Jobsite Report---Wrightsville Beach, NC Grouper...Nov. 17, 2008

[Squid]

Over the past couple of weeks, the weather man has been especially rude to us southeastern NC folks. Constant winds of 15+ kts and choppy seas have made getting offshore a rare event this fall.

Last Monday (Nov. 10), the weather forecasted a small, one day break so myself, Miss Squid, and Matt (JMS-ILM) decided to give it a shot. With reports of bluefins being seen off the beach, we loaded the big guns along with our grouper rods to see what kind of damage we could do. A nice sunrise soon gave way to a north wind at 15+ kts as we idled through the no wake zone at Wrightsville Beach.



We were greeted at the inlet by a 3 foot sea coming at us every 4 seconds. We made it as far as the sea buoy before we made the decision to call it and wait for a nicer day. Since we were out, we made a turn around the southern jetty in the lee of the wind and sea. The day prior, Matt had seen pogies flipping and pelicans diving on them just off the beach. We were both curious to see just how big these pogies were going to be so we had to throw the net and find out. Sure enough, the pelicans were getting down just off of Masonboro Island with the mud spots all up and down the beach.





This sight would not be uncommon on a warm summer day, but on a cold November morning when the water temperature was 62 degrees was quite unusual.

Fast forward to this week.....

Weather forecasts for yesterday (Nov. 17) were freakishly similar to that of last week. Rough on the weekend, slicking out for Monday, then blowing hard Monday night and the rest of the week. Like last week, we readied the boat with grouper rods, kingfish rods, and our bluefin gear and prayed for the forecast to be right this time.

For this trip it was myself, Andrea (Miss Squid), Matt (JMS-ILM), and two of my college buddies--Joe and Mike. This morning, like last Monday was a cold, clear morning. We decided to leave at the gentleman's hour of 9am in order to let Matt go to work for a bit earlier that morning and to hopefully let the weather warm up a little bit.

After dropping the boat in, we made a brief stop at a local bait hole to see if there were any pinfish hanging around or if the cold water has pushed them offshore. Joe made a throw that came up empty and quickly answered our questions.



As we made our way to the inlet, there was a slight northern breeze....nothing like last week though. As we cleared the inlet, we noticed pelicans and gannets diving just north of the inlet, and like last week, a lot of mud balls up and down the beach. After going across a great mark, I made a throw and came up with a half dozen primo bluefish. Threw these in the well, broke out the sabiki's, and caught another dozen real quick.

After a few minutes we made the call to ride offshore and make some more bait. A couple stops later, we had two livewells full of prime time livies ready to be fed to a gag.

At 11:30, it was game on. The players:
Myself



Andrea
not pictured since she was the picture taker at the time

Matt



Mike "Sweatervest" Woodard



And everybody's buddy....Joe Barnes (posing for the camera)



As we came to the first spot, the scope lit up with a school of cigars sitting right on the ledge.



A short drift to get our course, and soon after I've got us anchored directly on top of the ledge. Miss Squid was the first to break the ice (no surprise) with a 23" fish....released. After that it was quite the fall gag bite. Nearly every bait to the bottom was getting slammed. Many short fish in the bunch then Matt connects and gets destroyed by a nice fish. Mike was next with a good bite and his fish breaks a 150 lb. swivel half way up. Miss Squid is on the other side of the boat getting a workout by a nice fish that ends up in the rocks. Before we realized it, we had released 7 or so shorts and broken off 4 nice fish to put a quick end to our wide open bite. Right before we pulled anchor, Miss Squid put the stop on her first keeper of the day---a fish that had been feasting on everything imaginable down there. Inside his mouth, he had 2 partly digested cigars, 1 of our (recently) live cigars, and Miss Squid's live bluefish. Needless to say it was a mouthfull...



Move a couple of miles to another spot and by now the wind had gone from 10 kts out of the NW to dead calm and the ocean was quickly becoming a pond. This spot was much like the first with great grouper marks just off the bottom but we could not buy a bite.

Make a call to move a few miles up the beach and find the same conditions---great marks and crappy fishing.

It's starting to get later in the afternoon and we've got to come up with a plan. What started out as a great late morning grouper bite had suddenly turned into a lot of frustration.

Moved back inshore a mile or two and the wind started to pick up a bit out of the southwest. Just like clockwork, when it started to blow, the groupers went back to biting. Matt threw a two nice fish in the cooler real quick and Mike wasn't far behind with a 10 pounder of his own. I decided to take a break from being "Captain Squid" to wet a line of my own which was rewarded with another 10 pounder. Soon after, Matt puts the stops on another one. Not to be outdone, Miss Squid showed us guys how it was done with one of her own (with some expert cheering by Joe Barnes).





As the sun was going down, we made our last couple of drops and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.









When it was all said and done, we had a decent looking box. Nothing too big, but all 25"-30" fish.





And NO fishing report is complete without a great facial picture!



Thank you guys (and girl) for joining me yesterday! I had a blast and can't wait to do it again! Hopefully the weatherman will give us a break early next week to slide out again.

Bryan

[merry marlin]

Wow! What a treat to read this report on a cool windy morning...
Very nice job on those Gags and I hope you get to hear some screaming reels on those Bluefins soon!
MM

[brad regan 01]

awesome job on the catch...and nice pictures

[WhiteLakeBuc]

Great report! Glad you guys got em!

[Robja]

Great Report Squid. At least you have the luxury of being able to fish on a Monday. It was blowing too hard Saturday to fish the river for Specks.

[Ace1st]

Good going guys......and girl! great report, always nice to get out when its slick cam!

[brandon558]

nice job puttin em on the fish squid..great report.

[Custom Canvas]

Squid, Great report!!

how do you set up your terminal gear?

I have been using the 3 way swivel set up but i have questions??? Hook size? leader size? and what knots are u using i fish out of morehead and am newish to the bottem fishing game

thanks in advance!
cc

[gradywhite273]

great read and photos, outstanding job squid, lot of good meals there.

[hunt4fish]

Great report and pics. Maybe oneday the weather will break for the ones that live inshore to make a trip down there and fish..