Blue_Runner
08-01-2005, 03:33 PM
Started off the vacation with one night down in Murrell's Inlet in SC. Me, my dad, and my brother in law went fishing out of Murrell's Inlet on Saturday morning. We were in the market for a king and maybe some flounder after that, so we bought some minnows rather than waste time trying to net them. Seas were pretty flat, so we ran on out to 3 mile reef. Nothing was going on that we could tell. We dropped down and caught some nice pinfish for bait. I jigged a mackerel tree the whole time and caught an assortment of species. Lots of green backs, a 12 inch black bass, 14 inch grey trout. Had a few more trout on but lost em. No bites on the king rigs. Trolled back in with clark spoons and found the birds working glass minnows in the mouth. Only managed one spanish out of the frenzy - bummer.
Next day, trailered the boat up to North Myrtle Beach. For the next 3 days it would be just me and my 2 girls aged 7 and 5. My wife had to go to work for a few days. Anyway, during the 3 days, I repeated the same pattern - arise around 8 am, eat breakfast with the kids. Slather us all down with 30+ sunblock, and head to the ramp with the boat at about 10:30am. From there, we motored up the ICW to Little River Inlet, where we found a nice little beach area just to the left before you go out through the jetties. Nice clear, cool, shallow area that dropped off pretty good to around 13 feet or so. I anchored up in the 3 ft of water so we could all get out to get cooled off. Plus, I needed to be able to get out and walk along the beach to catch all of the finger mullet I could ever want! Each day, after catching bait, I'd throw out 3 rods baited with FM on Carolina rigs and just let them sit there. Casting into the 13ft water, the egg sinker allowed the current to take the rig to the edge of the drop off. This is where I caught 5 flounder with little effort - biggest being 21 inches!! My oldest daughter is a pro at finding hermit crabs! As soon as she'd get off the boat, I'd be trying to get the net ready for bait catching and all I'd hear was, "Daddy, I found another one!"
So, after those 3 days, the wifey finally gets back and I'm off to the dock with a buddy and his girlfriend. We make it out to catch bait and catch bait we did! Filled up the baitwell in short order with the most beautiful finger mullet you've ever laid eyes on! Then, the phone rings - another buddy wanting to join in on the fishing action. Pulled anchor and zipped over to pick him up at 12 sharp. We finally make it back to where I've been catching the flounder and we managed to get a few bites but just couldn't seem to get one to the boat. After about an hour we knew we needed to change tactics for a while so we started a drift around this same area. Luckily, the wind and tide swept up right up into a narrow creek with good water depth. Seeing what was happening I just decided to let the wind and current do its thing. Subsequently we were rewarded with a triple hookup of nice puppy drum! I had the 26 incher while my other two buds had 21 and 22. His girlfriend swears it was hers and he ripped it out of her hands LMFAO ;D
We repeated this same drift several times only to have another triple hookup and a couple of singles before it was all said and done. With the limit being a slot of 15 - 24 inches, we had 5 keepers that decided to take a bath in hot grease later. Very very much fun to say the least.
So, how do you finish a trip like this off? Answer: you head up to Wilmington for the last part of the trip and you go fishing out of Carolina Beach Inlet. To make it perfect, you catch a 25 - 30 lb King Mackerel (we didn't have a scale but fish was 45 inches fork length!)
We did get pictures, but I don't have them yet! I can't wait to post them!! It was my first king and from what I can tell - that size aint too shabby for a first one!!
I'll be posting pics ASAP! I can't believe it. The V-21 is a FISH MAGNET! Maybe I should name it that?!?!
Next day, trailered the boat up to North Myrtle Beach. For the next 3 days it would be just me and my 2 girls aged 7 and 5. My wife had to go to work for a few days. Anyway, during the 3 days, I repeated the same pattern - arise around 8 am, eat breakfast with the kids. Slather us all down with 30+ sunblock, and head to the ramp with the boat at about 10:30am. From there, we motored up the ICW to Little River Inlet, where we found a nice little beach area just to the left before you go out through the jetties. Nice clear, cool, shallow area that dropped off pretty good to around 13 feet or so. I anchored up in the 3 ft of water so we could all get out to get cooled off. Plus, I needed to be able to get out and walk along the beach to catch all of the finger mullet I could ever want! Each day, after catching bait, I'd throw out 3 rods baited with FM on Carolina rigs and just let them sit there. Casting into the 13ft water, the egg sinker allowed the current to take the rig to the edge of the drop off. This is where I caught 5 flounder with little effort - biggest being 21 inches!! My oldest daughter is a pro at finding hermit crabs! As soon as she'd get off the boat, I'd be trying to get the net ready for bait catching and all I'd hear was, "Daddy, I found another one!"
So, after those 3 days, the wifey finally gets back and I'm off to the dock with a buddy and his girlfriend. We make it out to catch bait and catch bait we did! Filled up the baitwell in short order with the most beautiful finger mullet you've ever laid eyes on! Then, the phone rings - another buddy wanting to join in on the fishing action. Pulled anchor and zipped over to pick him up at 12 sharp. We finally make it back to where I've been catching the flounder and we managed to get a few bites but just couldn't seem to get one to the boat. After about an hour we knew we needed to change tactics for a while so we started a drift around this same area. Luckily, the wind and tide swept up right up into a narrow creek with good water depth. Seeing what was happening I just decided to let the wind and current do its thing. Subsequently we were rewarded with a triple hookup of nice puppy drum! I had the 26 incher while my other two buds had 21 and 22. His girlfriend swears it was hers and he ripped it out of her hands LMFAO ;D
We repeated this same drift several times only to have another triple hookup and a couple of singles before it was all said and done. With the limit being a slot of 15 - 24 inches, we had 5 keepers that decided to take a bath in hot grease later. Very very much fun to say the least.
So, how do you finish a trip like this off? Answer: you head up to Wilmington for the last part of the trip and you go fishing out of Carolina Beach Inlet. To make it perfect, you catch a 25 - 30 lb King Mackerel (we didn't have a scale but fish was 45 inches fork length!)
We did get pictures, but I don't have them yet! I can't wait to post them!! It was my first king and from what I can tell - that size aint too shabby for a first one!!
I'll be posting pics ASAP! I can't believe it. The V-21 is a FISH MAGNET! Maybe I should name it that?!?!