Tidelines – July 2, 2015
When does a redfish look like a big spanish mackerel? I don’t think ever, actually, but I was pleasantly surprised when a morning redfish trip with Capt. Johnathan Garrett, of On Point Fishing Charters out of Emerald Isle, turned into an off-the-beach big spanish mackerel fest.
Capt. Johnathan Garrett (left), of On Point Fishing Charters out of Emerald Isle, and Gary Hurley with two handfuls each of the 3+ lb. spanish mackerel they caught by slow trolling live pogies in about 50′ of water.
I’m not quite sure why I was thinking that Johnathan was taking us (myself and Adam Meyer of Wells Marine Insurance) out to look for red drum. Perhaps it’s because Johnathan seemed to me to be a redfish guide, or perhaps my knee jerk reaction to fishing out of Swansboro is to assume red drum fishing. However, when Adam and I showed up at the docks at Casper’s Marina, Johnathan told us that the ocean was as calm as it gets and he had a livewell full of 6” pogies perfect for slow trolling for bigger spanish just off the beach.
So long, redfish.
Adam and I got on board, and the three of us started making way to Bogue Inlet. Even on a morning when the ocean is “as calm as it gets,” Bogue Inlet wasn’t without swell, only a little noticeable in Johnathan’s 21’ Hewes Redfisher flats boat, but once we were out past the shoals and turned left for the Keypost, the flat seas allowed us to make quick work of the run.
Soon we had a couple of pogies off the back of the boat rigged to scaled-down king mackerel rigs. And right away we were seeing bait pods in the area, as well as the occasional spanish sky out on one of those bait pods, so it wasn’t surprising when within five minutes of lines in the water we had a fish screaming drag on one of the light-action spinning rods.
Adam Meyer with the cobia that crashed a 6″ pogie on a scaled-down king mackerel rig while trolling for spanish a little over one mile off Emerald Isle. He was fishing with Capt. Johnathan Garrett of On Point Fishing Charters.
I grabbed the rod, gently worked the fish back to the boat (not wanting to pull the treble on our first fish of the day), and after a couple more runs and then a death spiral beside the boat, Johnathan was netting our first spanish—a 3+ lb. class fish.
And that’s how most of our morning went. We would get two lines out, and then after a short wait (sometimes we would see the bait swimming nervously prior and sometimes there would be no announcement), one or both of the rods would scream.
Everything about the morning was playing out perfectly.
From Johnathan’s perspective, the run out was short (little gas) and easy (the flats boat wasn’t getting beat up). The fishing action was consistent (his clients were happy), and the fish hooked themselves (angler error and/or lack of ability wasn’t a factor).
Adam and I, too, thought it an ideal morning. The ride was short (more fishing time) and easy (we didn’t get beat up). The fishing action was consistent (we each got to enjoy fighting plenty of fish to the boat, often doubling up), and the fish hooked themselves (this is where I insert a joke about Adam’s angler error and/or lack of ability being way more dependent than me on this feature of the trip).
In addition, slow trolling 6” pogies kept the smaller spanish (and blue fish) off our hooks. Every spanish that came in weighed somewhere between 3-6 lbs.
While we avoided the undesirable smaller fish, we did hook a few bigger, non-spanish fish. Early on a smaller king crashed one of our baits, and then a little while later what we hoped was a big king mackerel turned out to be a shark.
Then almost right after wasting time on that shark, we had another “heavy” fish take a bait without the characteristic spanish initial run. Adam did well to fight the fish with patience, though, avoiding the temptation to call it a shark and horse it to the boat, not caring if the hook pulls or not. And his patience was rewarded, as the suspect shark turned out to be a legal cobia.
So with plenty of big spanish in the boat and a keeper cobia on ice, Johnathan headed us back to Casper’s where he prepared for an afternoon charter and Adam and I checked emails and voice messages on the quick drive back to Wilmington where we would be obligated to put in an afternoon of work (since we were off the water by 11:00 am).
Johnathan can take you, too, out for big spanish mackerel, or he can put you on some red drum, flounder, trout, black drum, or sheepshead. And what’s more impressive is that he can do it even if you’re like Adam.
