# 08 Fishing Season



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

I would be willing to bet most if not all will not pick no.1 for thier answer,unless it was a first for them,say first big drum or cobe,ect... 

Yes,I caught some fish this yr from big drum,kings,alberts,aj's,cudas, to big cobes,and saw some neat stuff including two nice schools of tarpon... All in all though,jmho it was one suck arse season.... I'd like to see how some of you graded it???


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## Moon (Feb 24, 2007)

Great year on sound drum from the boat. Average year for seamullet and panfish. Poor year for winter stirpers and driving on the beach at OBX! GREAT year for shad on the rivers during spring run. Always a great year spending time with my fishing buddies! It's not alway about catching fish! Finally caught some trout on mirror lures!


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## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

I know you're talking about North Carolina here. I didn't get many trips down south this year. I had no luck with drum in the Spring and didn't fish for them this Fall at all. 

Here's my take on fishin' Virginia in 2008.

This was a great year for spanish off Sandbridge. 

Several big kings landed off Sandbridge Pier with a few big cobia landed there, too (including a couple of monsters that were lost :redface. Even a nice tarpon off them planks.

A terrible year for drum off the pier. We had better luck off the beach for them, which wasn't much. 

Specks were good as always at the ditch. I caught a few off the beach at Sandbridge, too, as well as some nice pups.

Lots of flounder around within paddling distance, with some good size ones landed around the HRBT and CBBT. 

Schoolies in the Bay were plentiful. However, no big stripers yet off the beach or pier at Sandbridge. Maybe this week???.

The yakers landed several big red and black drum off the Eastern Shore in the Spring as well as some nice stipers in the Fall. The ususal suspects had a good year up there.

I saw a few kings and cobia landed by the yakers off Sandbridge this Fall, too.

I rank my year by the number of drum caught. So, not the best year in my book.

I would have liked to have gotten into the grey trout this Spring, but I didn't get a chance to target them. I did hear it was another poor year for them, so maybe I didn't miss much.


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## stealneal (Jan 9, 2008)

I thought the year was pretty decent fishing wise. Didnt catch too many flounders or anything like that, but the number of drum i caught and the number of specks...even though they were mostly little spikes, was pretty sweet and here around Emerald Isle the drum and Specks are still strong! Time to start getting on them as soon as the wind dies down :fishing:


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Newsjeff said:


> I know you're talking about North Carolina here. I didn't get many trips down south this year. I had no luck with drum in the Spring and didn't fish for them this Fall at all.
> 
> Here's my take on fishin' Virginia in 2008.
> 
> ...


 Yeap,we be talking NC here,and yes you caught a few NC drum you neglected to mention to go along with all that VA junk...


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## NC-Norm-WB (Jul 25, 2008)

I had a strong season with the flounder, trout and blues. In the summer I landed some fun sharks too. I wouls have liked to have done better with the drum. I recently got a kayak and plan on targeting cobia and kings in the coming months. Can't wait!! Even if I did not catch anything I'm glad to have the ability to be outside, being where everyone else wants to be. :fishing:


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## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

Drumdum said:


> Yeap,we be talking NC here,and yes you caught a few NC drum you neglected to mention to go along with all that VA junk...


Kenny, I consider the North Beach part of the Commonwealth. 

I caught those drum at southern end of Sandbridge. opcorn:


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## NateM (Jan 9, 2008)

Definitely wasnt one of the best years big fish wise, but I could always count on catching something whenever I would go out. Whether it was a spanish, blue, undersized flounder, small specks, etc.. something was always out there. Im just gonna throw it out there, 2009 will blow 08 out of the water.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Newsjeff said:


> Kenny, I consider the North Beach part of the Commonwealth.
> 
> I caught those drum at southern end of Sandbridge. opcorn:


 Tell that to the fish cop when he ask for your NC license... Make sure I'm there when you tell him ok???


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Drumdum said:


> Yeap,we be talking NC here,and yes you caught a few NC drum you neglected to mention to go along with all that VA junk...


Well since we are talking NC than yes it was a suck fest. 2 fall drum and that was it for the whole year of NC fishing.


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## CrawFish (Sep 23, 2003)

Worst year for me. No NC drum, no VA drum, no fall trouts, no panfish, 1 spring striper, handful of fall schoolie stripers. Pityful.


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## Newsjeff (Jul 22, 2004)

Cdog said:


> Well since we are talking NC than yes it was a suck fest. 2 fall drum and that was it for the whole year of NC fishing.


You caught them fish in the Southern end of Sandbridge, too.


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## uncdub13 (Aug 9, 2003)

Looking back at it as a whole, it seemed like an average run of the mill year to me. I definitely put my time in and hope to be able to again this year.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

*Strange??*

On one board this poll was posted it was 1 most excellent 8 run of the mill and 24 said it sucked??

Here 5,8,and 6???

Guess it has to do with WHERE in NC you fished?? 

Where I was at it was inbetween run of the mill with good pups,decent specks and kings,spainish ok,poor cobe season,terrible drum season in surf (even way north),stripers almost nonexistent,no big blues (as has been the case in the surf for a long time)compaired to last 10yrs.. Closures had plenty to do with it this spring,although the fall sucked compaired to yrs past on about everything except pups.. All of this is just an observation from Ocracoke n to Corova,and jmo...


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## hklbery (Mar 17, 2007)

caught red & black drum on regular basis from pier, surf, icw.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Icw????


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## AbuMike (Sep 3, 2007)

Intercoastal Waterway??


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## Cdog (Mar 18, 2002)

Drumdum said:


> On one board this poll was posted it was 1 most excellent 8 run of the mill and 24 said it sucked??
> 
> Here 5,8,and 6???
> 
> ...


Could also have to do with each persons expectations are different.

Where one might consider 4 drum a poor season another might consider that a great year.(ME)


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Cdog said:


> Could also have to do with each persons expectations are different.
> 
> Where one might consider 4 drum a poor season another might consider that a great year.(ME)


 Compairing with 30plus yrs past... Not as ole as Mike Hayes and some others,so I'm just compairing with what I saw in the past... Had one other 4 drum yr back in the 90's and one 2 drum yr off the planks in 76.. In compairison,pretty sloooow... You do have a point though we all could be spoiled by some of the really good yrs in the past....


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## dirtyhandslopez (Nov 17, 2006)

Said by Drumdrum "no big blues (as has been the case in the surf for a long time)"
I thought they were thick down there in spring, even I managed to get two and I can prolly spit further than I can cast.


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## EDMboarder (Mar 18, 2005)

Only good things this year for me in NC were, fist drum off planks, slayed spanish from the yak and beach for three days straight in the end of july, and last weeks shark action. Other than that fishing in NC wasnt that good for me in 2008, now fishing in MD was a lil different with stipers.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

dirtyhandslopez said:


> Said by Drumdrum "no big blues (as has been the case in the surf for a long time)"
> I thought they were thick down there in spring, even I managed to get two and I can prolly spit further than I can cast.


 I take that back and stand corrected,forgot about the spring blues,but in general them skinny bastages are here about every spring.. If not in the surf then they so thick on the wrecks you can walk on em... Now fall bluefish are a different matter,them rascals pull some string,and could stand to go on a diet..


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

Drumdum said:


> I take that back and stand corrected,forgot about the spring blues,but in general them skinny bastages are here about every spring.. If not in the surf then they so thick on the wrecks you can walk on em... Now fall bluefish are a different matter,them rascals pull some string,and could stand to go on a diet..


yeah we were slam full of them big heads this spring. i call em big heads cuz thats all they are, skinny as hell w/ a big head 

but the last few years by us down south of you kenny, the bigger blues have just infested us each late spring/early summer, and each year have been progressivley hanging around longer...




Jesse


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## Fireline20 (Oct 2, 2007)

Let me say how much it sucked,,,at least till the fall:

April,,,,High Winds,,,,dog fish city

May,,,,High Winds,,,,dog fish would have been welcome

June,,,Not too bad,,,,blues mainly

July,,,,The Tropical Storm from nowhere blows up with no warning on the weekend I am at the Ft....family and I stuck in Motel Room,,,made best of it, went to NC Aquarium on one day, River Front Wilmington the next...good family time,,,,fishing sucked

Aug,,,,No Trip,,,waisted all my money earlier when weather sucked (wont do that this year)

Sept-Oct Great fishing, few Drum but tons of nice Blues that fought like hell,,,,had 3-4 good weekend trips

Nov,,,,,,,Went one time,,,Cold as,,,well you know the the next word,,,no fish

Dec,,,,Stayed at home, bought a Mailibu Tandem Kayak which I will use this year big time in the creeks behind the fort, got a Daiwa BG 60 for Christmas, gonna lash it on to my Breakaway LDH 13ft, put a big hook on it with a big piece of cut bait and cast it as far as I can and let it sit

Also picked up a 1858 New Army Texas Black Powder .44 Cal Revolver....having a blast (literally) with it now between seasons,,,,man what a hog leg cannon,,,no wonder the Texas Rangers kicked butt with this pistol


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## NCsurffisher (Jun 27, 2004)

I voted average, but would have voted below average if it had been a choice. Didn't suck totally...


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## ghmason (Nov 11, 2006)

Exactly what NCsurffisher said above. I would add the following;

the year starting off catching more school stripers under the Lesner bridge than I could count on North Carolina trout tackle - what a blast. Attention turned to work though Feb Mar. Apr and May with a modest attempt at some spring keeper rockfish at IRI in June - no luck. Back to the focus being work through the course of the summer leading to retirement after 31 years in the Marine Corps on Oct. 3rd
Right after the ceremony, came home to NC and started wearing out the over slot drum on our home beach at Onslow. Left that action in the last week of the month for our annual fall stay at IRI and that resulted in only 2 keeper rock a lot of shorts but an overall good time.
Back home for on again - off again trout and puppy drum fishing all on mirrolures and x-raps. Never found the trout all balled up like past years. Had some limit days and some paper fish with the biggest being right at 7lbs. 
Still picking at the trout and the drum.


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## Jesse Lockowitz (Feb 13, 2006)

ghmason said:


> Exactly what NCsurffisher said above. I would add the following;
> 
> the year starting off catching more school stripers under the Lesner bridge than I could count on North Carolina trout tackle - what a blast. Attention turned to work though Feb Mar. Apr and May with a modest attempt at some spring keeper rockfish at IRI in June - no luck. Back to the focus being work through the course of the summer leading to retirement after 31 years in the Marine Corps on Oct. 3rd
> Right after the ceremony, came home to NC and started wearing out the over slot drum on our home beach at Onslow. Left that action in the last week of the month for our annual fall stay at IRI and that resulted in only 2 keeper rock a lot of shorts but an overall good time.
> ...


7lbs, really nice trout.

and congrats on retirement! 31 years is a long time, definatley deserve some extra fishing time now


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## JeepMike (Feb 4, 2008)

I voted as most awesome because I caught the hell out of fish all summer long. I even got my citation drummie in the fall! I was happy that I got to fish as much as I did, and I hope to double my time on the sand now that I'm across the street from the beach in Kinnakeet! I also want to make the pier my 2nd home again come Easter! This year the fishing was GREAT!!!!!!!!!


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## Mullet Breath (Nov 15, 2006)

I voted sh--y because it was, for fishing. Awesome for spending time with my daughters and wife because the bite sucked. I had five paper drum this year and three came in March. Caught fish, but weather patterns and water temps made it hard to be consistent. All the more reason to focus on the basics and true fun fishing. To me a sh-t season makes you humble and think. Boat anglers killed the big drum and other species, matter of fact they had a killer season. Miller was off the hook this fall, so the schools of oldies where around. Just tough from the sand. Fished with some serious mates and captains and glad that we put a 260# cored BFT on the docks this year. It was a good payday and we said we could and did do it. Only sold for $18 a lb., but who cares we worked as a team. 2008 taught me more about the KISS rule, and that will be the most important lesson of 08.


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## surffshr (Dec 8, 2003)

*Boat FISHING*

should not be counted in this poll.


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## mattie_d (Jan 12, 2009)

Kenny,

I voted sucks, but would have actually put it more halfway between run of mill and sucks. Of course, the addition of my newborn boy probably put a hamper on "time put in"....but I am not complaining.

My year:

*from Nags Head planks (80% of time spent this year)*
- killer spanish year
- weird (lacking) bluefish year
- good shad year in spring
- lousy trout, except for a couple of random days
- decent cobia, from what I saw
- big drum, fairly lousy...btw, did not see you this year on Nags Head. pray tell you weren't stuck on Avalon?!?
- more puppies than normal

*from the surf*
- lousy winter - no stripers
- lousy spring
- semi-decent fall, puppies and trout
- no big drum, no stripers

*my annual week trip to South Core Banks*
- slow
- some puppies, blowtoads, roundheads
- fun BIG sharks
- no flounder to gig

*fishing from the 'yak*
- nothing...but that was my fault (laziness)

so, all in all, the slowest of my 4 years living on OBX.

but i am optimistic for fun and frutiful '09. purchased a 17" boat which will add a new element to the game. and my Nags Head Pier season pass is beaming in my wallet, wanting to be used.

cheerio,
mattie d


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

mattie_d said:


> Kenny,
> 
> I voted sucks, but would have actually put it more halfway between run of mill and sucks. Of course, the addition of my newborn boy probably put a hamper on "time put in"....but I am not complaining.
> 
> ...


 Cobe season in Hatteras,sucked in comparison to yrs past,expecially on the beach,boats didn't do so swuft either.... Yeap,stuck on Avolon,cause that's where Tater wanted to be.. His first atempt there caught a yrling and a pup.. After that it was hard to convince him we oughtta try somewhere else as well... We'll be in both spots next yr...  
I doubt you'll be using that pier pass as much,having a boat now...


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## TSsurfphisher (Jun 7, 2007)

The wife and I had a not to bad of a year, she was frustrated because she caught 2 under size puppies, her first at 14" and her second at 15", (her first ever by the way). I managed a 11 1/2 lb, 36 1/4" blue from the channel right there at the swing bridge in Surf City. We got 2 keeper flounder and a bunch of throw backs but we did real well, compared to past years, on monster mullets, had at least 20-25 through out the summer at least 1 1/2 to 3 lbs. We mostly fished the surf across street at Rogers Bay Campground on N. Topsail Island where we have a camper. Didn't get into the early spot run but got a few of those through out the summer, a couple of croaker, 1 nice 17" speck and 1 HUGE azz SPINY blow fish, that thing was every bit of 1 1/2 lbs, 12" long and about 10-11" around when blown up. The thing we were both disappointed in was the lack of Pompano from the surf. In years past Jul-Aug we would get great hits of good size Poms from the surf. And also the lack of good size black drum, got a bunch about hand size but none any bigger than about 1/2 lb. Anyway, that was pretty much our year, hopefully 2009 will be better.


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## French (Jun 18, 2005)

This was a reallly strange year. I always break my year down into segements

March-Mothers Day
-just brutal. I did an offshore trip for tuna. My friend Amy got one mahi, the rest of the boat was skunked. I made one run to the York River looking for croaker against my better judgement, skunk. I only got to make one trip looking for a CnR striper at Sandy Hook in the bay. Nada.

Memorial Day-September

Memorial Day weekend around Bogue was terrific, especially the last day of the trip. Great runs of big spanish, tons of big blues, and I had 3 cobia swirl baits. The only disappointment was not getting a big fish hook up.

I only made 2 summer trips to Avalon and rarely had ideal water. I caught some dandy spanish (all around, this was a terrific year for spanish) but I only had one big fish run (a king) that I lost.


Fall- I made a trip down to Avalon the first weekend of October looking for drum, and instead got great summertime water. Tons of small blues, one monster spanish (a PB), and no strikes on the king rig.

I made three runs up to New Jersey looking for stripers. I got one keeper, but learned a bunch. I planned to do a bunch of fishing in Delmarva, but the weather and other events poo-pooed that.

All in all, light tackle fishing for blues and spanish was excellent. Tons of big blues were around in the spring. I didn't see a king landed this year, which was sad given how many were decked the year before. I saw a couple of monster cobia, but very poor numbers.

Striper fishing was good up in Jersey (at IBSP, everyone was catching bunches of fish but me), bad for me elsewhere.

No Drum, anywhere. I never even saw a puppy landed this year.


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