Dave
12-01-2007, 09:46 AM
The tide was the lowest I’ve ever seen as tc and I pulled away from the ramp in Beaufort Thursday morning, just as it was getting light enough to see. We exited Taylors Creek on the east end and hooked around Carrot Island headed for Beaufort Inlet. We didn’t get far before I was faced with naked sand in every direction, giving me little choice of available routes through the maze of skinny water. After trying a couple of routes and getting turned back by ever decreasing water, we finally snuck through at the head of one of the bars and were on our way. Low as the water was, I would have liked to been able to spend some time searching and noting the few deeper channels that surely run through this area.
Because the wind was light and the seas predicted to be mild, I chose to take the 218 out the inlet for the short route to the Cape, expecting to find some alberts somewhere along the way, for us to warm up on but not a fish was stirring on this cloudy morning. Averaging only 12 MPH on the open water, we neared the rock jetty at about 0730, and could see several other boats anchored up along the rocks – 15 or 20, I suppose.
With the tide ready to turn and the rather dark front nearing us from the southwest, I decided to anchor on the far side of the rocks – to place the stern of the boat toward the rocks, keeping the anchor rope out of the fishing zone and, as it turned out, keeping the drizzling rain out of our faces. We struck fish immediately and by 0900, had our limit of keeper Specks, some of them only topping the 12” minimum length by a fraction of an inch. We continued to fish for another hour or so and put only those that stretched over 13 in the livewell, culling the shorter ones. I estimate we landed 50+ Specks, along with 20-25 bluefish, some of those ranging upwards of 2 pounds. Some of the boats pulled anchor and moved seeming to not catch anything but bluefish. To avoid the blues, I’ve learned to slow down the presentation and work the bottom very slow, as any fast movement of the lure was sure to entice the attack of the hungry bluefish. Nonetheless, we’d catch a blue now and again. The specks were thick – usually got a hit soon as the jig neared or touched bottom and if one broke loose, often a second or third would grab the bait within a few short pumps on the line. Most boats in the area were catching fish, using everything from live shrimp to gulp baits, though we didn’t have much time or interest in looking around us as we seemed to stay hooked up steady. It was well over a half hour before I made a cast without bringing a fish to the boat and after the 3 hours of fishing I recalled only three casts where I was able to bring the bait all the way in without at least one hit – very long and boring 2 minute retrieves.
The drizzle of rain (that started when we arrived) soaked us in short order and there was a short period where it sprinkled steady for about 10 minutes. Fortunately my waterproof jacket kept my upper body dry and I hardly noticed the extra 10 pounds of weight the soaking added to my jeans and long johns. The wind started to steadily pick up and at about 1030, we left the fish biting and headed around the hook to the wind sheltered waters the inside of Cape Lookout Bight provided. Anchoring near shore, behind a tall sand bank, tc and I relaxed and had lunch, then headed back toward the ramp, using the back route past Harkers Island. We stopping only briefly, near the lighthouse, so tc could take a few pictures. The sun had just come out as the clouds moved off so we decided to stop at area 10 to see if we could catch a few grays or perhaps some larger Specks. We drifted thru the area to try and locate some fish and before moving 30 feet, tc had brought in 2 nice grays so I motored upstream and let out 100 feet of anchor line in the 40 foot deep hole. In about an hour we caught 30 or 40 gray trout, 20 or so short black sea bass, (culling and keeping our limit of grays) and 3 large pig fish, all caught on cut shrimp and double bottom rigs with 3 oz’s of lead to hold bottom. Many of the fish (grays and bass) came in two at a time. Again, we left the fish biting and headed for the ramp, pulling the boat up at about 1300.
When we got back to my place and put the fish out for the picture, we found that we miscounted the gray trout and were actually 2 short of our limit of them – guess we should have taken them out of the livewell for the count. Even though I failed to locate a school of alberts for tc to try out his new Penn 450 spinning rig, and though the fish averaged on the small side, (largest Speck was just shy of 15”) it was, I think, a fine day at the coast.
Pictures to follow – tc promised to send them to me when he returns from his out-of-town weekend. In the mean time, here a shot of the jigs we used to catch the Specks and the rig we used for the grays. The hooks on the double bottom rigs are Eagle Claw No 231X Size 4 Snelled Fish Hooks – it’s the only hook I use on inshore bottom rigs, though I’ll use the same style hook in a bit larger size when live or strip bait drifting for flounder in the summer/early fall. All the stuff for the bottom rigs is available at local WalMart stores. The jigheads are Calcutta 3/8 oz Grub Heads, purchased from EJW’s in Morehead City.
Dave
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/BaitRigSelectionGraysSpecks29Nov070.jpg
Because the wind was light and the seas predicted to be mild, I chose to take the 218 out the inlet for the short route to the Cape, expecting to find some alberts somewhere along the way, for us to warm up on but not a fish was stirring on this cloudy morning. Averaging only 12 MPH on the open water, we neared the rock jetty at about 0730, and could see several other boats anchored up along the rocks – 15 or 20, I suppose.
With the tide ready to turn and the rather dark front nearing us from the southwest, I decided to anchor on the far side of the rocks – to place the stern of the boat toward the rocks, keeping the anchor rope out of the fishing zone and, as it turned out, keeping the drizzling rain out of our faces. We struck fish immediately and by 0900, had our limit of keeper Specks, some of them only topping the 12” minimum length by a fraction of an inch. We continued to fish for another hour or so and put only those that stretched over 13 in the livewell, culling the shorter ones. I estimate we landed 50+ Specks, along with 20-25 bluefish, some of those ranging upwards of 2 pounds. Some of the boats pulled anchor and moved seeming to not catch anything but bluefish. To avoid the blues, I’ve learned to slow down the presentation and work the bottom very slow, as any fast movement of the lure was sure to entice the attack of the hungry bluefish. Nonetheless, we’d catch a blue now and again. The specks were thick – usually got a hit soon as the jig neared or touched bottom and if one broke loose, often a second or third would grab the bait within a few short pumps on the line. Most boats in the area were catching fish, using everything from live shrimp to gulp baits, though we didn’t have much time or interest in looking around us as we seemed to stay hooked up steady. It was well over a half hour before I made a cast without bringing a fish to the boat and after the 3 hours of fishing I recalled only three casts where I was able to bring the bait all the way in without at least one hit – very long and boring 2 minute retrieves.
The drizzle of rain (that started when we arrived) soaked us in short order and there was a short period where it sprinkled steady for about 10 minutes. Fortunately my waterproof jacket kept my upper body dry and I hardly noticed the extra 10 pounds of weight the soaking added to my jeans and long johns. The wind started to steadily pick up and at about 1030, we left the fish biting and headed around the hook to the wind sheltered waters the inside of Cape Lookout Bight provided. Anchoring near shore, behind a tall sand bank, tc and I relaxed and had lunch, then headed back toward the ramp, using the back route past Harkers Island. We stopping only briefly, near the lighthouse, so tc could take a few pictures. The sun had just come out as the clouds moved off so we decided to stop at area 10 to see if we could catch a few grays or perhaps some larger Specks. We drifted thru the area to try and locate some fish and before moving 30 feet, tc had brought in 2 nice grays so I motored upstream and let out 100 feet of anchor line in the 40 foot deep hole. In about an hour we caught 30 or 40 gray trout, 20 or so short black sea bass, (culling and keeping our limit of grays) and 3 large pig fish, all caught on cut shrimp and double bottom rigs with 3 oz’s of lead to hold bottom. Many of the fish (grays and bass) came in two at a time. Again, we left the fish biting and headed for the ramp, pulling the boat up at about 1300.
When we got back to my place and put the fish out for the picture, we found that we miscounted the gray trout and were actually 2 short of our limit of them – guess we should have taken them out of the livewell for the count. Even though I failed to locate a school of alberts for tc to try out his new Penn 450 spinning rig, and though the fish averaged on the small side, (largest Speck was just shy of 15”) it was, I think, a fine day at the coast.
Pictures to follow – tc promised to send them to me when he returns from his out-of-town weekend. In the mean time, here a shot of the jigs we used to catch the Specks and the rig we used for the grays. The hooks on the double bottom rigs are Eagle Claw No 231X Size 4 Snelled Fish Hooks – it’s the only hook I use on inshore bottom rigs, though I’ll use the same style hook in a bit larger size when live or strip bait drifting for flounder in the summer/early fall. All the stuff for the bottom rigs is available at local WalMart stores. The jigheads are Calcutta 3/8 oz Grub Heads, purchased from EJW’s in Morehead City.
Dave
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc188/djerhart/BaitRigSelectionGraysSpecks29Nov070.jpg