More Drum and a Tournament 1st place Trout

I had couple guys hop on Friday afternoon for a last minute charter before they headed back home.   The mission was  for them to each catch their first drum.   We headed out to the drum grounds and got to work.   It took a little time to find them but they each got there drum and released another.   We headed to the trout and caught a bunch of dinks and a flounder to round out the evening.  Fun day.

If you have followed my reports for the last 5 months you could see that I have been on the puppy drum every day.  So I fished the Manteo Rotary Inshore Slam Tournament yesterday.  My plan was to get my trout first, then my flounder, then save a little time at the end of the day to get a drum.   After picking through a bunch of small trout and flounder, I finally put a keeper flounder in the box and checked it off the list.  Kept grinding in the same area and got my keeper trout! I was stoked . . . Fist pumping!  I knew the trout was going to be tough, and it was.  It was only 11:30am – I had over 3 hours to catch a drum. No problem – so I thought

I got to the drum grounds and started casting.  I came up on a fish who was swimming with a ray.  Put it in his face and he inhaled it.  I fought him to the boat and he throws the hook right about 10 ft from me!  I was upset, but not too upset.  I had plenty of time and they were there.  I kept casting and casting . . . . and casting . . .  and casting.  2 hours went by without a bite.

I was starting to get nervous, should I stay and grind? should I try a new spot? I had some mullet . . . should I bait them?  I just kept doing what ive been doing for 4 months.  Covering ground.   Finally come tight on another fish, but this one makes it to the net. ONLY TO BE TOO BIG! NOO!! 28 inches and over the slot, DAMN!  Time was winding down and the realization was setting in they I won’t get my slam.  I was shocked.  Watched 1 more fish follow it and turn away , probably had grass on my lure.

It wasn’t a total loss – I did manage to take home 1st place in the trout division.   The final punch in the face was finding out that not a single slam was weighed in.  I knew given the tough conditions that if I could make a slam I would have a really good chance of being the only one.  Oh well, I’ll be back next year.  Thanks for checking!

Phew!

I had a morning trip that started out SLOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.  I was actually getting a little nervous.  I couldn’t find my pet drum. . .  I think we went 2 hours without a bite.  They pulled through for us though.   Finally got on them and put our limit in the box and released a couple more.  We saw alot of fish that wouldn’t eat.  Wonder how many we didn’t see that wouldn’t eat????  Thanks for grinding it out guys – glad it came through for us!

Bens Monster Drum

Ben came down from PA to visit the Outer Banks as well as join me for a few guided fishing trips.  We hit the sound a couple times and caught a few puppy drum.   The bite was OK at best, and I was hoping for better.

The last mission of the trip turned into a hunt for monster drum.   When we talked a couple months ago, I told him the timing of the trip was spot on to try to get one from the sand.  Well, it really hasn’t started yet.  Alot of resident fish have been caught on the piers during hard NE blows, and a handful have been caught in Corolla.  The big push from Virginia hasn’t really happened yet.

I told him it was a long shot  – but we gave it a go anyway.   The conditions were doable at best. NE wind 10+ and some 1-2ft chop.  You really want a SW wind to fish Corolla.  When I paddled the first rounds of baits out – I was dropped them in a big pod of bunker.  That was a huge confidence boost. We soaked them for an hour and reeled them back in.

Put another round of baits out and soaked them for an hour as well.  Reeled those back in without a bite.   Finally, we decided we would run one more round of baits out.  I was starting to lose a little hope – I just didn’t think it was going to happen.  We hung in there and grinded it out though.

After about 10 minutes one of the rods finally jumps.   It wasn’t the typical screaming run of the clicker. It was a slight bend in the rod and a couple clicks off the reel.  Ben was standing right there to bring it tight and bury the circle hook.  The whole fight I was saying in my head “shark shark shark” .

Finally got the beast in the wash and I saw the first glimbse of the big ol beautiful red.  I was ecstatic and so was Ben. What a way to cap off his trip.  I knew this mission was going to be make or break for his trip down – and the plan came together!  What an awesome afternoon!

Thank you so much Ben , I thoroughly enjoyed your company and look forward to a lasting relationship.  Here is Bens 45″ beauty.

Multi-day report

Been running a few trips lately – the fish are still chomping…  We have been mixing in the speckled trout early morning before heading to the drum beating grounds.   A few shots from some of my recent trips.

Back at it

Got a few trips booked up the next couple days –  the wind is going to keep the conditions challenging.   Luckily the drum are still hanging around and are always crowd pleasers!   I had 4 with me this morning and we had to bounce around a little to find a bite but we found em good .  We had pretty consistent action for an hour or so hooking one about every 5-10 minutes.  We decided to use the last bit of the trip to fish for specks.  Mission accomplished! Thanks guys