[Snipe Hunter]

I am a new member of this forum. I joined because I will be heading up to the mountains in a couple of months and I thought this would be a good resource for helping me have a fun and productive time fishing for trout when I get up there. While looking over this forum I have been very impressed with the saltwater fishing you have in North Carolina. I fish mostly inshore in bays along the panhadle of Florida in the gulf but I will make the occasional offshore trip when I get invited. My inshore fishing consists mostly of targeting seatrout and redfish but I also catch plenty of other inshore species like spanish mackerel, ladyfish, jack crevalle, bluefish, and a few flounder. I imagine for the most part I'm likely to find the same fish here that you find there. I fish artificials and prefer topwater fishing. The pictures below are from a few of my trips so far this year. When I am close to shore I sometimes paddle over to get a picture if the fish is decent. If any of you are planning to come to north Florida in the near future and are looking for some fishing advise I will be glad to help you any way I can.

 

[Mumbo_Pungo]

Florida's fishery is in much better condition than ours. You might find it a little tougher in NC.

 

[catmaster]

Welcome.....good to see someone with photo skills.

 

[JohnYaksJax]

Hey Snipe Hunter....Nice to see a fellow Florida fisherman in here!!
I live near Jax Beach, FL and head up to NC about every 6-8 weeks to see my daughter and family and a lady friend up there also, and If you ever get over to the east coast, give me a shout and maybe we can hook up....?

Are any of those gorgeous pix from the Panacea or Carrabelle or St. Marks areas??
I kayak fished a couple of the FCKA Tourneys out of Crawfordsville, and explored those areas, and I love road trips over the Cape San Blas.....an awesome area.

These guys will take care of you on your NC trips.....and they always have done that for me, and "paybacks" when they head down near us are great too!!!
Catch 'em up!!!
JohnYaksJax

 

[Snipe Hunter]

I fish the areas that you mentioned. I usually fish the area between St. Marks and St. Teresa but occasionally go as far east as the Econfina River or as far west as St. George Island. The picture of my kayak sitting on shore was taken at the landing in Panacea. I fished out of there yesterday and went straight to Piney Island. The wind was already howling at 6:15 when I got to the landing. I caught fifteen reds all before the sun first peeked through the clouds at 8:45. After that it was just one Spanish mackerel so I cut things short so I could be back home and have everything cleaned up in time to watch the FSU baseball game at 1:00. I believe it was the only time I have fished out of that landing when I didn't catch a single trout.

Speaking of FCKA tournaments, did you fish the one in April 2011? Other than yesterday that was the only day I have fished from a kayak when the wind was strong enough that my anchor would not hold.

I was at Jax Beach in February. My mother lives in Jacksonville and we went over for her birthday. I got up at sunrise and went out to fish in the surf. I tried to get some information at the Florida Sportsman forum but I guess surf fishing isn't the best that early in the year. I was advised that if I was going to catch fish it would be whiting on cut shrimp. That was good info because the only other person out there fishing was doing just that and doing it successfully. I would rather walk and cast and since I wasn't meat fishing I elected to throw first an x-rap and then a bucktail jig. In the surf around here throwing those I can expect to catch blues, jacks, Spanish, ladyfish or the occasional trout, flounder or red. I only had a couple of hours to fish and while I took a few pictures I didn't catch any fish.

 

[wademaster]

Welcome! What part of the NC mountains are you heading to?


Sent from my kayak...

 

[JohnYaksJax]

Snipe Hunter....Next time you come to JAX to visit your Mom, let me know ahead of time, and bring your kayak and I will take to out in the creeks to some of my favorite spots!! And you can return the favor if/when I make it over to your turf!!!
(I normally work only weekends at an "outfitters" here in JAX, so a weekday would be perfect!!!)

Just thought....today is "Mother's Day"....are you here in JAX??? LOL!!

That FCKA Tourney was on April 15-16, 2011 and it is written on my 2011 calendar, but then scratched off!! Think that I had just started my P/T job at Black Creek Outfitters, so could not get the weekend off gracefully....
More later.....John

 

[Snipe Hunter]

Thank you wademaster. I will be staying just off Hwy 107 right on the Tuckaseegee near where it crosses the highway a few miles north of Western Carolina University. Unfortunately the kayak will have to stay home. I probably need shore fishing opportunities for my wife. I don't know if she will get in the water. She has a pair of hip waders (she wears them when she goes snipe hunting with me) and I might get her a pair of wading boots with felt soles. I will wet wade. I survived wet wading the Nantahala for eight hours in October so I'm sure the Tuck in July will be tolerable. I have already bought myself a pair of felt soled wading boots but will not be wearing hip waders because I don't want them to limit where I can go. My wife only fishes with spinning gear but I will be fishing with both spinning and fly rods.

 

[Snipe Hunter]

John, that tournament was the 16th with the captain's meeting Friday evening, the 15th. I only stuck two fish that morning. I caught one trout that was just over 16" and hooked a red that was pulling strong for the brief time before my line was cut on an oyster bar. I believe weigh-in was at 4:30 but at least half the participants were off the water by noon. My kayak is a Hobie Quest that was won by a junior angler in that tournament. He didn't need it so I was able to get a good deal on a new kayak.

I am in Tallahassee right now. Mom was just here a few weeks ago so didn't go over there this weekend. I need to stop by Black Creek Outfitters the next time I am in town and I would certainly be glad to join you on the water either here or there.

 

[Snipe Hunter]

On two of my last three trips I have either stayed out on the flats or right up along the shoreline grass and for the most part that has dictated what I caught. Yesterday was an exception and I fished both along the shore and over grass flats.

The first morning I fished the flats and targeted trout. I caught thirteen before stopping to fish a point/oyster bar on my way back to the landing. I only managed to catch one small red. As I was paddling out I passed a lady in a kayak with two kids in a canoe. They were fishing a kayak tournament. The lady said she had only fished that bay one time so I told her to follow me out to the area where I can always count on catching trout. They anchored 100-150 yards from where I had anchored up. I didn't see them pull out the net or acting like they were catching fish so after a short while I pulled my anchor and paddled over to see if they had caught anything. The lady said none of them had gotten a bite. I know she saw me using the net but I didn't have the heart to tell her that in those same few minutes I had caught eight trout. I let them have that area and spent the rest of the morning scratching out a trout or two in another spot.

The second morning the tide was already coming in at sunrise so I went straight to my favorite redfish spot. I caught fifteen reds, all before 8:45. The wind was already strong and by 9:00 between the waves and all the recent rain visibility was pretty poor. That was also about the time the sun first peeked through the clouds. After the reds stopped biting the only other fish I caught was a single Spanish mackerel.

Yesterday I realized that I have not taken any fish pictures in the last few trips. I figured that if I caught a decent trout or redfish I would go to shore for a picture. That way I could post it on facebook so my friends will know I'm still alive. I started just before sunrise and the bottom half of an outgoing tide. I hit the redfish spot first and managed to catch two pretty quick. I gave up on that since the water was about gone and headed out to the flats for a couple of hours until the water was back up in the grass along the shore. Then I went back in close and fished there until the middle of the afternoon. My daily total was a dozen and a half trout, a half dozen reds, three Spanish and three ladyfish. I even managed to get a picture of either the best or second best trout I caught.