08-27-2005, 02:36 PM
August 25:
Finally something to report from our family vacation to North Carolina. I tried fishing Monday morning at the beach near our rental house. Got one barely legal sized flounder and a few other strikes (most likely small bluefish or spanish mackerel).
On the advice of a light tackle/fly fishing guide I went out this morning and wade fished the sound. He told me of a good spot and he was right. I started out throwing the 3 inch Margarita colored Hammer for nothing. There were a few other guys there throwing various grubs and swimbaits and one guy was doing pretty well on the speckled trout. I was just starting to get a little discouraged so I switched to the Sea Wolf colored 3 inch Hammer, loaded it up with Pro-Cure's new Calico Cocktail gel, and a few casts later caught a nice flounder (15 inches - an inch past legal size), that gave me a little confidence but it wasn't a trout. I was the only one using casting gear (Calcutta 50 with 6 lb. test) and I started to think I wasn't getting the right action out of my retrieve.
Another guy got a nice trout which confirmed a little more that I couldn't get the retrieve down with casting gear. The flounder was cool but I really wanted a trout. I saw that he was using a chartreuse colored grub so I switched to the Invader colored 3 inch and after a few casts I got a nice trout. What a cool fish! A few casts later I lost the tail of my bait to what I'm pretty sure was a small bluefish. I decided to give Sea Wolf another shot now that I had found a retrieve that was working for me. My next learning experience was the strange way that these fish strike. Except for the flounder you really don't feel a strike, the rod just loads up - feels a lot like a snag. I missed several fish because I had a hard time getting used to this. Once I figured that out I started doing very well. I ended up getting three more nice trout and a 16 inch flounder. Then I hooked into something that was pulling harder and actually taking some line. It was a redfish. Boy, those things can pull! It was the first one I saw that day - and actually the first one I've ever seen (except for in aquariums or on TV). I ended up catching 2 more redfish and one of the small bluefish. Everything except for the first trout was caught on the Sea Wolf colored 3 inch hammer. All in all it was a very fun experience.
August 27 - Sea Wolf color strikes again!:
Went back to the spot I went on Thursday and fished for a couple of hours. Today was much slower overall but still pretty good for me. I brought the spinning gear this time so I could exactly imitate the retrieve the other guys are using. Basically, just giving the rod tip a short strong jerk, then cranking a couple of times to take up the slack. The fish almost always hit just after the jerk which makes it difficult to get the hook set efficiently. I lost a few fish because my rod was not in good "hook setting" position and there was slack line. Most of the time you don't know there is a fish there until you make the next "jerk" of the rod.
I got there just before light and got a nice Atlantic Croaker on my first cast. Then I went through a little dry spell until the sun came up and more people joined me. I ended up catching another croaker, 3 Grey Trout (or "weakfish"), 3 nice speckled trout, a small bluefish, 2 summer flounder (one was just barely legal and one was about 12 inches long), and 1 redfish within about an hour and a half. The redfish had a bright torquoise/blue tinge to it's tail which was very cool looking. Today everything was caught on the 3 inch Sea Wolf colored Big Hammer loaded with the Calico Cocktail gel except for one of the flounder and one of the croaker which were caught on the strawberry colored Hammer.
Out of the dozen or so other fishermen there were 2 or 3 other speckled trout caught, one other redfish, a couple grey trout, and one big flounder at 23 inches (reminded me of a legal halibut at home) which was very cool to see. I definitely out-fished everyone else this morning. Was it luck, the lure, the color, the scent, or a combination of everything? I know it wasn't me because I was just copying what everyone else was doing. Whatever it was I had a blast.
[signature]
Finally something to report from our family vacation to North Carolina. I tried fishing Monday morning at the beach near our rental house. Got one barely legal sized flounder and a few other strikes (most likely small bluefish or spanish mackerel).
On the advice of a light tackle/fly fishing guide I went out this morning and wade fished the sound. He told me of a good spot and he was right. I started out throwing the 3 inch Margarita colored Hammer for nothing. There were a few other guys there throwing various grubs and swimbaits and one guy was doing pretty well on the speckled trout. I was just starting to get a little discouraged so I switched to the Sea Wolf colored 3 inch Hammer, loaded it up with Pro-Cure's new Calico Cocktail gel, and a few casts later caught a nice flounder (15 inches - an inch past legal size), that gave me a little confidence but it wasn't a trout. I was the only one using casting gear (Calcutta 50 with 6 lb. test) and I started to think I wasn't getting the right action out of my retrieve.
Another guy got a nice trout which confirmed a little more that I couldn't get the retrieve down with casting gear. The flounder was cool but I really wanted a trout. I saw that he was using a chartreuse colored grub so I switched to the Invader colored 3 inch and after a few casts I got a nice trout. What a cool fish! A few casts later I lost the tail of my bait to what I'm pretty sure was a small bluefish. I decided to give Sea Wolf another shot now that I had found a retrieve that was working for me. My next learning experience was the strange way that these fish strike. Except for the flounder you really don't feel a strike, the rod just loads up - feels a lot like a snag. I missed several fish because I had a hard time getting used to this. Once I figured that out I started doing very well. I ended up getting three more nice trout and a 16 inch flounder. Then I hooked into something that was pulling harder and actually taking some line. It was a redfish. Boy, those things can pull! It was the first one I saw that day - and actually the first one I've ever seen (except for in aquariums or on TV). I ended up catching 2 more redfish and one of the small bluefish. Everything except for the first trout was caught on the Sea Wolf colored 3 inch hammer. All in all it was a very fun experience.
August 27 - Sea Wolf color strikes again!:
Went back to the spot I went on Thursday and fished for a couple of hours. Today was much slower overall but still pretty good for me. I brought the spinning gear this time so I could exactly imitate the retrieve the other guys are using. Basically, just giving the rod tip a short strong jerk, then cranking a couple of times to take up the slack. The fish almost always hit just after the jerk which makes it difficult to get the hook set efficiently. I lost a few fish because my rod was not in good "hook setting" position and there was slack line. Most of the time you don't know there is a fish there until you make the next "jerk" of the rod.
I got there just before light and got a nice Atlantic Croaker on my first cast. Then I went through a little dry spell until the sun came up and more people joined me. I ended up catching another croaker, 3 Grey Trout (or "weakfish"), 3 nice speckled trout, a small bluefish, 2 summer flounder (one was just barely legal and one was about 12 inches long), and 1 redfish within about an hour and a half. The redfish had a bright torquoise/blue tinge to it's tail which was very cool looking. Today everything was caught on the 3 inch Sea Wolf colored Big Hammer loaded with the Calico Cocktail gel except for one of the flounder and one of the croaker which were caught on the strawberry colored Hammer.
Out of the dozen or so other fishermen there were 2 or 3 other speckled trout caught, one other redfish, a couple grey trout, and one big flounder at 23 inches (reminded me of a legal halibut at home) which was very cool to see. I definitely out-fished everyone else this morning. Was it luck, the lure, the color, the scent, or a combination of everything? I know it wasn't me because I was just copying what everyone else was doing. Whatever it was I had a blast.
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