Carolina Beach Report 5/22 - 5/23

[outdoorsoccer15]

Hey! All,

Went down to fish the surf at Carolina Beach from about 11:00pm 5/22 to about 12:00pm on 5/23. Caught lots of small spots, whiting, and croakers from about midnight to 4:00am. All were caught on fresh shrimp. Nothing hit my cutbait I had set out. The bite really turned off as the daylight started to come up. About 8:00 am caught my very first (and only) large-size pompano (approx 13" and weighed a little over a lb). Nothing much else to report from then till I left at 12:00pm.

As I was leaving, made a pit stop at the Carolina Beach Park to see if there was any bait to be had. Caught some mullet and pogies (?) in my cast net. Going to try and catch some flounder next time I am back down.

Funny thing..as I was getting ready to freeze my bait down, saw something hanging out of the mouth of one of my pogies. It looked like a white bug (and it was still alive!). Anyone know what it was? There appeared to be about 2 more in the bag.

Good luck fishing,

ODS15

[bstarling]

That bug is a parasitic isopod. They are common in menhaden. They will bite the absolute hell out of you if one gets on you, and they don't like to let go.

Did you try tossing one of those small spots out for bait?

Bill

[fishrulemylife]

I hate them little bugs, but beware they aren't always small. During the summer if you catch some small blues, pull open their gills a little and sometimes you'll find them attached behind their gill plate. They'll be like 2 inches long then. Nasty things:--|

[outdoorsoccer15]

Hey!

Thanks for the info on the "little" bugs. The ones I saw were about the size of a little penny. Pretty funny (or weird) when you think about something that big living in a small menhaden.

I am just glad my wife wasn't anywhere around when the bug was coming out of its mouth. That would have been the end of my storing bait in the freezer!:eek: :D

I didn't even think about putting one of the small spots on the big rod. Next time I will try it and see what happends. Thanks for the advice.

Good luck fishing,

ODS15