# Is it just me or have people changed



## titan10 (Aug 25, 2015)

I fished a pier in nags head this week and was surprised at the number of folks begging for bait. Since I can remember if we fished we caught our own bait whether at the T pin rigging /Drum fishing . Maybe I've just got old but was brought to the beach learned to fish catching dads bait taught my sons the same way . Since they are grown and doing their own thing now I take a rod with a bait rig catch what I need and fish. Maybe its just this new generation , maybe its me ,but circling the cleaning station like a buzzard looks lazy........ rant over


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## pmcdaniel (Nov 13, 2013)

I don't pier fish much anymore, but I remember when I was young carrying small blues all the way down to the end of the pier for the king fishermen, and "killing it" on the small rod catching all sorts of small fish for bait. These days, on the rare occasion i do hit the planks, it seems like every guy leaving wants to give me his bait, so I guess that's karma. I always "pay it forward" and pass my unused bait off to someone else if I'm not coming back, but I don't think I've ever had anyone asking for it, maybe because I give it away before they have the chance.


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## titan10 (Aug 25, 2015)

I guess I should have been more specific . It was guys from the end instead of catching their own bait they waited for people who had caught spots to head to the cleaning station.Just strikes me as odd you cant take a few minutes to walk down the pier to catch a few for yourself but will stand over guys cleaning fish for half an hour never offer to help just circle like a buzzard....


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## 1BadF350 (Jul 19, 2006)

I call them Pelicans and yeah theyre annoying. 
The same guys who sleep in, show up at 9am, and walk out to pin rig and ask how many baits you have in your bucket.
The same guys who call you when the tackle shops open and ask "Hows the bait situation?" 
Me: "oh man we're struggling"
They show up 30 minutes later with three live eels they just bought for themselves, but didnt have the common courtesy to ask if you wanted any.


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## 1BadF350 (Jul 19, 2006)

The absolute worst are the Ospreys. The guys too cheap to buy a pin rig pass, and too lazy to pull a cart.
They show up with nothing but a bucktail rod and stand immediately left or right of the corner rods hoping to pick off Cobia when they come to inspect the pin rigs, or worse they pick off Cobia in the jigging lane between the two pin rig boxes.
Screw the rest of us who have been there since 5am (in my case work a full day, leave home at 10pm and drive 300 miles to get there on no sleep)


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## titan10 (Aug 25, 2015)

1BadF350 said:


> The absolute worst are the Ospreys. The guys too cheap to buy a pin rig pass, and too lazy to pull a cart.
> They show up with nothing but a bucktail rod and stand immediately left or right of the corner rods hoping to pick off Cobia when they come to inspect the pin rigs, or worse they pick off Cobia in the jigging lane between the two pin rig boxes.
> Screw the rest of us who have been there since 5am (in my case work a full day, leave home at 10pm and drive 300 miles to get there on no sleep)


Agreed !! I think I liked it better when people had respect for each other and worked together to make he most out of a days fishing. It used to be just one or two (pelicans) now its more like the norm( I now understand why the old salts would get grumpy years ago)


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## DaBig2na (Aug 7, 2011)

titan10 said:


> I guess I should have been more specific . It was guys from the end instead of catching their own bait they waited for people who had caught spots to head to the cleaning station.Just strikes me as odd you cant take a few minutes to walk down the pier to catch a few for yourself but will stand over guys cleaning fish for half an hour never offer to help just circle like a buzzard....


I always ask too I guess I'm a buzzard... Although I don't hover over someone.. I'm usually going to or coming from the restroom, pierhouse, or parking lot.

I really don't want to see a perfectly good Mullet, Bluefish or Spot Head go to waste. Trust me when I tell you most 99.5% of the guys fishing the end for Drum have bait and lots of it. I'll admit I'm a bait hog. Meaning I will bring bait, plus drive to whoever has the freshest on hand and buy more and still ask a guy at the cleaning sink if he has a use for them. Then I take what I have left and bring it home to vacuum seal and freeze for the spring. What I couldn't use I'd give to the rest of the guys fishing as I've left the pier. Garbo being one of the most recent, benefactor of fresh fatbacks. One would think The Drum fishermen were going to eat the bait, because they are so picky.

Maybe you should wait and clean your fish at home. Especially, if it really bothers you that folks usually ask in a very nice way if they can have what you're going to feed to crabs and seagulls.

The Jennettes pier Drum Tournament was won by a donated spot head, thrown in a bucket. I'm the one who put the bucket up.
Although I didn't catch the winner I'm happy for the guy who did. 

I've caught Kings and Cobia by donated baits, when trying to catch a bait was near impossible. I've also shared with the person my bigger catch, who gave me the bait in the first place. Uhhh I'd call that working together.


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## titan10 (Aug 25, 2015)

It would be different if it was asked nicely but to be self assuming and act like it was expected is another the bucket is a great idea. But offering to help clean said spots even better imo


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

titan10 said:


> It would be different if it was asked nicely but to be self assuming and act like it was expected is another the bucket is a great idea. But offering to help clean said spots even better imo


I have practiced what you term "begging baits" for a long time like going back to when I worked at Rodanthe Resort. Some folks would seek me and the Red Head out to give us Sea Mullet and Spot Heads, some I asked nicely and most times I offered a bag of ice as compensation, most folks preferred to clean their own fish. I seldom cleaned fish, just either stood around collecting heads or in some cases leaving a cooler to collect later.

People have not changed much, it was the same twenty-five years ago as it is today, as far as Buzzards....this an alternative that it is more preferable to me getting in on the Spot/Sea Mullet bite and by my participation in fishing that part of the pier limiting the opportunities for people looking to take home fish to eat. 

I fish an 8-hook gold hook rig for Spot, it is just that I prefer to spend most of my energy fishing for Big Drum, so call me a Buzzard if you will it is better than me standing next to you and competing for the Panfish. Sometimes I actively fish for Spot and Sea Mullet but it seems like the big runs of yesteryear are a thing of the past.

I certainly would not approach anyone about heads when they are cleaning their catch without asking politely though. Rudeness gets you nowhere in this world.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

1BadF350 said:


> The absolute worst are the Ospreys. The guys too cheap to buy a pin rig pass, and too lazy to pull a cart.
> They show up with nothing but a bucktail rod and stand immediately left or right of the corner rods hoping to pick off Cobia when they come to inspect the pin rigs, or worse they pick off Cobia in the jigging lane between the two pin rig boxes.
> Screw the rest of us who have been there since 5am (in my case work a full day, leave home at 10pm and drive 300 miles to get there on no sleep)


Dog eat Dog world at the end of the Tee

Things like this are why I quit pin fishing in 1996. Also there is the distinct lack of King Mackerel to consider.

In defense of Ospreys and I know a few, one of whom is one of the greatest FHB to ever set foot on the planks.... how about their mindset that they "Live" on the Outer Banks 24/7 and as such due to giving up some of the financial benefits of living in a more Urban Environment, want to drop by after or before work and get into some Cobia Steaks and as long as they are not throwing directly into Pin Baits, are entitled to fish the way they want, when they want....

I have done my part in 2017, my first release ever of a full grown Cobia, let numerous 36"-40" pups go in the past, but never a 60+ Pounder....likely a different outcome if it had happened in July rather than October.

In the past if you cast a jig into the pin rigs with the Rodanthe Fellas the abuse you would suffer would preclude a second attempt, protocol was to wait until the Cobe cleared the baits, however if one stationed oneself say further down the pier towards the beach and happened upon a Cobe it was on.....

Redhead and I were walking out on Rodanthe Pier back when he had red hair and I was real good looking

I was out a head by about 50 paces and I spied a 50 pounder lazing right next to the pier just off the Surfline....I crack up laughing and unstrap my popping rod ready to go with a bucktail and the Cobe sucks down my Jig.....I am laughing at the Redhead for his loss...........when the Cobe turns around and heads under the pier..wrapping a pylon in the process and breaks me off

Greed only becomes a problem when it is coming from the other guy


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## titan10 (Aug 25, 2015)

I think alot of you are taking this the wrong way .Being polite and asking for parts that are discarded is not the problem being a self assuming jacka$$ is!!! Even after given a no we are saving these the same guy came back multiple times..... your just going to throw them away why can't I have a few?? Said heads were soaked just off of ramp 49.


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## psychodiagnostik (Jun 27, 2009)

I've noticed there are more king mackerel fishermen on the piers, & overall pin riggers are getting more and more serious. People driving in from long distances, big investments in gear like custom acid wrap fighting rods, custom surf outfit for an anchor rod, big dollar boutique fighting reels, etc. Sometimes there are some grumbles from the "regular" folks fishing on the pier when they see the end of the pier off limits (even though the kingfishers show up at zero dark thirty & pay more for permits). 

I think if I were to get into it with that level of dedication I'd look into kayak fishing or even something with a motor, if for no other reason than the atmosphere on the tees' looks so stressful.


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