Topsail Angler's Fishing Blog
Spanish fishing 5-7-08
Thursday, May 08, 2008
Yesterday was one of them picture perfect weather days. I fished with my neighbor, Al and his friend John. The wind picked up just as we were loading the boat to go fishing. Then John’s boat developed an engine problem at the ramp that required his mechanic to come fix it ( he had just had it serviced too). He found the problem and we shoved off about an hour or so later.
Pictured is Al with three of the fish we caught.
Due to the choppy conditions and late start we scraped our original plans to head to the school house to try for kings. Instead we stayed near shore and went after the Spaniards. We caught a total of 6 nice ones with the biggest weighing almost 3 pounds. We watched and followed the birds circling and diving. We were able to get close enough to one school for sight casting but they quickly dispersed. We landed one Spanish and a blue fish.
After several more attempts we switched over to trolling as the schools were moving quickly. I don’t think the bait schools were very big so the Spanish were on the move. That ended up being the right strategy as we could cover a lot of water and follow the birds. We five Spanish and several blues trolling using Yo-zuri deep divers - clown was the hot color. The first Spanish was caught sight casting with a purple/silver Marie jig.
We had a great time and boated some decent fish. It was nice to fish with Al again and to met and fish with John. Enjoyed it guys!
Spanish Mackerel & a catching report
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
The Spanish have arrived, Spanish mackerel that is. Many anglers including myself have been enjoying the early spring mix of Atlantic Bonito and bluefish and now Spanish mackerel. Of course the drum and trout continue to be favorite targets in the sounds and creeks with larger flounder starting to show up too.
Often just called “Spanish” this fish is the smaller cousin to the king mackerel with a strong family resemblance. In fact Spanish mackerel look very much like a juvenile king mackerel. The easiest way to tell them apart is the front portion of the first dorsal fin of the Spanish is black, it looks like a flag. You can also tell by the lateral line on either side of the fish. On a King it drops down about halfway back on either side where as on Spanish it remains fairly level all the way to the tail.
It is very important to distinguish the difference as the creel and size limits are different for the two species. The current regulations for NC coastal waters require a minimum length of 12 inches for Spanish with a daily limit of 15 fish. For a king mackerel, the minimum size is 24 inches with a three fish limit. A few king mackerel have been caught this past week near shore with one reported from Sea View pier, so make sure you check that fish before keeping it.
Spanish Mackerel are migratory and return to our coastal water about this time of year when the water temperatures reach into the high 60’s and above. They usually stay until early fall. They travel in schools and sometimes can be picky about their meals. Other times they are less discerning and upon occasion will even hit bare gold hooks in the late afternoon sun.
While they can be caught anytime of the day, early morning and late afternoons are often the most productive. Boaters head of the inlets staying within a mile or so of the beach while looking for birds circling and diving. This type bird activity usually is a tell-tale sign that a school of mackerel or blues are “working” a school of bait fish. The circle and drive them to the top and then begin to cut through the school to feed. Birds swoop down to take advantage of this bonanza which helps anglers find the action.
These tasty fish are often caught off our piers as well as in small boats trolling close to the beaches and inlets. One of the favorite lures used by many boat anglers is the Clark Spoon. It’s a metal spoon and comes in several colors including gold and silver. In addition to trolling it across the top of the water, anglers often pull them on a trolling weight or behind a Booney bird for that extra edge.
From the pier one of the most popular lures for catching Spanish and blues is the Gotcha plug from Sea Striker or similar type plugs. They come in many different color combinations but the old stand-by for many anglers is the one with a redhead and silver body.
Spring fishing is in full swing now for sure!
Catching report for this week:
Plenty of blues are being caught near shore and from the piers with some very nice fish in the 10 – 13 pound range being caught. A few Spanish mackerel have been caught from the piers and boats near shore and the bite should continue to get stronger as the water warms up this week. Some nice catches of Bonito are still being reported with the Diver’s Rock areas still being one of the top spots. Some are being caught around AR360 and nearby ledges.
Inshore the speckled trout fishing has been exceptional in the New River and the creek mouths joining the river. The red drum have moved onto the flats and the marshy areas near oyster beds. There also have been some nice catches of flounder with one friend of mine catching 4 fish over 4 pounds one day with the largest at over 7 pounds. The bite is still thin but should be improving as the bait schools increase inshore.
Offshore the Dolphin fish and Wahoo bite has been spectacular this last week with some 60 plus pound fish being landed. The big fish are still out near the Gulf Stream waters but some nice gaffer and schoolie size dolphin are showing up along weed lines in the 20 – 30 mile range. The tuna bite had been erratic but a few nice fish have been caught. Bottom fishing in depths around the 150 – 300 foot range continues to be strong with nice catches of grouper and a silver snapper being landed.
Tight lines to all!
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!