Topsail Angler's Fishing Blog
The Bonito have ARRIVED!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Its official, spring fishing has begun! The mullet bite has been strong, plenty of nice speckled trout are being caught in the New River and its creeks and now the Bonito have showed up off of New River Inlet at Divers rock.
Speaking of Bonito, it’s one of my favorite fish and really gets my fishing blood warmed up in the spring. The bonito visit our coast line about this time of year and will stay a few weeks before heading further north.
The best time to target them is early in the morning around first dawn but you can find them at other times too. They usually travel in large schools and often can be seen busting on balls of baitfish at the surface. Quite a sight to behold for a set of winter-fatigued eyes!
Once the water …
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No Bonito yet
Friday, April 11, 2008
I left this morning at daybreak. The winds finally have laid down (albeit only for a day or so according to the forecast) so I wanted to find out if the temps had warmed enough for the Bonito to have arrived.
I left out of Rich Inlet and my first stop was Figure 8 reef, water temp was 59.8. A little chilly for Bonito but decided to pull some deep divers anyway. Only birds around were a bunch of loons. Nothing, nada.
Left there and tried Dallas Rocks, temp was half a degree COOLER even though I was 4 miles further out. Again tried trolling a few minutes to no avail. Then headed to the first set of box cars, about 8 nautical miles off the beach. Temps were once again only 59.3 and no activity, very little bait.
So I headed home. With only a two foot ground swell, …
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SST Charts
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
This is the time of year when many offshore anglers start watching the SST Charts (SST=Sea Surface Temp). The data for these charts are obtained through satellites and are computed generated based on that data. The most detailed ones usually carry a fee to view them but many sites offer a free version.
Why SST you ask? Well this time of year offshore fishing is all about temperature. It has little to do with the daily air temps, they haven’t had much chance to effect the water yet. Rather its warm waters of the gulf stream. they start to move closer to shore this time of year and the winds have a tendency to break off or stretch “fingers” and “fists” of warm warm even closer.
Everyone knows that many of the migratory pelagic fish we cherish prefer warm water. But the key …
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New River area trip
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
A friend of mine, Alan and I decided to give one of the creeks on the New River a try today. I met him in Sneads Ferry first thing this morning dressed in jeans and T-shirt ready to fish - gotta love the weather for early March!
We headed out looking for some specks and whatever else we could roust up. We started at a spot Alan had worked a few weeks ago with good success. But today there was a lot of mud flowing out from the feeder creeks due to the storm that rolled through here last night. I did manage to get the skunk off the boat pretty quick and boated a puppy drum. We released him and thought, wow this is going to be good. Pretty soon the tide began to drop and the mud was everywhere. Never caught another puppy all day.
So …
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Tackle UP & get ready to fish!
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Even though it has been a relatively mild winter in eastern NC, fishing activity for most folks slows down the first few months of the year. When I’m not spending my free time in the winter fishing, I use the time to get ready for the next fishing season.
If I can’t fish, at least I can get ready to catch a few once the fish begin to bite. A little time spent now preparing for the season will help me get off to a great start this spring and fish right on through the fall with fewer missed opportunities.
Like many anglers, I enjoy making my own rigs and this time of year is a good time to stock up on them. I make my own flounder, grouper, and king mackerel rigs. It saves a little money but the “reel” pleasure …
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