Opening Weekend

Will this wind ever stop? I don't know what day was worse...yesterday's gale force wind coming from the east or today's 30 knots coming from the west. We gave it a try today and braved 3-5 footers until noon. I also heard that two boats capsized this morning around TP (I believe they did get rescued) in some crazy big swells. The captain had a rough time keeping our heading which made for some difficult fishing. And of course last night's party didn't help our crew either, but we did manage two fish. One about 32" and the other that went around 40" (it had to be 20" across the belly).

On the Hunt

Went out for a few hours in search of some "cows" but didn't find much. I'm not positive, but I think I did have two bites. I found some good bait balls and followed some Gannets, but not much happening yet. Don't know if the 10-12 tankers are a sign of our economy or what, but the last several months there have been more tankers in the bay then I can remember. If we get a couple of decent days of warm weather, things should start to take shape...can't wait.

Shake Down

Well, it's that time again. I ran south with my buddy R&R for my 1st run of the year. The wind didn't cooperate as it kicked up a notch to maybe 15 to 20...not so fun with a chilly morning to boot. Saw some promising signs but didn't see anything worth throwing the line in the water. We came up empty handed today. The good news is my boat is running just fine and I'm ready for a good spring season.

Power Plant

Decided to head south to some warm water, kinda. It was around 39-40 degrees, but I wouldn't call it "warm" by any standards. After reports of some decent fish being caught lately, it was worth a try. It's a tough fishery in the winter. Some days it's great and some days it's not. This was one of those "not" days. Four of us didn't catch a fish over the five hours we fished. It was a great day on the water with mild temps and no wind, but the fish were not around today. I'll give it a few more tries because the chance of catching a "monster" fish is always a possibility.

CBBT: It's all over

Well, I couldn't end the season without a trip down to the CBBT so I went down yesterday. I've never seen it so deserted. Usually there is someone fishing around every other piling, but yesterday I only saw maybe 10 boats all day. I was lucky enough to catch a few fat footballs, but that was it. I spoke to a couple guys that got skunked and they mentioned the fishing has been terrible the last week or so. With the water temps so low, it's all over for the year because the fish are down closer to NC. I did manage to test out my new homemade iFly holders which worked great. I guess it's time to start tying some flies for next year and maybe work on a few new patterns.

Redemption

After a very slow morning I had to make sure I didn't start a new work week on a sour note so I tried again this evening. It wasn't "on fire" like it was during last week, but I did manage some nice fish. Several were in the upper 20" to low 30" and gave a good pull on the line. After such good fishing this past week, I might just have to take a week of vacation every year during Thanksgiving break. I hope this cold weather doesn't push the bait/fish south until I get a chance to get back at them next weekend.

Rockgiving

Couldn't stay away from the water after solid fishing the last few trips, so I tried an early morning session today. It was raining a bit but was slick calm which made my run quick and easy. It was amazing the amount of bird activity I saw this morning. BIG flocks of birds working everywhere. The good news is the big birds are still around but they were spread out and only occasionally diving. I couldn't find any big fish during my quick morning outing, but had my way with low-mid 20"ers. I did have one fish that was pushing 30" but when I grabbed the leader it broke off. I guess it got nicked last night.

Twilight Hour

After getting blown out this morning, I was anxious to find those big fish from last night. The same pattern came through tonight and I was rewarded with many 30" fish. I never did find the 40" class from last night, but I'll take 30"ers anytime. It was steady action for the better part of an hour and a half. This is shaping up to be one heck of a week!!!

Personal Best..46" & Many Firsts Tonight

I was lucky to get a chance to make it out again tonight and I'm glad I did. I've never seen so many big birds around. I probably saw 50 Pelicans and Gannets on my way out. This had to be a good sign of things to come and it certainly turned out that way. It took me a while to find the bigger fish (many dinks under massive flocks), but it was worth the fuel. I had a solid 45 minutes of fantastic BIG FISH fishing. Most were in the low to mid 30" class, but I was lucky to catch 5 fish that went over 40". In the process I finally broke the 35" mark this fall including my person best..a 46"er. It was a beautiful fish that probably was easily 10-12" across her belly. Another first was almost getting spooled (two times). I actually had to start the boat to chase them down. I'm glad the fish ran off my starboard side otherwise I would have lost them. I didn't want to take much time with them out of the water so I tried a few "self timed" pics and back they went. As a side note, you know you have a great wife when you fish both the morning and evening of your wedding anniversary.

It Never Gets Old

Being out on the water early as the sun rises will never get old. Today was no different except for having big flocks of birds working good fish. This week is shaping up to be a great week of fishing and the quality of fish continues to improve. The only issue is they have been moving deeper and deeper. I haven't broken the 35" mark this fall, but today I got really close.