Topsail Angler's Fishing Blog
Catching Reports Column
Spring fishing nears
Friday, March 26, 2010
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for some spring fishing! I just returned from a 3 week mission trip to Kenya and Tanzania so it has been awhile since I wet a line. I’ve been talking to my fishing buddies to get the latest fishing reports for Topsail Island and the surrounding waters. Now I hope to get out this week-end and do some fishing. Here’s what I have gleaned from the reports:
Plenty of slot sized red drum (18 - 27”) are schooled up and can be found in shallow water, usually less than a foot. They may be in small deeper holes that are protected from the channel by shallow water in between. They are hiding from the dolphin which can’t get in the skinny water. So check the back of the creeks of the ICW and use a rapidly moving bait over the flats. One …
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Bluewater Candy’s Roscoe Jig
Monday, January 11, 2010
Several years ago I was introduced to vertical jigging, the version invented by the Japanese in the 1990s. Some call it YoYo jigging, others butterfly jigging, some simply call it vertical jigging. I call it fun by what ever name you choose to use.
With this style jigging, the hook is rigged above the lure so that when you fight the fish, the lure dangles to the side. In a traditional metal lure jig, the jig can actually act as a crow bar and cause the hook to pull out of the fish’s mouth. The other big difference is in the gear used. Most folks use a parabolic rod that bends all the way through the handle, this gives the angler more control and a better feel for what the fish is doing. Braid line and a fast retrieve reeltare the other key equipment. When you fight a fish …
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Greener Grass
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Lately I have had a hankering to try the Carolina Beach area for some doormat sized flounder. Every year we hear about big flounder being caught there. We catch some nice ones here too, don’t get me wrong. Its just that with a couple of tournaments coming up in the next few weeks I thought I’d try that area.
It takes a while to learn a new area, there is lots of water in the CB & Snow’s Cut area. Not to mention the area of the Cape Fear River near Snow’s cut. My buddy from Sneads Ferry, Allen, and I headed out about 8 am and ran the ditch down there. We founds lots of nice looking spots. But we didn’t find lots of fish :( We boated one nice fat Speckled trout and a 15/16 inch flounder at the side of the boat who got off before we …
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Wounded Warriors
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Yesterday I had the privilege of participating as a volunteer in the Wound Warrior fishing event at Seaview Pier at North Topsail Beach. This is the 3rd annual pier fishing event put on for these Amercian Heroes from the Wounded Warrior barracks at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. Each one of these young men were wounded proudly serving our country in Iraq or Afganistan. This event is one of the ways we as a community are using to try to show these guys how much we appreciate them and that they are not forgotten.
This was my second year serving as a volunteer. We had twenty-four marines and three wives. We cut bait, take fish off hooks, show these guys how to use the gear, get their water, whatever they need. They seem somewhat overwhelmed at times by our anxiousness to help them enjoy a day of fishing. Many …
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State Record Yellowfin Grouper
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Mike Hall, Jr. of Hampstead caught the new state record Yellowfin Grouper (aka Fireback grouper) jigging off the coast of Topsail Island. Mike is a senior at Topsail High School and was fishing with his dad and David Mason aboard David’s boat the “Knot Kiddin”. He was using the Roscoe Jig from Blue Water Candy Lures.
They had been trolling all day without much luck. They decided to make one last stop and do a little bit of jigging. When Mike pulled up the fish, he knew he had a very nice grouper but had no idea it would beat the world record Yellowfin Grouper by half a pound. They proceeded back to the dock and didn’t even have the fish weighed until the next day.
When they weighed the fish the next day they …
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