Tidelines – September 29, 2016
My extended weekend on the Outer Banks hosting the inaugural Hatteras Island Surf Fishing Challenge may be over now, but I think I still have a buzz from the blur of good times and great memories. Between a couple of fishing trips, late night Registration, a great Awards dinner, and a cast of characters that rivals anything Steinbeck wrote about in Cannery Row, I have no idea how I’m going to write an intelligible Tidelines column.
Hatteras Jack was the Tournament HQ, so our long weekend basically began with Ryan White and Becky. For me, every drive down the island starts with at least a quick visit, and this time I got to enjoy Becky, pregnant and expecting in January, trying to argue for something reasonable like a Trail Blazer for her and the baby to ride around in, while Ryan thought it more Hatteras-like to get something bigger, louder, and with a rebuilt Corvette engine.
Good luck, Baby White.
Capt. Aaron Aaron of Tightline Charters (out of Hatteras Harbor Marina) agreed to set aside a little time to go out and sight cast to some over-slot red drum. We waited for the tide to bring in the right water, but by then the wind came up and clouds formed that further dulled our vision.
Aaron not only found a way to beat the variables and put me and a buddy on some fish, but he also shared a number of summer stories, including one where a college girl with two handfuls of clams suddenly had the clasp to her bikini top break and had to quickly decide between grabbing the top and covering up or dropping the clams.
Don’t worry. Aaron advised her correctly.
Kelly Hogan, from Nags Head, with an over-slot red drum caught near Hatteras Inlet. He was sight casting using a gold spoon while fishing with Capt. Aaron Aaron of Tightline Charters out of Hatteras Harbor Marina.
My thoughts of red drum (and clams and bikini tops) made it seem like a quick drive up the island to join the others for Friday night Registration in the parking lot of Hatteras Jack. The scene was an array of 4wd vehicles pulled in, picked up their armbands and fresh bait, and then took off to find their sloughs and rips along the long stretch of sand from Mirlo Beach down to Hatteras Inlet.
Becky graciously cooked hotdogs for the Registration team, and Ryan walked around with something in a plastic Dixie cup that made him talk louder and louder as the night went on.
This time, though, I most enjoyed the conversation between Tyler (the soon-to-be Hatteras Jack reel guy) and Jim (the current Hatteras Jack rod guy) as the two of them discovered that one thing they have in common is that they’ve both sat on a couch into the night and single handedly finished off a 5 lb. bag of Sour Patch Kids.
They both remembered that by the bottom of the bag your teeth ache, your tongue is scraped and hard and raw, and the inside of your cheeks throb in pain, and then they agreed that the cheek pain was the worst.
You’re welcome, readers, because I could have recapped their hemorrhoids discussion.
Saturday, while our surf anglers were working through a decent bluefish and sea mullet bite but a slow flounder and nonexistent spanish bite, I used my “boss card” to steal away to Oregon Inlet Fishing Center to meet longtime friend Capt. Donnie Davis of DOA Charters to target speckled trout. Between a number of small ones, we found our keepers by casting artificials from the front of the boat while floating live pigfish under corks off the back.
No jokes-as-transition here, as there’s nothing funny about Donnie, other than the name of the family’s new puppy.
After the trout, it was back to more weigh slips coming in from the five local tackle shops that served as our weigh stations.
JAM and Major Mike, each donning their “Hillary for Prison” t-shirts, held down Teach’s Lair. And while Bob and Beverly had a quiet weekend of weighing fish at Frisco Bait & Tackle (but a busy one selling cold beer and lottery tickets), Azaria and Analogue-Phone Chris kept busy at Red Drum Tackle processing fish caught near the Point.
Stephanie, one of the new owners of Frank and Fran’s, also saw a number of fish come in, all while getting ready for their own upcoming surf fishing tournament—the NCBBA Red Drum Tournament, and the Sour Patch Kids did the best they could at Hatteras Jack.
With all of the weigh slips tabulated, we met at the conference center at Rodanthe’s Camp Hatteras to award the trophies and hand out a bunch of prize checks. We all agreed that the first year was a modest success, and then we all agreed to do it again next year.
Driving home Sunday evening after Awards, I felt proud and connected. Fisherman’s Post is honored to now be adding our annual surf fishing tournament to the culture of Hatteras Island, and this past weekend cultivated and enriched our relationships with the people, the businesses, and the island.
Doc and Mack and the boys of Cannery Row, I believe, would approve, and I’m proud of that, too.
