Seas Lookin' Good

[Dave]

The sea forecast is looking pretty good this weekend. Who's goin' off shore? I could use a mate Saturday and/or Sunday. Probably go out of Beaufort on Saturday and the Cape on Sunday - to take advantage of the dominant wind direction. I'll be looking for wahoo and dolphin and probably take in some bottom fishing late morning/early afternoon as we work our way back in. Call, email, or PM if you can make the run.

I'll be around the house tomorrow making up some wahoo and sea witch rigs.

If you're taking your own skiff out, I'll be on Ch 71 (Sarge).

Dave

*009* FISHING REPORT BELOW.

[Shakespeare]

I'm thinkin' on it. http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/39.gif Sounds pretty inviting.

[Harry]

Dave make Mike Go,
The guys been working his butt off pouring concrete and everything else. He needs an outting.......

Mike DO IT MAN !!!

[Shakespeare]

I'd love to, but Mr. Checkbook said I had to stay home. http://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/emoticons7/20.gif

[Dave]

Teresa and I left the ramp at 0600. Went out 35 +/- miles. Came in at 1530. Two Mahi, one albert. Seas rougher than expected. Redneckredfishr and slot-machine are going out with me tomorrow. Full report on Monday.

Dave

PS - Broke my camera this morning before leaving the house*001*

[Gunnar]

Good luck guys! *Cheers*

*014*

Gregg

[MoonshinerJack]

Seas were rough on Saturday Sarge. I spent the day with Tim out at the 90 foot drop and buoy 14. We did not do as well as you. Hard to bottom fish without anchoring because you cant stay on target, trolling was a hassle also. Also, something I found unique in your post. Whenever I take pictures of you my camera breaks also.....

http://mysmileyz.com/s/yourfunny.gif

Jack

[Dave]

Well Gunner, we certainly "hooked" em up - catching was another matter.

Hey Jack, I think I toasted my cell phone to boot - 850.00 camera on Saturday and a 300.00 cell phone on Sunday. The good news is I only had to pay 40.00 of the 120.00 worth of fuel we burned on Sunday *thumbsup* What the hell, I've been wanting a new camera (like yours) and it has been almost 3 months since I soaked my last cell phone. What kinda pisses me off is that I took it off my belt and put it on top of my rain jacket inside the cooler seat so it wouldn't get wet - right beside Will's cell phone that got soaked even worse than mine. I haven't talked to him yet but if his (somehow) made it, I'm going to buy one just like it.

OK, I've been waiting on some pics from Wes, but no telling when he's gonna have time to send them during the work week, so here goes. When I get em, I’ll add them here.

Friday morning, Teresa and I started out for the 240 rock, (most regulars will recognize this as my usual direction of travel from Bft Inlet) but I decided to detour southeast a few more miles to an area 4 or 5 miles south of 210. We were dragging two wahoo rigs on handline planners and a pair of witches tipped with ballys, one pink and white, the other blue and white. The action started off with a double, one albert and one 12 lb cow dolphin, each caught on the surface lines. Then we went for a couple hours without a solid strike, though we had a couple of short strikes. The next fish (5 lb cow) hit the blue and white rig about half a mile east of 240 rock and after that we picked up a barracuda near the same location. It was about noon when we switched over to bottom fishing on 240 but the seas and tide were a bit too much for Teresa’s enjoyment so after several drifts and only a few small fish brought to the boat, we cleaned up the skiff and headed for the dock. Back at the ramp by 1530, we had two dolphin and an albert I intended to use for bait on Sunday.

I met with Wes and Will Sunday morning and we discussed the POD as we headed for the Bft Airport ramp. After sliding the skiff off the trailer, we had no more than rounded the turn headed for the Bft draw bridge when two fellows in a v-hull came back and pointed toward the inlet at a rather dark cloud formation, drawing our attention to a water spout streaming down to the sea. The spout was east of the inlet and there was an opening in the clouds directly over the inlet. Before we got a hundred yards farther, Wes noticed a second spout not far from the first one. As we neared the inlet, I estimated the closest spout to be a good two miles east of us and so we continued on. Once we cleared the inlet, Wes directed my attention to a spout that was pulling up a fairly impressive funnel of water from the ocean, about a mile from our location, with a second one a little farther away. The winds were out of the SW and I knew (from the look of the clouds) that we were in no danger from either of them and the clouds directly overhead appeared light, with another system coming in from the west that we had to clear in order to get to blue skies. Within 3 or 4 miles we had run past the dark clouds and were on our way to (you guessed it) the 240 rock to do some trolling. The seas began to lay out nicely as we got beyond the 15 mile mark heading out, allowing us to step our speed up to about 21 knots.

Earlier, we had tossed coins to determine the striking order. I would take the first hit, Will the second, and Wes would have his turn on the third bite. Upon arrival at 240, we set out four lines to our spread - one deep, one off each corner and one down the middle. The first fish hit on the short center rig and I started us off with a cuda in the 36" range. We trolled around the area for a while longer without a hit so we pulled in the lines and headed SE, toward the 210 rock. We trolled around 210 for a while without much luck and so we made picked up again and ran south about 5 miles to an area Teresa and I had some luck two days earlier. Based on the hit pattern on Friday, we fished one pink and white, one blue and white and two black and blue witches, all ahead of 'hoos. The black/blue and blue/white pattern (I felt) best imitated the numerous flying fish we continued to see throughout the day. We set our bait out again and within a few minutes, Will was hooked up and brought in a nice bull dolphin. Wes came up with another cuda shortly after that. From that point, throughout the afternoon, the fishing was decent but the catching left much to be desired.

While on the troll, Wes managed a peanut ‘fin but except for that, we consistently got our lines crossed and I lost a good fish, Will lost a very nice dolphin, and Wes lost a drag scorching fish (suspected to be a 30+ king or quite possibly a wahoo), all after solid hookups and crossed lines. I learned some trolling lessons on the skiff but unfortunately not before the best bites of the day came loose. Most importantly, I was reminded that I should never say never – as in “if you lay out your lines this way and move that way when a fish hits, you’ll never get your lines crossed” *004* *004* *004*

We got caught about 35 miles out when a dark line of clouds (fortunately no lightening) moved in from the west. I choose to turn the skiff SW to skirt around the end of the cloud formation rather than trying to beat it by hauling butt toward shore. We managed to get a fresh water shower but avoided the darkest of the clouds and heaviest rain while keeping our lines in the now turbulent (wind swept) water and trolled around the squall. It so it took some time but we finally reached blue skies again. With that accomplished, we headed back toward 240 to bottom fish a while but came up on several NOOA fish trap buoys so we spent about an hour trolling around the line of 15 floating buoys in search of dolphin. We did see several schooled around one particular buoy and had a triple bite on our first pass. Shortly thereafter, Wes tossed a naked sea witch at a school of peanuts and caught the one I spoke of earlier. The day was going fast and by now we didn’t have time to get to the 240 rock so I pulled up to a ledge and some rocks I found and marked on the way out. On the second drift Wes hooked up with something big but it immediately took him in a hole and we had to break the line off to free him up – wonder what that was (can you say “Gruuuuuuupa”? Maybe it was a big sea bass but whatever it was, it didn’t give my man much chance to react! We made a few more drifts and Will had his turn at a rod bender. Turned out to be a dandy red snapper but with only the head attached to the hook and a well-fed barracuda in tow, it was a disappointing event for my other mate. The toothy denizen chomped off every bit of that snapper below the pec fins. Will was kind enough to let me have the remainder, ;D to which I still was able to salvage the jaws and got two burger sized sandwitches off the fillets from the top of the head *thumbsup*. We were already going to be over our float plan schedule and so we only fished bottom for about a hour and spent most of that time trying to find the good drift, with the current moving as it was.

In retrospect, I should have taken the advice of Will and added more fuel to the tank before we started the 30 mile run back to shore ---- but crazy me wanted to see if we could make it, for future (fuel consumption) knowledge. We didn’t, and ran completely out (second mistake) with 7.5 miles remaining to reach the inlet. After adding 5 gallons of gas (I carried three 2-1/2 gallon cans along), the quick disconnect (QD) chose this time to go south on me – now, where did I read a caution about “quick disconnects” *006* *006* Anyhow, the pump bulb sucked air and wouldn’t fill the line with fuel. My ace jet mechanic (GySgt, one each) discovered a leaking O-ring on the fitting – now that got my attention and I had no idea what to do (if we couldn’t get fuel through the line) except to call Sea-Tow and wait for their assistance. Fortunately, the Gunny (did I mention he was college educated) had a backup plan all along – simply take the QD off the end of the hose and stick the hose down inside a can of fuel and pump away – no air leak and a full fuel line. All that remained to do was to squeeze off the end of the hose, raise it out of the can, put the QD fitting back on and (with the line primed) he simply pumped ‘er up and we were back on the race to Beaufort Inlet. Fortunately too, Wes had a working cell phone so he was able to call the wife’s and give them heads up that we were running considerably late – that move may have saved us a few bucks on Coast Guard search and rescue fees.

As usual, offshore fishing provides infinite adventure. All said and done, it was a pleasure and a rare treat to have two fisherman aboard to help with rigging and laying out lines, not to mention keeping the gear from laying adrift all about the deck, cleaning up blood (or in our case, intestinal fluids, thanks to Wes’s consistent gaffing technique) after the catch, rigging baits and laying out lines, and – not to be overlooked – two fellow Marines talking my language and razzing me just enough to keep me humble. Thanks men, I promise next time to have the crossed lines straightened out. -- and I hope you both learned something from my fine example. ;D *laughing*


Pics to follow - I hope...

Dave

[Slot-Machine]

Dave check your email i sent those pic yesterday.

after thought leverdrag reels dont make good bottom fishing reels. star drag would have been much easier to use having the drag set already and just having to flip a lever vice being all crossed up like i was. oh well i know have been skooled in bottom fishing.

let me know if you do not have the pic in your email.

Wes

[MoonshinerJack]

Sounds like a good trip to me. Any trip you don't have to survival swim back to shore is a good trip. Glad to hear yall made it back in and it does sound like you had a good time. I am looking forward to seeing the pics.

Jack

[Gunnar]

Wait a second, you saw numerous waterspouts on the horizon and you still went out ?*001*

If I was there you would have had a mutiny on your hands!;D

Dave, I don't think you ever have any dull fishing trips. I'm glad you all made it home safely. Be careful out there. *015*

On another note, I'm looking at a reduction in my workload towards the end of August and into September and planning on spending some fishing time up in your area. Is it about time for a CCC of CSO gathering ?

Gregg

[Dave]

Wait a second, you saw numerous waterspouts on the horizon and you still went out ?


If I was there you would have had a mutiny on your hands!

Gregg


We only saw three or four Gunnar. I have to admit it did look a little ominous but to be truthful, the storm clouds with the spouts were to our east and had already blown past the inlet on the SW wind direction - we could see white clouds and blue skies through and beyond the inlet. Of course the sight of the dark clouds and water spouts gave me concern, but after evaluating the full situation I know I didn't, and I believe neither Wes or Will felt we were in any danger by our present and planned route through the opening in the clouds. Once we cleared the inlet the seas just outside the inlet were about 2 feet with zero white caps - better than the seas Teresa and I went out in on Friday, two days earlier. By the time we got about 15 miles offshore the sea calmed even further and for a short time during the late morning, the seas nearly went flat. We did have one period in the afternoon (when a squall came in from the east) that brought the seas up to a white capped, wind driven chop, but still the seas were generally only 2-3 foot even then. With my past offshore experiences with this skiff, that was not a problem at all. As expected, the seas and chop subsided once we got around to the lee side of the rain clouds. Wes captured these images that greeted us as we left the ramp area and made our way to and through Bft Inlet.

Here we are, having just left the ramp and are nearing the Bft draw bridge (to the far right of the image). It's hard to see in this image so I've marked the faint line of the "spout" with an arrow.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/WaterSpoutDevelopingOverBftInlet10A.jpg


Here's a closer look.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/WaterSpoutDevelopingOverBftInlet-1.jpg


After we've crossed under the draw bridge, headed toward Taylor's Creek.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/Offshore10aug08004w-arrow.jpg


Going through the channel between Radio Island and Carrot Island, we see a second spout developing.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/Offshore10aug08005.jpg


The same "developing" spout as we go through Bft Inlet.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/Offshore10aug08006.jpg

The sunrise, another developing spout and (I believe) a NOOA boat heading back in after working offshore through the night.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/Offshore10aug08007.jpg


Here's a full blown water spout that appeared shortly after we moved through the inlet.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/WaterSpout-FullBlown1mileEofBftInle.jpg


One of two 'cudas landed that day - slot-machine (Wes) caught the other.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/Offshore10aug08009crop.jpg


Redneckredfisher (Will) with the first dolphin of the day - with a fair sized bull. Two more 'fins were caught; another by Will and one by Wes.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/Offshore10aug08013.jpg


Dang barracuda!
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/Willw-SnapperHead10Aug08resizecrop.jpg

[Dave]

On another note, I'm looking at a reduction in my workload toward the end of August and into September and planning on spending some fishing time up in your area. Is it about time for a CCC of CSO gathering ?

Gregg

Good idea Gunnar - I've been thinkin bout that very thing. With the price of gas a little better than earlier this summer maybe we can have some of the mountain brigade make it down. What's a good time for ya'll?

I'm also considering a CCC of CSO tournament (speckled trout, flounder, and redfish) to go through the months of September and October. That would give everyone in the group a chance to get in some tournament fishing. We'd have to come up with some measuring or weight-in rules to keep it on the up-n-up but it's gonna have to be pretty much run on the honor system anyway. You guys think about it some and let me know if you want a tournament and how best you think it should run.

Dave

[redneckredfishr]

Fellas,

I had a great time fishing. It's always a great feeling to hear Wes's TLD 20 soundoff! *thumbsup*

Thanks for including me *014* !!!

Redneckredfishr

[Big Will]

Great report Gentlemen. I've alway s wanted to catcha dolphin. Chances are slim to none, just ask Slim. We are so far into FL it's like living on the arm pit of the state. We have to go like 40 miles to get to 40 feet of water.