Battle with bruisers

[Jim Schottenham]

Since it's 3:30 AM and I'm at work waiting for a server or two to power back up, I thought I'd reflect back on my most recent fishing trip from this past September (how sad is that - 3 and a half months ago!).
A call from my good buddy Bill Holbein that the fishin' had been outstanding, got me to drive down to North Carolina to see what the coast had to offer. Driving to the dock in Morehead City, NC, Bill tried to prep me for the power of the Amberack we'd be after, and I thought I had I handle on it. Yeah right! Leaving the dock and rounding the point at Fort Macon State Park, the flag was perfectly still - an unusual sight that meant little to no wind all day! After catchin' a load or two of Menhaden, we were off for a 10 mile run, interupted by a school of Spanish Mackerel that required our attention. After catching a bunch of them for dinner, it was off to the open water. Once at "the spot", it didn't take long for Capt'n Brian to get those Amberjacks excited - and I was hooked up and thought I was goin' in!

That's me tryin' to stay in the boat...

Once I got the hang of it, I managed to land this minnow:


That stripe from the eye to the dorsal fin is bright as can be when these fish are on the feed.
With the growing number of Amberjacks feeding right next to the boat at this point, it was a must to try and get one on a topwater plug. We managed to "lure" a fish in the 100 lb class to smash the plug, but he came un-buttoned. I tossed a menhaden over the side and caught this one, though not 100 lbs, it was a great fight!


the best fights of the day started when I switched to a lighter set up, and used a Shimano Torium reel and rod. That little reel really whips those big fish!


The second day was much like the first, with little or no wind. So, we moved around to the outside of the Core bank and started catching Albacore on light spinning tackle. They were in the mood for speed, and you had to cast as far as you could and reel twice as fast as you could to get them to smash the jigs, but once they did...Wow. And I thought smallmouth were tough! (I still do by the way...)

It was a trip I'll remember forever, and I'm already looking forward to doing it all over again.
Well, the servers are back up, so it's back to work.
Jim

[Brian F.]

Nice fish, Jim! Amazing how much power they can generate, isn't it? We have a very close cousin, if not the same thing, here in Hawaii. The Hawaiian name for it is Kahala and they fight quite a bit like the ulua or Giant Trevally that you see in my avatar image. A company also recently started raising them in open ocean cages for the seafood industry and they're supposed to be great eating.

[Ron Mc]

BIG amberjacks - we usually don't see them that big in the Gulf.

we get jack crevalle and mackerel coming in close and often get into those with a flyrod. My bet mackerel story is a 44"er on a 7-wt. fly rod.

[Jim Wiegner]

Good morning Jim:

Even if you didn't write a word, those pictures tell a story. And the smiles are the frosting on the cake! Looks like a bunch of fish sticks on those Amberjacks. You certainly have some wonderful memories from that trip.

At about the same time you were out on the briny with your pal, during the fourth week of September my brother and I were battling slightly smaller rainbow trout in Hat Creek (Northern California), reliving our youth where we had first fished together in 1955. And while the fish didn't pull us in the drink, it was a wonderful...and memorable time.

Hope you get to do that trip again as well.

Jim

[Jack Bright]

Jim I have only seen you a few times, but these pics of you and fish
are truly the happiest I have seen of you. More people ought to try it, a great way to have fun !. . . Glad to hear you still respect the Smallmouth.

[Jim Schottenham]

Brian, you're right, those fish are just flat out powerful. Every time you think the fight is over, they just peel off line like you weren't even there.
Jim- glad to hear you got a chance to fish that spot with your brother. Sounds like it a a fun trip! While I didn't get a chance to try any Amberjacks as table fare, I did get a Grouper and a mess of those Spanish Mackerel (great on the grill by the way!).
Ron, I would have loved to catch a few albacore on a fly rod, and Bill did try, but you couldn't strip line fast enough for the mood of the fish. I plan on giving it another try if/when I go back down there.
Jack - I'll never loose respect for the smallmouth. Despite my recent off-shore adventures with Blues and Stripers off the Cape, and these giants off the Carolina coast, I'll always enjoy a trip down to the Mohawk river close to home for a day chasing bronzebacks! Nothing beats a great topwater bite on the river! Unless it's those albacore...or maybe a good steelhead on a noodle rod...OK, so I like them all. I'll just stick with nothing beats a day on the water anywhere!

[Ron Mc]

to catch kings, I cocked the rod under my arm and stripped continuously with both hands. We had black water, bobbing off the end of the jetties (crystal clear water black with fish), with jacks, mackerel and baby tarpon all in there. I was using a T350 sinking line and pretty much letting it sink to the 20' bottom before I began stripping, so I was bringing it up fast through the fish. I also had about 300yds backing and walked around the boat more than a few times.