# Topsail Island 7/25 - 8/01



## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

I'm heading to Topsail tomorrow morning the 25th. I will be fishing almost exclusively the south end including the jolly roger, but mostly right in front of the house about 1.5 miles N of the Roger. I'll post daily reports. If you see me driving around feel free to stop and offer me a beer. 







I have some secret weapons in the bags.


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## Byron/pa (Mar 14, 2007)

Good luck n have fun, I'd like to get back down there some fall but just not enough time to fish em all...............looking forward to your reports.


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## gshivar (Aug 29, 2006)

I like the recycled Crown Royal bags. Do not know if you have used your yard cart yet. I had one the same (lowes). If you have to cross dunes it is a bear. Told everyone I needed to get a mule! Fishing cart much easier. Good luck and have fun - glenn


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## Digger54 (Sep 11, 2012)

Looking at first pic, all I can say is sweet set up.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Arrived at 4pm at high ish tide but decided to relax instead of dance with thr swimmers. The wind is moderate and it's minimally choppy. We finally hit the beach at dead low tide about an hour after dark. I caught one decent whiting on a river rig in the shallow trough. I missed a great hit there as well. Action has been very slow but my brother did have fun with this unidentified shark.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

It's about 4 hrs after low tide. We have managed a couple more whiting in the trough and that's it.


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## rabbitdog2 (Aug 20, 2011)

Is that reel laying in the sand?


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

Best guess on the shark is a finetooth. No obvious markings (white spots on Atlantic Sharpnose, black on pecs and caudal/anal for blacktips and spinners). The first dorsal looks like it originates pretty far back and is very pointed. And the second dorsal is right above the anal fin. Tough to tell on one pic though. Fun to catch!


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Yes that reel hit the sand, luckily it's a sealine so after a quick rinse it was fine.
At about midnight on incoming tide I managed a couple more medium size whiting and one good spot. 
We will try to get back at it at high tide this afternoon if we can squeeze between swimmers.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)




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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Lots of swimmers right in front of the house. I've already seen two shade tents flip down the beach. I'm going to head I to surf city and try to weasel out on the beach around 3pm to catch the high tide.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Having a beer at Buddy's. Surf city pier at 12:30 at 4 hrs to high tide.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

I fished 2 hrs to high tide until 2 hrs after. It was super slow with only a few small whiting on a river rig and no hits on a fireball rig with cut bait. Also no hits on a river rig with sand fleas. Wind was SW at about 13 mph with water clarity fairly dirty. I'm going to give up fishing tonight and get out on the beach before dawn tomorrow morning.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Some pics from today..


Sand flea hunting was rough







Any ideas what did this to my hook? I suspect a crab.


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## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

most likely stone crab


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## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

nissan11 said:


> Arrived at 4pm at high ish tide but decided to relax instead of dance with thr swimmers. The wind is moderate and it's minimally choppy. We finally hit the beach at dead low tide about an hour after dark. I caught one decent whiting on a river rig in the shallow trough. I missed a great hit there as well. Action has been very slow but my brother did have fun with this unidentified shark.


that would be a blacknose my friend I can see his little black spot


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks for identifying it.

The forecast is looking better already. I think we are going to fish the jolly roger tomorrow night because the wind is forecasted to be real low. I plan on hitting the south inlet on the next night the wind is forecasted to be strong enough to keep the midges away.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

And I'm no expert, but I think this guy is doing it wrong.


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## greg12345 (Jan 8, 2007)

for decent flea colonies check out the beach right in front of where you were having the beer to about 100y north of that. hit it around halfway between high & low. there will be only scattered small pods of fleas down in S topsail where you are staying, never really came back in good numbers on that stretch after the renourishment. 

caught a bunch of short flounder and a handful of legal ones on the backside of the s inlet last month on artificials, pretty walk out there from either the sound side or ocean side. there are some nice pups too that feed in the shoaly water. puffers were so bad then almost every cast came back with the tail bitten off the gulp...would bring cheap grubs to use or net some mullet...


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks for the tips.


My brother and I fished the sunrise this morning at a receding tide. I caught two sharks on whiting heads, also a blue fish and a couple spot which I cleaned. I also got the first pomp on fresh shrimp. 

We haven't decided if we are going to fish the jolly roger or surf tonight. The wind is supposed to shift so I'm hoping for big things. 



Me and one of the sharks. Can anyone ID it?


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## greendave (Mar 13, 2006)

unless i was hallucinating, i saw your truck driving out on the 40/85 bypass outside of Greensboro in the opposite direction on Sat am and i thought to myself, man i wish i was headed that way, looks like fun. Good luck!

another small tidbit on the fleas....I was down near myrtle a few weeks back and as opposed to seeing the colony of fleas filtering the sand/water, i would be walking along and find one or two scurrying away as the waves rolled back. You'd see em plop into the sand, and i dug there, and sure enough it was loaded. It was as if they weren't being "active" but were laying low. I got more than enough in about 10 minutes of hand digging.

If its calm, try throwing gulp shrimp on a 1/4oz jig head in the suds, literally no more than 20 yds out and working it back. I got ALOT of throwback flatties that way the last 2 years on oak island around this time, with a keeper here and there thrown in the mix.

Good luck!

-Dave


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## drumchaser (Jan 14, 2003)

nissan11 said:


> Thanks for identifying it.
> 
> The forecast is looking better already. I think we are going to fish the jolly roger tomorrow night because the wind is forecasted to be real low. I plan on hitting the south inlet on the next night the wind is forecasted to be strong enough to keep the midges away.


Nice choice of drink. Will go good with blues & shark.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

If ya catch another blue, put him on ice and about dark cut him in half and toss him out. 
Blacktips love them.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Greendave, that was in fact me. 


It's been slow this afternoon. Only 2 blues. I've cleaned them all but saved the heads to throw out tonight. 

Slow fishing means means game time.


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## Benji (Nov 19, 2014)

nissan11 said:


> Thanks for identifying it.
> 
> The forecast is looking better already. I think we are going to fish the jolly roger tomorrow night because the wind is forecasted to be real low. I plan on hitting the south inlet on the next night the wind is forecasted to be strong enough to keep the midges away.


Step it up to Sailor Jerry and you'll think you caught more fish.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Little ray action brought in with a 6500.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Been fishing since dark. Not a single bite. Weird stuff is starting to happen though...


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Tonight was as dead as it gets. Tomorrow night we are going to take the cart down to the south inlet, ocean side, and set up camp. We plan to fish until at least 1am and see what happens.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

The south end is dead. Absolutely no luck, only baby black tips. We are going to keep at it but it's been rough.a 6500 already hit the surf and could not be cleaned here. 


Me sight fishing for whiting......


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## Baxter (Jul 3, 2015)

Looks like a fun trip


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## cooper138 (Aug 8, 2012)

Hmmm second reel in the sand. Im seeing a trend, judging from some of your pictures I think I may know why. At least you're catching a buzz. Keep it coming.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

In the last 45 minutes my brother had a run that was on its way to cleaning his reel before the line broke when he cranked the drag down. I had a good run on my sealine 40. He took about 200 yds of line in a couple minutes before the 9/0 hook came out of his mouth. Im confident i could have landed him, though, with another 300yds of 15 lb trilene. I suspect I should be using a 14/0 + for this kind of fishing.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Here are a couple more pics from last night. We plan to fish in front of the house about a mile north of the jolly roger today. I'm going to try to dig up a bunch of fleas.








My pops snapped this pic of a custom sinker on the pier


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

This guy....


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

I feel for ya, I remember that scene from our beach trip a couple years back. Still not as bad as rebuilding the carbs on an old boat engine lakeside, but it ain't fun repairing reels when you could be fishing.


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## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

Thats why I love a saltist dunk it in the water and shes ready to roll


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Slim beauty caught an eyelet on the way out. Im giving g it the benefit of the doubt and tied another one, but I won't give it a third chance.


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## pods (Sep 10, 2013)

I've had better luck with a uni through a double overhand or figure 8. If it's strong enough for Tommy, it's strong enough for me.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

The bite has been a little better this evening with a couple whiting and spot on a river rig with fresh shrimp. Water clarity is still fairly dirty with choppy water.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

More sharks tonight


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Croaked and whiting bite is hot! Cut bait on river rig. Also pulled 2 extra hooks out of this guy.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)




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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Conditions are clear and glassy today with no wind. Maybe the pompano gods will smile upon me.


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## greg12345 (Jan 8, 2007)

on that stretch of beach put some fleas out as far as you can. if glassy then also remove all terminal tackle except hooks and sinker, use fluoro. good luck.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)




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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Fished most of the day with no luck. I took a 12'rod out in waist deep water on the bar and casted sand fleas as far as I could, never got a bite. The wind changed again and is more south, making the water dirtier and more choppy than this AM.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

It's dead high tide and the bite is hot hot. Lots of blues, whiting and spot on river rigs in the trough with cut bait.


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)




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## js1172 (Jun 5, 2012)

shark looks like a finetooth
js


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## SurfMan (Jun 4, 2003)

Next time i come to NC, I think I'll just come out fishing with you all.  Great pics and tight lines!


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Heading back to Southern Pines this AM. Last night was dead, some storms moved through and the wind died and bugs came out. 
I will be back the first of October with my secret weapon the T-Rex for the tournament. The T-Rex is crazy.


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## River (Sep 30, 2006)

Enjoyed your reports nissan11, nice to see fisherman having fun, Thanks .. River


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## nissan11 (Jan 24, 2010)

Thanks to you for the great rigs!


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## gshivar (Aug 29, 2006)

I enjoyed the reports of your adventure. Have a safe trip home. glenn


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

Thanks for sharing your experiences!

RT


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## Byron/pa (Mar 14, 2007)

Always enjoy em..............


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## DANtheJDMan (Aug 29, 2012)

I enjoyed the reports and the stuff you bring along. I got a cart straped to the back of a Jetta Sport wagon that I take the 1200 miles to the beach. Practice that Yucatan knot.


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## Bullred (Mar 13, 2010)

Good report.


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## Dixiedawg80 (Nov 18, 2013)

Dude, awesome report! Many thanks!


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