# How was your 2011 fishing season?



## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

(Got this one from you Kenny)

How was your fishing season in 2011?


I killed my share of flounder this year spearfishing as well as Sheepies. Managed enough grouper too to help fill out the places where the flounder didn't reach in the freezer.
Shot some of the biggest taugs I've ever seen. (they are not to common this far south, but moving in good.) 

Got in on a couple of phenominal drum bites, neither of which were in Hatty. (First time for that.)
Did catch drum in all the usual places.

Bottom fishing was great until the Black Sea Bass vanished. (Thanks SAMFC) Now the grouper and snapper are closed as well due to them being extinct.
Caught more american reds then I've ever seen. Shot lots of gags as well.

Learned a new "Skill"; how to catch stone crabs.


----------



## crumbe (Jul 22, 2011)

Did great fishing out of the yak this year.

Had a great summer for the flounder with several over 22"...and ended with a nice full freezer to help tide me over until next season. Unforunately the pups were almost non-existent up here but I did end up with one out of rudee that was over slot. Just lucked up on him. Had a pretty good year trout fishing also with some nice ones. And the few times I went out striper fishing at the HRBT ended pretty good also.

All in all I enjoyed every day I went out..and look forward to the spring.


----------



## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

Mine was well, having been in some real good drum bites and like Ryan said all the seabass you wanted til they disappeared. The best was the school of reds that I fished from mid June until end July out in the surf. Overslot fish with several in mid-thirties on medium spinning tackle and lures(spoons and topwaters) over 150 fish easily. Hope they come back next year a few inches bigger, tags will tell. Lots of fish out of the yak, and don't forget about the early season fun on the shad and stripers upriver, excellent troutfishing out of the surf late fall up til Christmas the best I have seen in a long time. I also went to Cape Lookout for the first time, if you love Hatteras you will love Lookout even more for its seclusion. Hope to go back real soon, I'm ready and got some Cobbs.


----------



## ReelKingin (Aug 3, 2009)

slowest flounder year from the last 5 for me....Kings? Is there such a fish left? lol....Sheepheads was good, spanish & trout was ok...thats about it...hopefully 12' will be a tad better


----------



## Hooked Up (Feb 6, 2009)

cant complain a bit.......was able to snag 4 paper fish from 3 species.....rocks reds n blacks


----------



## AbuMike (Sep 3, 2007)

Sucked dog nuggets. Just did not get to go much this year.


----------



## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

I think i caught one king all year myself. But for me, thats a good thing.

Several of my flounder were five pounds or better.


----------



## kingman23 (Feb 9, 2010)

Mine was overall pretty good, I caught one nice sized cuda, lots of blues, a few spanish, broke off lots of big sharks, but never even saw a king (caught) this year. For freshwater, I had a terrible year in the lake I normally catch lots of catfish in i think i caught maybe 10 the whole year. But in the potomac, this year was probably the best Ive ever done catching catfish we caught 18 good sized fish one day this year.


----------



## surffshr (Dec 8, 2003)

surf or boat?


----------



## drumchaser (Jan 14, 2003)

I did good with the stone crabs too. By far my favorite meal out of the salt.


----------



## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

Yea..surf or boat...any fishing.


----------



## gshivar (Aug 29, 2006)

No big drum. flounder so-so. Good sp trout locally. Ryan,have you worked WB area for claws? I am still going to work N & S before it is over. Do not want to see you in MY claw area next fall, LOL!! Had a good charter out of Hatteras with Patrick Caton. Hard to release 6 of these.







best - glenn


----------



## chris storrs (Aug 25, 2005)

decent spring catfishing...decent shad spring season, everytime i brought along a striper rod they were noowhere to be found...kept busy weekdays bass fishing, did alright with 2-3 pounders in local ponds nothin big...didnt get to chase spring drum, finance reasons, ..........summer did good...2 pier kings, awesome spanish bites, sharks kept things interesting with livebaiting, many times too interesting, BIG BIG spanish had me drooling chasing my baits around, no takers, some awesome cobia fishing outta the boat stepladdar style,heck of an adrenaline rush havin one take an eel while ur holing on for dear life with the current ripping thru the pilings standing on a stepladdar strapped down to a carolina skiff holding on with one hand, a pissed off cobia screaming a heavy drag in the other hand...sailfish offshore....never did catch one of the darn frigate mackeral i chased all year...got somethin for em next year......fall fishing, lets just say im still on suicide watch, fished more than i ever have in a fall from va in mid sept to nc mid november....mr drum and i are not on good terms, and he will be getting a beating come springtime...winter catfish were non existant for me in my "lazy mans hole"..still awaiting hot water


----------



## don brinson (Apr 8, 2011)

fishing was great, the catching was a little slow.Met some new friends on the beach,So a good year altogether.


----------



## drumrun (Dec 5, 2007)

My wife caught her first paper drum off the beach at 49.5 fl. A real nice fish. I got a few this fall, none that big. I caught my biggest cobia(90# class fish) ever this yr, Thanks DRUMDUM. We had the best spring flounder season I have seen in 10 yrs. You could catch your limit in under an hr. Tossed alot of lures at alot of spanish, nice sized ones at that and got zero. Had them come off stingsilvers, blow up surface lures and still got nada, a few dinks but darn I missed some real nice fish. All and all I would not mind a repeate next yr.


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

A "ho-hum" year alltogether.. Drum in the spring,just ok with closures coming to quickly.. Cobia were there,but not like they could have been,water temps allowed them to get around the point and zoom to the bay a little faster. Pier fishing n of Hatteras was a bust with Avalon and Nags Head in LOW numbers.. Beaches at Corrolla and Corova were almost unheard from as thier numbers were WAY down.. Avon came out of the gate,once it was set to fish after the big storm,with a flurry.. Month of Oct there was excellent,but then the animal grass moved in with the huge swell from low off the coast and ruined it for first of nov.. With only ONE drum caught in nov.. Buxton Point on the other hand had one of the best falls for drum in quite a while.. 

There was a bright side as well though.. Pompano and seamullet were in the surf in good numbers in the summer and early fall,with some nice sizes as well..

Got to put a few folks on some nice fish this year.. Trying to put everyone on a nice cobe is tough when they've flown the coop and headed into the bay,but we caught spainish.. Oh,and NTKG can tellya we did put in the effort.. Really wanted to get that young man on a fish somekinda bad,just didn't happen...

Spainish and bluefish were just "ok" from the planks. I got out there a few times and caught some numbers of nice fish,both spainish and bluefish,so can't complain there.. Pinriggers from Avon did the best they had done in a while with about 10 cobes and 4or5 kings.. When you figure hrs spent trying to do that,it was pretty slow,but that is Avon pinrigging for ya.. Although when ya take into account the other n piers,Avon put the smackdown on them as far as pinrigging.. Biggest cobia I have ever seen in NC off a pier,98lb was caught as well as one in the high 80's,few in the 60-70lb range,not too hateful.. 

Seamullet on Avon were close to non-existant this fall.. Even Mr Bell packed it up and went home early this year.. He told me he only had a few keepers.. This coming from a man that fishes for them (probably close to 90yr old) from sunup to sundown.. Lots of small specks around avon,with about one to a cast at times,but no keepers to speak of..

Guess you could say it was even worse than a "so-so" year.. I'm trying to be optomistic about it,but it truely sucked on most fronts imo... Hopefully 2012 will show us a little better,but with Feb coming (and all the baggage that will carry with closures) I don't think it will be as good in the surf of Hatteras.. It will not be the same trying to guess when that first drum will be caught with s end of Ocock closed.. Shame of it all is Cape Lookout and others that are under the nps will follow if this stands... kinda goom and doom..


----------



## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

Glenn. Havnt worked the area yet. The times ive been ready to,other alternatives arrived. Plan to soon.


----------



## Ghostrider (Jul 27, 2010)

In Holden Beach...The fishing has been generally pretty good...caught trout, spanish, blues, flounder, pompano, black drum, mullet, a small cobia and the usual sharks, skates and toadfish. Did not catch a Puppy Drum, Striper, King or Sheepshead. Some fish with size and most small.


----------



## EABiker (Aug 16, 2010)

We made it down in fall, just after Irene messed things up. I targeted blues, and I was not disapointed! Went home with over 70 in the cooler, and am still enjoying the weekend fish fries. Couldn't catch any finger mullet though; only bought the first day's supply the previous year; had to buy them all this year.


----------



## chris storrs (Aug 25, 2005)

Drumdum said:


> . Pinriggers from Avon did the best they had done in a while with about 10 cobes and 4or5 kings..
> 
> (


thought it was only 3 kings? i know of a few more lost, but thought mine and tylers were the only ones to hit the deck?...i remember chris lost one(called me while jake and i were on the way to richmond headed home), frankie lost on on a gotcha, quite a few missed strikes at no fault to anyone, were there some fish i didnt hear about?haha

on another note wish i coulda been there for the cobia season off the pier...got out on the boat once in may but we only saw a few, and got one


----------



## tjbjornsen (Oct 31, 2009)

Not enough time in the sand by far, but I did manage to catch the 5-6 biggest Pomps of my life, 2 in Hatteras and a few more down in NE FL, so that has to lift the overall season from good to great...
I got better at tying my own rigs, and everything I caught was on something I tied myself, so that was a lot of fun...
I zeroed in on CTS rods as the rods that I enjoy the most, so that was a positive,
And I had a lot of fun playing with a (new to me) Akios and got bit deeper by the Avet thing, so that was all good...
I know, I know, more about the whole picture, and not so much about the fish, but like I said, not nearly enough time in the sand...
And oh yeah... lots and lots learned here on P&S, thanks to everyone's generosity in sharing knowledge and info....
Here's to an even better 2012!


----------



## tackle42 (Mar 23, 2010)

Had a good year. Started kayak fishing and put a decent amount of fish on the yak in 2011. From some dinky drum on the Neuse to wearing out the smallies on the New River. I was able to be a part of the big drum blitz on October 23rd at he Point and that was AMAZING!! Over 200 drum caught that night an I had 4 32"-38" and one 44", an lost 2 heavy ones in the wash. I had 2 offshore trips blown out so the freezer is looking pretty bad right now. I can't wait for the Spring. I've got one offshore trip planned an i hope we have some beach to fish on when the water gets close to 60 degrees. My goal for 2012 is to put a paper drum on my lap from the yak.


----------



## JPChase (Jul 31, 2010)

tackle42 said:


> I was able to be a part of the big drum blitz on October 23rd at he Point and that was AMAZING!! Over 200 drum caught that night an I had 4 32"-38" and one 44", an lost 2 heavy ones in the wash.


We were there for a few days and left the morning of the 23rd! Typical...

I almost fell over when I read the report that evening once we got home.


----------



## NTKG (Aug 16, 2003)

JPChase said:


> We were there for a few days and left the morning of the 23rd! Typical...
> 
> I almost fell over when I read the report that evening once we got home.


I told you!


----------



## NTKG (Aug 16, 2003)

Drumdum said:


> Oh,and NTKG can tellya we did put in the effort.. Really wanted to get that young man on a fish somekinda bad,just didn't happen...


Well Sir, if some dumbarse Korean had made sure his damn eel wasn't dead it might have helped! 

In all honesty, you try harder to put people on fish than many of the high dollar charters I have been on. More importantly is that it is always great company being on your boat


----------



## mtbrider (Jul 9, 2008)

Hey kenny, maybe this year we will be able to get together and try to get one on the fly. cobia that is


----------



## gilly21 (Feb 15, 2006)

Guess I'll chime in here. This was a so so year for me but given the time I put in per fish produced I cant complain. Started the year out on Jan 30th with a great school of Pups in the yak. Next trip was a suicide run Ryan thankfully convinced me to join him on. Had my first paper fish on the sand within an hour of setting up. We managed 4 in 24 hours then the beach was shut down. Didnt do much more through the spring and summer. Did get to the Neuse once in *sporty* conditions and went 2 for 5 (one for me one for Ryan). Hit the beaches with the OG's in Oct and managed 1.5 more paper fish. Hit the Fort only one time in the fall and managed a couple trout, mullet and 5 pups after blanking at BHP. Did truly enjoy the hospitality of the drum Bunker out there. That was it for me. Made it on the John boat once this year and managed to break some gear of the captains so doubt that's going to happen again. 
Spent some good time with friends and got to really see the generosity in a time of need. That in itself was worth any of the fish I caught all year. Ryan, WAM, Cookie....Thanks for your support this year! Going to be a great o'12.


----------



## Samblam (May 22, 2011)

First year getting into saltwater fishing. Def ho hum but i love the beach and to fish on it. nothing better in the world for me. All in all I do have some things to brag about. Caught my first spanish, whiting, spot and bluefish. I still remember the blitz of taylor blues off the end of lip earlier this year. Was there all day long with nothing but a few spot on a sabiki and some skates when in the afternoon some nice cool clear water came in with the high tide. It was weired, like someone drew a line in the ocean on one side was clear and on the other was muddy as hell. Anyways, once it got within casting distance i threw a gotcha plug and came up with a blue and everybody on the end started running for their jigging rods. Caught them cast after cast for 2 hours until my arm was tired of pulling in fish. Covered with bluefish slime and scales and sunburnt to all hell I cleaned my fish, hopped in the car with my brother and drove back to rva a happy camper. Ill always remember that day, for me it was great.


----------



## smacks fanatic (Oct 16, 2010)

I didnt do to bad this year. for pier fishing this year
june: got a chopper, king, cobia and some spanish and smaller blues
july: went up to michigan and caught a walleye and smallmouths
august: didnt fish that much.
september: another king but this time in florida off st augustine pier. Also caght some speckled trout.
october: caught more trout
november: caught trout in north carolina, and got a BIG red drum off the end of the jolly roger(45-50 inch fish no joke) but it broke the shock.


----------



## NCsurffisher (Jun 27, 2004)

I think it was kind of an average year overall, but I can't complain much about my own success rate. The fall in particular was really good for speckled trout in SENC, which is basically what I live for. I didn't get a whole lot of fishing in before the fall, but what I did was pretty good - big blues at Ocracoke in the spring. Not much in the way of drum this year (one morning with multiple pups on trout gear) and no stripers. All from land or yak.


----------



## Drumdum (Jan 6, 2003)

NTKG said:


> Well Sir, if some dumbarse Korean had made sure his damn eel wasn't dead it might have helped!
> 
> In all honesty, you try harder to put people on fish than many of the high dollar charters I have been on. More importantly is that it is always great company being on your boat


 It was a great day "seeing" them (as many as we saw for as bad as the fishing had been),many had lockjaw,two on the hook,two hooks pulled..  Chit happens,but keeping a smile the whole time,that takes folks in the crew that enjoy feesh'n,and I'm all for that... 
PS Them Korean eyeballs were working good that day too... 



mtbrider said:


> Hey kenny, maybe this year we will be able to get together and try to get one on the fly. cobia that is


 I'm all for it.. Still think I have the answer for ya on that flyrod ...


----------



## Ryan Y (Dec 1, 2005)

Steve. We are gonna spend a lot of time in the ole drum bunker this year i bet. .. your post made me laugh. You know you can fish with john anytime you want.

That okie bite looked as if it was gonna be off the hook. To bad everyone else showed up too hugh? There was one person there i always see the next morning. Have for past five years. This was only the 2nd time i ever seen him get blanked. Kenny and tater excluded.

You gotta get certed to dive. This year will be great.


----------



## KB Spot Chaser (Nov 19, 2009)

Ryan Y said:


> Steve. We are gonna spend a lot of time in the ole drum bunker this year i bet. .. your post made me laugh. You know you can fish with john anytime you want.
> 
> That okie bite looked as if it was gonna be off the hook. To bad everyone else showed up too hugh? There was one person there i always see the next morning. Have for past five years. This was only the 2nd time i ever seen him get blanked. Kenny and tater excluded.
> 
> You gotta get certed to dive. This year will be great.


 You betcha, looking forward to the magic number.


----------



## originalhooker (Nov 26, 2009)

best moment of 11' was my son(12) & I behind WB in Banks channel. We motored out in the dark, 7:30 in the 14'duracraft for specks. Carter had been having a tough week, so I made him go w/ me.

Tides were wrong, tried 4-5 spots, I had him dropping bloodworms/shrimp trying to keep him interested, 2 pigfish, by 9 he was curled on the front seat under his hoodie, every 4 mins "how much longer?" --one more spot.
got anchored, first cast 18", then 20", he was netting them, absolutely eating up the moment! Me, trying to keep him quite as every bang of the net against the boat echoed off the adjacent houses. You just gotta smile & teach the sultriness off stealth - they hadn't sunk in yet, 3 more fish & his excitement & shouts drew 2 other boats to literally anchor on top of us(Dad, why are they so close? Man dad they have nice boats, 21' - 25' center consloes, t-tops decked out, why r they anchoring in our spot?) . 
Not 30 seconds later, we hook up again, nice fish. His outburst of joy & him coaching me as the fish played us in the current for the next 8 minutes still makes me smile. In the cold dark with street lights reflecting off the current swept water, each burst of drag yielded an unrestrained explosion of a child's excitement! Then we saw her come up & circle under the boat, "IT'S HUGE" echoed off every hard structure within 200yards. Now with dogs barking & porch lights invading our slice of darkness we net the fish. 
I hope I never forget that moment of his expressions,,,,,I still laugh, smile & see him, now standing on the seat with out stretched arms & spread hands, "IT's HUGE, laughing shouts, man dad it's a monster!" as chaos erupted in the boat as the fish acted more like a cobia than a trout.....priceless
the fish wasn't bad either, just shy of 29".


----------



## tjbjornsen (Oct 31, 2009)

Outstanding!


----------



## gilly21 (Feb 15, 2006)

Ryan Y said:


> Steve. We are gonna spend a lot of time in the ole drum bunker this year i bet. .. your post made me laugh. You know you can fish with john anytime you want.
> 
> That okie bite looked as if it was gonna be off the hook. To bad everyone else showed up too hugh? There was one person there i always see the next morning. Have for past five years. This was only the 2nd time i ever seen him get blanked. Kenny and tater excluded.
> 
> You gotta get certed to dive. This year will be great.


Once I save up for my reloader I will be saving for Dive gear. Pulling all the overtime I can right now while I am hourly. Also going to try and get into building some stuff again to make some extra loot. I think o'12 is going to be a great year!


----------



## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

Only one trip to the beach in the fall and missed the opening on hwy 12 by 1 DAY!  OI sucked. A few small blues and a very close but thrown back flounder. Offshore was GREAT with a boat limit of yellowfins and we are still pulling out of the freezer. Need to get out more now that the little man is old enough to come to the beach with us.


----------

