Surf Fishing the Outer Banks of North Carolina

Written by Elizabeth Edwards


My first experience surf fishing was with my father on Wrightsville Beach, NC inrepparttar 60's. He parked our shiny black Ford Fairlane in a gravel parking lot offrepparttar 149748 beach and we hiked overrepparttar 149749 dunes torepparttar 149750 surf, carrying rods, buckets, tackle box and various other fishing paraphernalia. I remember him catching bluefish, croakers, puppy drum and flounder as I played inrepparttar 149751 tidal pools nearby. Later, my grandmother would fryrepparttar 149752 filleted fish to a golden brown and we would eat them with hushpuppies and coleslaw.

Years later, inrepparttar 149753 mid-eighties, I remember an early winter fishing expedition near Oregon Inlet, south of Nags Head, this time with my husband, 8-month old daughter and a Chesapeake Bay Retriever puppy. My husband had come in from duck hunting and had heardrepparttar 149754 big blues were hittingrepparttar 149755 beach! We parked our 4-wheel drive truck nearby onrepparttar 149756 hard sand and withrepparttar 149757 baby playing contentedly in her car seat andrepparttar 149758 puppy chewing on anything he could find, we lined up alongrepparttar 149759 surf with a few dozen other fishermen, castingrepparttar 149760 heavy silver spoon lures intorepparttar 149761 churning waters ofrepparttar 149762 big blue blitz. Cast after cast we were rewarded with huge bluefish, twelve to sixteen pounds, filling up a wheelbarrow in a pyramid of large fish. Later we filleted, boiled and aterepparttar 149763 fish in casseroles made with mashed potatoes. Needless to say, we were eating bluefish casseroles all winter long.

Surf fishing is exciting, rewarding and accessible to all. Most locations can be reached either by car or ferry. With a basic understanding of seasons, conditions, equipment and regulations, an angler can get lucky just about any time ofrepparttar 149764 year, but typicallyrepparttar 149765 very best times to surf fish are spring and fall.

Popular and prolific sport fish species you may catch surf fishing alongrepparttar 149766 North Carolina coast include:

Channel bass (red drum, puppy drum) The spring season generally begins in April. This run will peak by mid May and taper off in early June. Average size in spring is 35 to 50 pounds. In Septemberrepparttar 149767 smaller drum will enterrepparttar 149768 surf. These fish will range between 2 and 15 pounds. They are more plentiful thanrepparttar 149769 larger variety and can be found in most sloughs. In late Octoberrepparttar 149770 bigger drum (40-70 pounds) return and remain until late November. Bait of choice is fresh mullet; rods are 9 to 11 feet with medium to heavy action tips. Size allowed is between 18" and 27" with a daily bag limit of 1 per person.

Bluefish Blues are available in a variety of sizes from April to December to surf fishermen and boaters as well. Large size blues (8-12 pounds) arrive in May and remain until November. Their departure is generally hastened byrepparttar 149771 arrival ofrepparttar 149772 fall run of 15-20 pound giant blues. These later fall visitors are plentiful and powerful. They'll take bait (mullet, spot, or menhaden) or almost any type of lure. Fishing rods 9 to 11 feet are preferred. Bag limit of 15 per day per person. Only 5 allowed over 24" total length (from tip of snout to tip of compressed tail).

Women and Fishing -- Not Just a Man's Sport

Written by Elizabeth Edwards


More and more women are learning to enjoy fishing each and every day. And, why not? Fishing is a sport that doesn't require exceptional strength, stamina or height - quiterepparttar contrary, fishing is a sport of agility, finesse and patience, skills many women already possess. So why don't more women fish?

Successful fishing requires knowledge of various types of fishing gear, tackle, and an understanding ofrepparttar 149747 quarry. Fish have a variety of feeding habits, behavioral patterns, etc. and these characteristics influence how to go about fishing for them.

Traditionally, men learned how to fish when they were boys from fathers and grandfathers. Even if this training was lacking, it's no big deal for a guy to hang out with other guys who enjoy fishing and learnrepparttar 149748 ropes from them.

For a woman, though,repparttar 149749 process is apt to be somewhat more difficult. In my family of all girls, we learnedrepparttar 149750 thrill of fishing as children from our father. Fortunately for us, our dad was an "equal-opportunity" fisherman...and he was a very patient man.

We learned to bait our own hooks, remove fish fromrepparttar 149751 line, and cleanrepparttar 149752 fish as well. We were rewarded with many an enjoyable Sunday onrepparttar 149753 lake competing for top family fishing honors of who caughtrepparttar 149754 most andrepparttar 149755 biggest fish.

For women who weren't brought up fishing as I was, all is certainly not lost. Although learning from a boyfriend or spouse is not out ofrepparttar 149756 question, a significant other may not berepparttar 149757 best place to get your first fishing pointers.

Your honey may not haverepparttar 149758 patience that you will need to learn proper fishing technique and he may be a bit condescending as well…not exactly conducive to an enjoyable learning experience.

Try instead local women's fishing clubs. Check online for groups in your area that are specifically organized by and for women. Many groups are primarily centered on fly-fishing but not all are.

Also see if your community college or local university offers any fishing courses. Often fishing classes are offered inrepparttar 149759 adult education, physical education or recreation departments.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use