Memorial Weekend Hatteras Report
Wednesday 5/23
Me and Hedrick brothers Cory and Garrett aka Sparky headed east out of central NC Wednesday afternoon around 3:30 pm for our annual Hatteras fishing trip. Burned through the 362 mile trip pretty fast, arriving at 10 pm-ish. The rest of our fishing buddies, Bob, Brumfield and Keith arrived one day earlier. The forecast was looking good at 2-4 ft and 10 - 15 knots for the next few days, so we were pretty excited....
Thursday 5/24
Out of bed around 5:30 am. Wind was blowing but the sea looked pretty good. Bob's boat was showing 18 volts coming off the battery so they stayed behind to figure out the issue - turned out to be the gauge - and we went ahead and pushed off. We ran out a little north of the rock pile. Saw a few signs of life. Boats were scattered. Worked the spread changing things up to find something that worked. Finally I put out a blue/white seawitch and locked horns with a big cow dolphin shortly after. Sparky fly swatted him the first time - hence the sliced dorsal fin but stuck him perfectly the next time.
Stayed in that spot for a few minutes and had a bite or two but nothing stuck. Started trolling north and finally decided to pick up and run. Ran about 6 - 7 miles towards a couple of boats that were working a nice weed line. Smart decision as we ended up putting 4 more in the boat there.
Back to the house and Bob's crew is already there and about to clean their fish - 3 nice dolphin, one was a 16 lb bull. Our big cow went almost 19 lbs. Burned just over 40 gallons of fuel.
Friday 5/25
Got a little tropical on us so we stayed inside. Had a little trouble out there that day. Got to the end of the drift and went to turn the key - nothing. Complete silence. Popped the cowl checked fuses, nothing. Went in the cuddy to inspect the key switch. A wire came loose. Crimped on a butt connector and good to go. The tide wasn't right so we decided to take the boat out to eat lunch. Got the boat back in, primed bulb and backed off the trailer. I was heading toward the dock when the motor just stopped. Barely got it cranked in time to minimize damage but still bounced off the dock pretty good. Squeezed ball and ball would not get tight? Cowl comes off again. Sparky primed the ball while I watched fuel GUSHING out under the bowl. Fuel line had popped off the fitting! Spent some time searching for a zip tie, took off the flame arrestor for better access, and got the fuel line fixed.
Off again.....We managed to catch a ton of flounder but only 4 made the 15" mark. My bait of choice was a strip of dolphin belly along with a strip of squid.
Saturday 5/26
Went after the flounder again. Again caught tons but only 5 kept up to 17".
Sunday 5/27
Another flounder day. Conditions were tough but we still managed to catch even more flounder than previous days - only problem was they were all short except one just under 17".
Monday 5/28
Left at 7:30 am. Home at 2:30 pm. Had a great time with my very good
fishing buddies - minus one of our main fishing buddies, Slick, who's wife is expecting VERY soon!
Wednesday 5/23
Me and Hedrick brothers Cory and Garrett aka Sparky headed east out of central NC Wednesday afternoon around 3:30 pm for our annual Hatteras fishing trip. Burned through the 362 mile trip pretty fast, arriving at 10 pm-ish. The rest of our fishing buddies, Bob, Brumfield and Keith arrived one day earlier. The forecast was looking good at 2-4 ft and 10 - 15 knots for the next few days, so we were pretty excited....
Thursday 5/24
Out of bed around 5:30 am. Wind was blowing but the sea looked pretty good. Bob's boat was showing 18 volts coming off the battery so they stayed behind to figure out the issue - turned out to be the gauge - and we went ahead and pushed off. We ran out a little north of the rock pile. Saw a few signs of life. Boats were scattered. Worked the spread changing things up to find something that worked. Finally I put out a blue/white seawitch and locked horns with a big cow dolphin shortly after. Sparky fly swatted him the first time - hence the sliced dorsal fin but stuck him perfectly the next time.
Stayed in that spot for a few minutes and had a bite or two but nothing stuck. Started trolling north and finally decided to pick up and run. Ran about 6 - 7 miles towards a couple of boats that were working a nice weed line. Smart decision as we ended up putting 4 more in the boat there.
Back to the house and Bob's crew is already there and about to clean their fish - 3 nice dolphin, one was a 16 lb bull. Our big cow went almost 19 lbs. Burned just over 40 gallons of fuel.
Friday 5/25
Got a little tropical on us so we stayed inside. Had a little trouble out there that day. Got to the end of the drift and went to turn the key - nothing. Complete silence. Popped the cowl checked fuses, nothing. Went in the cuddy to inspect the key switch. A wire came loose. Crimped on a butt connector and good to go. The tide wasn't right so we decided to take the boat out to eat lunch. Got the boat back in, primed bulb and backed off the trailer. I was heading toward the dock when the motor just stopped. Barely got it cranked in time to minimize damage but still bounced off the dock pretty good. Squeezed ball and ball would not get tight? Cowl comes off again. Sparky primed the ball while I watched fuel GUSHING out under the bowl. Fuel line had popped off the fitting! Spent some time searching for a zip tie, took off the flame arrestor for better access, and got the fuel line fixed.
Off again.....We managed to catch a ton of flounder but only 4 made the 15" mark. My bait of choice was a strip of dolphin belly along with a strip of squid.
Saturday 5/26
Went after the flounder again. Again caught tons but only 5 kept up to 17".
Sunday 5/27
Another flounder day. Conditions were tough but we still managed to catch even more flounder than previous days - only problem was they were all short except one just under 17".
Monday 5/28
Left at 7:30 am. Home at 2:30 pm. Had a great time with my very good
fishing buddies - minus one of our main fishing buddies, Slick, who's wife is expecting VERY soon!
