Beaufort NC : Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

Tuesday August 1: Headed for AR 315 at day break but too rough for my little Mako 17 so I went across to the sea buoy but still too rough so I headed in. Once I changed directions it was hold on tight fishable so I put out 4 lines and two planers on my rear cleats with big hunnington drone silver and green spoons along with a multiple pink squid teaser down the middle trailing a 1/2 oz yellow big eye bucktail with a berkleys 4in gulp white shrimp on it right behind the boat wash. Just as I smoothed her out at around 1,ooo rpms both planers were up with a 43 inch King on one and a 41 incher on the other and I (holy shi*) managed to get them both gaffed and in. By the time I got the planers untangled and down again I was coming up on the green inlet can buoy where there is a 32 foot drop off so I turned right to go towards shackelford and cape lookout but still about 3 miles off shore when I saw a nice Mahi come fast from behind on the bucktail and the third pass he hit it . He was 36 inches but not very heavy..The wind started to pick up to about 20 mph so I came in...Thursday August 3: Inlet was like glass and I had the coastal 25 so I headed for AR 315 , 320. the sea buoy and some other wrecks and lost a nice big king boat side and caught 9 nice spanish but nothing else. I tried everything but could not get any more hookups so I started trolling back in toward the inlet around 2 pm when my big deep penn tuna rig started screaming off 60lb line and I could not slow it up or turn it and finally it ran off the spool and snapped the line. I think it was probably a big wahoo but it could of been a hammerhead..Shi$...Friday August 4: I had the little Mako 17 again so I ran over to the Newport marshes AKA Haystacks which is the red intercoastal can marker #36 and set up on the 17 foot hole with a couple of bags of berkleys 3in shrimp and picked up 5 keeper trout up to 23 inches and a 25 inch flounder. Tide was going out fast so I tilted her up and pushed my way back into the channel and a lovely hammerhead swam by me that had to be 10 foot long. I guess he was back in the shallows eating stingrays...I catch a lot of sharks because they will hit everything but there is something about the face of a hammerhead that bothers me..

[Blue_Runner]

I (holy shi*) managed to get them both gaffed and in.

I bet that was fun! Hey, you said planers on the cleats, did you catch those kings on hand lines? Or rod and reel?

Sweet report. Wish I was there as usual. ::) Maybe over labor day week. We'll see.

I use hand lines on heavy rubber bungee cords to take up the shock when they hit the planer and if he is green I just let him fight the bungee then pull him in to the gaff . I've lost a few to sharks and big wahoo but I can usually get the kings .That way I can run more rods. It must look like a christmas tree when I go over em....Of course today nothing worked and all I got was another screaming run and a breakoff...don't know what it was...it was blowing a solid 20 which made it difficult too keep the lines straight.... Frank

[Blue_Runner]

Sounds interesting - I might buy you a camera just so I can see your setup... ;D