Tidelines – March 8, 2012
Though the weather has kept it from feeling like winter for over a month now, and even though we’ve had a chance to get out and catch some red and black drum in warmer-than-usual-for-this-time-of-year inshore water temperatures, the Fisherman’s Post crew doesn’t officially recognize the end of winter and start of spring until we’re back in the office cranking out (or maybe it would be more accurate to say stumbling through) the first issue of the season.
The boat show and fishing school circuit was once again kind to us this year, providing plenty of distraction and entertainment since the grouper closures tempered our motivation to go offshore.
This year’s highlight reel includes a Fisherman’s Post victory over the Fryingpantower.com crew at our annual wing eating contest on the Saturday night of the Raleigh Bass and Saltwater Expo. You may have noticed in mid-January that Fryingpantower.com had a photo at the top of the home page of a big bald guy with a scary looking beard and a goofy smile—that would be Joshua, the new salesman, enjoying the rewards of his win.
Easily another highlight was Adam Meyer, of Charter Lakes Marine Insurance, hosting once again a successful mixer at the Marriott on Saturday night of the Raleigh Convention Center Boat Show (note to self: Patron at the end of the night isn’t always—or ever—a good idea).
However, with boat shows behind us (except for the Greenville Boat Show in March and then the Crystal Coast Boat Show in May) and the evaluations telling us that our crew of captains did another wonderful job at our two saltwater fishing schools, it’s time to stock up on tackle, fill up the boat with gas (or maybe, with gas prices, you should just put in half a tank), and get that boat wet.
Winter fishing, as most of us know, can be extremely slow, or it can be full of action. If you are a bigger fan of the “full of action’ side to winter fishing, then you’ll want to check out this issue’s Guide Time article. Capt. Richard Andrews, of Tar-Pam Guide Service, got me on the Roanoke River for a day full of catching river stripers. We caught them on bait and artificials. We caught them drifting and anchored up. And if I had remembered to bring my fly rod like Richard suggested, then I would have caught them on the fly, too. It was one of those fun experiences where you spend more time catching than fishing.
You can read all about it, and then plan your striper “catching” trip with Richard, by checking out page 36.
Fisherman’s Post, never known for resting on its laurels, is biting off a big new project in 2012 that we hope many of you will participate in. Our Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach inshore fishing tournaments have been popular for years now, and we’re finally in a great position to expand on their popularity.
We’ll be hosting these inshore tournaments, offering both a flounder and a red drum division, in three new areas: Southport, Topsail, and Morehead City. In addition, we’ll be linking all five of these events together with the 2012 Fisherman’s Post Inshore Challenge Trail, a points competition that will crown, at the end of the fifth event, a NC Flounder Champion and a NC Red Drum Champion. The winners will be based on the three heaviest of each species you weigh in over the course of any of the five events.
Those of you that have fished with us before know that we make sure to have lots of cash and over 25 spots on the leaderboard so that your chances of getting a check are strong, but we’re really known for taking a casual and fun approach to hosting events.
You can fish with bait or artificials, have as many anglers on your boat as you’d like, and weigh in fish alive or dead (though we still pay out extra cash if you weigh your fish in alive). And when you factor in our free food and drink on both Friday (registration and captains’ party) and Saturday (awards), then everyone’s a winner even if you don’t make the leaderboard.
I’m sure I’ll be talking about it more in future Tidelines articles, but for now you can find out more by checking out our ad on page 12, or you can go online to FishermansPost.com and then click on the “Tournaments” tab.
