Pine Knoll Shores, NC - 10-12-07

Well, went out to the Radio Island public access pier last night following an AWESOME dinner of fried flounder, bluefish, pompano and spot. Headed out about 8pm and stayed until 1am. Pretty good fishing. I mostly caught pin and hog fish but did manage to land 1 nice spot. Brad reeled in 2 spot and a couple of croaker. He also managed to catch 2 pinfish, 1 hog fish and an oyster fish in his crab pot. Guess he won't be getting any job offers on the Cornelia Marie anytime soon!

Anyhow, after a nice breakfast we are heading out again, this time to Fort Macon State Park in an effort to catch some reds.

(And for those of you wondering, yes, I needed every bit of my big ole rod to land that pinfish!!!)

Started out Saturday Morning at Fort Macon around 11am. Not much going on there. None of us got so much as a bump, but did see a salty old man bring in 2 spot a sea mullet and a 15" flounder.

Left Ft. Macon around 1:15 and headed back to the PKS public access (this is the Iron Steamer access. I forgot to mention that in my earlier post). Fishing again was slow until the tide began to come in around 4pm. Brad was able to cast net about a dozen finger mullet. Got into a few more pin fish, but Brad wins the "diversity award" for his catch. He caught 2 sting rays, 1 robin fish, 3 spot, 2 jack crevalle (never heard of these guys), as well as a few pin fish. This trip, overall, brad has caught about 10-12 different species of fish!

I caught 1 throw away flounder (about 8") and a plethora of pin fish (I think I need to change my online handle). Dad caught a couple of spot, a few pin fish and a sting ray.

Headed out from the PKS beach access about 7pm to drop Dad off at his house. Brad and I are heading out again to get some grub and hit the Bogue Inlet pier. Will have that post tomorrow morning.

And yes, we are having a blast! This is just what I needed after a looooooooooong summer!

Well, we headed out to Bogue Inlet pier, walked out to our spot, and sat. There was not very much to be had. We saw a stingray, a shark , an undersized flounder and a spot landed in the 3 hours we were out there. We were fishing with fresh finger mullet that brad caught, and shrimp.

I switched over to artificial blood worms and got a few bumps. Also tried my new Electric Chicken and green and yellow Gotcha! plugs (thanks Tackle Monkey!!!) towards the end of the pier because I heard someone out there say that there was a school of spanish out there. Nothing. Brad's face in the attached photo sums up our night of fishing.

We are heading back to the radio island public access pier and see how our luck will be there today.

Today, we ended our fishing excursion on the Radio Island public access pier and to our dismay, didn't land anything worth keeping. We did, however, have a fun trip out. Brad (using cut finger mullet and shrimp) caught a 21" black tip, a few more pin fish, 2 very small sea bass, and a small trigger fish (very unexpected since most triggers I know of are reef fish). Dad caught a skate, a puffer fish, a robin fish, and a couple pins on shrimp. I caught a huge lizard fish, and a puffer on cut finger mullet.

I also managed to loose my 2 Gotcha plugs on the oyster beds there in the shallower water (I was still learning how to use a Gotcha). Oh well...What the tackle monkey giveth, the tackle monkey taketh away . At least I have a good excuse to go buy more . I borrowed one of Brad's beat up Gotcha plugs and after working it for about an hour, only had one bump.

While we were there, we saw a couple of older ladies bring in a nice sized sheep's head and a few puffers and pin fish. Did not see the first spot!

Anyhow, it was an awesome trip. We had a great time, the weather could not have been any better and it was a vacation well worth the trip, and it doesn't matter if you're 4 or 40, there's nothing like a fishing trip with Dad.

I think there is but it's kinda hard to see. Heading east on 70 the 2 lanes will merge into one. As you cross over the bridge going over the Newport River, you will see it on your left. The entrance is about 1000 feet on the left past the bridge. It is free and is handicap accessible. I've attached a map. Hopefully that will help.