Dan is the Man!

[Peddler]

After telling my brother Dan about the huge schools of large trout that are up and down our beaches he promptly packed up his tackle and made the drive from richmond. The south side of both piers were crowded with snaggets most of the day so we decided to wait until the crowd left. We fished yesterday evening in KDH and he made me look silly. He caught 3 big trout and a 5lb black drum standing right next to me using the exact same lure i was in about an hours time. We both had countless bites but i just couldnt hook up. I finally caught a 26" red after relocating to nags head but never got a trout. All fish were hooked in the mouth on mirrolures. Most of the "bites" were actually our lures bumping into the fish because they were so thick but we were working them so slow we never snagged any. Putting him on those fish was much more gratifying than actually catching one myself so i didnt feel too bad. Two out of three were his biggest ever, around 3 1/2lbs and he was stoked. The weather turned ugly today and the bite was off so he headed home with those and the rest of the meat i caught the two days before for him and my father. Dan, YOU ARE THE MAN! pete

[happy hours]

Nice trout and you are a good brother.

Are they getting them in the inlet too?I'd love to take my small boat out and hit some holes.

[Peddler]

There have been some around the inlet but not many. Water temps at the inlet are still up and down due to cold ocean water on incoming tide. They were biting well further up in the sound before those 2 cold nights cooled the water back down. Temps came back up yesterday but it was too windy for me to want to go. You may want to try around roanoke island or behind nags head and kdh. Water temps are more stable there and i've heard of some good catches. Last year the sound bite started around the 11th but it may be later this year due to colder water and unstable weather. After watching the schools on the beach that didnt want to bite i wouldnt be surprised if they are thick at the inlet but are not feeding yet. When water temps hit 65 it should get them feeding.

[surfperch1]

Way to go PETE! Nice seeing you yesterday!

[happy hours]

There have been some around the inlet but not many. Water temps at the inlet are still up and down due to cold ocean water on incoming tide. They were biting well further up in the sound before those 2 cold nights cooled the water back down. Temps came back up yesterday but it was too windy for me to want to go. You may want to try around roanoke island or behind nags head and kdh. Water temps are more stable there and i've heard of some good catches. Last year the sound bite started around the 11th but it may be later this year due to colder water and unstable weather. After watching the schools on the beach that didnt want to bite i wouldnt be surprised if they are thick at the inlet but are not feeding yet. When water temps hit 65 it should get them feeding.

Thanks for the tips.

a friend of mine set a net off the beach wednesday and caught about 30 and about a thousand lbs of skate.:wacko:

[Peddler]

After dealing with all those skates he's probably sorry he ever tried it. These fish are very vulnerable right now the way they are stacked up. Rec fishermen have been snagging them intentionally and unintentionally for the last 5 days in great numbers. There was even a school trapped in a tidal pool that got wiped out by people walking out and picking them up by hand. The other day when we were sight casting to them a rec fisherman got frustrated cause he couldnt get a bite and got his cast net and tried to throw on the school we were fishing. I did everything i could to spook them away from him before he could get a chance. Also talked to a guy down at obx pier who tried to wrap up a school with a gill net but they were on to him and he only caught one.

[DC]

I have to give Pete a lot of credit for putting me on the fish and giving me a few pointers. The weather cooperated for one day out of the two days of fishing so I feel fortunate to have caught anything - we got blown out the following day. At the end of the day he caught the biggest fish - the red drum fought pretty hard for a while and was a nice one.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/3473725161_555468a68e_m.jpg

The larger trout Pete is holding here was caught a few days before I arrived.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3540/3474517470_07322179ec_m.jpg

Captain Dan