08-21-2016, 05:07 PM
Hey there, folks. I haven't posted in a while. Haven't really been fishing much. My sister got married last week and took the family out to Nags Head, North Carolina. I didn't know that NC had such beautiful beaches. It was amazing.
I stopped by one of the many bait shops out there and talked with the owner for a little bit. He set me up with a "bottom rig" baited with shrimp. The bottom rig is basically a drop shot rig. You've got a large pyramid weight on the bottom (I was using a 2 ouncer) of about a foot and a half long steel leader. Up about 6 inches from the weight is about a 6" leader of line with a hook. Then another 6" leader with hook 6" up from that. I just broke a shrimp in half and put half on each hook.
I started off fishing right off the beach where we were staying, and didn't really know what I was doing. The bait shop owner told me to cast just beyond the wave break. It's not easy to tell if you're getting a bite with 5 foot waves crashing your line every 15 seconds. I fished all morning from about 5:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. with nothing to show for it.
I was about ready to give up hope when something started pulling on my line. It felt pretty big, and was difficult reeling in with the wave action. All of a sudden a sting ray came rolling in with the next wave and came cruising right up towards my feet. It was kind of terrifying. I didn't know how I was gonna get the hook out of its mouth. I didn't want to cut the line, because I would've had to cut off the whole rig, and I didn't think the thing would make it with a 2 ounce weight dragging around. My buddy grabbed a boogie board to cover the tail with. We were able to get the hook out, and it was on its way. I'll link a video of the catch at the bottom (there is one swear). I also caught a smaller white fish, probably 12", shortly after. I'm not sure of the species, but I'll add a photo.
The next day I gave pier fishing a try. I fished off of "Jeanettes Pier". The pier set up is pretty cool, and everyone out there fishing was nice and friendly. There was many different techniques being used out there. People were throwing whole small fish off the end of the pier trying to catch shark and other large fish. I did actually see a guy fight something big off the end of the pier for a good 30 minutes before his line broke.
Lots of smaller fish were being caught all along the pier. I even managed to catch a small Yellow Fin Tuna. My dad hooked up with a huge ray that broke his line after a few minute battle. There was no way we were going to land it. The thing had to have weighed 300+ lbs.
Anyways it was a great time, and if you're ever out that way, I'd recommend giving it a go.
Stingray video: https://youtu.be/wRsu5suQYLI
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I stopped by one of the many bait shops out there and talked with the owner for a little bit. He set me up with a "bottom rig" baited with shrimp. The bottom rig is basically a drop shot rig. You've got a large pyramid weight on the bottom (I was using a 2 ouncer) of about a foot and a half long steel leader. Up about 6 inches from the weight is about a 6" leader of line with a hook. Then another 6" leader with hook 6" up from that. I just broke a shrimp in half and put half on each hook.
I started off fishing right off the beach where we were staying, and didn't really know what I was doing. The bait shop owner told me to cast just beyond the wave break. It's not easy to tell if you're getting a bite with 5 foot waves crashing your line every 15 seconds. I fished all morning from about 5:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. with nothing to show for it.
I was about ready to give up hope when something started pulling on my line. It felt pretty big, and was difficult reeling in with the wave action. All of a sudden a sting ray came rolling in with the next wave and came cruising right up towards my feet. It was kind of terrifying. I didn't know how I was gonna get the hook out of its mouth. I didn't want to cut the line, because I would've had to cut off the whole rig, and I didn't think the thing would make it with a 2 ounce weight dragging around. My buddy grabbed a boogie board to cover the tail with. We were able to get the hook out, and it was on its way. I'll link a video of the catch at the bottom (there is one swear). I also caught a smaller white fish, probably 12", shortly after. I'm not sure of the species, but I'll add a photo.
The next day I gave pier fishing a try. I fished off of "Jeanettes Pier". The pier set up is pretty cool, and everyone out there fishing was nice and friendly. There was many different techniques being used out there. People were throwing whole small fish off the end of the pier trying to catch shark and other large fish. I did actually see a guy fight something big off the end of the pier for a good 30 minutes before his line broke.
Lots of smaller fish were being caught all along the pier. I even managed to catch a small Yellow Fin Tuna. My dad hooked up with a huge ray that broke his line after a few minute battle. There was no way we were going to land it. The thing had to have weighed 300+ lbs.Anyways it was a great time, and if you're ever out that way, I'd recommend giving it a go.
Stingray video: https://youtu.be/wRsu5suQYLI
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