Broad and Reel

I’ve been told two weekends in a row by two separate individuals that "it’s nice to see you again."

Both men swore that they saw me the day before and each of them remembered something about "me." The one man called me the "Blue Lady" because I got excited about catching blues. The second remembered me because I was very friendly and didn’t have any tattoos.

Now, all those things are true but there is no way that I was where they said I was when they said I was.

I told both of them that they confused me with some one else but they were insistent that it was me.

So, apparently there is a girl who looks just like me and also fishes at piers in southern North Carolina.

Justin and I ventured down to Ocean Crest Pier this Saturday. We got up at 4:00 a.m. and were there by 5:45 a.m., Justin was determined to get a king spot at the pier.

It turns out Justin got his spot of choice…the most southern corner spot (number 34 maybe?)…I’m guessing that he thinks the kings come up from the south and if they see his bait first, he’ll catch the elusive king mackerel.

The water was extremely muddy and it was windy. The fishing was very very slow all day. Several chopper blues were caught, several 3′-4′ sharks were caught, and lots of whiting, croaker, etc… The blues were definitely not feeding like they were last weekend. Justin caught several small blues and the little guy below. I caught two tiny croaker. ha ha

We left the pier at 8 p.m., yes, that is over 14 hours at the pier. Yes…I was bored with the fishing. I don’t do well with passive fishing. I’m more into active fishing, casting and retrieving. Which is probably why I enjoy fly fishing as much as I do. But luckily I had Fool’s Paradise with me and I almost finished it.

So I don’t have any pictures of great fish but I did make sure I took some pictures.

Sunrise over Oak Island, North Carolina.

Shouldn’t you be a the marsh, not the pier?

Look at this cutie! Juvenile spade fish or maybe even a pompano…no one was really sure.

Just received John Gierach’s newest book called Fool’s Paradise! Very excited to read it. Stay tuned for a review.

Want a description of Fool’s Paradise?

Photo credit: Simon and Schuster

The science of fishing hasn’t always interested me…I thought fishing was mostly about experience, followed by being at the right place at the right time and maybe a tad of luck. But as I become more knowledgeable about the sport, I’m realizing more and more that there are certain conditions that make catching fish more favorable.

Earlier this week, I noticed an interesting thread about fishing and barometric pressure on Pier and Surf fishing forum. I read it and became more and more curious. So I went out and did a little research and here’s what I found…granted I haven’t “tested” any of these theories but there’s no harm in trying.

The first few articles I stumbled upon believed in the connection of catching fish and barometric pressure. It seems to be a general consensus between the believers that the best fishing is when the pressure is rapidly rising or falling and the worst fishing is when there is a pressure system that just hangs around or the pressure is extremely low or high.

Here’s another article that agrees.

BUT, as I dug around more, I found articles that claimed the connection was a myth.

Jay Grymes, Chief Meterologist for  WAFB believes there is an indirect link between air pressure and fish activity. He doesn’t think there is a strong relationship because fish easily adapt to pressure changes in water with their internal bladders. The bladders help the fish adjust very quickly and changes in air pressure would happen so slow that the fish wouldn’t even notice the changes. When Grymes refers to an indirect link he means that usually when the pressure changes, the air temperature, cloud cover, wind speed, etc… also change, all of which greatly affect the activity of fish (and other animals). So… he thinks that’s why people make the association between barometric pressure and fish feeding.

Here’s another very well written article that believes the connection between fish activity and barometric pressure is a myth.

I have no background in weather patterns or any related field but I’m leaning toward the indirect connection. I believe fish activity is affected by a combination of all weather properties, not just barometric pressure. But you can decide for yourself…

Photo credit: muha…’s

Most fishermen in the Cape Fear area are aware of the boarding up of Yaupon Fishing Pier. But for those of you who don’t know what’s going on…here’s a short recap.

Yaupon Fishing Pier, which has been around for over 50 years, has been caught up in a legal battle for several months now.

Back in October, it was announced that the pier (among other properties) would be offered up for sale to prevent being auctioned off. But against Mayor Johnny Vereen’s will, Yaupon Pier and several other Oak Island properties were awarded to Mainstay Developers. Mainstay declined to buy the pier which opened it up to the town again.

In November, Mayor Vereen said the town would buy the pier (and restaurant) which was going to be leased to individuals. That plan was shot down after city council voted 3-2 against purchasing the pier.

The pier went back on the market and was entered into a foreclosure sale by the bank. The bank was the only bidder on the pier.

The pier is now closed but Vereen is determined to acquire the pier. The town hopes for state funding to buy the pier but will have to wait until the General Assembly meets which should be sometime this month.

With that said, Yaupon regulars are expected to fish at Ocean Crest Pier (the remaining operational pier on Oak Island) this summer which could lead to some really crowded weekends during tourist season.

Ocean Crest is a great pier…I spent many weekends down there last summer. A pass is good from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Both king fishing and shark fishing (after dark) are permitted and of course bottom fishing. The pier house has snacks and your standard terminal tackle. There is also a restaurant connected to the pier house.

I found a video about Ocean Crest Pier on the Star News website. The video was created by Matt Born. It gives you a nice visual of the pier and several Ocean Crest regulars are interviewed. The link is below.

Ocean Crest Fishing Pier Video

The sad decline of fishing piers continues.  Like I said before, Ocean Crest Pier is the last operational pier on Oak Island. Long Beach Pier was sold and torn down in 2005. The land was suppose to be used to build homes but that development hasn’t even started. Oddly enough, the land that Yaupon pier sits on cannot even be developed because of the rate of beach erosion. Oh…and a total of 244 king mackerels were caught off Yaupon in 2007…that’s the highest number kings caught from a pier last year on the east coast.

Photo credit and Yaupon Fishing Pier time line credit: Al Baird

Bluefish that is!

Justin and I woke up at 4 a.m. on Saturday to head down to Ocean Crest Pier. Yes, we live so close to Kure Beach Pier but they aren’t open for king mackerel yet… I find that odd as well. We got to Ocean Crest and the parking lot was filled! I’ve never seen so many people there at 6 a.m. It turns out there was a king mackerel tournament scheduled for the day and unfortunately Justin couldn’t fish because it was all booked.

He was quite an unhappy boy… 

I suggested Sunset Beach Pier…a pier close to the South Carolina border that definitely doesn’t receive the credit it deserves. Real nice people, clean bathrooms and most importantly there’s fish!

Anyhow we get there and within 10 minutes Justin caught a bluefish on my brand new combo. Wonderful, he catches the first fish on my first saltwater setup. But no worries because within 15 minutes of jerking a Gotcha Plug around, I had already lost my first blue:) But that’s okay because I knew I was doing something right and there were fish out there.

Long story short, I landed four bluefish, lost at least 5 and had two bite my lure off. Justin caught many blues and his first two spanish mackerel. To make that even better…he caught them both at the same time! We kept three blues and both spanish for  dinner; see picture above:) No kings, but it was a great day of fishing.

 Sunset Beach is a great area. The beaches are very wide and the dunes are still intact for the most part. I recommend spending a day there. Just beware that the only bridge to Sunset Beach is a pontoon bridge that opens every day on the hour (between 7  a.m. and 7 p.m. during the summer) for pleasure boats.

Not too long ago I posted an article with 8 things that really annoy me when it comes to people and the environment. I left it at 8 because at the time, I couldn’t think of 9 and 10.

So here’s 9.

Don’t feed your french fries, donuts or any other food to the seagulls. I don’t think you are doing them a favor and they become accustomed to eating people food.

Several weeks ago Justin and I went to Britt’s Donuts (best donuts in the whole wide world). We thought it’d be nice to take our warm donuts and walk on the beach.

Just one seagull was roaming around when we got out there. But within a few minutes there were at least 20 birds demanding our donuts. Believe me they weren’t nice about it. All of them were squawking and “charging” at us.

After running around the beach like dorks we threw the remains of the donuts but the birds kept chasing us. I assumed they associated the white paper bag in my hand with food. I tossed that bag and they eventually backed off.

Don’t feed the birds…

Photo credit: Pin Shy Avenue

Today (and for the past several weeks) I have been a poor sport. I haven’t caught any fish and I’m pouting about it. It’s so bad that I’ll just watch Justin fish (I know I know, you can’t catch any fish when your rod is not in the water…).

BUT I’m not the only one. Justin is just as frustrated…probably more so because he invests more time and money into fishing. My motto has always been that if Justin isn’t catching fish then they aren’t biting…but apparently that was just up north.

Don’t get me wrong I love sitting outdoors and enjoying nature, the sea breeze, etc… but I can only take so many strike outs…I’m discouraged. But I haven’t really seen any decent fish caught since I moved to Wilmington…with the exception of Justin’s tiger shark and one king mackerel caught on Ocean Crest Pier.

I know people are catching fish around here. I read about it everyday on the Pier and Surf forum. Maybe I’m just a fish repellent.

My guess is that the failure to catch fish is just lack of knowledge about where the fish are and when they eat. Brown, brook and rainbow trout are easy. Or am I just more familiar?

PS I live 10 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and what I really want to do is head to Sutton Lake to catch bass. How sad.

*See the pics above for proof of the “glory days”… when I had fish luck or just did something to please the fish gods

To keep you updated on a previous post…

The NC Division of Marine Fisheries has reopened commercial red drum harvest. There are restrictions and commercial fishermen aren’t allowed to target red drum but fishermen are permitted to keep and sell up to four red drum per boat.

The decision to reopen the season was because fishermen were concerned about throwing back dead or dying red drum that were caught as a result of bycatch.

Looks like a good weekend for the pier. Apparently the big bluefish are in and the king mackerel are coming closer to shore.

Woooooohoooooo!