Topsail Angler's Fishing Blog
Wounded Warrior Day at Seaview Pier
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Wow! That one small word only begins to describe the feelings many of us felt today. One of the members from NC Angler.com, Speckhunter80 organized the second annual Wounded Warriors Pier fishing event. The wounded warriors are from Camp LeJeune and are there recovering from wounds they received in Iraq or Afghanistan. This special day was organized as a way for the angler community to show our appreciation for their sacrificial service to our county.
We had 9 Marines from the Wounded Warrior Barracks at Camp LeJeune. Nine heroes, real American heroes! Not politicians, movie stars, or sport stars that we sometimes mistakenly treat as heroes. Most American will never know their names. Will never see their faces. Will never know first hand the sacrifices these guys made for us, for ME and for YOU. They don’t even know us, but they were willing to put it all on the line for us. True heroes, not that they consider themselves to be heroes, they say “We were just doing our job”. What a privilege it was to spend the day with these guys.
I’ll let some others tell the tales about the fish caught, the fish that caught a Marine…LOL. We all have some stories about the Marines we met today. That’s what I want to tell you about.
A few of their stories. One Marine was on his second tour in Iraq - and was wounded three times - not all at the same time but all on the same day. His platoon was ambushed and he took a round through his helmet and across the top of his head. Unfazed by the blood and missing section of his helmet, he saw a marine down in front of him and nobody had been able to get to him yet so with his machine gun blazing he went out into the field. That is when he took a round from a sniper in his arm. It was an Armour piercing round and shattered his right fore arm. He has had many surgeries to repair that arm, he still lacks full feeling in his hand as the nerves were severely damaged. Then later in the day he took a piece of shrapnel to the gut. This final blow destined him to a helicopter ride back to the base and then back home. He is re-enlisting in a few months when his current enlistment is up, he wants to go back on the battle field for a third time, this time to Afghanistan.
Another fellow I spoke with had his legs and knees severely damaged in Iraq during a fire fight with Syrian & Jordanian terrorist. He told me he has been in 5 years and served in Iraq & Afghanistan three times. He wants to make a career of the marines but they are saying he won’t be allowed to go overseas because of the damage to his legs. He says he doesn’t want a desk job, he wants to do his job (Infantry) and go back overseas.
These are just two of the heroes we took fishing today. Each of them have a part in keeping us free. Heroes INDEED!
Below is a group picture of the heroes and some of the volunteers:
Chopper Blues have arrived!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
This is the time of year when the blue fish start to show up in real big numbers. First the smallest or what is locally called Taylor blues, then the mediums sized one called snapper blues and then finally the largest ones, chopper blues. Choppers weigh in at 8 pounds or more and can get much bigger!
They don’t hang around in large numbers for long, usually just few weeks. The smaller blues will stay until early winter. So if you enjoy catching big blues, now is the time!
Pictured is Billy Manger with a 33” Chopper Blue that weighed in at 13 pounds. He was caught on light tackle near Diver’s Rock on Saturday.
Bonito Bonanza
Friday, April 25, 2008
After the weather busted our planned trip for this past Tuesday, Gery (Hunter’s Haven) and I have been anticipating getting out today to chase some Bonito. The weather reports and marine forecast looked promising so we met up at 6am and headed for the ramp.
The big decision was where to fish. Normally the South Topsail and WB area provide some of the best Bonito action around but it has been REAL SLOW this season so far but there has been some decent action at the north end of Topsail. So we decided to try up there. We made the 45 minute ride up the ditch and went out of New River Inlet at about 7am and were met with beautiful skies and 3 foot ground swells on 10 second intervals with almost no wind - Beautiful!
About a mile out of the inlet we noticed birds ahead and a few boats in that area so we deployed a couple of Yozuri deep diver. BAM! hook-up. But we lost him before we could get him to the boat. Now we were in the area near the diving birds and could see fishing occasionally busting the top, so we decided to sight cast. BAM! Gery has a fish on. He gets it into the boat - skunk be gone!
A few minutes latter, BAM! - I get a hook-up, then a slack line, cut-off. No sooner get a lure back in the water and BAM! fish on. Then another one or two. Then BAM! BAM! double hook-up! Gery and I both get our fish to the boat.
And so the morning went - at times we had fish busting on all four side of the boat! What a blast. Bonito is a hard pulling, fast running fish. On 10/12 pound tackle they are an absolute blast.
We ended up keeping 7 for the table(s) and released and lost plenty too. It was a great morning of fishing and fellowship with a good friend. It was so nice out there we decided to make the 25 mile trip back home via the ocean instead of the ditch - it was a nice ride on a beautiful day!
This was Gery’s first time Bonito fishing - judging from the high fives and smiles, I doubt the last though. Glad we were able to get on the fish Gery - we certainly were blessed!
Fishing report 4-22-08
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The old adage that the month of March “comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb” was only half true this year. March roared all the way into April in these parts, at least as far as the marine weather went. Lots of wind, then just as we were sure there could be no more, it blew again.
I spoke to one charter captain that had already canceled 16 trips this year – all in March and early April. It’s a hard way to make a living with weather like we’ve had.
April started the same way. But the past couple of weeks have offered us a few days here and there to get out in the ocean and chase some fish! We have had some “blue bird” days for sure, sunny skies, warm days and little wind!
When the fleet was finally able to get out to the Gulf Stream, they found the Black Fin Tuna chewing and had some nice catches of Wahoo too. Lately the catches have included some nice sized Yellow Fin Tuna and some gaffer size Mahi. I have had good reports from the more southern areas like the Steeples and Black Jack hole. The Reports from the Big Rock area have indicated a lot of grass and green water but that should change as the trade winds shift to be more from the south and southeast.
The grouper bite has been good in the 30 - 40 miles range with plenty of red grouper and some good size gags being taken. The usual mix of bottom fish, pinkies, b-liners, black bass and grunts have been biting as well.
Closer to shore the Bonito have been running strong on the north end of the island with the southern end being left behind so far. The bite has been the best at Diver’s Rock and just south of there. Diver’s rock is about 4 nautical mile from New River inlet on a southeast heading. The action has been more in mid water column so far than on top. Anglers have had the best results from fishing on #2 planers or using their downriggers to get their lures into the 25-30 foot range. A few Spanish mackerel have made an appearance as well. More should be on the way soon.
On the piers and from the surf, the mullet and blues action has been steady. Lots of snapper and taylor sized blues but I heard one report of a nice chopper blue being caught. To get the best results of mullet catches, try to find fresh, local shrimp. By fresh I mean not having been frozen and caught within the past day or two. Sand fleas are working well but to find them you will have to visit the beach areas that were NOT renourished this past winter. On the other hand, the blues will bite about anything you put out there.
Inside the trout are still chewing with the New River producing some nice sized fish. The creeks and waterway are also holding some specks. The reds have moved onto the marsh banks but the bite has been spotty so patience and stealth are the keys.
Spring fishing has SPRUNG! Get out here and catch a few!
Tight lines to all!
A New Addition to the site: Wiki (knowledge base)
Saturday, April 19, 2008
I have just added a Wiki module to the site and have begun to populate it with articles. A Wiki is a type of knowledge base, one of the best known is the online encyclopedia known as Wikipedia. Ours is unique to the Topsail area and fishing. We hope you enjoy it as we expand it from its humble beginnings today to a master resource for our area in the future! A link is on the menu bar or you can click here.