# Fishing Report.....Just Because



## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

First, I have to say I'm having a blast since moving down here to Nags Head from PA. The 45 minute drive to the southern beaches sure beats 8-1/2 hours. I know when I was further away I always looked forward to checking out the fishing reports posted on here. So, for no particular reason other than I'm sure there are probably quite a few folks out there interested, here's a quick run down of what's been going on around here. Locally, I've only checked out a couple of places like the Little Bridge and the ramp area under the big bridge by Pirates Cove. Uh....not much happening. With the big blow last week and colder temps, I don't think many ventured out. I did talk to one guy who managed one small spec at the Little Bridge last week. I fished ocean side for just a couple of hours Saturday morning while the wife worked and came up with nothing. The area is devoid of any mullet at the tackle shops. The last couple of horse mullet I bought were pretty rough. Both TW's and Whalebone didn't know if they were even going to buy any more for a while. 

Saturday morning was cold but tolerable and it warmed up in the afternoon. After the wife got off work we had enough day left to head to the southern beaches and catch the last couple of hours of daylight. Word was there were still fish biting down that way. Still looking for bait we stopped at Hatteras Jacks. Lucky for us, he had just got in the freshest cobs I've seen since we got down here a few weeks ago. Crystal clear eyes and I swear one moved its tail when I was digging through the ice. Needless to say, I loaded up. Garbo's many comments on the importance of good bait had me thinking we might be in good shape. The good bait was rewarded. We didn't have much time to fish but we started into the pups shortly before dark. They were nice, upper slot size. The guy beside us even hooked up with a double. The wife caught a pretty nice black drum, too. We caught them into the dark, staying even after everyone else was off the beach. We were standing under the stars and getting bit about every other cast when my daughter accidentally turned the headlights on in the water. Not sure if that did it or not but the bite just turned completely off. Tired anyway, we headed home with plans to come back in the morning. When we got back this morning the pup action had slowed but it was a variety show. Small flounder, specs, blues and a small pup rounded out the morning. The bite was slow but steady. We fished until about 11:00 and then headed home. Got word there were fish being caught all over this weekend at the usual ramps and the jetties. So, that's it, nothing spectacular but hopefully this report helps. And because "without pics it never happened"...........(sorry no pic of the wife's black drum, I was banned from posting because it was "a horrible picture")


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## kbueno1 (Jun 3, 2015)

Nice work. Color me envious.

KBueno


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## poppop1 (Feb 16, 2004)

Thanks for the pics and report. It was pretty cold here in Pa. this past week, you chose wisely! Good luck.


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## Papa-T (Sep 5, 2011)

Nice


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## Jollymon (May 21, 2015)

Well done , Enjoy your new home


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## Guest (Dec 18, 2017)

Awesome report! Thanks for sharing


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## Redhorse (Mar 1, 2006)

Nice job...envious of your short drive! It's even farther from Ohio ;-)


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## Bigfisherman (Apr 22, 2005)

What Redhorse said.


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## meat_puppet (Dec 18, 2017)

As I'm heading down from PA this weekend, I do appreciate the report.


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## abass105 (Jun 13, 2006)

Very nice and Very Envious. Thanks for posting.:fishing:


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## SloppyTilapia (Oct 4, 2013)

Way to go!!! Stellar report.


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## surffshr (Dec 8, 2003)

nice job winter fishing can be fun,


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## jwfishn (Jul 8, 2009)

good job. please keep the reports coming.


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## js1172 (Jun 5, 2012)

yeah I'm going there, since I still drive 7 hours to get to Avon, just wanna say "ya suk" would give about anything to live there, congrats on your move, give them hell for me, maybe one day I'll join you!
js


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

-


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

meat_puppet said:


> As I'm heading down from PA this weekend, I do appreciate the report.


 It looks like your going to get a really nice weekend weather wise. FYI, we got into the pups on a rising tide. Unfortunately, we're heading back to PA for the weekend and driving back on Monday. Not my choice, "happy wife happy life".


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

js1172 said:


> yeah I'm going there, since I still drive 7 hours to get to Avon, just wanna say "ya suk" would give about anything to live there, congrats on your move, give them hell for me, maybe one day I'll join you!
> js


 I hear you, definitely not trying to rub it in! It was a long process, about five years in the making. We just took baby steps until one day it happened.


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

jwfishn said:


> good job. please keep the reports coming.


 Will do. I think I might start a new thread and update it with reports and just general goings on as I get out and things come up.


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## meat_puppet (Dec 18, 2017)

Hikes run said:


> It looks like your going to get a really nice weekend weather wise. FYI, we got into the pups on a rising tide. Unfortunately, we're heading back to PA for the weekend and driving back on Monday. Not my choice, "happy wife happy life".


We're now not driving down until Monday as well. Hopefully, some of the nice weather will hold out until we get down there.


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## GlenS (Sep 8, 2012)

nice...


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## Bullred (Mar 13, 2010)

Very nice.


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## sophiagrace77 (Sep 26, 2017)

Great... such a nice report. This report is really appreciable.


Thanks


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## Guest (Dec 29, 2017)

What an awesome report! I will be living vicariously through you so keep them coming. I'll be thinking about this when I'm doing well swaps Sunday getting nice and wet with brine water at a balmy 1 degree Fahrenheit! I'll need those thoughts in my head to keep me going haha! One of the things I want to do most in life is get a house in the outer banks or the keys! I'd fish as much as I slept! Congratulations on realising a dream many of us have. Sure is much colder back here in PA.


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

Instead of starting a new thread I figured updating this one would be just fine, so here you go. Like just about all of the rest of the country it's been cold here, really cold. I drove across the bridges to Manteo Thursday morning and the sound was actually freezing which was a first for me. There were birds walking on ice out to about seventy-five yards...crazy. I checked the weather early in the week and saw that Saturday looked like the only decent day in the foreseeable future so we made plans to head down to Buxton. Still no fresh bait to be found around here so I gave Ryan at Hatteras Jack a call again on Wednesday. Ryan is quickly turning into "the man" as he told me he just got in 100 pounds of fresh cobs that morning. I told him I'd be down after work and he said if he was closed just to give him a call and he would come over so I could get some as he lives close by. Truly a stand up guy. 

I really didn't want to freeze or let them just sit on ice for two days and turn to mush so I searched back through the archives here and decided to try my hand at brining them. I had no big secret combination of ingredients. Just ice, sea water, baking soda and rock salt. I let them soak for 24 hours then drained and just layered them in the ice and leftover rock salt that was still left mixed in with the ice. I really had no idea how it would fish as I've heard stories of the salted baits not working as well as fresh. I figured a firm salty bait had to be better than a mushy piece of crap, though. 

As the wife is all about shelling too and the early bird gets the worm we headed down early and were on the sand and setting up at 7:00 a.m.. I'm glad we did because you wouldn't believe how many people ended up showing up out there. We posted up in the same spot we had a couple weeks prior when we got into the pups. We fished all day with nothing to show but doggies. I saw one small pup caught around mid-morning but that was it. I knew the tide was going to be rising and turn just about sunset and the wind finally turn from north to west so I was optimistic for the evening bite. Sure enough, about an hour before sunset I landed my first pup. I was noticed by some fellow fisherman and got a couple of "good jobs" but no one moved. After the token picture and release about 15 minutes later I caught another one. That's when I quickly got a lot of company. I didn't mind, plenty of room for everyone and they all new how it worked and fished close well. We fished until the sun went down and I landed a total of five. The smallest at 26" was gifted to another fellow who wanted to grill if for new years and the rest went back in. The largest was 32-33" I'm guessing. I only measured the gifted fish to make sure it made the slot. I had one fish on for about 10 seconds before it somehow spit the hook and it felt a lot bigger than any others that I landed. I would have loved to have got it in. 

The funny thing is though, I was the only one catching fish. There were seven of us out there and other than me only one other fellow landed one. My wife was getting bit but was having trouble getting the hook set. She's still having trouble with the circle hooks. She doesn't seem to be able to not set the hook. I'm going to have make her some rigs with J-hooks. In the end she did land a nice one for herself, though. Thank goodness she did because we weren't leaving until she caught one. The only reason I can think of for the catch/no catch thing is the bait. We were all fishing the same water. I may have been casting a bit further than most but a couple guys were right out there with me. A couple were using bait they bought from Ryan as well but not brined. As we were packing up, my wife being the good-hearted sole she is, walked over and gave one of the guys we had been talking to the whole time a piece of our bait. As we were driving away he was walking to his truck with a nice pup! 

In the end we caught six nice pups and probably 15 or so doggies. We fished for about 10 hours with really only the last couple of hours being productive. The weather doesn't look like it's going to let up any time soon so I'm not sure when I'll get out again. The girls certainly weren't interested in getting out today and I can't blame them. The wind is back and the real feel is 24 degrees. I may stay a little closer to home and try for a non-existent striper this afternoon/evening on the rising tide. Maybe I'll just stay inside and watch my Steelers.........

and because without pics it never happened.....


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

shhhhhh.......don't tell her I posted this "horrible picture" of her!


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## Jollymon (May 21, 2015)

Looks like you had a great time ,Very Good report , Between you and Garbo ( he seams to be missing lately ) your keeping those of us that can't be their as often as we'd like well informed


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2017)

Nice report! Really appreciate it. If we get a nice weather day and I am off, will make the trip if I know there are fish and bait and your reports help....otherwise end of Feb or March.


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## NH Paul (Sep 7, 2017)

Nice! Looks like Secret Spot #-!


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Hikes run said:


> shhhhhh.......don't tell her I posted this "horrible picture" of her!
> 
> View attachment 49490


Hike...You only need to soak the Mullet for about 5 minutes in the ice/salt/salt water brine. You are getting the Mullet cold quick, then you drain the water off and pack layers of Mullet in ice while sprinkling the Mullet liberally with Rock Salt. Perhaps you started a new technique with soaking 24 hours I do fine without the Baking Soda. Just plenty of Rock Salt.

I have not been fishing, been chilly-willy blowing NE a lot here on the OBX and I have been spending a fair amount of time over at Alligator River Wildlife Preserve, looking for Bears, saw a Sow Black Bear with two Cubs at around 800 yards on one of the old logging roads at Alligator on Saturday. Only saw Deer yesterday, these Alligator River Deer are hunted by the Red Wolves-Black Bears-Coyote-Wolves-and Men in Orange caps, so all I saw where White Flags bouncing into the woods at three hundred yards. Perhaps they will re-introduce Black Bears to Hatteras Island and make the Night Fishing on the beach more interesting, hard to drift off to sleep if you are on the menu...

It is thick country really thick over at Alligator, plenty of Bear Sign on the Logging Roads, Bears are protected on the Preserve along with the Red Wolves and Alligators, but Hunting is allowed for Deer-Small Game-Waterfowl. I wanted to walk around looking for Bears but it is so thick I would have to take a Gun along with my Camera if I ventured off the Logging Roads, was not licensed and the rules are no lead shot except for buckshot and slugs when afield and Deer Hunting only. Run into a 500lb+ Boar Black Bear at 5-6 paces in the thick Poccosins and you are in for it

I found a few promising Deer Hunting areas for next year, next year I am going to make an effort to Hunt.

As Joker is at work at the moment I wanted add that We enjoyed a nice meal at Basnight's on the causeway to Manteo last Friday Night, Fresh Shrimp and Oysters and then Joker was off to Duck Hunt on Private Land just South of Columbia. 

On an unrelated matter, Nick is the Man for 2017, somewhere North of 175 Citation Drum, mostly in the Spring, the Fall Pier Season was pretty spotty this year.

Phil came in Second at just around 100 Citations, all from the Beach.

The Rest of us in places 3-10 were stuck in the 40+-50+ Citation Range.

I was glad to put in the effort, even if in my Case it was Mostly Sharks, I ended up with 41 Citations, around a dozen Yearlings over 20 Pounds which do not count, lost at least a dozen large Drum to Break-offs.

(After I went to 20 Pound Test Line on the Beach the Break-offs ended, Pulled the Hooks on 6 or 7 Big Drum. 

I ended up in 6th Place, I was older by at least 20 years than the fellas in front of me with the exception of George, who I am only 15 years older. I will correct some of my Deficiencies this Winter and try and do a little better in 2018.


27 Degrees and Blowing 27MPH here this Morning, it is only 60-70 Days and the Spring Opener on Ocracoke for 2018 Joe Mullet Memorial MAN Tournament kick-off.


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## dsurf (Aug 5, 2003)

As usual, love your reports Garbo......give them A+++...rating...Nick is the man.


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## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

Garbo: was Joker Hunting with Karl?


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

We started out late this afternoon on a short trip around the area just to check things out. Started off out towards the little bridge. Poles had a bit of a lean to them.......









Water north of the Little Bridge was solid and looked like the north pole........









12 south of the Bonner Bridge was a total wreck. It looks to have completely over washed the dunes and covered the road in one to two feet of sand, ice and snow. They had one lane open through it when we went down. The picture shows the best part. Most of it was zig zag back and forth from one side to the other dodging huge chunks of ice. Water blew all the way back under the new bridge at Irene Inlet as well. LOTS of debris on the beach.









Buxton had snow. We couldn't help but check out the point to see how things went. It appears the whole thing was over washed all the way up to and including the fenced off area at the end of the trundle road when you first come on. The point handled it well though and looks to be as it was with the exception of everything getting smoothed out and the little pond refilled. There were no drop-offs anywhere. It was swept clean and the whole thing had packed sand, no ruts at all. It was like driving on concrete.


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

And in case you're wondering what the ocean looked like today......I don't think eight would have held......


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

Rather than sit around I gave it a go this morning on a rising tide. I had to chip my way through 2-3 inches of frozen sand just to get my spikes set. The real feel was 7 degrees. It wasn't too bad if I kept my back to the wind. Wool is a wonderful thing. I was planning on throwing some grubs but the water just looked too dirty. I got no love but still had a nice, quiet morning. Next week it's go time as the temps are going to come back up.


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## 23mako (Aug 24, 2016)

Thanks for the pics Hikes run. 

Where can you get quality wool these days? Seems I have a hard time finding it.


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

My wife says I'm cheap.....I prefer the word thrifty. Whatever, but I find a lot of wool garments at thrift stores. My wife likes to browse them and it's one of the few items that I have a reasonable chance of finding there that interest me. I found a really nice and heavy lambswool top for 6 bucks not to long ago. Big buttons at the collar for cold fingers and when all buttoned the collar goes up to my chin. The trick is finding 100% wool and not a blend.


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## Jollymon (May 21, 2015)

Hikes run said:


> My wife says I'm cheap.....I prefer the word thrifty. Whatever, but I find a lot of wool garments at thrift stores. My wife likes to browse them and it's one of the few items that I have a reasonable chance of finding there that interest me. I found a really nice and heavy lambswool top for 6 bucks not to long ago. Big buttons at the collar for cold fingers and when all buttoned the collar goes up to my chin. The trick is finding 100% wool and not a blend.


You're spot on , When it's "COLD"........ "WOOL IS KING" , My grandfather had that advice when I first started Duck hunting and later in life living in Alaska that's about all I'd wear except 
for a few weeks in the summer when not in mountains or spots on the coasts .

Cheap,thrifty, whatever you call it saving money is always a good thing , it let's you get better tackle


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

As I write this I'm sitting on the ferry headed over to Ocracoke. It's going to be a little damp this morning but I don't think the fish care if it's raining. It's going to be warm anyway. There was no fresh bait to be found up north as usual and all my regular stops were closed on the way through. It looks like it's going to be artificials or the week old shrimp I had left in the cooler. Oh well. I'll post up if there's anything to be found down this way.


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## Guest (Feb 10, 2018)

Good luck!


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## Papa-T (Sep 5, 2011)

Nice report Hikes. Great pics.


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

We fished secret spot "tango papa" today. Stopped at RDT on the way in and heard there was nothing happening there on Friday. It was pretty much the same today. It was warm and the water was clear. A beautiful day in general but horrible for fishing. We had a small front push quickly through around noon. When I say quick I mean quick. From the time I noticed it on the horizon it was on us, rained and was out the other side in about a half hour. The drop in pressure did turn on the only bite of the day though. Too bad it was doggies and skates. The doggies were some of the bigger ones I've caught.....pushing 4'. Not sure if anything was happening south of us, didn't hear anything. I think we're going to head down in the morning again and see if we can find a "crack of dawn" bite. The tide times kind of suck this weekend and we got a late start this morning since I had to wait for RDT to open to get bait, still no bait to be found north. Saw some guys this week starting to fish the little bridge again. I might try it a couple mornings before work next week.


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## Guest (Feb 25, 2018)

I was just getting ready to post a report myself. Made the ride Friday morning from Raleigh and got there just after lunch. My buddy I was meeting caught a slot drum on the south side of the point 5 minutes after I pulled up. 

That was all I saw.....my perfect fishing window Friday thru Saturday afternoon was taken away by the brief N wind that blew all the warm water away right before I got there. I hit the point Fri, Hatteras inlet Fri after dark, the point Sat morning, Old Frisco pier at lunch, and back to the point from 1 to 3. No bites except for 4 skates.

And the warm water is back now since I am at home...,happy fishing everyone!!


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

What is so "horrible" about that??? NICE JOB!!


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

Yah DD...."horrible" was probably a bad way to put it. Any day spent fishing is a good day! It just seems like I catch more fish during crappy weather this time of year. 

We hit the same spot as yesterday just as the first bit of light was starting to brighten the horizon with the sky still full of stars. I was joined by three others and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. One fellow hooked into a slot drum almost immediately and I thought to myself "good choice to come down early, this is going to be a good morning". Just about the time he was walking back from his truck some folks pulled up to look for shells or take pictures of the sunrise that was thirty minutes away or whatever and sat there with there headlights shining into the water right in front of us for a good five minutes. Believe what you will about the whole "headlights in the water turning off the bite" thing but after it happened the switch was turned off. The four of us fished through sunrise and myself until about 8:30 with only one more slot.....landed by the same fellow who caught the first one. I noticed he slightly tweaked his double bottom rig in a way I'll be trying soon. I heard there was a good evening bite last night and that yesterday there were slots and yearlings being caught elsewhere and a "variety" of fish being caught to the north.


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## Garboman (Jul 22, 2010)

Hikes run said:


> Yah DD...."horrible" was probably a bad way to put it. Any day spent fishing is a good day! It just seems like I catch more fish during crappy weather this time of year.
> 
> We hit the same spot as yesterday just as the first bit of light was starting to brighten the horizon with the sky still full of stars. I was joined by three others and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. One fellow hooked into a slot drum almost immediately and I thought to myself "good choice to come down early, this is going to be a good morning". Just about the time he was walking back from his truck some folks pulled up to look for shells or take pictures of the sunrise that was thirty minutes away or whatever and sat there with there headlights shining into the water right in front of us for a good five minutes. Believe what you will about the whole "headlights in the water turning off the bite" thing but after it happened the switch was turned off. The four of us fished through sunrise and myself until about 8:30 with only one more slot.....landed by the same fellow who caught the first one. I noticed he slightly tweaked his double bottom rig in a way I'll be trying soon. I heard there was a good evening bite last night and that yesterday there were slots and yearlings being caught elsewhere and a "variety" of fish being caught to the north.


I heard that if you shine a blue light back at the folks spooking the Drum, you will have action in less than 10 minutes.


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## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

Hikes run said:


> Yah DD...."horrible" was probably a bad way to put it. Any day spent fishing is a good day! It just seems like I catch more fish during crappy weather this time of year.
> 
> We hit the same spot as yesterday just as the first bit of light was starting to brighten the horizon with the sky still full of stars. I was joined by three others and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. One fellow hooked into a slot drum almost immediately and I thought to myself "good choice to come down early, this is going to be a good morning". Just about the time he was walking back from his truck some folks pulled up to look for shells or take pictures of the sunrise that was thirty minutes away or whatever and sat there with there headlights shining into the water right in front of us for a good five minutes. Believe what you will about the whole "headlights in the water turning off the bite" thing but after it happened the switch was turned off. The four of us fished through sunrise and myself until about 8:30 with only one more slot.....landed by the same fellow who caught the first one. I noticed he slightly tweaked his double bottom rig in a way I'll be trying soon. I heard there was a good evening bite last night and that yesterday there were slots and yearlings being caught elsewhere and a "variety" of fish being caught to the north.


 Seen it too many times... YES a sudden light spooks drum at night.. Now a constant light,aka pier can be good not a bad thing......... just an observation....


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## sanjuanworm (Dec 20, 2012)

Garboman said:


> I heard that if you shine a blue light back at the folks spooking the Drum, you will have action in less than 10 minutes.


very true...but may not be the action so desired


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## The Joker (Mar 24, 2015)

sanjuanworm said:


> very true...but may not be the action so desired


Just make sure the blue light is not attached to your vehicle!


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

The wife sent me a message late this afternoon that the bite was on today. I managed to get out of work an hour early and we hauled ass down there in time to catch the last 45 minutes of daylight. We missed the majority of what was a pretty epic bite but still managed a few fish. It got a bit crazy at times with twenty some guys fishing and five or six hooked up at a time. Many lines were crossed and some tempers flared but I guess you'll have that. I think some of them need to read the thread on conga line etiquette though. One father and son duo landed fifteen today and another well known fellow landed twelve. The largest I heard of pushed 54". Not sure what this big northeast blow is going to do to them though.


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## DaBig2na (Aug 7, 2011)

I think you were talking about Brian L and his kid who got the 50+ fish.... NCTravis and his partner (Kyle) scored 12 ea the last report I got.
20 lines is easy... wait til there is 5060 and a bunch of mullet fishermen... Most of those guys that were there know exactly what they are doing. Especially the ones whose names I mentioned.


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## Hikes run (Aug 9, 2015)

Yup, those are the guys I was referring to and yes they, as well most others, were a pleasure to fish with and know what they're doing. However there were a couple guys that just didn't grasp the concept of walking with their bait down the line and would gather up three or four lines at a time when they brought it in. I saw some braid out there too. Even so, it was a blast!


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## DaBig2na (Aug 7, 2011)

Ditto on the braid, not much you can really say until the guy loses you a fish and the only thing you can do is express your displeasure with him non verbally if possible. The ones who go out and spike up 4 to 6 mullet rods with braid tend to be the ones who are the most ignorant. Next will be the ones with clear line, especially at night.

Glad you all had a blast. I am awaiting Garbo's report because of his eloquent writing style..


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## Gorge (Jun 13, 2017)

That fish that your wife caught is huge!


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2018)

Nice!


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## TreeClimber (Oct 10, 2017)

Nice indeed!


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## jwfishn (Jul 8, 2009)

thank you hike, good report.


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