[JimRockfish]

Here are a few shots from my recent trip to Hatteras with friends. We rented the house pictured, Sign of the Fish, in Frisco just north of Hatteras, from Sat to Sat ($300 ea total for 6 guys) and were able to fish right behind the house. Most mornings we went to The Point early and caught a lot of blues, sharks, skates, whiting, a couple flounder, only one drum and nothing significant but pretty steady action. We tossed everything back. I fought something very large to within 10 ft of the beach until it decided enough was enough and took off like a rocket with everything but the rod. Really fun trip. We got blown out 2 1/2 days with 10 inches of rain. No problem with beach, radio, large flat-screens, hot-tub, books, pool table, decks of cards, rum, beer and wine.

 

[swartj]

Nice pictures. The price was definitely right for the house and fishing out of that truck is the way to go.

 

[Burchbeer]

Jim,
I am speechless!

This is me in the future for sure. :thumbup:

 

[crabby and son]

Jim, That looks like a great trip and you have the right attitude when blown out. Wish I was there because surf fishing is my favorite. OC used to be good 40 years ago but the sand pumping did it in. Hatteres is great around Thanksgiving!...........Gary

 

[powder]

I was there the same time fishing in the Surf Fishing Tournament and that was allot of rain. Nice pic. Great place.

 

[JimRockfish]

How did you do in the tournament? We were at The Point most days, probably right near you. I think you had to stay 500 feet from there, right? Friday morning, one guy landed a 60-70 lb nurse shark right next to me and another guy had 3 really nice drum.

 

[DaveOsh]

Nice pics Jim. I go down in August with the family but would love to do a fishing only vacation when the bigger fish are around. Thanks for the post.

 

[Seahunter]

Looks like you had a good time. Headin down in early January if everything goes as as planned.

 

[JimRockfish]

Great cheap fun once the kids leave home. Here are a few things I learned on this trip:

1. I'm switching all mono line to braided. Lost some nice fish that would have been
beached with braid.

2. No need for 12 ft. rods..... 9 ft. is about right for all conditions and easier to handle.
The Red Drum Tackle Shop sells beautiful hand-made combos that many of the
vets use. Red Drum Tackle -- Buxton, NC

3. Let your tiires down to about 25 lbs. No need to go less.

4. I did much better on strips of corn-cob mullet than finger mullets, even the live ones
that my friend caught with a cast net.

5. Check mullet for freshness, firmness and clear eyes.

6. I learned to tie #30 lb. leader line directly to #17 lb. Even the extremely small swivels limit
cast distance.

7. A 4 oz. weight gripped the bottom in most conditions until it got very rough. 5 oz. did
the trick in rough surf - although I had 6 and 8.

8. A hot breakfast of grits, country ham, eggs and biscuit around 1030 am after a great
morning of fishing is awesome. Diamond Shoals Restaurant in 46843 Nc Highway 12, Buxton on Dine.com

9. Eating out for meals is a lot easier than cooking for that many people. We had one
good meal of spaghetti with sausage, garlic bread, wine as a group. Many good places
to eat and we did 2 meals a day plus snacks that we brought (nuts, crackers, cheese).
Often one group of 3 would o to one place and another group to another. I split off
with differnt people for variety.

10. No need for waders unless it is much colder. Easy to wade out in shorts with bare
feet. Keep a change of clothes in your truck each day. The house has a large
washer/dryer so you don't need a ton of clothes but you do need towels.

11. The house had wireless Internet... really nice.... so check that and bring your laptop.
It's nice for the weather, eateries, fishing report, watching your 401k dissolve. Everyone
liked checking their email on my laptop.

12. Have one cooler dedicated to bait, one to food and drinks and another for fish. We didn't
keep anything this trip.

13. Most truck mounted surf-racks were really nice - solid - up high and worth the price.

 

[Seahunter]

1. I'm switching all mono line to braided. Lost some nice fish that would have been
beached with braid.

Interesting…..what brings you to that conclusion? Too many mysterious break offs in the surf using braid for me.

 

[JimRockfish]

Interesting…..what brings you to that conclusion? Too many mysterious break offs in the surf using braid for me.

I thought braid has a greater breaking strength but could be wrong.

 

[J.A. Veil]

Jim -

It sounds like you had a great week. My family went to Cape Hatteras for 15 years at Memorial Day, and I went with the guys another 4 years in November. For various reasons, we have not been back in 8 years or so. I will have to add it to the list for things to do again when retirement rolls around.

 

[uncle phill]

Great pics!
When we go to Diamond Shoals, its the seafood omlet for us! :thumbup:
Those are some nice tips.

 

[ffnpt]

Great pic's, I'm going down the week after Thanksgiving. Hope to get some pullage. I'll try and post a report.

 

[nineball]

great pics I was down there the 7-13 fished the point blues skates sharks no drum to be found wind blowing wrong direction whole time we were there . fished ramp 23 just south of the pier and slaughtered king fish to 14'' brought back a cooler full




nineball

 

[POLECAT]

Jim,
That's a great way to practice for retirement!

 

[Capt. Yakes]

We do this each year later in the winter with eight guys. Real bad time for all of those thinking of going.

 

[nineball]

thought I would share some info. for those who might want to chase that big drum


I carry a 12 10 11 9 8 the 9 and 8 spinning and the bigger rods bait casters big rods are xheavy 6- 10 oz small rods are med 2-6oz
braided line has less abrasion resistance than mono if you are a spinning guy you need braid for distance .
the choice is braid with a mono shock at least five wraps around the spool.20# braid 50# mono this gives you the best chance or getting the fish thru the surf and not getting your line cut buy shells and so forth

for the bait casters which are the reel of choice 17 mono and 50# mono shock this is exactly how the red drum spools their reels if you buy one from them

double rigs for puppy drum with around #5 hook and fish finder rigs with a # 8-10# circle hook for big drum do not skimp on on the fish finder rig buy one of theirs if you do not know how to snell a hook with 80#-100# mono fresh bait at least every 20 min

for those of you afraid of a bait caster fret no more I recommend two reels the penn 525 mag and the diawa saltist
I have three none magged reels that a subject to birds nest at any time . but these two reels features that make them a lot easier to throw
the 525 has adjustable magnets and the satilist a centrifugal brake you can still get a little tangled if you try for to much distance but no where near what a reel with no breaks can do

they talked me into the saltilist at the red drum and told me a great reel especially at night when you can not see the spool
I was not disappointed I went straight to the point with it stuck 6 oz and bait and let it go .
what a thing of beauty and its a smooth as glass reeling in

once you learn to throw a bait caster you will never go back to a spinning reel for big rods there is no comparison


thats my 2 cents worth


nineball

 

[AIK68J]

Way to set it up Jim told you that Ridgeline was gonna be a great fishing tactical vehicle. Whats wrong with wading out in cold water bare foot after the water gets into the mid 30's you can't feel your feet no problem

 

[Seahunter]

I thought braid has a greater breaking strength but could be wrong.

I use #14 and #17 Sufix Tritanium and #50 leaders on my all casting rods. I've caught lots and lots of fish over #50s in the surf and I can't remember the last time I broke a running line. Most times when a fish is lost close to shore it's from improper technique not the strength of the line.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to drop their rod tip once the fish get up close. You need to bow of the rod to help maintain tension on the line. Without the bow you've seriously compromised your ability to act to a sudden change in direction of the fish. It doesn't take much slack for a fish to throw a hook in the suds

The other thing I see repeatedly is people dropping the rod and pointing the tip at the fish. This is a big no-no. Again, without the bow of the rod you've lost the shock absorbing properties of the rods. One quick jerk of the fishes' head and snap…..the fish is gone.