STEVE IN MASS
07-01-2003, 07:37 AM
Got back from two weeks in Hatteras late Sunday night, and been trying to catch up.
Let's just say that the fishing stunk down there for the most part. Also had car problems on the way back on Sunday, so instead of making it home by 1:30 PM as planned, didn't get in till about 10:30 PM. Fortunately, the starter decided to die in my old home town of Clifton, NJ, so we were lucky to have relatives in the area to help us out. Donna had a nice long unplanned visit at her brother's while I sat and waited for the starter replacement, which was lucky as well, cause finding a mechanic on a Sunday is not an easy task.
Anyway, the fishing was SO BAD that the total take for the two weeks was two fluke and two small bluefish, both from the sound. The surf was DEAD, couldn't even catch a croaker, nor could anyone else, and usually they are so abundant as to be annoying. The first week the southwest wind dirty'ed up the water, and then it switched to NE and then East, which is usually good, but since it was blowing at 20-30 MPH, it only made for rough surf and kept the water muddy and full of grass.
The second week, things calmed down and there was one or two days with schools of spanish and small blues cruising around, but evendently, there was so much bait in the water, the weren't interested in hitting anything else, even when casting right in the middle of them.
I did see one cobia splash around one morning when it shouldn't have been there (the water was silty, and generally they are a clear water fish), but because of the conditions, I didn't bring the cobia stick with me that morning - figures.
The specs were non-existent in the sound, and only a few grey trout were taken from the surf by anyone the whole time I was down. Seems they have had a ton of rain lately, and that is lowering the salinity of the sound and ruining the spec fishing.
Bloo - I did manage to treat some of your southern realtives to a nice warm bath with a beer or two, followed a careful "pedicure"....;)
Other than that, did some good body surfing, ate lots of crabs, scallops and shrimp, and generally had a good time.
Hope you all have been well......:)
Let's just say that the fishing stunk down there for the most part. Also had car problems on the way back on Sunday, so instead of making it home by 1:30 PM as planned, didn't get in till about 10:30 PM. Fortunately, the starter decided to die in my old home town of Clifton, NJ, so we were lucky to have relatives in the area to help us out. Donna had a nice long unplanned visit at her brother's while I sat and waited for the starter replacement, which was lucky as well, cause finding a mechanic on a Sunday is not an easy task.
Anyway, the fishing was SO BAD that the total take for the two weeks was two fluke and two small bluefish, both from the sound. The surf was DEAD, couldn't even catch a croaker, nor could anyone else, and usually they are so abundant as to be annoying. The first week the southwest wind dirty'ed up the water, and then it switched to NE and then East, which is usually good, but since it was blowing at 20-30 MPH, it only made for rough surf and kept the water muddy and full of grass.
The second week, things calmed down and there was one or two days with schools of spanish and small blues cruising around, but evendently, there was so much bait in the water, the weren't interested in hitting anything else, even when casting right in the middle of them.
I did see one cobia splash around one morning when it shouldn't have been there (the water was silty, and generally they are a clear water fish), but because of the conditions, I didn't bring the cobia stick with me that morning - figures.
The specs were non-existent in the sound, and only a few grey trout were taken from the surf by anyone the whole time I was down. Seems they have had a ton of rain lately, and that is lowering the salinity of the sound and ruining the spec fishing.
Bloo - I did manage to treat some of your southern realtives to a nice warm bath with a beer or two, followed a careful "pedicure"....;)
Other than that, did some good body surfing, ate lots of crabs, scallops and shrimp, and generally had a good time.
Hope you all have been well......:)