Topsail Angler's Fishing Blog
Kids Tournament
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
This Saturday (July 4th), Surf City Pier is having a Children’s Fishing Competition and Celebration. This event is free and will expose youngsters under the age of 16 to the excitement of fishing in a fun , educational, and safe family oriented environment.
The event runs from 10am until 2pm with an awards ceremony at 2:30pm. There will be lots of games and prizes. Everyone is a winner in this tournament! The kids and their adult “helper” fish for free during the tournament.
So bring your kids and have some great family fun at Surf City Ocean Pier on Saturday, July 4th! http://www.surfcityoceanpier.com/
Topsail fishing report for June 23rd, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
I had the pleasure of fishing with my good friend Gery today. He met me at the house at 6am and we headed for the boat ramp. Took us a little while to net some menhaden (we both took a couple of “practice” throws ) but by 7am we were headed for the inlet. We also had some ballyhoo on board and our goal was to find some more of those nice dolphin we had been catching the past few weeks. We also wanted to be in the “game” if a sail showed up as a few have been reported inside of 20 miles lately.
We made a stop at a “usual” spot about 8 miles out and trolled with 2 other boats for a while. we heard from a friend on the radio that had been there earlier that day that not much was happening. So after 45 minutes of trolling with no bites, we headed further out. Soon we had a dolphin on and Gery landed a nice 14 pound cow. A little while latter I landed a 12 pounder. Then the bite went cold.
We moved back inshore to a different spot and just after noon we hooked up another dolphin. Then another, a 16 pound Bull with an attitude - took a while with many runs and jumps for Gery to get this one int he boat! Then a king mackerel. After an hour with no bite, we made our final move and said we would troll the last 1/2 mile to the ledge then call it a day.
We also said we would stop at seven fish, which ever came first. Soon we had our fifth dolphin of the day and just as we arrived at the “spot” we boated our 2nd king. It was time to head for the hill with a pair of grown-up with grins like a child!
Great day on the water Gery, as always I enjoyed fishing with you my brother! The final was five Dolphins: 16, 14, 2 @ 12 and an 8 pounder; 2 kings: an 8 and an 11 pounder.
Slow bite but more mahi!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
My buddy from Raleigh, Randy and I had another rare opportunity to fish on a Saturday. Today it was a bit choppy and a bit unsettled in the morning but over all a decent day on the ocean. We gathered bait (menhaden) and headed out of the inlet around 7:30.
Our first stop was the first set of box cars. Apparently it was the first stop of 17 other boats, we had lots of company! After an hour of trolling with no bites, not seeing much bait in the water and seeing no one else hooked up, we left. We hit several different spots, all usual haunts for kings this time of year with no luck.
Not wanting to get shut out, we decided to try try the first set of box cars on the way home. Amazingly there was NO ONE else there when we arrived but two other boats did show up after a little while.
We had been trolling for a short few minutes when Randy says, “Fish on the prop wash bait”. I’m stunned cause I didn’t hear the clicker go off nor did the rod bend. I looked out at the bait just after the dolphin ate it. Randy had watched the fish swim into our spread, sniff our bait and chow down! It don’t get any better than that folks, nothing like watching a fish hit that bait right behind the boat. Full living color indeed.
She didn’t fight much at first but then she decided to LEAD the boat, leaping out of the water and passing the bow of our moving boat! After a short fight Randy had her beside the boat and I used my brand new gaff. I now have two on board after last week’s incident, one I bought and one Randy gave me, thanks pal!
Well that got the skunk off the boat. Then we caught three sharks, including a double header. To finish off the day we caught and released a king mackerel.
Enjoyed fishing with you again Randy. Enjoy that fresh fish!
Video from 6/9 trip
Thursday, June 18, 2009
My buddy Mark had the camera rolling while Taylor fought a fish on last week’s trip. Mark was vacationing in Surf City and made it home yesterday to Sanford. So he loaded up the video last night.
Dolphins & Kings
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Today I had the pleasure of having my good friend Randy from Raleigh down to fish with me on my boat. I caught some nice menhaden before he arrived and we headed out of New Topsail inlet around 7:30. They have been dredging the inlet and it is now in pretty good shape, the buoys were moved also.
The seas were decent, about 2 feet with a little chop on top. We went to the first set of box cars and by 8:00 we had our first fish in the boat, a king mackerel.
We lost a couple of more then I boated a nice 14 pound dolphin. We caught a shark and then the reels went quite for a while.
Finally we heard that sweet music from the clicker on the reel and this time Randy boated an 18 pound bull dolphin! I was using the gaff I have had on the boat for 4 years and we had used on the previous 3 fish that day. As I reached into the water the business end of the gaff just fell off and we watched it sink. Having a small boat, I never put a second gaff on board in order to conserve space. Randy and I were determined to get that dolphin into the boat, gaff or no gaff.
Thus a wrestling match ensued. As you may know, dolphin fish go berserk when something touches their tail or body, so as I grabbed the tail, he exploded in the water. Randy got to fight the fish a little bit more. So the next time I held the leader tight in one hand and grabbed him by the tail with the other. Again he goes berserk and I couldn’t hold onto his slimy, skinny tail. Randy gets to fight the fish a third time. This final time I just decided to reach over with both hands, bear hug the fish and wrestle him into the boat. Mission accomplished!
After a bit of a celebration by Randy and I, the fish played the drum in my fish box for us, we decided it best to borrow a gaff from a nearby friend of mine for any future catches. My wrestle mania was short lived.
Then as we were redeploying the lines, I got a strike as I was putting a bait out. It turned out to be the largest king of the day going just over 12 pounds! We were liking this pattern, king, dolphin, king, dolphin, etc.We ended up with 4 kings and a pair of nice dolphins. Not a bad day at all and no half-a-fish! I lost one of Randy’s kings (would have been #5) at the gaff - knocked the hook right out of his mouth, first time I ever done that…...duh.
