# Frisco Vacation - Amateur Report



## joe l. (Jul 31, 2004)

Well, my vacation to Frisco has come and gone. This was the first time in several years (and only second time ever) I had been back to the Banks, and I must say, it reminded me of how much I really am growing to love the place. My first time to the Banks I didn't surf fish at all, so this is my first-ever OBX report. I'm probably going to break it up into several sub-posts here, so that it isn't one enormous post with pics. I hope I've made the pics small enough so that folks can load them, but big enough to get some detail. If they're too big or clogging things up, let me know, I can size 'em down and repost.

The week started off very tentatively, with us driving down from PA through Ernesto. It rained pretty much the whole ride down, and some of the damage outside of Richmond was bad - flooding and trees down, etc. Made us wonder what was awaiting us in Frisco. What was there for the first two days was beautiful sunny weather. Some flooding, but much less than what I was expecting.

So - after unpacking the truck, I went on a bait search. What's the first thing I find?











A good start - with some squid, sandfleas and shrimp, I was ready to fish!

Everyone I asked said it had been slow fishing - and it was. Lots of small bites, but I couldn't hook up. Finally, I catch the first fish.











Small, but a start. As I was cast netting from the surf for finger mullet (which I only saw sporadically), what I found was LOTS of tiny pomps running around. My quess is that these were what was stealing most of the bait. This was the biggest I'd catch, although I heard from the Frisco Pier that someone caught a pomp that was 1 1/4 pounds.

Part 2 in next post...


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## joe l. (Jul 31, 2004)

*Part Deux...*

So, after getting and releasing the pomps, I decided to wade out a bit farther and continue. Next hit was on some squid - and it was my first ever drum. Way too small to keep (how does red drum taste?), but fun to catch nonetheless.











The bite slowed down after I got this guy, and stayed that way the rest of the day for me.

Wednesday found some time for some pier fishing. Our house was directly behind Frisco Pier, so basically ever time we ate dinner, I could see the pier beckoning. This night was miserable. Rained lightly almost all night, and with the wind it was cold. Only a few of us stuck it out on the pier. The highlight of the night was when a 5 foot hammerhead swam under the pier and through the lights. Could see lots of the BIG rays swimming too. I was casting whole finger mullet and/or cut mullet farther out, and dropping shrimp/squid on top-bottom rigs right by the pilings. A few very small croaker were brought up. Then, with 20 minutes to closing, I get a good solid hit on my big rod, and manage to deck a small ray.











Man - like dragging a cinder block through the water. But - it was something that pulled, and made the night worthwhile - at least I could say I caught something after spending time in the rain.

Fished some Thursday, but without anything of note. I didn't hear of anyone else catching much either.

Friday came, rained early in the day, but turned into an OK day later on, so it was back to the surf. Small bites again, with no hook-ups (I'm guessing the tiny pomps again). Finally I get a good hit on a sand flea on my small rod. A decent-sized whiting (sea mullet).











This guy was lucky we had seafood the night before - or he would have been my "dinner guest". But - back in the water he went.

Finally, I decided to hit the pier one last time Friday night, before we left. Again, got small stuff from close into the pilings. Lost one ray after getting him close to the pier - I pulled when I shouldn't have and broke him off. I had two big rods out this night. Got a good hit on the one, only to have it go limp. Line was cit at the hook. So - on goes a steel leader. After only about 10 minutes, the clicker starts slowly going off, then I get a solid hit. Not sure what happened, but I tighten up to let the circle hook set itself, and it goes limp. Bring the rig back in and it's intact, minus bait. So - one last cast out... clicker starts again. I let him get a good head-start, then tighten the line. I got him. At least, I think - because I go to net him and he drops through a hole in the net (so beware, Frisco Pier's net has a hole in it!). Can't re-net him, because the line is through the net... so - I end up hand-lining him to the deck. Thank goodness for 80 lb leader.











I think he's a sharpnose - can anyone else ID him for sure? I can post a couple other pics if need be.

Anyway, all in all, a great trip for me. Can't wait until next year's vacation... or, I may just have to move to the Banks sometime soon...  

Thanks to everyone who gave me some pointers here on the forum before I left! I learn a little more every year. Too bad I can only get out surf fishing once or twice a year, but hey - I'll take what I can get.

Joe


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## Railroader (Apr 13, 2005)

Niiiiccceee Report, and what it's really all about. Learning and improving your own skills....


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## JimInVA (May 17, 2005)

Excellent report format! Thanks for taking the time to share it with us!!

Jim


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## fisherkid (Jun 30, 2005)

*that was great*

nice report with the photos.
nice catching trip.
Fisherkid


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Sounds like a good trip,nice report.. That hammerhead you saw was a treat I'm sure,and a rarity down here nowadays,not many are seen inshore anymore like they used to be.. 
Great report.. 

PS you could have taken that seamullet and those two nice jumping mullet you caught,fellet them,fried em up and you would have been treated to a heck of a meal...


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## can't fish today (Oct 8, 2003)

You've put together a good report, Joe. Almost like I was there 

Almost. I'm heading down in 2 weeks.


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## Wheatland_Whilly (Jul 17, 2005)

*joe*

you didnt really put lipstick on that mullet you have in yer right hand ?


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## cpn_aaron (Apr 11, 2006)

nice report amd a good fishing trip. I haven't been out to the banks since I was dating a girl who lived out there 5-6 years ago. Post makes me miss it. Perhaps I can convince the wife for a late summer vacation next year.
The little biter you go there strikes me as a sharpnose or sandbar at first glance. It all depends on the shape of the nose. Sharpnose are more conical, while a sandbar (young only) will have a nose that is somewhat conical but is wider and has a scooping from the tip of the nose towards the jaws.


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## joe l. (Jul 31, 2004)

Thanks for the compliments on the report, guys. Glad to be able to share it with you all.

Whilly - no lipstick on that mullet, although if it would have helped catch more fish, I would have put lipstick on him! 

As for the shark - my initial guess was sharpnose - but know that with the smaller ones (especially juvenilles) it can be difficult to tell. I'm hoping this next pic shows it better - but my guess of sharpnose was from the nose shape, and from the trailing white edges on the pectorals and the black secondary dorsal. Aren't the dorsals on sandbars pretty tall? Dunno for sure...











And actually Drumdum - while I was cutting up the big mullet for fresh cutbait, I was tempted to keep some for frying up. Never had mullet, have to try it one of these days.

I'm gonna try to convince the wife that we take a long weekend back to the Banks maybe this winter. We usually go on a short trip without the kids - it was only 10 hours for us to get to the Banks... maybe if I'm lucky  

Thanks again for everyone's help - I'm definitely learning more each time I go. I set goals for this trip of a pompano, a drum, and a shark over 3 feet (I've only caught the little guys before). The question now is what goals for next time?

Joe


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## YakAttack (Aug 8, 2006)

Yeah looks like a Sharpnose. The white dots are often on larger ones.


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## POMPINOLOVER (Jun 29, 2006)

Super report!!


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## cpn_aaron (Apr 11, 2006)

That's a sharpie for sure looking at the close up side view. The problem with juvie sharks is they don't always get the distinguishing characters. Sandbars do have that real nice tall dorsal (Looks really sweet breaking waves as you real them in), but that usually doesn't become overly large and aparent until the shark starts to break 5.5-6 ft. I've caught sharks I was convinced were duskies or large sharpies and it was only when I compared a tooth while cutting the shark free that I saw the sandbar distinctive top and bottom arrangement. Little sharks are a pain in the butt to ID.
Lcifers- I'd be careful on the idea of white spots on teh bodies being indicative of a sharpie or any species. Those spots can show up on any shark (find them on bonnets and even bulls down here all the time) and has more to do with the coloring formed due to individual shark skin cells (think of it as shark moles). Unless you pull up a stripey tiger or on the pacific a spotted leopard shark patterning isn't a great IDer. I stick to overall body/fin alignment, teeth (one of the best, but only if teeth are big enough to see), and head shape. NOAA's Apex predatos program http://na.nefsc.noaa.gov/sharks/ has some online IDs for sharks. But if you're a participant in their angler tag and release program like me, they can send you this sweet ID book that includes all the ID characters for most all Atlantic species, which I carry everywhere I go. A proverbial shark bible.
tight lines fellas.


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

*Great Report Joe*

Good read. Congrats on the catch.


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## YakAttack (Aug 8, 2006)

Thanks for the heads up Aaron. With the pics he posted, the fin alignment isn't clear, and the spots are indicative of a Sharpnose, although I agree they are not enough alone to ID one.

I have some field guides I use to ID sharks. As many have said, it's pretty tricky, but not really that difficult if you know the features to look for.

Cheers.

- Luther


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## joe l. (Jul 31, 2004)

Yeah - I do apologize for the photo quality of the shark. Bunch of problems - I was almost alone on the pier that night, and the woman who took the first photo didn't want to get too close to the toothy fellow (although I like the pic she took of me with him - _edited to add - I keep saying "he", but SHE actually, no claspers on this one, so it's a gal_). After that, I was trying to take them myself or with the camera timer. Doesn't work well at night  

On top of it all, I was getting nervous, as I didn't want to keep him out of the water for too long. I'm not against keeping a few for eating, but I do release almost everything I catch. My concern with this guy was that he already swallowed the circle hook (not sure how that happened - thought they weren't supposed to do that with circles. Maybe the hook was too big?), so I wanted to get him back without any more trauma than necessary.

I worked with the sharks in our aquarium/zoo up here throughout high school and college, so I'm reasonably adept at IDing most of the adults, but I get unsure with the little guys. As mentioned, some of them can be tricky. You guys who see them all the time are much better at it than I.


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## YakAttack (Aug 8, 2006)

After looking back the first photo does show that the second dorsal starts over the middle of the anal fin, another indicator of a sharpnose.

Here's an ID page:

http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/saltwater/regulations/Shark-ID/atlantic-sharpnose-shark.cfm

Cheers.

- Luther


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## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

*From the first photo....*

I was getting ready to ask you how those mullet tasted  
Great report.


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