Added on Thursday, September 2, 2010  Fish Post

The Spanish Connection

“Timmy, are you ready for that 12-foot net?” asked Chris as we drifted closer to a channel marker in Town Creek that often held pogies in good numbers.

“I don’t know,” Tim sheepishly replied, still looking off the bow for the tell-tale flips. “How about a 6-footer?” Tim obviously did not want to start our afternoon fishing trip struggling under the weight of the big net.

Capt. Chris Kimrey, one of the main captains that books charters through Chasin’ Tails Outdoors in Atlantic Beach, knew we could catch some bigger pogies over by Harkers Island, but today he wanted them a little on the smaller side, or medium-sized was how he referred to them by holding up his hand to show me the length that he thought would work best for targeting the big spanish that were just starting to show up off the beach.

The size of the Town Creek pogies that day were just what he wanted, as their 5-6” size was big enough to get noticed but small enough for an aggressive 3-6+ lb. spanish to get its mouth around.

Tim “Troutman” Rudder, a full time employee of Chasin’ Tails Outdoors, politely and gladly let Chris throw the big net. It took two throws, one throw in water a little too deep and they got out under the net, but then the second throw was in about 8’ of water and the livewell was soon loaded.

“You’ll get strikes on the bigger pogies,” noted Chris as he neatly packed the big net up and stored it in one of the front boxes, “but you won’t get as many hook ups.”

On this fishing day the ratio was reversed. Instead of Max and I (or Max, Eddie, and I) outnumbering the solitary captain, today I was the one outnumbered. This spanish trip had been lined up with Matt Lamb, owner of Chasin’ Tails Outdoors, and our idea was that we would focus on the wide array of services that Chasin’ Tails offers anglers wanting to target large spanish mackerel.

If you like fishing for spanish on your own boat, then Tim’s your guy for instruction and direction. And if you’d rather have someone take you out and show you what to do, then Chris is the Chasin’ Tails Outdoors’ resource that you want to employ.

These guys ought to know how to catch big spanish off the coast of Atlantic Beach. Tim has been living in the area for over 40 years, and this is his fourth year working at Chasin’ Tails. Chris grew up in Atlantic, and he’s fished these waters his entire life. Together these guys have figured out how to search out spanish, target spanish, and get spanish to strike.

Chris and Tim’s different perspectives were evident as soon as we were talking about bait. While we putted along in a No Wake zone scooping the last of a few random loose pogies into the livewell, Tim told me that he often prefers using live mullet for the big spanish.

“You can’t troll them,” he explains, “because they won’t hold up to trolling. You have to drift with them, but they’re fun because they start to jump out of the water when they’re nervous. You can tell the strike is coming, and then you see the strike happen.”

Chris was quick to confirm Tim’s opinion, and then we planed out heading past Fort Macon and Shackleford Banks.

Chris’ favorite spanish haunt is an area east of the shoals, and Tim prefers fishing closer at AR-315. Today we were on Chris’ boat, so east of the shoals it would be.

Our run over the shoals, an area often known to be treacherous, was quiet and dry that day, with small predictable waves that gave Chris’ 21’ Offshore center console an almost unobstructed path. Once through the breakers, we then made quick time out to AR-285, also known as the Summerlin Reef.

“I know where they were yesterday,” Chris said as we pulled off plane and began to scout the area on his electronics, “but I don’t know if they’ll be here today.”

Both Tim and Chris had been fishing separately the day before our trip, Chris at the 285 buoy and Tim at AR-315, and each had boated a couple of citation-class spanish (over the 5 lb. mark).

We were fishing a little early in the season for the big numbers of the really big spanish, but we wanted to get a timely article in Fisherman’s Post, one that would highlight this fishery before it passed.

“This big spanish mackerel fishing will last all the way through September into early October,” explained Tim, whose AR-315 is just a few miles out of Beaufort Inlet.

Chris prefers the east side of the shoals, and his fish will be there through November. “October’s the best time,” he says of the Summerlin Reef. “You got big spanish, kingfish, wahoo, sailfish, dolphin, all in the same spot.”

The two different areas that these guys fish change the way they target big spanish. Tim fishes an area that, since it is much closer to the inlet and doesn’t include a run over the unpredictable shoals, gets more pressure. His tackle is lighter and more subtle.

Chris’ area doesn’t get near the same pressure. In addition, he has a much better chance of running into something much bigger than a spanish, so he goes a little heavier with his gear.

“I like 27 or 30 lb. wire, #6 trebles, and a little top shot of 20 lb. fluoro,” he tells me as he pulls some of the day’s wire rigs out of plastic bags. And for rods and reels he uses what he describes as “heavy-duty trout tackle.” He does, however, point out that he has 250 yards of 15 lb. braid on all of his reels, and that helps give him some muscle.

Tim points out that he uses the exact same reels as Chris, but he prefers mono to braid. “Mono keeps you from pulling as many hooks,” he explains. His suggestion for terminal tackle is small wire, a small swivel—as small as you can go, and #6 or even #8 trebles.

“If you have a stinger hook on at AR-315, then they won’t strike,” Tim adds, holding up one of Chris’ spanish rigs with a stinger hook. “They’re a lot pickier because there’s so much pressure out there.”

Chris had initially stopped about 200 yards off the mark on his GPS that he’s really interested in fishing this afternoon. He wanted time to get out the baits and get set before we get close and enter the “spanish zone.”

Chris and Tim quickly got three baits out behind the boat—one was short (15-ish yards), one was long (30-ish yards), and one was 20’ deep on the downrigger in about 55’ of water. We weren’t really trolling. We were doing what Chris describes as “bump and drift,” bumping the boat into gear for a moment and then pulling it back out of gear.

For Tim at AR-315, he fishes even slower, opting for a straight drift technique.

The drags on all three rods were set very light, and Chris and Tim explained that they would keep the drags light even after a spanish took the bait and ran. “If you put on too much pressure,” Tim tells me as Chris watches his electronics, “then you’ll pull the hook.”

Chris, watching the screen intently, lets me in on his theory of finding spanish mackerel, “You have to be right on your spot because these spanish will just suspend in the water. They just sit there and wait for something to come by.”

Soon we had an anxious pogie that started darting side to side. Its nervous twitches pulled out a little drag and had the rod tip dancing up and down. Suddenly the long line started screaming the announcement that big spanish are in the area. Chris was first to the rod. He pulled it out of the holder and just let the spanish run as far as it wanted to go.

This first spanish ran about 80 yards before it finally slowed its pace, and then Chris slightly, and just slightly, increased the drag and handed me the rod to fight my first big spanish of the year.

I slowly made progress on the spanish, enjoying a couple more solid runs before getting it close to the boat. When we finally get a good visual on the spanish, it was clear that this first fish was foul hooked.

Chris had a big landing net on board, so we left the gaff in the holder. As Tim lifted the spanish over the gunnels and dropped it into the bow of the boat, we all noticed that the spanish had only one hook of one treble barely stuck in its side. And then the single hook fell out as soon as the fish is in the boat.

That’s the reason for the light drag. That spanish had struck (or swiped) our pogie, but out of a possible six hooks it had only been foul hooked by a solitary hook.

“You’ll foul hook two out of three of these,” noted Chris, putting the lines back out that we had pulled in after the strike. “Our spanish probably chopped him, and then the wire hit his face or something and he got foul hooked.”

Two out of three seemed a high ratio to me, and I told Chris it seems high.

“Mackerel are slash feeders,” he explained. “They will swallow and consume a whole bait if it will fit, but their goal is to hit whatever it is they’re after, take a chunk out of it, and then move on to the next project.”

We had been “bumping and drifting” for only 15 minutes before we got our first spanish, and the Boga grip, which Chris described as a “pretty honest Boga,” had the fish at 4.5 lbs.

Our next hookup came less than 10 minutes later, but this spanish had a much stronger first run. It happened again on the long line, and after a 100+ yard run the fish finally slowed. Chris applied a little drag and again handed me the rod. Tim stood near me, and while I fought the fish he told me his thoughts on handling a strong spanish strike.

“I want him to run out a little bit before I try to slow him down,” he said. “Once he starts slowing down, that’s the time to get a little drag on him. As long as he’s burning it, then let him go. He’s wearing himself out, and you haven’t even had to put any drag on him. His speed alone will set those little hooks.”

Tim paused then added, “And that whole time you’re giving him to run, he’s chomping. He’s chomping on that bait.”

While I coaxed my spanish to the boat, Chris points out that the fish hit only 18’ away from the mark that he had been targeting. He smiled a little proudly, but not too proudly, and added with a satisfied smile, “This is one of my favorite little lumps on this reef.”

I get the fish a few yards away and, almost on Tim’s call, the spanish saw the boat and went on one more big run.

This second fish was hooked right; the front treble was hanging out of its mouth, and the stinger was in its side. When we get it in the boat, the “honest Boga” read just over 3 lbs.

We quickly got back to fishing, and the spanish continued to cooperate.

Our third bite of the day was the strongest initial run of the three, but then the spanish just started coming in to the boat and didn’t offer any other runs. It never really felt like a sincere hook set. Once it got about 20 yards away, it turned, pulled out just a little bit of drag, and then threw the hook. No longer was I batting a perfect game. I had landed one foul, landed one in the mouth, and now had lost my first spanish of the day.

Chris and Tim seemed to enjoy my pain over a lost fish. They half heartedly consoled me by saying, “Two out of three ain’t bad.”

The afternoon went on with more missed strikes and more fish landed. A storm approaching from the southwest finally was close enough that we couldn’t ignore it anymore, so we quickly packed up and headed back over the shoals, along the beachfront, back in through Beaufort Inlet, under the Atlantic Beach Bridge, and then took a quick left to the channel that leads up to the docks behind Chasin’ Tails Outdoors.

We had a small window of fishing opportunity, as I didn’t even arrive in Morehead until nearly 3:00 pm, but these guys not only put me on fish but also doubled my knowledge of big spanish fishing.

If you want to catch spanish mackerel in the Atlantic Beach area, then your first stop should be to Chasin’ Tails Outdoors. Those of you that want to try on your own for the citation-class fall spanish mackerel should look for Tim “Troutman” Rudder behind the counter and then just start asking him questions. He’s happy to share the knowledge he’s collected over the years.

And if you’d rather have someone take you out and show you first hand how fishing for big spanish is done, then ask the Chasin’ Tails crew to set you up with Capt. Chris Kimrey or any one of their nearshore captains.

You can call Chasin’ Tails direct at (252) 240-3474, visit them online at www.chasintailsoutdoors.com, or stop by the shop at 613 Atlantic Beach Causeway in Atlantic Beach.