Mosquitoes Bite!
By Richard Seale
Suddenly It’s Summer
Fishing has been good to very good during May and June. From even small boats,
sight casting for cobia along the ocean shore has produced some very nice fish. Sight
casting is very different from bait casting for this “poor man’s sport fish.”
Bait fishing is done with a couple of heavy-duty rods rigged with live or dead
bluefish, spot, croaker or pinfish. The 5/0 or 6/0 heavy, but well-sharpened, hook is
on a sliding sinker. When a cobia grabs the bait, it normally runs about 100 yards,
stops and then ingests the bait. Waiting all that tirne to set the hook is hard to do,
but that is the deal. Sight fishing for cobia follows a lazy-start protocol since you
need to have the sun up pretty high in order to have the lighting right to see the fish
in clear water. Starting at 10 a.m. is not late.
The trick is to drop a 1/2-ounce or 3/4-ounce white jig head about 10 feet in front
of a sighted cobia. The jig head should be rigged with some white and sparkling
streamer materials and a strip of squid for “flavor.” As in all fishing, nothing is guar
anteed, but this year sight fishing success has been above average.
Cobia can run into the 80-pound class and they are very hard fighters—and very
muscular. You do not want to put a “green” cobia in your boat. A “green” fish is one
that has not been worn down in the landing fight. A green cobia can really mess up
your boat. A good hammer or baseball bat will take more fight out of a boated cobia.
The good news is that this is a very good eating fish and lots of fun to fight.
The mahi-mahi fishing out near Big Rock has been very good, too. Big bull dol
phins, in the 25-to-40-pound class, have been hammering trolled ballyhoo baits on
the surface and some nice wahoo have been hooked from deep trolling rigs. Blue
marlin are out there too, so good fishing was expected for the Big Rock Tournament.
Close to land, the flounder are in the inlets and marsh flats. Along the beaches,
some 18-inch Spanish mackerel are being landed on 00 silver or gold Clark Spoon
lures. Another good rig is a chartreuse yellow or sparkly green small Huntington
Drone spoon. Trolling speed for Spanish is about 6 to 7 knots. Get down to 5 knots
and the bluefish will be the fish you hook, and the fish that cut your lines! With
these light lures there is the tendency for hooked fish to spin as they are brought in
and this can make a mess out of your line. A 16-foot, 15-pound test fluorocarbon
leader is a good Spanish rig, but it can spin into a mess. A trick is to put a small
black swivel in the middle of this leader. Use black since bluefish are apt to strike at
silver “anything” and they will cut your leader and you will lose your lure.
Crabbing has picked up with some nice male “Baltimore Jimmies” in the mix.
As the water warms up, an increasing number of bacteria find it a friendly place
to populate. If you are swimming, boating, clamming, paddle boarding or kayak
ing and happen to get cut on oyster shells or something else, it is important to get
that wound disinfected as soon as possible. Normal peroxide might not be strong
enough. Consider keeping a supply of betadine in your first aid kit, as well as a tube
of triple antibiotic ointment and sterile bandaging, too. Hopefully, you will not use
these often, so you should check the expiration dates at the start of the summer sea
son. Wash the wound, apply a good bath of betadine, let the betadine dry, consider
applying some triple antibiotic ointment and put a clean band aid or bandage on the
wound. Redress and watch the wound carefully for a few days. If the wound starts to
redden or the tissue around the wound starts to swell, get to urgent care or a hospi
tal. There are some tough bacteria out there and they need to be taken care of before
they get a head start.
Be safe and don’t forget to get sunscreen on the grandkids, and you, too. A day in
our sun requires at least a 25 SPF, put on half an hour before getting into the sun,
and reapplied aft^er swimming. A safari type hat and sun glasses are good, too. Oh,
yes, remember to wear life jackets when in a boat—by la4 the kids need them.
By Sarah Williams
Facts about the enemy
• Mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on earth. That’s right; more deaths are
associated with mosquitoes than any other animal on the planet. Mosquitoes
may carry any number of deadly diseases, including malaria, dengue fever,
yellow fever and encephalitis. Mosquitoes also carry heartworm, which can be
lethal to your dog.
• Only female mosquitoes bite humans and animals; males feed on flower nectar.
• A mosquito’s wings beat 300-600 times per second.
• The average mosquito weighs about 2.5 milligrams and can fly an estimated
1-1.5 miles per hour.
Though small in size, mosquitoes can be a huge nuisance. The town is proactive
in this area and mosquito spraying is ongoing in Pine Knoll Shores—in an
environmentally responsible manner. The town will continue an aggressive approach
with larvicide on a town-wide scale. Larvicide will be applied in public areas, and we
urge everyone to consider helping us use this completely organic substance to kill larvae
before they become a problem.
To help with this effort the town has again purchased larvicide “donuts” in bulk,
which are sold commercially under such names as Mosquito Dunks. We will sell these
at cost with no tax. A six-pack of donuts at a local store is $9.97, plus tax. We sell six
donuts for $6. Each donut will kill mosquito larvae in 100 square feet of surface water
and is effective for 30 days—and may be broken up by hand for smaller areas. For more
information on the larvicide used, contact town hall at the number below.
The Public Service Department will continue to spray for mosquitoes during early
daylight hours, which is more effective than in the pre-dawn dark. The product we use
is Aqua-Reslin, a mosquito adulticide which is not the old DDT-based compound that
we once used to fog our streets.
Last year the town’s spraying program was inspected by the North Carolina
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Pest Control/Pesticides Division.
They found our program to be satisfactory in terms of recordkeeping, certifications,
equipment calibration and dosage monitoring. We dilute our Aqua-Reslin to a
minimum strength and spray well below the maximum amount allowed by EPA
regulation. All of our employees who spray are certified.
What you can do
• Take steps to eliminate standing water. Just a few inches of water is all it takes
for a female to deposit her eggs. Tiny mosquito larvae develop quickly in roof
gutters, unused flower pots or buckets and old tires dumped in vacant lots. Do
not allow water to stagnate in these or other receptacles. Dump anything that
holds water often—and more often if it has rained. Birdbaths, non-chlorinated
wading pools, footbaths, garbage can lids and pottery will aU attract breeding
mosquitoes. Remember to empty the saucers under your flower pots, and don’t
leave water in pet bowls for more than two days.
• If you are not a full-time resident or if you will be away from home for an
extended period of time, empty containers and birdbaths and turn them over
or move them inside before leaving the beach.
• Keep gutters dean and unclogged. Be sure your downspouts drain properly
without leaving puddles in the drainage area. You may need to reroute your
downspouts or add extensions to carry water away.
• Walk your property after a rain and look for areas in the landscape that are not
draining well. If you find puddles that remain for four or more days, regrade
the area or apply a mosquito donut. Likewise, check after watering your yard to
be sure that no standing water remains.
• Call the town hall at 247-4353 to report any areas of standing water that are
not on your property and need attention.
A little vigilance will go a long way toward reducing the mosquito population.
6 The Shoreline i July 2014