Article by Dale Timmons
I see where the Army Corps of Engineers is set to begin dredging in Indian River Inlet in October. Probably something that needs to be done, and I’m not sure how it will affect the fall striper season at IR, but seems like very poor timing, to say the least…
Spent a few days in Buxton, NC last week with my wife Suzanne. We had fabulous weather, and spent most of our time on Cape Point. There was tons of bait, mostly in the form of mullet and “glass minnows.” Even caught a few fish, including puppy drum, Spanish mackerel and bluefish. The drum ate fresh mullet, while the Spanish and blues were caught on “metal,” which in reality is mostly painted lead nowadays. I kind of like that type of fishing. You take an 8 1/2, 9, or 9 1/2 foot rod, put on a 4000 size spinning reel loaded with 10 or 12 lb. mono and tie on a Sting Silver or Glass Minnow lure. I was actually using a Sling Jig from Bass Pro, which has served me very well. Some guys use a shocker or at least a short “bite leader” of 20 pound. Anyway, you simply throw the lure as far as you can and then “reel like hell”. That fast retrieve makes for a real “takeup” when you hook a fish. Some fellows do use braid, but since there can be a real possibility of crossing lines, and braid will easily cut someone off, it is kind of considered impolite to do so, at least on the Point. One thing about Cape Point is that you never know what you might see. Last week, for instance, we saw fairly large creatures jumping completely out of the water. They were black on top and pure white underneath. The first time I wasn’t sure what it was. I was thinking maybe cobia. This was with a side view. Then I saw one from the back, and I realized it was a ray. One did a complete forward somersault in the air before crashing back into the water. I went to the books when I got home, and they were either Atlantic Manta Rays or Devil Rays, I think. The Devil Ray is very similar to the Manta, but generally smaller, and these fish were maybe four to six feet across. A gentleman on the Point said they jump to rid themselves of parasites or to give birth to their young, which are born alive. Peterson’s Field Guide says it is most likely a “territorial display”, which generally means the boys trying to impress the girls. Either way, it was pretty neat to watch…
On Wednesday, the wind turned to the northeast, and it brought the best drum bite. It also brought another example of how the fish don’t read fishing magazines. I mean, everyone knows you can’t catch drum on wire leaders, right? Well, one young lady out there was fishing with a cheap wire top and bottom rig with two Pacific Bass style j-hooks with wire leaders. To top it off, she was using the back half of a finger mullet, with the tail still on, and simply hooking it in the middle behind the dorsal fin. No self-respecting drum would ever bite that rig, right? Well, when she caught her second nice puppy she asked me what the limit was. At that point neither her husband nor her father had even caught a fish. Yes, the fish gods will always lift up the ignorant and embarrass the knowing at some point…which kind of makes it fun when you think about it…
The mullet migration was in full swing last week, with thousands, probably even millions of these small fish running the surf on their way south. Some of these little guys travel from as far north as Massachusetts all the way down to Florida, and they run a gauntlet of predators, including humans, the whole way. Being a mullet is not an easy life, obviously. I caught my share to fish with last week, and as I stood there in the surf holding a rod and watching school after school pass by, I thought about how a lot of my life experiences for the past 35 years or so had involved a little fish known as a “fatback” in these parts, though in Carolina a “fatback” is actually a menhaden, or bunker, but that’s another story. When Suzanne and I first started the Coastal Fisherman, money was tight, sometimes non-existent, and I often caught and sold mullet to some of the local tackle shops in the fall (before the state required a license to do so). Sometimes I even swapped mullet for a new fishing reel. Before I had a cast net we used to catch mullet in a haul seine in the surf, which wasn’t easy, and Suzanne and I carried them back and forth across the beach in a large galvanized tub, sometimes 150 dozen at a time. A fellow named Pete was the first one I ever saw with a cast net, at the north OC inlet jetty, and he showed me how to throw his small net. Later, Capt. Al Fields showed me another technique for throwing a larger net, and the lessons have served me well. I remember catching big gray trout on both live and cut mullet from the north jetty at night during the World Series many years ago. There have also been some big flounder on live mullet in the fall, and I took my first red drum on a cob mullet head fished from a sandbar with Capt. Earl Simpson in the late seventies. The mullet population crashed for several years not too long ago, and they have just started making their way back in the past few years, probably in part due to the gill net ban in Florida. I missed them when they were gone, and I’m glad to see them back…
Another sad commentary on the times comes in a news release from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife—“The NJDEP Division of Fish and Wildlife has announced there will be no exemption to allow anglers to take summer flounder (fluke) during the 2009 Governor's Surf Fishing Tournament [on October 4]. An exemption was granted for the 2008 Tournament allowing tournament anglers to keep legal sized fluke on the day of the Tournament, which occurs after the current statewide season closing date. The exemption is not being granted in 2009 because the recreational harvest of summer flounder in New Jersey through the end of June 2009 was 24% higher than during the same time period in 2008. Preliminary projections from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission indicate New Jersey's recreational harvest for all of 2009 may be 29% over the target harvest. Tournament anglers must immediately release any summer flounder caught during the tournament.”
Even though I think the numbers are seriously flawed, does anyone else think that maybe the fact that states are exceeding their flounder quotas is a good thing rather than the end of the world? Doesn’t it mean that the flounder population has rebounded? Tired of talking, and writing, about it…
This is the last summer issue of CF for 2009. I know that Publisher Larry Jock is looking forward to some fishing time, and I hope he catches lots of stripers this fall. Personally, I want to thank everyone for reading my drivel after all these years, and for all of your nice comments over the summer. A gentleman even recognized me on the beach in Hatteras last week, which is kind of embarrassing to me, even though I should be used to it by now, but I want you to know I really do appreciate the kind words. Hope your fall and winter means light winds, calm seas, and a few fish in the box…I hope I’ll see you out there…
Contact Dale Timmons at [email protected] or call 410-629-1191.
