# cast net



## master baiter (Aug 8, 2003)

I go to avon once a yr. every october... I go to the creeks and coves behind the cottage we stay in in the evenings to catch bait...the past few years I have caught some fish in the net
that I could not recoginize...I am pretty sure that I have caught some baby tarpon in the cast net... Is this possible?


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## Smally (Jan 16, 2009)

got any pics?


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## Oyster (Jun 28, 2000)

You might be catching hickory shad. They are often mistaken for small tarpon. However, without a picture I can't be sure.


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## chris storrs (Aug 25, 2005)

tarpon, snook, ladyfish, jack crevalles, bar jacks, other random jacks,lookdowns, baby grouper, baby cudas, small shad, puppy drum, trout, crabs, stringrays, spot, croaker, bluefish,gar, houndfish, gizzard shad, fatback, carp, bream, bass etc ...ive netted about everything outta the creeks in hatteras...now if only i could find a wad of mullet everytime


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## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

Juvenile tarpon are resident fish and do not migrate until mature, so if we do have juvenile tarpon in NC waters where do they winter? Three years ago while trout fishing the CFR in May with the water temp at 67 I landed one around 36 in. so we do have juvenile fish but it is still a mystery to the best scientists in the world where the tarpon spawn. Most believe they spawn offshore but no definitive evidence backing any theories out there. Had a friend jump a snook in the 15-20 lb range this past summer and another land a bonefish in the 5 lb range over 10 years ago off the Banks Channel bridge(saw the pics no mistake) and there were several permit pushing 18 lbs landed out of the surf south of the jetty in Buxton in 98 I think. No surprise here.


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## chris storrs (Aug 25, 2005)

maybe they die no idea haha..seen two bonefish caught off avon pier, both in october but a year apart if memory serves..


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## roostertail (Jul 7, 2012)

Were they Ladyfish? They look kinda like small tarpon.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

chris storrs said:


> maybe they die no idea haha..seen two bonefish caught off avon pier, both in october but a year apart if memory serves..


 yeah,got a pic of a youngen on Avon that caught one years ago.. They also caught one on Rodanthe,and somewhere on beach near OI.. Chris I can remember years ago when you could go back behind Froggie Dog,cause there were no cottages there then.. Can remember throwing on schools of what I thought were mullet with the flashing and all. They were huge schools of snook,enough to fill the net..

Spotchaser,I've always wondered how all those small tarpons,snook,permit,and other fla fish survived as well.. Been told by some that they came from an offshore hatch that drifted in?? Doesn't make too much sense to me,cause tarpon go to both Pamlico and Eastern Shore in summer,to spawn? Or are they just coming here on vacation to eat different than they do in fla...


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## chris storrs (Aug 25, 2005)

wait ur not allowed to net behind rental cottages?


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## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

They have been around for over 100 million years so i feel their survival instinct is as good as it gets, my guess is they spawn offshore with the striped mullet and pink, white, and brown shrimp. Everything I have studied suggests they spawn offshore, but who knows. What I find even more strange is a report of a large fully grown tarpon that was jumped by a teacher here in New Hanover County while catfishing at Lock and Damn #1 in March during the shad run. I spend many a day up there every spring shad fishing and have become friends with several locals of the area who saw that fish and said it was definitely not a sturgeon and certainly a tarpon. Makes perfect sense almost, as the American Shad run the shelf until offshore of their natal rivers. If I were Mr. Poon and saw the mass of these baitfish on the move I certainly would be hot on their trail all the way to the Damn. I am certainly am not one that believes everything that I am told but after getting to know some of these good ole country folks up into their 70's i do believe what they say. My first ever trip to the Banks I myself caught snook in my castnet in the ditch across from the office at Outer Banks Motel along with several cuda's in October.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

wait ur not allowed to net behind rental cottages?

And unless you bought a $500 dollar Heaver from one of the local tackle shops, stay off the beaches too cause they are privately owned


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## drumchaser (Jan 14, 2003)

Caught a snook back in the 90,s in hewletts creek out of WB. Waded to the flat so no pic but was indeed real. No surprise here either.


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

I think i caught some baby snook two years ago at topsail in my net, i told my uncle thats what i thought they were and he siad that it wouldnt be the first time somethin lke it happened. Weve caught baby gags there before to


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## originalhooker (Nov 26, 2009)

all those mentioned are regulars to our coast, including some "offshore" fish inshore/surf. I've caught triggers in our surf, saw a guy catch a cabera or mutton at the point several yrs back,like 8lbs worth, i've caught octopus in the ICW, in the baby hos. pond are small snook/tarpon, lookdowns & african pomps MBI jetty. In Buxton/avon barracuda,snook, sm tarpon are regulars in cast nets.


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## master baiter (Aug 8, 2003)

Thanks everyone... since I know hickory shad well,(from fishing in the roanoke river), baby tarpon was the fish in question...pretty cool, the only tarpon I probably will ever catch...


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## JAM (Jul 22, 2002)

*31 Inch Cold Stun Tarpon 2009 on KAYAK*

here is a Link to a Tarpon I found off of Buxton on my KAYAK. He was a Fresh Clod Stun.. Also found a few Dead Bull Sharks that day over 4 foot.. Page down abit and you can see the Picture of the Tarpon.. 
http://jamsadventures.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/no-more-guessin-mileage-the-gps-rocks/

JAM


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## fish militia (Nov 1, 2004)

Hey Garbo !!

Remember when the Red Headed one had that snook living in his saltwater tank that he popped in his cast net behind Rodanthe??


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

"Hey Garbo !!

Remember when the Red Headed one had that snook living in his saltwater tank that he popped in his cast net behind Rodanthe?? "

Yes

And back in the Day he had a Tarpon from the sound

Tarpon ate live finger mullets and live Shrimp

Tarpon got to big for the tank, he was the apex predator

Tarpon was liberated into the Atlantic Ocean, he was around 12-14 inches or so, suddenly he was at the bottom of the food chain......


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## AJ35 (May 15, 2012)

I have always known that sometimes more tropical fish such as Barracuda travel into more northern waters, however, I was surprised one day while fishing just offshore in North Carolina. I chartered an Amberjack trip out to one of the naval towers. I had done this once before, and we caught plenty of Amberjack, but this time was a bit different. There were Barracuda everywhere. Every boat out there had constant hook ups with them. I was surprised by the one I tied into. We were using live bluefish for bait, and the clicker went off hard for a few feet and stopped. We thought maybe something was toying with it, but just then, a big barracuda leaped out of the water. It's mouth looked like you could have fit a volleyball in it, equipped with plenty of razor sharp, dagger like teeth of course. I was lucky enough to get that beast up to the boat before it sliced the line. It definitely was the biggest Barracuda I've ever seen in person, even with experience fishing in Florida waters. The mate said it was between 40 and 50 lbs in his estimation!!! It fought just as hard as one of those Jacks, and since the mate was nearly right on with his guesses on the weight of the Amberjack we caught, I trust his estimation. It was definitely a huge barracuda. I'm just sorry I didn't get to at least touch the toothy critter once, but all the better I guess, I wasn't going to eat one that big, and they would have killed it before bringing it up into the boat. But again, I was just surprised to see one that big hanging out off the NC coast.


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## originalhooker (Nov 26, 2009)

Yeah, they get large & annoying. In the spring it's hard to troll some days w/ all the juvenille cudas.
I've always said, if you want a huge cuda use a 20lb king for bait. got one around 91' that was 64lbs, ate a 15lb king on the lite line, not to my liking.


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## NC KingFisher (Nov 20, 2011)

Shoot, id love me some big cudas. Good shark bait


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