# New here....



## bobg03 (Nov 19, 2014)

Hey all, been lurking for a lil' bit.

Going to be building in Conway come spring, and am a coastal new england fisherman with a lot to learn. The boss and I toured the piers last time we were down and I think I will enjoy the bait-n-wait, I currently enjoy throwing plugs for stripers up here but I think my expensive plug hobby will be ending soon.

I was raised as a young-un in Florida (many moons ago) and my adult children have lived in North Carolina for awhile so I promise that you will never hear me say, "That's not how we do it up North."


----------



## The Skink (Mar 9, 2009)

welcome to the forum. Believe me, you will never stop learning how to fish. I learn new things every day. And yes! you are correct. We don't care how you did it up north! Hahahaha :fishing:


----------



## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

Welcome to the forum . . . I grew up in South Florida in the 1970's . . . Been in North Carolina since 2006 . . . I don't like ANYTHING they do "Up North" ( Politics-Wise ) . . . LOL !!!

Tight Lines !!!


----------



## bluefish1928 (Jun 9, 2007)

I did it opposite of way- raised in the South but moved up a little bit further north for college (MD) and now fish in striped bass waters. My main arsenal is topwater plugs and jighead/soft plastic. I went from catching 1-2 pound bluefish from piers to 20-30 inch stripers off seawalls. 

You can do well with casting lures along the Carolina coast.
During the spring, spanish mackerel and bluefish can be caught off piers with got-cha plugs. Inside inlets and marshes, you can tangle with flounder, trout, and reds on lures. Unfortunately, our bluefish are rarely as big as the ones up north.

A 6 inch pencil popper will probably not be your lure of choice here but I have little doubt a smaller 3-4 inch wooden popper or swimming minnow wouldn't work for the species here. Jighead/soft plastic would be a good go-to choice.


----------



## bobg03 (Nov 19, 2014)

Well I'm glad to see that there is a sense of humor here..as a 56 YO man addicted to fishing when I can you can be sure I have accumulated enough lures to last the rest of my life...

I certainly won't be chunking off a pier with a 6/0 or 7/0 hook, not from the lil bit of education I received when we walked a few of the piers in October. 

Yes I'm thinking some of my smaller jigs and plastics along with smaller swimmers and poppers may work when I find the tidal rivers and shorefronts to fish.

Of course I'll keep some of the bigger stuff for the stripers further up the coast, after all eventually I'll be retired and have lots of time.


----------



## bluefish1928 (Jun 9, 2007)

bobg03 said:


> Well I'm glad to see that there is a sense of humor here..as a 56 YO man addicted to fishing when I can you can be sure I have accumulated enough lures to last the rest of my life...
> 
> I certainly won't be chunking off a pier with a 6/0 or 7/0 hook, not from the lil bit of education I received when we walked a few of the piers in October.
> 
> ...


My lure collection/needing hobby just started. I am getting paid and spend a good chunk of it on tackle. In fact, I just ordered a dozen Mirrolure He Dogs online at under $2 each because they have been so deadly on stripers this past fall. Then I look around and see all the lures that I bought and never used....

One thing I do wish to do if I am ever home in SC during the fall is to walk around the surf with a 9ft spinning outfit and cast spoons around mullet schools. It was a blast my last 2 years of HS doing this and catching blues and spanish. 

There are stripers in the ICW around Little River. I am not sure where nor how to target them from shore but some guys do.


----------



## RjTheMetalhead (Dec 3, 2011)

Whats wrong with big chunks and heads on big circle hooks?







Nothing. 

If you want to have shots at stuff like king mackerel, tarpon and odles of sharks and other stuff, you might want to look it pin rig fishing from the piers. Its bait n wait at its finest.

Most of the lure fishing here is for the smaller blues and Spanish


----------



## Elgreco (Aug 12, 2014)

Mirrolures and gulp work pretty good in the marshes and inlets.


----------



## bigjim5589 (Jul 23, 2005)

Bob, welcome! Good to see another "collector" posting! Conway seems like a nice little town from what I've seen of it. Have given a move to that area some thought myself. I'm not as yet retired either, but hopefully will be in a few years. I grew up in MD ( Dave, I won't even go into the $%$#@^ politics here!) primarily fishing the Chesapeake Bay & tribs and am just a few years older than you are. I have fished down south a bit too in both NC & SC & in FL. I haven't fished the coast any further north than Lewes, DE, but do frequent another site where there are many Northern surf addicts. I try to learn as much as I can from as many as possible, and hopefully pass along some knowledge too in the process. 

I've found in most cases, dependable local knowledge can lessen the learning the curve, that's for certain!

I will say that I'll try anything as far as tossing lures.
I don't get to do much surf or pier fishing, but doesn't mean I won't try what others are having success with in the surf or from the piers, even in other places. I've gathered a fairly large arsenal myself!

As an example, I once had a guy tell me that a surf lure I was trying out, a wood swimmer, won't work here in the bay. I asked him if he had tried it & he said no, but it won't work, because it was a surf lure! I caught 3 Stripers on 3 consecutive casts with that lure that won't work here! 

I've tried lures that didn't work, but that's part of the learning curve too!

Keep those lures & an open mind! You never know what might work when the opportunity arises.


----------



## RjTheMetalhead (Dec 3, 2011)

The problem with the big plugs down here would be the blacktips and spinner sharks.
Don't let people tell you they don't bite lures. They will chase them down with vigor at times.

I had roughly half a dozen hit gotcha plugs I was working at full speed off the pier this year. I lost a 2oz popper to a spinner on the first cast surf fishing back in September.

They love shiny, loud, fast moving things.


----------



## Elgreco (Aug 12, 2014)

I had that one gotcha that got bit clean off and I didn't feel a thing. Just frayed flouro left.


----------



## RjTheMetalhead (Dec 3, 2011)

Elgreco said:


> I had that one gotcha that got bit clean off and I didn't feel a thing. Just frayed flouro left.


Oh that happens all the time. Spanish, blue or ribbon probably did that. The way the gotcha moves side to side they miss and chomp on the leader...


----------



## Landonsteen (Jul 9, 2013)

I like to use about 3 inches of #2 steel leader for gotchas. It's cheap and you don't lose near as many gotchas and fish


----------



## ez2cdave (Oct 13, 2008)

bobg03 said:


> Well I'm glad to see that there is a sense of humor here...


If you haven't got a sense of humor, you may as well just stay up North . . . Welcome to "God's country", the conservative South !

Tight Lines !


----------



## bluefish1928 (Jun 9, 2007)

Elgreco said:


> I had that one gotcha that got bit clean off and I didn't feel a thing. Just frayed flouro left.


Earlier this spring I had a 30+yard of line getting smoked before the lure got bitten off. I still think it was a king mackerel because most sharks don't go straight-lining and the speed of line being spooled was just incredible.


----------



## Elgreco (Aug 12, 2014)

Landonsteen said:


> I like to use about 3 inches of #2 steel leader for gotchas. It's cheap and you don't lose near as many gotchas and fish


I can handle losing a gotcha once in a while. A $10 mirrolure being lost makes me sad though.


----------



## RjTheMetalhead (Dec 3, 2011)

bluefish1928 said:


> Earlier this spring I had a 30+yard of line getting smoked before the lure got bitten off. I still think it was a king mackerel because most sharks don't go straight-lining and the speed of line being spooled was just incredible.


Well Ive had 2 #30 class kings and hundreds of sharks on the end of my line.
More than a few of the sharks ran so fast and straight I swore they where kings until they jumped or got very sharky 100+ yards out.

2nd king shook his head like a shark for 30 seconds, zigged, zagged then turned and burned 150+ yards straight out to the north.


----------



## bobg03 (Nov 19, 2014)

Well it's been a busy year and things have changed.......

First the great news.....

I'm temporarily handicapped, got me a brandy new titanium knee 2 weeks b/4 Thanksgiving, gonna be awhile b/4 I can go railroading or fishing again. The ballast destroyed my knee, but I'm getting better everyday.

We were down 1st week of November, one of my houses sold (finally, in this rotten economy). We finalized plans with builder, secured a small construction loan with a local bank and we are in go mood as builder moves forward.

The week was spent shopping for banks, an insurance agent and meeting the builder and just trying to learn our way around.

Life is still good....as my knee heals we will be down again to do some more exploring, hopefully this exploration will include more recon time for future fishing....


----------

