Puppy Drum in Inches of Water (back when it was warmer)

There's the sound of a splash. Over there. Off to the right. Right on the edge of that thin, stick-like, sparse and spread out bit of spartina grass. 25 yards from the skiff and closing, with the boat drifting ever closer as the tide pulls it out of the tidal salt marsh. Ever closer. Won't be long until the fish sees the boat and it'll be too late. There's a wake, like a bow-wave of some miniature coastal Carolina submarine, chasing bait.

Sling a cast just ahead of it. Bump. Bump. The line goes tight, you feel the tension, you set the hook, and the rod bends over. The fish runs. Line peels off the spool. Steer him clear of the oysters. You work him back. He runs again. Work him in, closer and closer. Closer. Scoop him in the net. Doesn't get much prettier.

Comments

Chunkin' Bait

If you've ever stumbled across any of my words online, you've probably noticed that I'm more of a fly guy. I just love that feeling of propelling fly line through the air with the rod, feeling the bend and strength of the rod as it loads and projects the line towards your casting target. But, occasionally, there's a time to chunk some bait. The good news was we didn't have to leave Edenton too early. The bite hadn't started until 9:30 in the morning or so, my buddy said. So, thankfully, no need to wake up at the crack of dawn to make the hour or so drive to Swan Quarter. The goal was to catch a few drum, and maybe even invite a few to dinner. It wasn't "old drum" time of late summer, but there were still some big ones out there. We launched Johny's Jones Brothers Cape Fisherman, idled down the canal, and jumped on a plane to get over the bar and shoaling right outside the canal. We ran out, not too far, fishing little cov...

A Little Do-It-Yourself Boat Painting

"Hard hard can it be?" After hours of YouTube videos, I thought I had this whole boat painting thing figured out. My Jones Brothers skiff was looking a bit faded. The 20+ year old cream/off-white gel coat was in need of some major cutting and buffing, and there were some cracks and gouges and an errant screw hole for a swim ladder only filled in with silicon sealant. Just the conditioning and buffing would be a major undertaking. On top of that my ablative bottom paint, that wears off on its own, that I'd done myself, was starting to look rough. Then, I'd stumbled across a picture on Facebook, of someone who'd painted the same hull as mine with the Alexseal brand topside paint with their "roll" additive, which smooths out the paint after rolling it onto a surface. I was mesmerized with the pictures online, drawn to doom scrolling online forums like Hull Truth, and others. It looked too good to be true. As anyone who...

The Simple Things---the love of a canoe

You don't need much to get out and enjoy the natural world. Really, you don't need anything at all. Just take a walk in the woods and breathe in that fresh air. Having said that, a few items expand your range into nature exponentially. A simple canoe is one of those things. Pick one up cheap on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or even Walmart. You don't need anything fancy. One person can easily lift a less than 15 footer, especially made of ABS or Royalex or other light materials, and about any vehicle can carry that size boat on the roof.

The Tar Heel Outdoorsman

Search This Blog