Starting with a little fishing trip.
The First Jon Boat Trip with Fishgirl and Fishdog
I finally finished fixing up the Jon Boat to the point where I could put it in the water and use it on Friday, September 7th, 2007.
So, Alice, our dog Baby and I put the boat in the water at the public boat ramp by the Community College here in Morehead City. The ramp was crowded and there were no places to park the car and trailer after I offloaded the boat into the water. I ended up squeezing between two big trucks that were each overflowing into the next space leaving a VERY narrow slot. Thought I was going to have to slip out the window, but was able to squeeze out.
First, we motored down the Intracoastal Waterway to a shallow area in front of the public access park on Holly Lane near our house. I had seen many schools of perfect sized finger mullet there in the morning. I used my cast net to catch a good bunch, put the mullet in a bucket and then we ran east to the causeway bridge to Atlantic beach.
The battery for the fish finder was almost dead so I was turning it off and on frequently as I motored around the bridge pilings looking for bait pods.
At first the falling tide was moving out very fast. There was a big concentration of baitfish showing on the fishfinder on the down current side of the bridge’s main passthrough south side pilings.
I anchored up the Jon Boat under the shadow of the bridge to keep us out of the direct sun and started fishing. Soon I caught a rather nice skate and carefully released him - then another. As beautiful as they were, I really wanted to catch a flounder. So, I repositioned the boat dropping back even closer to the baitfish pod and reset the anchor. I then put two live finger mullet over the side. One bait was hooked through the top of the eye socket on a carolina rig and the other hooked the same way but on a flounder rig with a float to get the bait off the bottom slightly. Same hooks, 2/0 Kahles were used on each. The flounder rig was set closest to the pilings. I hooked yet another skate on the carolina rig but he broke off. I think the leader was frayed from the other skates. Then I hooked a flounder on the float rig which was closer to the pilings. The fish was very scrappy as big flounder can be, and to my horror I realized that I did not bring a landing net. Luckily, I was able to get my Boga Grip into the fish’s mouth and hoist him aboard. He was very thick.
The First Jon Boat Trip with Fishgirl and Fishdog
I finally finished fixing up the Jon Boat to the point where I could put it in the water and use it on Friday, September 7th, 2007.
So, Alice, our dog Baby and I put the boat in the water at the public boat ramp by the Community College here in Morehead City. The ramp was crowded and there were no places to park the car and trailer after I offloaded the boat into the water. I ended up squeezing between two big trucks that were each overflowing into the next space leaving a VERY narrow slot. Thought I was going to have to slip out the window, but was able to squeeze out.
First, we motored down the Intracoastal Waterway to a shallow area in front of the public access park on Holly Lane near our house. I had seen many schools of perfect sized finger mullet there in the morning. I used my cast net to catch a good bunch, put the mullet in a bucket and then we ran east to the causeway bridge to Atlantic beach.
The battery for the fish finder was almost dead so I was turning it off and on frequently as I motored around the bridge pilings looking for bait pods.
At first the falling tide was moving out very fast. There was a big concentration of baitfish showing on the fishfinder on the down current side of the bridge’s main passthrough south side pilings.
I anchored up the Jon Boat under the shadow of the bridge to keep us out of the direct sun and started fishing. Soon I caught a rather nice skate and carefully released him - then another. As beautiful as they were, I really wanted to catch a flounder. So, I repositioned the boat dropping back even closer to the baitfish pod and reset the anchor. I then put two live finger mullet over the side. One bait was hooked through the top of the eye socket on a carolina rig and the other hooked the same way but on a flounder rig with a float to get the bait off the bottom slightly. Same hooks, 2/0 Kahles were used on each. The flounder rig was set closest to the pilings. I hooked yet another skate on the carolina rig but he broke off. I think the leader was frayed from the other skates. Then I hooked a flounder on the float rig which was closer to the pilings. The fish was very scrappy as big flounder can be, and to my horror I realized that I did not bring a landing net. Luckily, I was able to get my Boga Grip into the fish’s mouth and hoist him aboard. He was very thick.
Fishgirl, Fishdog and I ate him in fish tacos and in stuffed Poblano peppers. He was delicious!
We thank the Fish Gods
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