Archive for February, 2009
Max’s New Blog
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009Here at Fisherman’s Post, we may take the winter months off from publishing, but don’t believe that means we just take them off. Over the course of the cold season we clean house around the office, preparing for the hectic pace of another season covering NC’s diverse saltwater action, put on fishing schools, and travel to boat shows, handing out copies of the paper and meeting many of our loyal readers.
Virtually everyone who’s seen the paper before has something nice to say, which gives our egos a stroke, but one common grievance keeps popping up.
“Why don’t you guys update the website over the winter?” people ask repeatedly.
Well, we can’t put a full update on the site until we publish our spring issue, which comes out March 12, but in an effort to appease our readers over the long winter, I’ll be updating this blog every few days with some info what’s going on with us and the local saltwater scene.
Personally, not being able to get out of the office on a sunny afternoon and go catch a flounder dampens my spirits faster than a sheet of spray sluicing off a center console’s bow will drench the occupants on a windy day, but there are still a few reasons for anglers to get out and fish even during the cool week ahead.
Here are a few options on my mind right now:
-Speckled trout aren’t afraid to bite in cold weather, and tomorrow I’ll be hitting the Neuse River with Fisherman’s Post sales manager Eddie Hardgrove and Capt. Ricky Kellum in pursuit of fat specks and perhaps a striped bass. I’ve never had a bad trip with Ricky, and somehow I doubt tomorrow will disappoint, either. If you can’t make the Neuse, I’ve heard reports of a scattered trout action at many points along the coast lately, so checking out any of your favorite speck haunts this week isn’t a bad plan. Soft plastic shrimp and other lures that can be fished very slowly are the ticket to drawing strikes from the specks in the cold water.
-Speaking of stripers, the Cape Fear River bite was dynamite a little more than a month ago, and the fish will feed nearly all year long. Not only are they essentially year-round targets, some of the best fishing in the area occurs just a few minutes from downtown Wilmington, so striper fishing can make for a perfect short morning or afternoon trip for the busy angler sin the area. Casting soft plastics around the river the structure lining the river banks and feeder creeks or trolling diving plugs along the channel edges is a proven tactic for the Cape Fear’s linesiders.
-Red drum are feeding in skinny waters all along our coast, and though they can be difficult to find, they’re schooled up, and once anglers locate a school, the fish will usually return to the same area predictably.
-Offshore, though one wouldn’t know it from my last trips, bottom fishing is still good, and a great excuse to hit the ocean on a calm day. Cold water nearshore means that the best action lately has been at spots further off the beaches (I’d go 30 miles or more).
-Bluefin tuna represent another possibility for a calm day. The commercial season for giant bluefins has closed, but that doesn’t mean the fish are gone, too. While you can’t send a fish to Tokyo and reap the financial rewards, anglers can catch and release the fish, and the fishing usually gets better the less pressure there is. Looking for bait concentrations and temperature breaks near the Cape Lookout and Frying Pan Shoals should lead anglers to any tuna that are still around.
While there’s surely more going on in the NC angling world than those options, they definitely give anglers an excuse to get out of the house before we’re once again hitting the water in shorts and T-shirts, and this time of year, sometimes an excuse is all you need.
Please feel free to comment on the blog. This special online exclusive was created to give Fisherman’s Post fans more of what they want, both when we’re publishing and not, so let me know any questions you’ve got or any special issues you’d like covered or addressed.
Carolinian Boatworks
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009North Carolina boat builders have been earning renown for producing some of the most beautiful and seaworthy boats available for decades. The flared bows and smooth curves of Carolina boats at sportfishing marinas all over the world reveal that the vessels’ popularity extends far beyond state waters, and one local man’s reverence for the design [...]