NOOA was saying light and slight and I had not seen the Atlantic ocean in more than 3 weeks, so when Nick (Slip Slidin) called to say he was done with work and free for the afternoon, it took little convincing.
We cleared the inlet around noon with a live well full of pinfish and a few boxes of cigar minnows. It was greasy calm and hot. The plan was to explore bottoms near the Frying Pan Tower, some 40 miles SE of Carolina Inlet.
Scouting trips can be tough, especially when there are acres of likely good bottoms around. Hard bottom with relief holding bait is the ideal situation. If you can position the boat on the deep side of the relief (and not the bait!) you will soon know what the spot is holding. Windless, humid 95 degree weather is all the motivation we needed to try to hit the marks on the first try. Working the anchor in such conditions qualifies as hazard duty!
The first few drops were in shallow water (50 feet) near the tower, hoping for a hog fish. After 30 minutes of watching the most amazing show by alternating schools of bait, amberjacks and cudas, we decided to move on. Took only a few vermilion snapper from the shallows. Moving to the 90 - 100 foot depths we slowly started finding some grouper, but no steady bite anywhere and lots of undersized red grouper kept us moving, until Nick scored with a very nice gag:
We kept working north and inshore, taking a fish or two from each new spot and moving on looking for a better bite. We finally found what seemed like a "virgin" ledge with bait marks solid 50 feet off the bottom. 3 lively pinfish in a row got slammed by three nice keepers:
It's good to be back!
Made out our limit in this last spot and headed home, arriving as it got dark. A little tired and hot, but no complaints from me.
The day's catch:
Grouper fingers with garlic mash potatoes tonight!
Cheers,
SeaBiscuit
Welcome back Biscoto. Great day on the water. A little warm at times but the bites seemed to keep our mind off of the temp for the better part of the afternoon. Nice to be able to run across newly discovered bottom(for us) and yank fish out of it. You seem to have the sniffing out part down to a science. I think Bloodhound is a little more appropriate than Biscoto. Thanks again. Enjoyed it.
OK Worknot, What the heck are those Platypus looking clown called? The most interesting looking fish I think I have seen in a while. What are they?
Awesome catch Slip and Biscuit. As usual the mixed bag leaves me druling and breaking out in hives because I couldn't go myself. Glad ya'll wacked em. Holwachagot!
[QUOTE=HOLWACHAGOT]OK Worknot, What the heck are those Platypus looking clown called? The most interesting looking fish I think I have seen in a while. What are they?
They would be the infamous Hogfish. They are probably the best eating fish in the ocean. That other thing is about a 32" gag. These were shot on a recent dive trip.(I didnt want anyone to get the wrong idea that they were caught on hook and line).
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Reply With Quote
!
