fishing

Gone Fishing, Came Up Empty

January 3, 2010 | Uncategorized

On Thursday my mechanic, Chris, calls and says he’s going striper fishing with his girlfriend. Since he’s borrowing my boat I decide to invite myself. I thought to myself, “This makes perfect sense. The family’s still on Christmas vacation, I haven’t done anything exciting, it’s cold out (the striper’s like it chilly), and just a few days prior I heard a report that the in-shore fishermen were maxing out”. How could this not be a raving success? We launched around 11:00 which isn’t prime fishing time but it was very foggy by the Virginia Dare Bridge on the Croatan Sound. We felt our way to the bridge and started trolling. After about an hour we saw one other boat that was fishing who said they hadn’t had any luck. Another hour later we decided the Fish Gods were not smiling upon us but mocking us and we headed home. I … Continued

Read More

Gotta Love the Fall On The Outer Banks

November 2, 2009 | Uncategorized

Friday the 30th gave the kids a day off from school so with a nice forecast I decided to take the boys fishing on the skiff. I’d heard the stripers were going off at the Mann’s Harbor Bridge so we set out to see if this was true. Before we left I stopped by the tackle shop to see if I needed anything and I asked about the stretch lure which I hadn’t used before. Sure enough they had one and they were happy to take my money. The “stretch” should be called the “snag”. That thing would steer towards the bridge everytime while we were trolling. But just as we were turning around after our first pass we got a strike. The striper was a definitely a keeper and he was nice and fat. The boys were stoked. We messed around for a while and the few boats that … Continued

Read More

The Friday Bifecta

October 24, 2009 | Uncategorized

Friday, the 23rd of October was a nice looking day. I was just about to start painting my house (an ongoing project) when I got a phone call. It was my friend, Steve The Dream Thomas, with a live surf report. He was at the Lillian St. beach access (aka, the Laundry Mats) and he informed me there was a nice little swell that only a couple of stand-up paddleboarders and longboarders were taking advantage of. I was in quite the dilemma. Paint the house or go surfing? Duh, I’m going surfing. Air temp was about 70, water temp in the low 60s. There was a very gentle, slow rolling swell with a knee high wave you could ride for quite a long ways. On top of that there was no wind and the waters were very calm. I actually needed a day like this to build up my confidence. … Continued

Read More

A few more days of fall still to be found.

October 21, 2009 | Uncategorized

I tried to go fishing with a friend Sunday so we headed the boat out of the Southern Shores canals and on to Guingite Creek. It was about 48 degrees and blowing 15-20 out of the northwest. Total crap. We never made it out of the creek it was blowing so hard and we were probably only on the boat for about an hour. Whoever said fish like it when it’s rough is full of it. I’ve never caught a fish in a good blow. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day trying to warm up and wondering why winter came so soon to the Outer Banks. Alas, winter doesn’t have too tight a grip on us yet. I went for a bike ride yesterday, riding past the Laundry Mats (Kitty Hawk’s not-so-secret surf spot) and there were a bunch of surfers taking advantage of a nice … Continued

Read More

Fall on the Outer Banks

October 4, 2009 | Uncategorized

This is my favorite time of the year on the Outer Banks. Ocean temps are still great, the stress of the season is no longer there, fishing is heating up, and there are plenty of family activities. A week ago I visited the Hobie Wave regatta at Nor’banks Sailing and Duck and helped out on the committee boat. Of the three day event I was lucky enough to show up on the one “good” day. Friday had high winds and rain which led to boats dismasting and Sunday had high winds and rain, as well. Saturday was cool and cloudy but the winds were such to have good races at a crisp pace. No slogging around the course. Racers came from Ohio, Raleigh, and South Carolina. I had a chance to talk to a few and they were incredibly nice. Speaking of regattas, we’ll be hosting our first ever in … Continued

Read More