Well, October has finally arrived. And, while it is the drizzling shits for watching football right now, October is the pinnacle of my fishing season.
After working half a day on Thursday, I headed to Buckroe Pier in Hampton to try and catch bait for this weekend's north wind in the OBX. While there were a decent number of large spot caught, I couldn't get hardly any action on my bloodworm fishbites. I managed three, but folks using real bloodworms caught at 10 times the frequency that I did (and I would rather buy cob mullet than drop $18 a bag for bloodworms.) At dark, I drove down to Chesapeake and got a little bit of sleep at a Fairfield Inn.
At 3:00AM, I got up and headed down to Jennettes Pier in Nags Head, armed with a bag of around a dozen spot heads graciously donated by the Buckroe patrons cleaning their catch, and my three whole spot. I didn't have great expectations. The weather Friday was beautiful, almost flat calm wind and 70 degrees. Unfortunately, that usually means poor fall fishing. There weren't any bluefish, spot, or anything else I could use for bait. I soaked the spot heads off the end, and one drum was caught in spite of the conditions. I also realized that the FHB Drum Tournament kicked off the next morning with the windchange, so I knew the end of the pier was going to be a mad house. I made the call to leave the pier at 11:00AM and go get corncob mullets. I loaded the cooler with corn cobs at Ocean's East, grabbed a Jersey Mike's sub for lunch, and slept from mid-afternoon through 3AM Saturday.
As expected, Saturday was a madhouse. Between a north 20 mile an hour wind, 30+ rods set up in a confined space, and a slow bite to start the day, it was an excercise in patience. I didn't enter the tournament this year, so I tried to give the tournament guys (many of whom are long time acquantainces) as much distance as I could. It is still early, so most of the red drum are local fish coming out of the sound to feed, so most are caught in the South corner. I fished the North corner most of the day, which was a little less hectic. To hold, I had to use 10oz pyramid sinkers.
Well, most of the morning was shark after shark. I caught a dozen 3-12 pound Atlantic sharpnose shaks (called "purple biters" by the locals) while maybe four drum were caught before lunchtime. But, starting around 3:00PM, the bite got stronger, and I got two nice fish about 45 minutes apart. The first fish was 44 inches, but was as wide as any drum I have caught. It's tail was almost 16 inches wide.
On the board and one of my biggest #drumtour2022 pic.twitter.com/mHHYQbueSY— TKP-Mode French (@french60wasp) October 8, 2022
The second fish was almost 48 inches, didn't have the width, but was much more difficult to get to the pier. I got it right before sunset.
Second fish of the day #drumtour2022 pic.twitter.com/Bq7t9TcLHs— TKP-Mode French (@french60wasp) October 8, 2022
On my next cast, I promptly blew up my Penn Fathom II (I kept loosing the brakes to improve casting distance, and like Icarus, I flew too close to the sun), but I was so worn out that I didn't bother retying. I sat around for a bit to watch the chaos, and then packed up and made a bathroom pit stop before leaving the pier (keep in mind, at that point I had been on the pier for nearly 15 straight hours without a restroom break.) I declared victory and went to bed.
With the wind flattening out on Sunday, I made the call to sleep in, and then meet up with two friends from Maryland who were spot fishing at Rudee Inlet. I headed out around 8:30AM, washed the salt off my Trailblazer, made a side trip to get A Bite of Maine lobster rolls for the boys lunch, and then arrived at Rudee a little before noon. The bite started out slow, but as the slack tide started moving again, we filled the cooler for their annual Thanksgiving fishfry. We caught around 60 spots, two keeper trout, and two croakers (this time almost all were on bloodworm fishbites, as the pinfsh made quick work of the regular bloodworms they brought.)
My buddies are huge buffet afficianados, so we wrapped the day at Captain Georges. I am not a fan, but when in Rome, do as the Romans do. They pounded the crab legs and we had a great time talking smack and planning future fishing trips.
Hopefully I can get back down to the OBX for the next NE wind.
Second October fishing thread.... Drink up French!
You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7
His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."
Well there hadn't been much posting in the other one. I've been fishing but not catching... so nothing much to report on my end.
Can't spell DBU without Bud
I haven't been fishing because, well, boat....
You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7
His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."
If you can get 4 people the ferry can take you over to the hook at Lookout and catch albies.
Can't spell DBU without Bud
I would but I'm too spoiled to sit around and pray the albies come close enough. I've got work to do anyways. Hopefully the part shows up this week
You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7
His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."
Sorry with the duplicate threads. I couldn't find a new October thread.
Five star get after it 100 percent Juice Key-Playing. MAN
It's all good, I'm just giving you a hard time.
You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7
His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."
Not much fishing around here... 1- busy as hell recovering from the storm still. 2- they are "strongly advising" against even going in the water in the gulf right now. And 3- you actually are not supposed to have personal watercraft out in my county right now. Even in Goodland bay, there's still floating debris. Actually saw a video on Facebook from Estero bay yesterday where a WHOLE DAMN HOUSE was resting on an oyster bar (I know it's an oyster bar, because it's one of my fishing spots actually).....
"Look at this... This is just spectacular.... These people are losing their minds"
great to hear from you! I was a bit worried
Thank you, and glad you are ok. Stay safe down there.
Five star get after it 100 percent Juice Key-Playing. MAN
AS frustrating as it is, I'd heed the warnings. In 4+ years on the Boating Advisory Council, I saw enough reports to know they aren't frivolous with those things (they catch hell from every elected official who can find them when they tell people they can't do stuff); and their resources are stretched way beyond capacity after storms. They'll be picking up derelict vessels from this one for years. We've got 4 or 5 next to our neighborhood and we barely had TS conditions.
I'm not going anywhere near that water right now. I'm not a super smart guy, but it took me about 5 seconds to figure out why the water coming out of the Marco river and flowing with the current from up north is all super brown.... you can see the difference in fresh gulf vs .....everything else... from our roof pretty clear. Doesnt take a genius configure out that when a sewer system floods and sustains the damage it did, all that *stuff* goes somewhere....
Its incredible how many people are getting in the water though. All renters, from other states, that got on the airplane without thinking. We've warned every one of them, dropped clean hints to some and flat out told others "hey, there's some serious shit, literally, in that water".
One of our electricians, who just rebuilt a 73 Johnsen skiff into a beautiful fly fishing machine, went out of port of the isles and back deep into the 10K islands this past weekend. He said the water was crystal clear back there and didn't have any smells to it at all. Had pictures of a beautiful slam he caught (because yes Flyguy, those that are fishing here say the fishing has gotten white hot).
"Look at this... This is just spectacular.... These people are losing their minds"
Makes sense, all the fish pushed to the clean water, makes them more concentrated.
Can't spell DBU without Bud
Yeah absolutely. Unfortunately it's a bit out of paddling range. 3 miles plus some fishing is about all I can do before my shoulder tells me it's time to quit. I'll probably give it a month or so before I start fishing again tbh
"Look at this... This is just spectacular.... These people are losing their minds"
Yeah I've been pushing how far I can pedal but it also takes up a ton of time in the trip. Been thinking about getting a torqeedo to double my speed. Still enjoy the kayak. Yea I don't blame you for waiting a month.
Can't spell DBU without Bud
I thought about the torqeedo as well. Also thought about just fixing my PWM on the trolling motor, but the battery weight and cost of lithium batts was a hurdle there. Now I'm leaning gas (since Nucanoe has a Honda built specifically for them) to get me to the area, and then just paddle onto the flat or up closer to the 'groves. Probably the way I'll end up going.
"Look at this... This is just spectacular.... These people are losing their minds"
Sounds good, I had also thought about going the solo skiff route. Yea battery weight of doing a trolling motor was also big. A lot of people had added the XI3 on the front of the shearwater. Keep us updated on what you do.
Can't spell DBU without Bud
the Solo is much more suitable for a little outboard because of the forward position of the motor/improved stability; but I don't know how easy it is to fish one.
One of my friends has one and enjoys it but haven't been out when he has had it.
Can't spell DBU without Bud
I have a 2.5 Suzi (30 lb) I got for that NuCanoe and you need A LOT of weight in the front (or a second person). Otherwise the COG shifts far to the rear and the boat is very unstable if/when you turn around to start the motor or turn to shift it. I used the motor one time with my wife (she is small...like 105 lbs) in the front seat (facing forward), but otherwise I couldn't make it work for me.
I suggest you take it out with only you and a paddle and turn around in the back seat and face the rear. I'd estimate you want about 150 in the front if you are going to put a motor on the back and plan to turn all the way around at any point.
The fishing is probably really good too.... Glad you made it through ok
You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7
His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."
My buddy fished the Cape last weekend and said he caught over 50 albies. I call BS on that many but heard it has been on fire the past few days. Ugh...
You will see this game, this upset and this sign next on ESPN Sportscenter. Virginia Tech 31 Miami 7
His decision was made after a phone call with longtime Virginia Tech assistant coach Bud Foster. All Foster told him was, "We win. They don't."
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