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.

Just a Few More Minutes

I managed to convince my son to join me for round two this afternoon. I thought it would be a repeat of my early morning session, but I ran out of time. We found a lot of small fish, but just when it was starting to be "prime time" we had to go. He really wanted to go in and I couldn't tell him "in a few minutes" anymore. Fifteen more minutes is all it would have taken. I started to see big swirls and a few "BIG" birds starting to work. Oh well, until next time.

A Wonderful Thing

Fishing during the week is a wonderful thing. I love being the only boat around and finding a school of quality fish...it doesn't get any better than that!! I started off at first light in the same general area I've been fishing the last few days and it continues to produce fish up to 30". Most of the fish today were in the low to mid 20", but I did manage several that went between 30-32". Maybe I'll get a chance to catch a few this PM?

Football Season

What a beautiful morning. Great sunrise, flocks of birds everywhere and many, many, many "footballs". It was game on at first light and continued right up to the minute I had to leave them (around 9:00). I stayed in the same general area where I left them last night and it paid off. Several boats were chasing birds, but they were dinks last night and that was the same story today. Nothing bigger than 25-26", but I didn't go more than a few casts without having a tight line all morning.