Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

Just me and the wife headed east on Wednesday Dec. 27th for a little R & R and to "hunt" big striped bass out of Oregon Inlet on the outer banks of NC.

Fishing was to take place on Thursday and Friday. We got a late start on Wednesday which put us getting there around 2:30 am and going to sleep around 3am.

Day 1

Thursday fishin also got off to a late start. We hemmed and hawed around, ate breakfast, afterwards I had to put line on two spinning reels. We finally hit the water just before noon. Water temp was 48 degrees which was a little on the cool side so I decided to go South from the inlet.

We rode a little ways until the temps climed to near 50 and put out 3 trolling lines with plugs. Not too far in one of the clickers go off. It turns out to be a big bluefish of around 10 lbs.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...y/S2010047.jpg
Released and lines back in, we ran across 4 more of these toothy critters. They are so agressive once in the boat that its almost to the point of "dangerous" to remove the hooks! I ended up with a beatiful site on the deck of my V-21 after releasing all 5 blues ;D 8):
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...y/S2010052.jpg
After relocating to a spot where we thought the stripers might be hiding, the clicker let loose once again. This time the rod had a 24 lb striper on the business end, which I happily lip-gaffed, snapped a pic and put in the fish box:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...y/S2010062.jpg
That was it for day 1. Around 5pm we headed back to the hill and went in for a shower and some warm food.

Day 2

Got out a bit earlier on day 2. Was able to hit the water around 8:30am and decided to motor north. Saw a few boats, very few birds and lots of cold 47 degree water. I got a call from a bud on the radio and they had reached warmer water even further to the north. Actually about 3 miles north of us. Soooo, we decided to go find them. *MAJOR PROBLEM* I though they said they were south of the inlet, but they were actually north of us! I realized this after traveling about 8 miles south! So we continued south back to were we fished the day before. Nothing for a while then it was clicker-time once again! Nice run on a big fish. I had vowed to let my wife catch the next fish - blue or striper! Soooo, she did a very good job and caught a bigger striper than I have ever thought about catchin! I weighed the fish on bathroom scales over a day later and it was still a fat 27 lbs and just over 40".
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...y/S2010054.jpg
Here's another shot of the big one:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...y/S2010053.jpg
Me holding the big one:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...y/S2010059.jpg
Me holding both fish:
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d7...y/S2010058.jpg
We hung around that spot for a while and had nothing. Eventually motored north again and nothing. Talked to several people who caught nothing both days, so I felt we did pretty well. It was lots of fun!

Re: Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

I'm extremely jealous Blue. Nice work! 8) ;D

Re: Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

nice job Blue, you and the misses. Those are some fine stripers you've got. I did'nt do to well w/ the striped bass this past year,[lotsa schoolies] and had some fun w/ those tackle bustin' blues.And yes, always beware when unhooking a bluefish,big or small and espically w/ the treble hooks. I got hooked once,luckily the barb did'nt get me....it still bought me to my knees. Having a hook in your finger w/ a fish flailing around is a scary kind of pain.

Re: Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

Re: Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

Nice looking Rockfish Blue. I heard they caught a 60 something pounder out of Oregon Inlet last week.

Did you find that the inlet was difficult to pass?

Re: Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

Thank you fellas!

I kinda chuckled when I read that 007. :) The answer is, YES the inlet was a bit snotty the first day. About 200 yards worth of it anyway. Second day, not too bad. Coming in was a piece of cake both days.

Gotta tell ya, that full enclosure totally paid for itself on that trip. Never had more than a drop of water hit us all day! It was blowing water up on the front windshield quite a bit the first day but I didn't really even need my rain coat! We would have been SOAKED without the enclosure! Plus, around mid-day when the wind was blowing but the sun was out, it made it nice and warm inside 8)

Once I passed through the inlet, I was able to point into the mess and hit about 22 - 24 mph without beating us up too bad. I was really impressed with that speed considering the conditions.

Boat performed FLAWLESSLY and I couldn't think of another boat that could replace it (of same size and hp).
Excellent trailerability, nice power, decent range on 60 gallons, protection from the elements, etc. (I could go on ya know ;D)

P.S. Going back fishing next week ;D This time its a guy trip, so hoping for more linesiders! ;)

Re: Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

Very nice Blue!!!! Looks like fun! I never caught one of them stripers, but I hear they fight good! 8)

Re: Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

Thanks Stinky, yes they do put up a struggle. Although I...uh...I mean we caught both fish on my new Shimano TLD20 Christmas present so the fish was no match ;)

Going back for more VERY soon. Stink when you get your V20 all jived up you need to come up here and hit the outer banks in December or January. Fishing was really slow when we caught those two. Both times I've been before we limited out and then some with some triple hookups :D 8)

Re: Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

I would love to Blue. I hear of the OB all the time. What kinda fish they catch there and how far a run is it?

Re: Dec. 27 - 31 Fishing Report
 

The gulfstream varies but is generally about 25 miles offshore. They catch pretty much everything out there.

Even inshore giant bluefin tuna cruise in close to the beach. Like a mile off the beach. They run anywhere from 300 lbs up over 1000. Talk about hooking into a volkswagon! You best have some darn good tackle. Lucky anglers will see them breaking the water from time to time.

Guy striper fishing on a charter boat caught a 270 lb + bluefin on striper tackle. Fought that fish for over 3 hours. The boat drifted close to 30 miles during the fight. It was incredible. Bluefin are extremely valuable on the commercial market too. To catch tuna here you have to have a HMS permit that costs like $60 per boat. HMS stands for Highly Migratory Species. I hate to spend $60 but it would be a shame to have to toss back a tuna :P although I doubtfully will ever catch one with my current boat....but you never know! Blackfin and yellowfin would be more likely than bluefin.