Saltwater University

February 28, 2008

We finally got a weather window and headed out Monday about mid-day after one of my meetings. It had been so long since Iâ€™d been out in the boat that the port side battery was trained and wouldnâ€™t take a charge from the onboard charger (I now believe it was corrosion build up). I want to give special thanks to Doug, Chris, and Kathy at East Coast Sports in Surf City for helping me out with a battery; theyâ€™re the best at East Coast.

My buddy Tanner Gray and his wife Lori were onboard with me and we found gorgeous conditions as we left the ramp in Surf City and headed for Topsail Inlet. It was one of the prettiest days in over a month. Our first stop was the 23 Mile Rock area and we pulled up just as a commercial boat was leaving after having pulled up all of his Black Sea Bass pots. We pulled up to a section of real fishy looking ledge but couldnâ€™t land anything other than a few undersized Black Sea Bass.

We moved on out into the 40 mile range near the Esso and found 68 degree water (it had been 54 degrees back on the beach) and some good looking bottom. We caught 3 or 4 undersized Scamp Grouper, but couldnâ€™t find anything fish box worthy. Tanner caught 2 of feisty little guys and I think I caught one or two. We did manage to find a big school of Amberjacks and started working on them with our jigs. It was great watching Lori battle these beasts. Poor Lori hasnâ€™t been fishing in over a year. It was great to see her excitement on the water. She loves it out there.

Most of the AmberJacks we caught were pretty small but I did hook into one good one. After an aggressive fight I finally had him with 10 feet of the boat when one of the biggest sharks I have ever seen swims out from under the boat and seems to glide over to my AJ in slow motion and take a casual bite out of it. Needless to say the fight was over and I pulled in about 1/3 of what had been my decent sized Reef Donkey. I estimated that shark at around 10 to 12 feet long and so much thicker than any Iâ€™ve ever seen. I didnâ€™t get a close enough look to identify what kind but my guess would be a huge Sand Tiger Shark simply because Iâ€™ve hooked quite a few in that area the last several years.

It was a beautiful afternoon on the water with clear skies and calm seas. The Man Oâ€™ War were everywhere out in this temperature range and the Loggerhead Turtles were in the area feeding on them and Jellyfish. Unfortunately it was getting on up into the afternoon and we still didnâ€™t have anything to show for it in the fish box so we pulled the hook and headed northeast into the 50 Offshore range for a little bit faster fishing action.

The area we ended up fishing was a complete mystery to us, nothing significant on the bottom at all to attract fish, we drifted the area in tight circles without having to drop the anchor for over an hour even though the current was running at a steady pace, and the bait wasnâ€™t exactly thick; we ended up calling the area the Bermuda Triangle. My first drop brought up a pretty decent Silver Snapper of about 20 inches. Finally something tasty in the box!

Of course it didnâ€™t take long for the little sharks (3 footers) to find us. Just as we had decided to move on to a different spot and we were getting ready to reel in I hooked into something very heavy that wasnâ€™t head shaking like a shark and pulled a lot harder too. I was excited because I had been waiting all day to catch something great on the brand new reel my brother and sister-in-law had given me for Christmas, Okuma VS-80 Spinning Reel, and I mounted it on a Shimano Trevela of course. I knew it was a big Grouper but it wasnâ€™t until it was boat side that we all realized that I had just caught my personal best Red Grouper. It was huge. The brand new fish lipper was bouncing around 26 pounds. It ended up being 34 inches long with a 24 inch girth. We were all stoked!

On my next drop I hooked up with what I can only assume was itâ€™s sibling and this was where I reminded myself of a very important lessonâ€¦always check your line and knots after every catch, especially a monster catch. The knot broke (not undone) after the stress and abrasion from the previous big red. Tanner also broke off what we believed to be another big grouper. The grouper bite then shut off just as quickly as it began.

One of the next catches was another shark and as I was taking it off the hook it broke free of my grip, reached around, and clamped down on my hand. It HURT. I tried shaking it off but it held on for a good 5 seconds before I convinced it to let go. It was bleeding really good and by the time it stopped bleeding it had swelled up at least an inch. After wiping off the blood it was quite obvious that the punctures were not going to result in any good â€œshow and tellsâ€ over beers with the guys. I was barely scratched but it hurt like the dickens and was definitely very swollen. I finally went to the doctor for it today since the pain was getting worse and I was starting to grow gills and pointy teeth. They gave me a Tetanus shot and some Antibiotics.

We ended up calling it day after the sun had already fallen below the sea and headed for shore at full speed in the slick conditions. We stopped at Cripple Rock for a few drops with our jigs about the time it was completely dark but without any luck and continued for the inlet in complete dark; the moon hadnâ€™t risen yet but the stars were sparkling like diamonds in the black sky. We finally made it back to the ramp at 9:00.

Only one Grouper in the box, but a personal best and the biggest Red I have seen in person. Also came back with my biggest hand (swollen) from a fishing trip. Two State Citation Awards?! East Coast Sports verified one! Great fishing accomplished thanks to great fishing partners, great fishing buddies with good spots, and great friends at East Coast Sports.

Iâ€™m in the hunt for big grouperâ€¦Go Catch Some!