Speaking Spanish
Spent last weekend fishing the Carolina coast from Wrightsville Beach all the way up to South Nag’s Head. This trip kind of took the place of our usual spring Ocracoke jaunt, but despite some good action, didn’t quite have the luster of a week at Ocracoke.
First off, I remembered the tent, but forgot the tent poles! I have to admit though, considering on the party crowd at the campground (where the pole deficiency was discovered) and Saturday afternoon’s relative heat and humidity, the need to get a hotel was not entirely unwelcomed. Plus, I was sacked after fishing Friday night and Saturday early morning with only a brief snooze (in a noisy Wilmington hotel) in between – and trying to nap with two dogs in a hot tent with a party going on beside me is not my ideal. The more serious issue, however, was the unprecedented lack of ORV (or even pedestrian) access at the Outer Banks. All of the spits and points (in other words, all of the prime fishing spots) were closed, negating one of the great draws of the Outer Banks – normally, the sheer diversity of accessible fishing spots greatly improves one’s chance of success.
One of many "resource protection closures" at the Outer Banks - note how the area now teems with wildlife!
So, I was really torn about my itinerary. On one hand, I knew there was an excellent bluefish and Spanish mackerel bite going down on the southeastern coast. On the other, those beaches just don’t compare with the ambiance of the Outer Banks. So, I did a little of both. A lot of driving, yes, but a solid trip.
I got a late start Friday afternoon, but wanted to be fishing somewhere at sunset/dusk, so I made the decision to veer off my NC 64 route to the Outer Banks for a detour onto 40 toward Wrightsville Beach. Conditions were nice at Masonboro Inlet – rising/high tide at dusk, but the inlet was not filled up with Spanish as I’d hoped. Instead, I managed a single 2-3 pound blue near the jetty – nothing to write home about, but a nice warmup on the trout rod nevertheless.
Saturday morning, I hit Surf City Pier on Topsail Island in a moderate SW breeze. In the low light of dawn, the water seemed a bit cloudy and indeed the action was slow, with just a few extra small blues hitting gotcha plugs, but as so often happens, a nice bite developed as the sun rose in earnest. I ended up keeping and/or releasing about a half dozen each blues and Spanish, including two of the latter in the 18-20″ range. There was a nice flurry of fish on pin rigs on the end too – with a couple small-to-medium sized sharks as well as the freshly severed head of a large king. It had been several years since I made a late spring or early summer trip to one of the central-southern NC piers to jig for blues and Spanish and I’d forgotten how much fun it could be. I enjoyed it so much, I may just try to slip in another in the next month or so if the good fishing reports hold up.
That decapitated king (photo courtesy of Surf City Pier)
From Topsail, I made the trek up to the Outer Banks, finally landing in the homey confines of the Buxton Beach Motel in Buxton. Saturday evening in a muddy hole up the beach from Ramp 49 produced just a couple tiny blues and sea mullet on cut bait. Despite an ambitious 5:30 am alarm set for Sunday morning, I slept in and made a few unfruitful stops during the early afternoon, before deciding to give Ramp 55 in Hatteras a shot. Pretty conditions with a bit of an onshore wind and scattered pelicans diving on bait, and indeed the surf was loaded up with blues. I had steady action for a couple hours before dark – sporty action on the trout rod with fish up to 3 pounds – many of them stuffed with small menhaden (a good sign). I kept a limit for the smoker and released and lost a number of others.
One of the nicer-sized blues at Ramp 55
Dawn patrol Monday was not nearly as successful, but I still managed about 5 scattered blues keeping a couple of the good eating two pounders for the cooler. Saw a Spanish landed as well. Waded a couple soundside spots on the way out of town, hoping to hit into some flounder or a stray trout or pup, but only managed to snag a big butterfly ray in the snout and to have a fish shake the hook at Blossies Creek behind Bodie Island Light.
