Tidelines – May 23, 2013
Ah, what a difference two weeks makes. Instead of complaining about the wind, now I’m in the catbird seat of trying to choose what fishing trip to write about.
Chronologically speaking, catching bonito out of New River Inlet was a great “official” start to my summer. I turned in my final grades to Cape Fear Community College on a Tuesday (as just about anyone will tell you, teachers celebrate the end of the semester more than students), and then Wednesday morning headed at first light out to Diver’s Rock with Capt. Daniel Jarvis of Flat Foot Charters. Fisherman’s Post had made the bonito run with Daniel the previous year, and the success of that trip—great action, good conversation, and a relaxed atmosphere on the boat—had us talking about making the trip an annual event before we were even back to the North Topsail high rise ramp.
Daniel, true to his word, called us this spring as soon as the bonito showed. Unfortunately, the wind picked up that same night, and then for one week straight a small craft advisory kept us from getting back out.
On the first day that the small craft advisory was lifted, we headed out without much intel on whether or not the bonito were still around. Nobody had been out for a week, so there were no reports to survey. Daniel was optimistic, though, as the spanish usually appear with the bonito when the bite is getting ready to end for the season. Since Daniel hadn’t hooked any spanish a week ago when he first found the fish, he had a good feeling that they would still be working the area waters.
We quickly found the birds, saw bait on the surface, and trolled and casted the area looking for the speedy nearshore tunas. However, every hook set and every bent rod was only a disappointing bluefish. Moving away from the epicenter of birds and blues, though, we started putting together a catch of spanish, including fish weighing 3+ lbs.
I believe Daniel and I had almost talked ourselves into being happy just catching spanish, until Chris Medlin and family (also fishing the Diver’s Rock area) texted Daniel and reported putting the first bonito of the day in the boat.
Goodbye spanish. Hello bonito.
And then much like the previous year, Daniel and I kept hooking bonito throughout the morning hours, sometimes trolling Yo-Zuri Deep Divers and sometimes casting diamond jigs to fish on the surface. The action was varied, but the constant of the day seemed to be these little birds. Fishing around the big birds had covered us in bluefish, while working the water under the little birds continued to produce bonito.
I liked Daniel’s theory on why the little birds corresponded with better hook sets. The little birds, he thought, weren’t diving into the water as deep as the big birds. They were feeding on fish closer to the surface, so trolling and casting around little birds was covering water with fish closer to the surface.
I don’t catch enough or think enough to have my own fishing theories, so I easily accepted Daniel’s, especially with a spinner in my hand bent double just about every time the little birds were near.
So only two years in and I’m sold on the annual tradition of bonito fishing with Flat Foot Charters. Something tells me Daniel and I will find a few red drum together this summer, but I’m already waiting on that first call of 2014 telling me the bonito are once again at Diver’s Rock.
While the Fisherman’s Post crew couldn’t join Daniel and me this year, we did manage to create and fit in a staff trip to the Outer Banks before the grind of our weekly printing schedule. Capt. Jay Kavanagh and Mate Cat Peele, of Bite Me Charters out of Hatteras Landing, put on a blue water clinic for us, and we enjoyed all the mahi we cared to catch, plenty of fresh fillets for fish tacos throughout the week, and the camaraderie of road tripping together. You can read all about our blue marlin and mahi trip starting on page 36.
Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend, stay safe on the water, and we’ll see you each week through Labor Day with a new issue.
