After the most perfect day of weather and fishing on August 18th, it rained on the 19th. The wind blew, the sound churned, and the ocean swelled. The charters stayed home and even the most adventurous of the privateers relinquished to Mother Nature and spent the day indoors. Sure it was, I thought, that the season was quickly coming to an end and while there may be a few good days leading up to Labor Day, fishing, for the most part, would now be for the pure enthusiast and not so much for the occasional recreationalist who come to Ocracoke for a pleasant vacation. Well, I was wrong!
On August 20th the wind settled, the clouds cleared the sky, and the sound returned to a clear, greenish-blue hue of tranquility.
Families returned to the slides and zip lines and for some reason even the flies took a break and let me cast my net into the shallows for bait fish. Let’s go fishing!
On August 21st Drumstick brought home the biggest batch of wahoo yet this season with the Rogers family. John Rogers, John Jr., John III, and Johnna (just kidding, her name is Micaela) from Elkton, Maryland hauled in a 44lbs citation wahoo and also hooked three sailfish at the same time while trolling for their first time off-shore with Captain Marty Baumgaertel and First Mate Nick Piland.
The rest of the week continued to be productive. Captain Stevie Wilson landed a 52.5lbs citation wahoo on August 26th with his party aboard Dream Girl. John Schwatka from Hereford Maryland (pictured below) with a 59 inch wahoo aboard Gecko Charter Fishing that same day.
I believe Captain Marty took off to an annual hippie festival, high in the mountains of Colorado somewhere, so Drumstick owner Farris O’Neal took the helm, landing 5 wahoo, 30 bailer dolphin (Mahi), in addition to tuna, snapper and trigger fish with Kenny Brown, Hunter Lucas and David Tucker from Mechanicsville, VA.
In addition to successful off-shore charters, the inshore and sound side fishing has been fantastic. I have kept my fridge full of blues, Spanish, flounder, and the occasional speckled trout the entire month. Inshore and soundside fishing is a great way to spend a half day on the water and still have time for the beach in the afternoons.
Renting boats and doing it yourself is an option, but if you aren’t sure how to do it right, I suggest booking with the experts like Norman Miller of Rascal Charter Fishing, John Ferrara of Fish Tale Charters, or Ronnie and Ryan O’Neal of Miss Kathleen. If you prefer to spend the day on the beach but still want to fish, Russel Williams of Williams Guide Service offers very productive night fishing trips for drum at sunset on the sound. All of these guys have been fishing the sound for well over 20 years. Here is a link I found on a quick online search to get their phone numbers. http://ocracokeisland.com/c_charterfishing.htm
Tropical Storm Hermine came and went pretty fast. We had a few streets that flooded for about a day and then we pretty much returned to normal. The water level remains high but it is starting to clear, and looking at the forecast ahead showed September was sure to be a spectacular month.
This is probably my favorite month because the temperatures are like cooler summer days and fishing gets very dependable. Summer king mackerels are still within a mile or two of the beach, so you can charter the offshore teams for quick trips along the beach for Spanish or blue fish. Then, troll out a little further for kings and even catch smaller “bailer” mahi on your way to artificial reefs.
You will want to fish these structures for catches of catch trigger, snapper, and sea bass and still be home by one o’clock. Not a bad day…
If that isn’t enough fishing information to entice you, let’s talk red drum. These fish have already started to school and show up in abundance around the shoals and inlets. They have been catching them on the back sides of the sound around drum shoal and along the shoals beside the ferry the channels on bait throughout the summer, but the real fun is about to start. Sight casting into schools with bucktails and hauling in a 40inch bull drum on light tackle is about as satisfying as fishing gets for me. The bull drum are throwbacks but you are sure to catch a keeper in the slot of 18 – 27 inches to fillet for the table as well. One fish per license so go ahead and bring the whole family. Happy fishing!