Earlier in May, Cynthia and I enjoyed a week’s vacation at Carolina Beach on the North Carolina coast. We stayed in a cottage owned by the Beacon House Inn Bed & Breakfast. Between sightseeing, dining, hiking, kayaking and just relaxing I still managed to find time to hunt down a few fish species not found in the local waters of Cape Cod.
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| Trolling aboard the SS Fish Witch
I was hoping to go on a 10 hour Gulf Stream party boat trip with a shot at catching multiple species of Snapper, Groupers, Jacks and more. This trip was cancelled due to the weather forecast. The boat is on a Spring schedule with only one trip per week. Other party boats in North Carolina were too far away. Instead we ended up splitting a charter on the SS Fish Witch to target King Mackerel. Captain Shane took us ten miles offshore where we trolled with artificial lures and dead Cigar Minnows. Once the fish starting hitting the action was pretty fast. Four of us took turns reeling in fish. Cynthia caught six King Mackerel. I caught five King Mackerel and a False Albacore. The other two passengers caught a mix of King Mackerel and Spanish Mackerel. The Kings ranged in size from 24 inches to 32 inches.
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| Cynthia reeling one in |
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| Cynthia with a King Mackerel |
The king mackerel were a new addition to my species life list. The False Albacore was on my 2017 wish list. False Albacore are found in Cape Cod waters for a few weeks each year, usually during late summer or early fall. They can be frustratingly difficult to hook so I considered this one to be a lucky addition to the 2017 Species List
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| My False Albacore |
The next morning I woke up early, walked the dog, and then went down the road a little ways to a small public dock used for launching kayaks and canoes. One other guy was already there but he said he wouldn’t mind sharing the dock. He had just caught a small Atlantic Croaker. I decided to try some micro-fishing using a Sabiki Rig cut down to thee hooks baited with squid tentacles and a 1/2 ounce sinker. In less than an hour I added two more species to my Life List. Altogether I caught six Atlantic Croaker and five colorful Pinfish.
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| Atlantic Croaker |
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| Pinfish |
Later that same day Cynthia and I set off to visit the Croatan National Forest. I wet a line in a one of the creeks. One spot was narrow with fast-flowing freshwater the other spot was wide and tidal. Nothing was biting. We stopped at the Cedar Point Recreational Area for a picnic lunch and a walk on a nature trail through the salt marsh. Later on we traveled down a dirt road through the interior to explore the forest. I decided to stop at a swampy spot beside the road and check it out for fish. Tossed out an earthworm on a bobber and immediately got a hit. Pretty soon I had caught two more Life List Species, Blue Spotted Sunfish and Flier (a small relative of the Crappie).
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| Flier |
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| Blue Spotted Sunfish |
My next attempt at fishing was with a kayak on the Cape Fear River. We rented the kayaks at Carolina Beach State Park. We enjoyed the kayaking experience, though the fishing wasn’t what I had hoped for. Only caught one Pinfish.
Time flies when you’re having fun and that’s especially true when it comes to vacations. The guy who checked in our kayaks at the end of the day tipped me off on a good saltwater shore fishing spot. Also a there was long fishing pier just up the road from where we were staying. Just didn’t have enough time to try out these opportunities.
Other highlights of the vacation included sightseeing and dining. The historic Poplar Grove Plantation has an excellent interpretive program with a highly skilled staff. As for dining our two favorites were the Seawitch Tiki Bar and Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn.
I hope to return again to Carolina Beach and this time make it on to a Gulf Stream party boat trip.
