5- 16 SEVEN DOZEN

[BTH284]

Damn your making me jealous Lee. Is the ocean ever gonna lay out for a small boat

Good work on mixed bag of fish.

[budwiller]

Hey Lee, when you said you "hit the break" at 8:30, Is this the temperature break? Or a ledge or what?

I have only been to the stream twice out of Wrightsville in my own boat. I just put in Steeples and hung around there. I have a subscription to an SST page but not real sure how to use it. Is it better to follow temperature breaks or stay on structure. Follow ledges or get further offshore?

I am not asking for specific numbers because I know that is a no no but just some general advice from anyone that knows the area would be greatly appreciated.

Praying for a windless memorial day.

[sharktooth2005]

Damn fine day Lee!

[John Rogers]

Pretty work Lee. One heck of a day.

[gottaflylee]

Thanks everyone for the kind words once again. Brandon you are right, I have been very blessed to do what I am doing and this year has been a bonus when it comes to finding and catching fish. Getting to run 2 boats with 2 of the best mates a captain could ask for. The credit for the catches needs to go to Warren and Marty, shoot, I just drive the boat. The meat in the box is a testament to their ability to get the fish we hook in the boat. My riggers are tipped to them.
Now, budwiller, let me see if I can help you out.
The "Break" I speak of is the drop of depth at the edge of the stream. in our area I think of it starting about 150' out to about 350. FWIW...I think the 240' depth is the "magic depth" and you should keep that in mind and what I am saying here is for our area from the "Blackjack Hole" to north of "Big Rock" up to Hatters. There are different areas that this will not work in but this is a GOOD place to start. The Steeples is a great place to fish but not one I like to fish much. A long ride to another spot if the fish are not there or to many boats fishing that area. I assume that you have a map and on it you should find the "Steps", "Same Old", The 150 ledge, The "Nipple" and the 170 ledge. This is about 15 to 20 miles of bottom with more ledges than one can fish and I find new parts all the time. Fish by zig zagging from 150' to 340' when you get to the area you choose to fish...look for ledges and live bottom areas and when you mark fish down about 50' to 240' throw the boat in a circle and work the bait. A question I get a lot is what do I mean when I talk about a "flat" or finding the fish on the "flat". For me there are basically 2 areas for that. First the inshore flat is the area from 150' and shallower. You will find lots of Cudas and Kings here but also at times the Tunas and Wahoo are in there thick. The next "flat" is from 150' to the next big drop off shore. A lot of this area does not have much structure on it but the Tunas, Dolphin & Wahoo's will range out and feed when the current is right. Most of the time when you see Tunas "airing out" they are on what I call the flats. Note...when there is little to no temperature break, Work the structures...pound it, look at your scope and when you mark fish you will have what you want!
As far as SST charts I use Terrafin. Not a lot of info on places but enough to catch on to. I look at the SST charts twice a day weather I fish or not so I can keep up with the movements of temperature eddies. Just because it is rated as 1 or 2 stars you still need to look at it. I may be just what you need to see. Remember this, the SST shot you look at is old news by the time you get out there...you need to know the movements of the water to figure out where it will be when you are there. There is a lot more to it than what I'm telling you here and I hope that more of you will chime in but all I'm trying to do is give you a start with out over whelming you.
You need to do your "homework" before you go out there, cause when you get there school is in and you are taking an exam all day. For me each day I learn something new, figure something else out, and the next trip is a little better.

Everyone, feel free to ask questions. I am more than willing to try and help you all put more meat in the box. As all ways, this is not written in stone and not the only way to do it, but this is how I do it and how I think...right or wrong!

[HOLWACHAGOT]

Pretty work Captain Lee, Pretty frikkin work!
Way to mug em up! And thanks for the great report and pics...not to mention the five star fishing tip.

HOLWACHAGOT