5/23 Wrightsville Beach King Mackeral and AJS

Monday, May 24, 2010

Today was a fun fishing day with my brother, Danielle, Kate, and Alexa. With no luck finding any pogeys the call was to just troll dead bait. The ocean was slick calm and after we made a few passes with tre trolling gear out we decided to bring it in and break out the poppers. First cast the fish missed. Second cast, she wasn't so lucky. With a sloid hookup i handed kate the rod and she fought her first amberjack like a champ. Landing a decent sized amberjack around heavy structure is not an easy feat but she did an awesome job. Unfortunately Zack dropped the fish overboard before the picture so she had to catch another. Cast the popper and it was on again almost immediately. Once again, Kate was on the rod and she whooped that fish to the surface in no time. The next hookup was Alexa and she did a great job fighting the fish. After the amberjack bonanza, we went back to trolling and managed a few kings before it was time to come in.

5/17 Wrightsville Beach Kings and Amberjack

Jack and Capt. Arlen and myself headed out this morning in search of king mackeral and topwater amberjacks and after catching a livewell full of pogeys we headed to the spot. It didn't take long to get our first king mackeral bite on the down rigger. For the next hour every pass was a hook up and before long we had our limit in the boat. Now it was time for some real fun, topwater amberjacks. Amberjacks are incredibly strong and stubborn but they are a blast to catch on topwater lures. We pulled over the wreck and pitch out a handful of live baits and here they came. Arlen cast a big popper out, 2 pops and he was on. These fish make a huge explosion on the poppers and just seeing that is exciting enough and you haven't even fought the fish yet. We ended up the day with about a dozen amberjacks on topwater and a limit of kings. Fishing opportunities here at Wrightsville Beach and endless so come on down and give it a try!

5/15 Wrightsville Beach Half Day Surprise

We had Christopher and crew today out for an afternoon half day trip. The goal was to catch a few sharks but i had all ideas that we had a good shot at a cobia or two as well. We pounded our way a few miles offshore in much less than perfect conditions. We got to our spot and anchored upand deployed the chum bag and our live baits. It wasn't long before we started getting a few bites and then all of a sudden one of the top rods starts screaming and i couldn't imagine what we had. With a team effort we finally get the fish to the boat and to my surprise it was a monster king mackeral. It was by far the biggest ever on my boat and i guessed the weight around 40 pounds. After all that excitement we redeployed the baits and and were immediately getting bit again. We landed a few small sharks and then another top rod goes off and the fish stays right on the surface. I can see it is a cobia and after a tough battle we landed the fish. Cobia are tough fighters and delicious on the dinner table so they are always a plus. It was another great day on the water with great fishing here in Wrightsville Beach.