A Tribute to Luke and Trout

Well since one of my best friends, Luke Donat, was so kind as to post a fishing story about me in his blog, and due to the fact that I would not be out here fishing and blogging about it if it weren't for him, I've decided to tell one of my favorite Luke Fishing Stories.

When Luke and I were stationed in Cherry Point, NC, we were roomies for a while. He had taken me fishing numerous places and taught me everything I know about saltwater fishing. So, when he ran up to me after work at about 4:00 and said, "Dude! Hop in my truck, the trout are running at Fort Macon!", I didn't question it and hopped in his truck. I didn't question it even though the park was only open until 5:30, it was pouring rain, I didn't know how he knew there were trout there, and....trout? In the ocean? WTF was he talking about?

We sped down to the Fort, grabbed our gear and our rain coats and headed out on the treacherous rock jetty. I was young at the time, so even though it seemed dangerous as the wind, rain and surf was pummeling us as we balanced precariously on the large head-cracking slippery rocks, it was fun and exciting.

We started casting, if memory serves me correctly, we were using shrimp on red jig-heads. He was right. The trout were running. Speckled trout. Trout in the ocean. Did not see that coming. We decimated them, which was good, because we only had about 15 minutes to fish. In that time, we caught at least a dozen healthy size trout.

This was on a Friday and we had the weekend off. Well Luke's parents lived up in Greenville, so we decided to head up there and have a nice trout dinner with his mom. Well, not only can Luke catch them, but he knows how to cook them too. We went to cleaning our catch and he explained that they were big enough that we could just fillet off the "good stuff". I grabbed my trout and the fillet knife and something hit me. Even though I grew up fishing out west, I had always fished with my dad and....had never cleaned a fish. Ever.

Needless to say, I butchered it. Probably only got about 70% of the meat that I could have. Lol, the sad part is I still suck at it. Even big 'ol Red Drum I can't fillet worth a damn. I usually just go Japanese style and bake the whole damned thing and pick the meat off with chopsticks.

Luke cooked up the trout fillets with lemon and orange slices while his mom cooked up all the sides. It was one of the nicest relaxing moments that were so very few and far apart during life in the corps. So here's to Luke, who taught me everything I know about saltwater fishing, was there for pretty much every first catch of each saltwater species, and didn't laugh at me too hard when he found out I didn't know how to clean a fish ;)

The Journey Begins

Okay so at this point, I know that there SHOULD be fish in the "creek" by my house. I caught a 26 1/2 inch drum there, and by asking around, I heard there should also be speckled trout and maybe even flounder! 

I had decided to go out about an hour before sunset because I heard that usually sunrise and sunset are prime fishing times. At least they were in fresh water.

On advice of a friend, I tried some Gulp bait shrimp with a red jig head. I made some sand spikes and used another pole with a pyramid sinker bottom rig with shrimp as bait. Within 30 minutes, I had a 15" red drum. Legally, it was to little to keep, but at this point, I'm fishing to eat. I made the 20 second drive back to my house and had a very fresh, delicious fish dinner.

The very next day, I give it another shot. Same time, same setup. This time however, within 15 minutes, much to my surprise, I caught a 12" flounder! Once again, not legal size, but once again, a man's got to eat.

I proceeded to catch drum everyday for about two weeks, each one a little larger than the last. Now that I had a good steady fishing hole, it was time to branch out and explore other areas.

Well my good friend had also gotten the fishing bug, only he had a boat. We launched off of Hancock Marina after work one day to get to his favorite spot. Since the fish didn't start biting for a few hours, we spent time with him throwing the cast net for fresh bait. He had told me how much I need to get a cast net, however at this time, I was still broke, and the damn things are about $40. 

Once we had enough bait to last a while, we headed down river to the fishing hole. It didn't take too long before we started pulling in the drum. Ted hooked a healthy 24 incher and while he was getting the hook out, I mentioned about how I was bitten by the one that I caught last fall. He laughed at me and said they don't have teeth. Then it bit him and tore up his thumb in the same manner as what had happened to me. 

"The ones in Florida don't have teeth!", he said, as I tried rather unsuccessfully to stop laughing at him.

We both ended up with one legal drum each, as is the creel limit. (Notice the gloves).

First Entry!

Alrighty, I've never really had anything to blog about before, however, since I've started to explore the fishing waters out here in Eastern NC, I've been getting quite a bit of attention, so I figured "What the Hell". For a bit of back story, I'll tell you that I grew up in Utah and Arizona and have been a fisherman my whole life. Utah Lake, Lake Powell, Lee's Ferry, and countless creeks, streams, rivers and ponds.

I joined the Marine Corps when I was 18 and was stationed at Cherry Point, NC from early 1999 to mid 2001. Out here I met a good friend who was from the area and he proceeded to fill my head with knowledge of saltwater fishing. The difference was mind blowing! My first time ever fishing in the ocean was off a pier in Cape Hatteras on the Outer Banks. My first day, I caught about two dozen fish of at least 10 different species. Red drum, black drum, bluefish, puffers, sheepshead, flounder, etc.

Over the next couple of years he took me fishing many other places and I was astonished at how great the fishing was. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and I was eventually shipped off to Japan for a year and when I finished with my term in the Corps, I moved back to Arizona. Six years passed since I had picked up a rod and reel. I vowed to move back out here when I could and start fishing again. 

Eventually, the stars aligned and I was able to make the move cross country. Unfortunately, life tends to get in the way of our recreation and for another year, I still hadn't touched a rod and reel. Finally, I got some funds and spent a good chunk on fishing equipment. Then I realized something. I had forgotten almost everything I knew about how to fish out here. Where were the fish? Are the different fish available only during certain times of the year? What effect does the tide have? Wind? Water temp? I had no clue. AAAAAAAAAAnd before I could figure it out, life reared it's ugly head again and I was once more benched for fishing.

Until last November when I realized that there was a salt water canal about 500 yards from my house. I grabbed my gear and went out and caught a 26 1/2 inch Red Drum (Redfish, Puppy Drum, Channel Bass). It broke my fishing pole and bit the Hell out of my thumb. They aren't supposed to have teeth, but this one did! (Well get into that later). 

Unfortunately it got cold immediately after that, and I'm a big puss when it comes to the cold. So I sat it out and when it started warming up a couple of months ago, I hit the creek again. And that's where my story really starts...