Fishing with Paul, Joe, and Jeff 6/19/18

I sent Paul a text saying it probably was a "No-Go", but that we should meet down at Catawba and discuss it, before calling it.  

I stopped off at Speedway to gas up, eat breakfast at Big B's, and get ice at Rickard's Bait Shop before heading down to the park to meet them at 5:30.

They were there when I got there, and I stepped out of the truck to talk to them about the forecasted conditions.

The wind wasn't really blowing the treetops as much as I thought it would be, so to be cautious, I made this offer...."If you really want to get out, we can stay on the protected side of the island. We can drive up to the point and turn it around and troll right out front here". I added, "I was here on Saturday and didn't mark as many fish as I did earlier that week...but, that doesn't mean more haven't moved in. I make no guarantees though.  I'm limited to where I can go with a strong NE wind, so it's your call."

They were all for it. "I just want them to wet a line, after getting up and driving all the way up here", said Paul. "Okay...let's go", I said.

While we were launching, Paul told me that they wanted to learn how to run the Off Shore boards. He said he had some, but hadn't really used them, because he wasn't really sure how to run them.  So, like I tell all my customers who want to learn..."I'll have you running them like a well-oiled machine in a few hours".

Once again, I had quick learners....well, for the important part anyway...Paul had a little trouble remembering to turn the clicker off while reeling fish in, so his new nickname is "Clicker" too. Ha!

Joe graduated to "First Mate" within the first hour, because I only had to tell him something once, and he got it. :)

Jeff....Jeff is hard of hearing, and didn't tell me until I figured it out....I had to talk louder to him after that, and then, all was well.  (Please, please, please tell me if you're hard of hearing....no one cares...I just need to know that I  need to talk louder or make face to face contact when I'm talking to you.)

Anyway...they did great, and had the routine down pretty well by mid-morning. I know they will easily be able to run the Off Shores on their boat without too many issues.

We started out in front of Catawba, but moved after one half-assed pass, because the Helix just wasn't marking any fish, there were Mayfly sheds everywhere, and the water was a bit on the muddy side...not too bad, but not great either.

After determining that the conditions were such that I could make it up to the lee-side of the islands safely, I told them to reel everything in and that we would move north.  Once we got through the South Passage I started watching the Helix for life below. 

When we found some good marks, we set up on them with the Flicker Minnows out 57, 65, 75, 80, and 90 back and two #40 Tru Trip Jets with Stingers out 39 back.  Speed was 2.1-2.4mph with the waves.

Everything caught fish. It wasn't a fire drill situation, but more like a steady bite. We did have a few doubles and a couple triples with fish hanging. After two passes we had 24 in the box. We threw back a handful of "shorts" and one sheepshead too. 

It was a good morning, and I'm glad I didn't cancel the trip when the wind was hitting me in the face out in my driveway this morning. It turned out to be a lot of fun! They were pretty close on that forecast, but the actual winds were slightly lower than what was predicted. Had it been correct, I wouldn't be writing this blog today. ;)

Looks like I'm off until the 29th, unless I book a trip somewhere in there from now until the end of the month....deep sigh. Guess I'll work on my gardens...the weeds are insane.

Stay tuned...

Capt Juls