-2 ft seas in Beaufort Thursday to Gale force warnings and 40 knot winds with 14 ft seas in the blink of an eye.. Definately a good offshore hull that can take a regular pounding is the way to go and bow flare is a good thing to have on a east coast boat.

Definately need to be stream capable for the fishin your looking to do. Line capacity is the biggest issue I would see for offshore rod/reel combo's.

In and around 13 bouy, knuckle bouy and some near shore wrecks provide for some good bottom fishin and some good trolling for bonito, kings, mahi, grouper, snappers etc... I've even heard some inshore in the Pamlico for tarpon.

Near the mouth of the Lookout bight is a submerged rock jetty that alot of folks catch speckled trout and fly fish and troll for fat alberts (false albacore).

At big rock expect tuna (blue and yellow fin), marlin (blues/whites), sails, wahoo.. basically all your pelagics. Every year there's what some call the world series of Marlin tournys "Big Rock Marlin Tournament"... pretty big deal and some big money on the line.

There is lot's of good fishin in that area and some like to claim it as the best in the state for that area,, but to be honest, I havent found anywhere on the coast where it's not good!

25's, 50's and 80's seem to be the reel size most common for offshore and during blue fin season it's mostly 50w's and 130 class type gear

trolling wise in/near shore medium to heavy spinners and 15 to 30 class gear is pretty common.

Granted the pacific has some tough water,, but the east coast is a different animal.. the Atlantic is no joke.. just be as prepared as can be (vhf DSC capable, more than you think you'll need safety gear, and enough boat under you to match the conditions you want to fish in). I know when the seas get to 8 ft under a 7-9 interval over a 25 knot wind.. then it's time to pack it up and head to the hill if it kicks up... or simply dont go if that's the forcast prior to the trip.

Rule of thumb I've learned for myself is whatever the weather man says for sea state, take the bottom # and double it and that's what you'll be lookin at for "real world" seas.. not counting any rouges.

Welcome on! and welcome to NC!

Big Rock south is at: N34 04.300 W76 12.500
Big Rock north is at: N34 10.620 W76 09.500
90 ft drop is at: N34 12.650 W76 15.270 (usually where folks drop lines to start trolling big rock)
Indra Wreck is at: N34 33.730 W76 51.104
Suloide Wreck is at: N34 32.706 W76 53.700
WE Hutton Wreck is at: N34 29.937 W76 53.863
To start you on some bottom, I dont want to be "specific", but within a .5 mile radius, you might want to search around this # here, put some time in and then you'll find some spots in this area: N34 23.244 W76 35.298

That should give you a start

 

[Topsail Angler]

Funtime - Welcome to NC Angler & to fishing in the Atlantic!

Sounds like you got some good advice in the above posts. I own a 19' CC and also fish on some bigger boats from time to time.

Not sure what kind of 19'er you have but if you are headed out in the ocean around here it is recommended you have decent height on your gunwales and you have a self-draining sealed cockpit. Those two items will help keep you from getting swammped.

I run my boat out to 15-20 NM on a regular basis. I fish out of New Topsail Inlet which is SW of Morehead. The gulf stream is way too far for me to consider from here - even though the Bick Rock is almost due east of me (slightly south too)- it is twice the distance from here - 72nm.

I do occasionally head out as far as 35nm in my boat but I really pick my days weather wise. Even on a great weather day it is a long ride. The question for me really is this: My boat may be able to handle 8' or better seas but do I really want to spend 3 or 4 hours in them trying to make it home?

When I do venture out 20 or more miles it is always with another boat on the same float plan I have and we stay in close contact.

There is a ton of very good fishing out of any inlet in NC in the 0 - 20 mile range - I'd recommend sticking to that range for the most part and going on a bigger boat to the stream.

Dave gave you some good numbers to start you off. BTW - the last number he gave you is for an area locals call Big Ten - you can also fish an area called "little ten" which is about 3/4 of a mile north - here's a general location - N34 24.010 W76 35.730 You might want to poke around both those numbers and the bottom in between.

Also try the Barge wreck - N34 35.920 W76 36.640 Its about 6 nm out of BI.

Good luck, we look forward to your fishing reports.

 

[Topsail Angler]

Oh yeah - meant to mention I'd recommend you pick up a copy of a good chart for your area. I highly recommend the one printed by Maps Unique - most tackle and boat stores will carry them. They have most of the live bottom areas marked with GPS co-ordinates. It's like the numbers wellcraft Dave and I gave you - general areas that you can go find some nice ledges and hard bottom reliefs. They also have most of the wrecks and AR listed too. They make a software version too but it is a bit pricey.

 

[Funtime]

Great info from you guys, I have most of the numbers in my unit allready from the net but local info is the best.

Like I said next month I'm going out on the Bill Collector, with some guys I met up here where I live, it should be a lot of fun and I can get some hands on knowledge.

I hope you get this reply I'm not sure if I'm doing it right

(Funtime)
Don

Bent Rods and Tight Lines

 

[sinker man]

Welcome aboard Funtime. You are just in time for the Atlantic Bonito run. While small they make great grilling fare at a time when not too much is going on inshore and the weather usually is great for grilling if not fishing. The difference between the East coast and west coast is that here the wave building forces are much closer on the avg. and along with the wind you have much less time between waves. California waves don't normally stack up one right behind another like these do here and these are also a little bit steeper. I have honestly been out in a 14' johnboat in 8' swells here but they were of the California variety. Nice well behaved swells from a distant storm conditioned by a nice breeze blowing offshore. There were only two rough times : going out the jetties with the outgoing tide and while trolling around met a freighter wake that was just as big and 90 degrees to the swells. That evening we came in full throttle on glass.

 

[Funtime]

Been there done that, I almost rolled my 25'er two times heading thru the Golden Gate, cut in 35' swells over the Potato Patch Shoals, scared the **** out of me.

I don't want to do that again, give me calm seas any time!

Bent Rods and Tight Lines (and smooths seas)

 

[Dave B.]

The difference between the East coast and west coast is that here the wave building forces are much closer on the avg.

Yup, Al's right on with that... Man I hate them 4 - 6 ft.'rs with no backs to them.. makes the goin rough and absolutely keeps throttle speed down.