By Richard Seale
Hurricane Florence recovery quashes fall fishing
The damage done by Hurricane Florence continues to impact the lives of many
Carteret County citizens. As I write this, it has been six weeks since the storm kept us
in its northeast quadrant as it violently moseyed past us. Businesses remain closed for
repairs, workers have been out of jobs, roofs remain tarped, damaged trees still await
removal, docks remain unusable or destroyed, and many folks have been forced from
their homes only to have problems finding some place to live while waiting for repairs
to be done. The sound of chain saws is at last dropping off, but the sounds of nail guns
and hammers have replaced them.
Yes, fall fishing is “in,” but few boats
have been passing through McNeill Inlet
since the-storm. Folks are just too busy
dealing with downed trees, damaged
houses, arguing with insurance adjusters
and trying to get repair people to get to
their projects. In short, many folks are just
too worn out to consider fishing.
Still, a number of fishing friends have
admitted they said, “Forget the to-do list;
I’m going fishing.” And they did. One went
to the Gulf Stream and came back with just
one Mahi. Another went to the turning
basin and caught some sheepshead. Jen
Rebman, Jan Corsello’s daughter, caught a
nice 16.5-inch legal flounder (see photo)
and a false albacore in the Pine Knoll
Shores surf This fish is also known as
“bloody tuna,” and its flesh tastes pretty
fishy unless special steps are taken. These
steps include beheading the fish to bleed it
as soon as it is landed and after steaking the
body, soaking the steaks in milk overnight.
Jen Rebman, a dedicated fisherperson
and daughter of Jan and Larry Cor-
sello, iwith a 16.5-inch flounder caught
from the surf at Ocean Park.-
Jan Corsello
-Photo by
It still is pretty strong tasting, but it is better
eating.
I have only made it out fishing one time since the storm. Gerry Smith and I went
to Cape Lookout to fly fish for false albacore (which we caU Fat Alberts). From the
shipping channel in Morehead City to Cape Point at Lookout, the sea was empty of
birds or fish. It was a discouraging run. We decided to look inside Barden Inlet. Near
the red marker, we found two pods of Fat Alberts. A bunch of boats were chasing
those fish as they surfaced and quickly chased them down. Gerry had not seen any fish
on two previous trips. We did not hook any, but at least we saw them, and Gerry did
get to put a few fly casts into them.
Rich Bingmann was on his way to McNeill Park when I had a chance to chat with
this avid and skilled fisherman. He described his successful fishing in Bogue Sound.
I felt his story would be even better in his own words, sol asked him if he would
mind writing down what he told me and if I could include his story in this article. He
graciously said yes. So here is his story.
Accompanying this article is a picture of the only legal red drum that I
caught recently. The other four were all well above the 27-inch maximum slot.
One was not really hooked. It swallowed a nine-inch croaker I was reeling
in, and, as soon as I got it to the boat, the drum spit the croaker out at me and
took off. This drum and two others were in the 33- to 36-inch range, but the
biggest one was well over 40 inches. I tried to lift this big one into the boat by
the leader, but the weight of the fish broke a 25-pound test snap swivel.
I use a light action fishing rod with 8-pound line. All the fish were caught
16
The Shoreline I December 2018
on an orange-colored buck tail cut
from a spec rig. I usually flavor
the buck tail with a small piece of ^
squid. This is the perfect rig for
the person who just likes to have
continuous action.
Fishing off the UNC docks, I *
have caught pin fish, pigfish, gray
trout, speckled trout, sea mullet, ' ’
black drum, cobias, sheepshead,
flounder, spots, permits, blow fish. Rich Bingmann with a red drum Just small
hammerhead sharks, bonnet head enough to be a legal keeper
sharks, black fin sharks, blue fish, —Photo courtesy of Mr. Bingman
dog fish, toad fish and a variety of skates. In recent years, I have also been
catching black sea bass well over the 13-inch limit. Any time I fish there, I can
count on catching at least six different varieties of fish.
I have also caught pig fish weighing in at over a pound. If you want to have
some fun, try bringing in a one-pound pig fish on light tackle.
Thank you. Rich, for sharing this informative and encouraging piece. His story
shows Bogue Sound does offer some very good fishing fun not very far from our
home ports here in Pine Knoll Shores. It also suggests it might be well worth the act
of throwing up your hands and saying, “I’m going fishing, to heck with the to-do list.”
After all. Old Man Winter is on the way.
Be sure to check out the Pine Knoll Shores Fishing Tournament report in this issue
to see what fish came to the scales at weigh-in.
2018 Fishing Hall of Fame. It is once again time to send in your favorite fish photos
from 2018. Please send your high-resolution photos by December 11 to shoreline®
townofpks.com or to Richard Seale at rseale@ec.rr.com. We will feature the photos in
the January issue of The Shoreline. Remember to include any photos of your children
or grandchildren with their catches, and please provide names, photo credits and some
appropriate brief comments for correct bragging rights.
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