From: bubbagump
Category: Fish Report
Date: 6/16/2003
Time: 10:23:30 PM
It was a steady 25 knot wind gusting to 30+ when we crossed over from Harkers Island to the lighthouse on Friday afternoon. It took over an hour to pitch a tent, a task that should only take 15 minutes on a more benign day. The crowd was really pouring in for the lighthouse exhibition on Saturday. Between the big ugly Lookout Express ad the Harkers Island ferries, it was a real hubbub of activity. The Lookout Express made 6 trips to the lighthouse from Beaufort in 16 ft seas on Friday. The crew looked pretty beat late that afternoon. Saturday was a complete zoo with all of the lighthouse tourists. The good news is that it was so blazing hot that most of those day trippers will probably never want to come back. We started fishing about 6 PM on Friday near the first ramp south of the lighthouse. We caught a decent number of whiting and spots with a few gray trout mixed in. The real fun came after dark when the sharks moved in. Using fist sized chunks of spots for bait, we caught three small biters in the 3-4 ft range. Then my 12 year old son Daniel got his first taste of a big critter. This one ran out about 300 yards before Daniel could get him turned. Actually, the shark decided to swim closer to the beach on its own. I dont think it realized it was hooked yet. Daniel played it for about 45 minutes and turned it over to me. After a short rest, he took back over for another 30 minutes. When he turned it back over to me, I really pressured this fish and managed to work it within 40 yards of the beach before it broke off. We never saw it, but it was a biggun. Saturday was slow during the middle of the day and we left late Saturday afternoon.