Black Sea Bass on a NC Winter Day

[Dave]

I'd been watching the wind & sea condition forecasts all week leading up to yesterday. Forecast was W winds 5 to 10, seas about 3 feet with an E swell. That was about right as I headed out of Beaufort Inlet at 0730. Fastest comfortable ride I could set into the head sea was 12-14 MPH with my DLV 218. Destination was 28 miles offshore. I was alone on this trip (the wife doesn't like going offshore with any sea conditions forecast over 3 inches ;D) and it being Super Bowl Sunday, I didn’t find anyone wanting/able to go out.

After getting my course dialed in, I poured a cup of coffee and settled in for the 2 hour run. Noticed a few (for hire) sport fishing yachts a few miles off my port bow, running out of the Cape on a line towards Big Rock, but other than that, I saw no boats until I was 15 miles offshore. Looked like a boat on every rock at the NW Places, as I steamed by them headed for warmer water. It was about this time, I ran through my first school of feeding alberts. For the next several miles, all along my course, birds worked over the small and scattered schools of these false tuna. Except for that, the trip out was fairly uneventful. At 0900, I broke out a roast beef sandwich, poured another cup of coffee and had a morning snack.

As I approached my destination, I could see one other boat (three anglers on a 24 ft Grady, Walk-Around Cuddy) anchored a few hundred yards off the rock. Visibility was about 12 miles and I could see no other boats from any direction - gotta love NC winter fishing ;D.

All in all, I had a great day, but unfortunately no one else on board to enjoy it with. The wind picked up some about 1500, as I was readying the boat for the run back home. The swell was running about 2 feet with a following sea so the run back in was comfortable at 26-27 MPH - the whole 28 miles of it. I set the autopilot ;) and moved to the front deck to take this picture. That should lend comfort to anyone anticipating buying a CS, wondering if it can go offshore and "how it rides". As you can see, the seas weren't "flat" and you know I wouldn't/couldn't take this image if I were getting "pounded". This is the third 21' boat I've owned - the other two were deep-V's and I rarely ran them over 25 MPH, when out on the ocean. My skiff runs 26-27 MPH at 4100 RPM's. I doubt I would have run over 30, even on a flat sea.

Caught about 30 pounds of bass, lost a couple grouper, (I think) and can't wait to get back out there again. 010 010 010

Dave

25-27 MPH, sea and swell about 2 feet, following sea - 28 mile run to inshore.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/BSBHeadedIn3Feb08CropResize044.jpg



Livewell full of bass. They're all alive, belly up as they may be, they'll stay alive for hours provided I give them a shot of fresh sea water from time to time. Before making the run back in, I'll transfer them all to a cooler and dump the ice on top of 'em. I prefer to keep them alive (if I can), to conserve the ice I take along in the cooler - you lose a lot of "cold" every time you open the lid on a cooler.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/BSBLivewell3Feb08CropResize027.jpg



Here's a shot of the last bass I caught before calling it a day. The reel next to it should give some scale to the size of this bass. It was close to citation size, (I think) though I didn't have it weighed.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/BSB3Feb08Resize022.jpg

[Shakespeare]

Nice report 1stSarge!!! I gave some serious thought to calling you to see if you needed a 1stMate but just wasn't able to work out the schedule, ball game or no ball game. Glad you had a good day. We're looking at unseasonably warm temperatures the next couple of days... you going back out this week?

Mike C.

[Harry]

What the heck? You have auto pilot on that rig ?? ;D

[Capt. Mick]

Beautiful catch. I'm feeling better and better about picking up my new 218DLV Saturday. 010 010

[o2bfishn]

Man talk about a great day. Hats off to you Dave, 28 miles out. 012

And THEY said it ain't possible to go off shore in a skiff, need our big bucks boat to do that. HA. 001

Carolina Skiff----Anything is Possible. 011



o2bfishn

[strike hold]

Well 1st sgt. I guess that puts an end to my question 010. Congrats on the great day 012. I will be heading out for sure very soon. 011 Do you have any good sites where I can check sea conditions and what not? 013

[Dave]

Probably not this week Shake, unless the seas lay down. Today would have been another good day but the rest of the week, it’s looking to be rough seas. Warm air temps is a bonus but it don’t have to be warm for me to go offshore.

o2, not to be discounted is the nearly half a tank (mine’s a 27) of fuel still left in the tank, I observed when I pulled into the loading ramp. When I go to fill it up again, I’ll note exactly how much gas I did use. I’ll bet that fellow in the Grady with the deuce 200’s used that much fuel pulling up and relocating his anchor.

Hey Capt. Mick – congratulations on your new skiff. Just in time to get ‘er rigged up for the spring season. I may pull the skiff down your way one of these winter days to make a run out of Topsail Inlet. I understand the deep water is much closer to shore there than it is out of MHC.

Strike, there’s a few places to get a wind and sea condition forecast. I’ve tried several and this one is the only one I use (for “S of Cape Lookout to N of Surf City and out 20 NM’s”). http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/coastal/am/amz158.txt

It’s the same one you hear on the VHF radio and I’ve relied on it for 25 years, I guess. Don’t mean it’s always right but it’s as good or better than any other I know of.

Dave

[shaggy3131]

Dave,

Thanks for the great story and great photos. I love the one of the DLV from the bow.

Sounds like a great day. You have us to share it with.

Aubrey

[Fillet1]

Man - great shots! Sea bass are my #1 eating fish!!

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

1st, that was one heck of a day you had.Very nice cath too, oh and i love your auto pilot. 010 010 010 010 010 013

[NarrowPath]

Nice ! 010 Thanks a lot for posting. Can't wait to get out there! 008 Looks like you can find bigger black bass when you go out that far... Did that auto pilot involve a rope or personal webbing?? ::) Sweet!

Jason

[redneckredfishr]

Nice job, Dave.
012
Will

[Gunnar]

GREAT JOB DAVE!!!

Your report and pictures were fantastic. I got so excited I had to run to the garage dust the cobwebs off my rods & reels and bring them inside to get them ready for the new season. 013

Gregg

[MoonshinerJack]

Happy to see you had a good day out on the water Sarge. I am planning on getting out there this Saturday with a couple of Aviation boys from Cherry Point. Hope we have half the day you had, I like to put them on the fish. I believe you have some Navy in you, running that skiff from the bow....LOL Great report.

Semper Fi!

Jack

MilitaryAppreciationDay.Org

[Harry]

What the heck? You have auto pilot on that rig ?? ;D


Well ??

Who the heck was driving? ;D

[Capt. Mick]

Dave - what kind of depth finder you running?

[Shakespeare]

I also noticed he didn't have on his kill switch extension cord. I'm going to thonk him side the head next time I see him.

Mike C.

[Dave]

Alright, alright……….. At risk of sounding foolish, and make no mistake about it, it appears to have been a foolish thing to do - there was no one near the helm and the wheel wasn't lashed down in any way.

Understand the seas were consistent, the way I've explained them. I was the only one aboard and I had my life jacket on, and a long length of marker buoy line tied to the kill switch, for this photo. Still, I would have been alone and in some danger would I have been thrown overboard. My skiff has cable (not hydraulic) steering - it's tight and it would have taken a significant blow, or event, to knock or shift it off course. I had been running this course, toward shore, for over half an hour and except for very minor movement of the wheel (to keep it dead on course with the GPS tracking) I expended little to no physical effort upon the wheel, to keep the skiff on track.

I took a calculated risk that worked out for me this time - I was lucky! I don't recommend this sort of foolishness to anyone and certainly and especially not, if it would have put anyone else aboard at risk. Two things to mention here - if anyone would have been on board, they would have been at the wheel but, I wouldn't have taken the shot 'cause the view to the rear would have been obstructed by the driver. My purpose (for taking this shot) was to illustrate (by the long and unobstructed slip stream behind the boat) that the DLV 218 is capable of running on plane in the sea conditions you can see in the shot, and was obvious that I wasn't being "pounded" and/or thrown about as you can also see the image is clear and in focus, and as we know, the "pounding" is most prevalent at or near the bow. I have no reason or desire to ever attempt this sort of thing ever again. 001

Okay, back to the good stuff...

Here’s a shot of the “catch” in the cooler, just before I dumped the ice on ‘em.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/BSBCooler3Feb08CropResize030.jpg



Dave

[Shakespeare]

Ok Dave... calm down, take a breath. It's only because we care about you, that's all. ;D I know you're a cautious man and I didn't think you'd be practicing your Kung Fu crane stance up on the tip of the bow or anything like that.

Now... whatcha gonna do with all that delicious fish?

Your buddy and (hungry) pal... Mike C.

[Dave]

What to do with the fish...? I've already scarfted up the rock bass (swat I call 'em anyway) and we're having a mess a BSB for dinner this evening. The rest of the fillets went in the freezer. Whatcha need to do is bring your tiny hiny down here, my friend, so's we can get out on the big pond and see about dredging some up for ya. And… if for some odd reason we don't catch anything, I might consider letting go of a pack or two from the freezer. 012

Capt. Mick – I’m running a Hummingbird 787 C2i combo plotter/fish finder. I'm not a big fan of Hummingbird, but after doing some research and reading over some reviews, I decided this one had all I could ask for, and at a price I could swallow. End result - I love it. Gotta work with the ‘ducer some more to get it to read at greater speed but that’s my problem, not the unit’s fault. I got the internal antenna one (that’s what the “i” stands for. If you have or are planning to have a T-top, I would highly recommend the one with the external antenna. In fact, were I to do it over again, I’d get the external antenna model and not have to worry about it. If you like it, shop around. They are listed from under 600.00 to over 700.00. I think I paid just under 6 for the one I have. Here’s one review on this unit. Google it using the key words (Hummingbird 787c2i review) and you’ll get a few more.

http://www.bassfan.com/reviews_article.asp?ID=83

Dave

[strike hold]

1st sgt. I have a Eagle Sea Charter with all built in . its mounted in the normal location. I have never had a problem with it not tracking under my t-top. not to say it may never happen. 001 Though an external unit may work better. do you have a chip in your unit? if not then it would be something to look into. i know they are a little high $$$ but i have found them to help alot . they show alot more detail as far as topo lines and hotspots where structure is located. it may even show a salty dog like your self an few new spots. ;D 012

[Dave]

Yeah, this baby's got a very good topo map built into the chip. It shows all the land features inshore of the deep blue. Very easy to navigate in and around the inland waterways, inlets, channels, creeks, etc. Can zoom out to see a greater image of the topography or zoom in to see greater detail, all the while tracking your location and route.

It's also got a "simulator" mode that allows me to play with it the comfort of my house or shop and it's a really fast and easy way to learn about and how to use the features. I bought a second power cord (about 10.00) and have my lawn mower battery out on a table in the shop. I built a makeshift mount for the unit out of spring clamps and I can play with it (as mentioned) or I can add or edit lat/lon numbers when I get back from a trip, without having to put the plotter in the boat and sit out in the cold or rain. 010

We're getting a little off track (pun intended) so I'm gonna move this subject over to the "Electronics" board where it may get more visibility. Maybe I'll take a couple of screen shots so you can see how it looks in use. You can catch up with it here: http://carolinaskiffowner.com/index.php?topic=1375.0

Dave

[TooTall]

Love To see all the fish... Plus the auto pilot.
years ago when I was fishing core sound I had an old 32' wooden boat and my auto pilot was 12" long 2" by 4" . You set the the wheel to the correct heading and jambed the 2 by 4 between the the console and the back of the wheel. The thurst against the rudder would make me correct the auto every 10 minutes

[Dave]

That's funny, but hey - you gotta do whatcha gotta do 010

If ya ever get back down this way too tall, I'm gonna getcha back to the banks and we can tie some knots, cut bait, and swap lies or somethin. 012

I may do that tomorrow. I'm takin a buddy with me and he likes to spread 'em all out for the picture. First though, we gotta catch somethin to take a picture of 006

Dave

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

I may do that tomorrow. I'm takin a buddy with me and he likes to spread 'em all out for the picture. First though, we gotta catch somethin to take a picture of 006

Dave




Even if you don't get any, you can still take the pictures.Get out the ones from freezer. ;D 005

[Dave]

First though, we gotta catch somethin to take a picture of 006

Dave




I guess I should have said "First though, we gotta get to the fishin' grounds" ;D

tc and I managed a good early start but only got out a couple miles before I decided the sea conditions were right for us on this day. The 2 to 4 foot forecast was more like 4-6 with a heavy swell. Though I could still manage 12 MPH, it was clear, by the time I got out a couple miles from the inlet, that it wasn't likely to get any better, but more likely worse as the day went on.

Unfortunately I didn't have a good plan B, but since the water temps had risen a few degrees (from the warm, preceeding week) I thought we might as well run east to the Cape and see if maybe an albert or two might have come in with the 54 degree surface temps I registered on the transducer. We entered Lookout bight, marked lots of bait but no fish. Fished a couple hours without a strike, all the while watching for birds to signal feeding fish. Would have liked to have fished on the rocks outside the inlet but with the west wind and the high seas, that wasn't possible. We made the run past Harker's Island to the Shakelford Banks rock jetty and again marked a ton of bait but couldn't get a bite after fishing another couple hours.

Called it a day about noon but the effort was not a complete loss. I learned that the skiff can handle some pretty heavy seas fairly comfortably. We met a couple of fellows on two separate boats (much more sea worthy than mine) that each told us that they had planned to fish the cape rock jetty that day. One of them had sucummed to anchoring his rig behind the banks near the jetty, put on his waders, and would walk across to fish the surf and rocks at the jetty. He was a Harker's Island local and said his buddies had caught some real nice specks on the rocks just a few days earlier. The other had two hardcore looking chaps in his boat and had also tried to get to the rock jetty at the Cape, but couldn't. Said they had done real well at that location this fall. Of 14 trips, they had limited out 12 of those times and never once got skunked. He hadn't been to the rocks this week but two weeks ago (water temp in the 40's!) he boated some very nice fish with one of the trout weighing 8 lbs. That's the kind of scoop, I'm convinced, you can only get if you brave the winter elements and get out on the water - unless, of course, you happen to frequent the pages of CSO.com... 012

Dave

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

1stSg, the 4-6 you mentioned was it chop or swells?

[Dave]

Heavy swells, as in significant high rise and low drop of the surface. Seas on top of the swell were capping but not washing over heavily, like on a shoals or beach. Swell was probably about every 8-10 seconds, but when you are running into the head, the time between swells is shortened in relation to the speed at which you are traveling. I guess you could define the seas as choppy but when I think of choppy, I think more of a wind driven chop, absent of any swell and maybe 2 foot or less. Does that make any sense? 006

Dave

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

That what i meant, it was not wind driven chop. 001
If skiff would handle 4-6 chop, the heck for the grady. 010 010 010 010

[lakebiker]

Great report and pics. I too am glad ya didn't fall overboard. ;D
012 012