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So we got down to the OBX on Thursday at about noon. All 3 of my brothers were able to come down this year. This is was a special trip as my oldest brother is going to be a first time father soon, and I am out for fishing for a few months (hip surgery I had yesterday). So we really wanted to go out there and crush it one last time before we had to get down to business in our personal lives for awhile.
The first day was absolute garbage. We didn't manage a single fish out of the surf. The word was that everyone along the beaches was catching as many blues as they are wanted. Idk why we couldn't manage. After awhile we hit the pier, and managed one blow toad off a gotcha lure. Saw no one else was having much luck other than the occasional black drum or small bottom fish here and there. We called it a night early as we were all a little weary from driving and wanted a nice fresh start the second day.
The second day we got up and hit the beach in Nags Head again. I saw a couple people catching blues here and there so that's what we went for. They wouldn't touch a gotcha lure, but when I used gulp I for the first time ran into this notorious problem
I went through about two bags of gulp without a hookup. I'm guessing they were very small blues. We got tired of the crappy fishing and decided we needed to make a move. We couldn't even manage bait to shark fish with.
We decided to go North. We had a lot of luck in Corolla this past summer, and I really like how the surf is generally a lot calmer up that way. Stopped in at our favorite tackle shop in the OBX (Bobs up in Duck is the best. Best customer service and you can tell they are genuinely excited to hear about their advice working. They remembered us from the summer) and grabbed some fresh bloodworms.
Got into Corolla and got lines in the water. Immediately hooked up with some small baitfish. Got them on the rods and soaked baits all night. Didn't get a single run all night. Sucked big time. We had to remind ourselves we still had one day and to not get discouraged. Packed it up and called it a night.
Saturday morning came along, and my younger brother and I were up and at em. We took my bass rod to the pier and were determined to get into some action. Blues, specks, and gray trout galore! We were hooking up on every other cast. The bigger trout loved the gotcha lure. We were having a blast...
And that's when (I knew I was going to deal with this hoohah) the typical pier nazi local approached me and proceeded to let me know I was "doing it wrong". I politely informed him that maybe he should be doing it wrong as well then and he went on to give me the "I've been a captain for 20 years blah blah". I wanted to tell him that I really didn't care, and get back to catching fish. But instead I decided to not get into the typical brawl at the end of the pier, and took his advice. I took my steal leader off, and put on some gulp like he instructed. I managed two dinky specs in like an hour. Put my steel leader and gotcha lure back on, and went back to catching fish. If you can't tell by this and last posts, I really am not too fond of "hardcore pier fisherman"
We also saw a guy catch a really nice false albacore on a trout rod. I had to give it to that guy, that was insane. I got to see first hand how strong those fish are and I was impressed.
But anyways we took some blues for bait, and head back up to Corolla. Got up there, got set up, and deployed some baits. We also had a lot better luck catching bait in the surf as well. My youngest brother is known for being the best at catching bait, and he hooked up with a really nice croaker and some spot.
About 20 minutes into waiting, my oldest brothers rod takes off. And I mean takes offfff. I was closest so I hopped up, wedged (not set) the circle hook and handed him the rod. This was a big deal to me as my older brother had some crappy luck last year fishing. We all managed a big fish our last trip except him. I really wanted him to experience what it was like to fight a giant on casted shark gear. And he was about to get just that.
Giant butterfly ray! This is the heaviest fish I have ever dealt with for sure. My big southern Ray in July was much stronger, but was not near as heavy. There were times where the ray would just not budge. He didn't even have to be sucked to the bottom, if he didn't want to move, he wouldn't. I have no idea how much this fish weighed but I'm guessing 120-150?
We called it a trip after this and went back to our schools/work. It was quite the experience, but honestly I wouldn't be too upset if we never hooked another again lol. Dealing with these are quite the chore, and I'd much rather catch something with fins.
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The first day was absolute garbage. We didn't manage a single fish out of the surf. The word was that everyone along the beaches was catching as many blues as they are wanted. Idk why we couldn't manage. After awhile we hit the pier, and managed one blow toad off a gotcha lure. Saw no one else was having much luck other than the occasional black drum or small bottom fish here and there. We called it a night early as we were all a little weary from driving and wanted a nice fresh start the second day.
The second day we got up and hit the beach in Nags Head again. I saw a couple people catching blues here and there so that's what we went for. They wouldn't touch a gotcha lure, but when I used gulp I for the first time ran into this notorious problem
I went through about two bags of gulp without a hookup. I'm guessing they were very small blues. We got tired of the crappy fishing and decided we needed to make a move. We couldn't even manage bait to shark fish with.
We decided to go North. We had a lot of luck in Corolla this past summer, and I really like how the surf is generally a lot calmer up that way. Stopped in at our favorite tackle shop in the OBX (Bobs up in Duck is the best. Best customer service and you can tell they are genuinely excited to hear about their advice working. They remembered us from the summer) and grabbed some fresh bloodworms.
Got into Corolla and got lines in the water. Immediately hooked up with some small baitfish. Got them on the rods and soaked baits all night. Didn't get a single run all night. Sucked big time. We had to remind ourselves we still had one day and to not get discouraged. Packed it up and called it a night.
Saturday morning came along, and my younger brother and I were up and at em. We took my bass rod to the pier and were determined to get into some action. Blues, specks, and gray trout galore! We were hooking up on every other cast. The bigger trout loved the gotcha lure. We were having a blast...
And that's when (I knew I was going to deal with this hoohah) the typical pier nazi local approached me and proceeded to let me know I was "doing it wrong". I politely informed him that maybe he should be doing it wrong as well then and he went on to give me the "I've been a captain for 20 years blah blah". I wanted to tell him that I really didn't care, and get back to catching fish. But instead I decided to not get into the typical brawl at the end of the pier, and took his advice. I took my steal leader off, and put on some gulp like he instructed. I managed two dinky specs in like an hour. Put my steel leader and gotcha lure back on, and went back to catching fish. If you can't tell by this and last posts, I really am not too fond of "hardcore pier fisherman"
We also saw a guy catch a really nice false albacore on a trout rod. I had to give it to that guy, that was insane. I got to see first hand how strong those fish are and I was impressed.
But anyways we took some blues for bait, and head back up to Corolla. Got up there, got set up, and deployed some baits. We also had a lot better luck catching bait in the surf as well. My youngest brother is known for being the best at catching bait, and he hooked up with a really nice croaker and some spot.
About 20 minutes into waiting, my oldest brothers rod takes off. And I mean takes offfff. I was closest so I hopped up, wedged (not set) the circle hook and handed him the rod. This was a big deal to me as my older brother had some crappy luck last year fishing. We all managed a big fish our last trip except him. I really wanted him to experience what it was like to fight a giant on casted shark gear. And he was about to get just that.
Giant butterfly ray! This is the heaviest fish I have ever dealt with for sure. My big southern Ray in July was much stronger, but was not near as heavy. There were times where the ray would just not budge. He didn't even have to be sucked to the bottom, if he didn't want to move, he wouldn't. I have no idea how much this fish weighed but I'm guessing 120-150?
We called it a trip after this and went back to our schools/work. It was quite the experience, but honestly I wouldn't be too upset if we never hooked another again lol. Dealing with these are quite the chore, and I'd much rather catch something with fins.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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