OT - fish story, no flyrods involved

as some of you know, i'm about a 2 hour drive inland from the coastal
area i usually go for puppy drum fishing. my bay boat has been in the
shop since early july with minor issues i couldn't resolve. OK, there
really is no issue with the boat that i can resolve, so they all require
a visit to the boat and motor doctor. anyway, just got it back and
needed to test some stuff and run gas out of the tank...so off to the
sal****ers at 4 am to catch the high tide at 8 am and first hours of
falling tide. didn't visit joe's island, as i wanted to check out some
marshe islands i had fished with wally and mark on different occasions.
caught one large flounder there, saw one drum swirl on a big oyster
head...but no drum otherwise...so, after about 2 hours, i headed to the
marsh islands i usually walk. nothing on the first one... i went to
another. it has a shell point on the east side and a mucky shallow
cove, then a small point on its north end with a great weedy and mucky
bottom about 20 yards out. the drum like spots that the small crabs
prefer. the mucky, weedy bottoms and the marsh island banks always seem
to be my best producers for me. but, it's been a tough summer...very
hot, and i haven't seen or caught the usual numbers. yesterday looked
like it was gonna be just the one flounder. i made about 100 casts in
all the usual spots as i worked toward the north point. nothing. after
about 10 casts from the north point. i figured it was going to be a
drumless day... then...

i caught one about 20 inches. skinny. i debated making him a meal, but
decided against it and released him. on the next cast, i hooked the
biggest puppy drum of my brief drum fishing career. she was well-hooked
and very strong. it zinged the drag on my 20 pound braid, and did
several parallel runs on the top of the water about 20 yards out. i got
a good look. at one point it ran toward me and i got a look at it with
the pec fins extended. based only on past experience, my guess is it
was easily 35"... and, it was accompanied by 15-20 others of its size.
they were running with and opposite my fish the whole time in a sort
of frenzy...like you see with feeding fish. and then...on one of the
near surface parallel runs, one of the other fish going in the opposite
direction hit the line and my fish turned, and my braid broke at the
lure...i didn't tie a palomar, and i've never had a problem with my
improved, improved clinch...so, i think the force of the two fish popped
the weakest link. for about a minute though, it was sporting.

tide was about an hour into dropping from high. i fished the island for
another 30 minutes without success, then took off on a parallel course
with the inner banks about an 1/8th mile from its shore, exploring.
found some new likely spots, and saw one of the "old drum" (not a
puppy), break the surface within 20 feet of the boat. she was one of
those 40-50 inchers. never seen one as big inside the banks, but i
don't know why they wouldn't be there.

anyway, a fun day, with few fish, but a great fish story and memory.
this has been an odd summer, and i haven't fished as hard for the drum
as i usually do. work and other stuff have kept me at home. i don't
know how the extremely hot summer we have had will impact the fishing,
but the place remains worthy of the effort. i think the kayak will come
in very handy getting me into new shallows where my boat won't go. joe
and i have talked about a september test run, and that should give me a
better sampling and idea about the drum this fall. as always, water
temps, tides and winds will decide the question...but yesterday sure
felt good as an omen of big fish.

jeff

"jeff" wrote in message
...
as some of you know, i'm about a 2 hour drive inland from the coastal area
i usually go for puppy drum fishing.

(snip)

great read, jefe! i can only try to imagine the steam engine feel of a drum
over 30".

i would like to try to get down this fall. keep me in the loop, please.

yfitp
wayno

On Aug 9, 5:06*am, jeff wrote:
as some of you know, i'm about a 2 hour drive inland from the coastal
area i usually go for puppy drum fishing. *my bay boat has been in the
shop since early july with minor issues i couldn't resolve. OK, there
really is no issue with the boat that i can resolve, so they all require
a visit to the boat and motor doctor. *anyway, just got it back and
needed to test some stuff and run gas out of the tank...so off to the
sal****ers at 4 am to catch the high tide at 8 am and first hours of
falling tide. *didn't visit joe's island, as i wanted to check out some
marshe islands i had fished with wally and mark on different occasions.
* caught one large flounder there, saw one drum swirl on a big oyster
head...but no drum otherwise...so, after about 2 hours, i headed to the
marsh islands i usually walk. *nothing on the first one... i went to
another. *it has a shell point on the east side and a mucky shallow
cove, then a small point on its north end with a great weedy and mucky
bottom about 20 yards out. *the drum like spots that the small crabs
prefer. the mucky, weedy bottoms and the marsh island banks always seem
to be my best producers for me. *but, it's been a tough summer...very
hot, and i haven't seen or caught the usual numbers. *yesterday looked
like it was gonna be just the one flounder. *i made about 100 casts in
all the usual spots as i worked toward the north point. *nothing. *after
about 10 casts from the north point. i figured it was going to be a
drumless day... *then...

i caught one about 20 inches. *skinny. *i debated making him a meal, but
decided against it and released him. *on the next cast, i hooked the
biggest puppy drum of my brief drum fishing career. she was well-hooked
and very strong. *it zinged the drag on my 20 pound braid, and did
several parallel runs on the top of the water about 20 yards out. i got
a good look. at one point it ran toward me and i got a look at it with
the pec fins extended. *based only on past experience, my guess is it
was easily 35"... *and, it was accompanied by 15-20 others of its size.
* they were running with and opposite my fish the whole time in a sort
of frenzy...like you see with feeding fish. *and then...on one of the
near surface parallel runs, one of the other fish going in the opposite
direction hit the line and my fish turned, and my braid broke at the
lure...i didn't tie a palomar, and i've never had a problem with my
improved, improved clinch...so, i think the force of the two fish popped
the weakest link. *for about a minute though, it was sporting.

tide was about an hour into dropping from high. i fished the island for
another 30 *minutes without success, then took off on a parallel course
with the inner banks about an 1/8th mile from its shore, exploring.
found some new likely spots, and saw one of the "old drum" (not a
puppy), break the surface within 20 feet of the boat. *she was one of
those 40-50 inchers. *never seen one as big inside the banks, but i
don't know why they wouldn't be there.

anyway, a fun day, with few fish, but a great fish story and memory.
this has been an odd summer, and i haven't fished as hard for the drum
as i usually do. work and other stuff have kept me at home. *i don't
know how the extremely hot summer we have had will impact the fishing,
but the place remains worthy of the effort. *i think the kayak will come
in very handy getting me into new shallows where my boat won't go. joe
and i have talked about a september test run, and that should give me a
better sampling and idea about the drum this fall. *as always, water
temps, tides and winds will decide the question...but yesterday sure
felt good as an omen of big fish.

jeff

This may well be a stupid question but . . . is fishing for drum with
a flyrod a practical possibility?
Dave

On Aug 9, 6:06*am, jeff wrote:
as some of you know, i'm about a 2 hour drive inland from the coastal
area i usually go for puppy drum fishing. *my bay boat has been in the
shop since early july with minor issues i couldn't resolve. OK, there
really is no issue with the boat that i can resolve, so they all require
a visit to the boat and motor doctor. *anyway, just got it back and
needed to test some stuff and run gas out of the tank...so off to the
sal****ers at 4 am to catch the high tide at 8 am and first hours of
falling tide. *didn't visit joe's island, as i wanted to check out some
marshe islands i had fished with wally and mark on different occasions.
* caught one large flounder there, saw one drum swirl on a big oyster
head...but no drum otherwise...so, after about 2 hours, i headed to the
marsh islands i usually walk. *nothing on the first one... i went to
another. *it has a shell point on the east side and a mucky shallow
cove, then a small point on its north end with a great weedy and mucky
bottom about 20 yards out. *the drum like spots that the small crabs
prefer. the mucky, weedy bottoms and the marsh island banks always seem
to be my best producers for me. *but, it's been a tough summer...very
hot, and i haven't seen or caught the usual numbers. *yesterday looked
like it was gonna be just the one flounder. *i made about 100 casts in
all the usual spots as i worked toward the north point. *nothing. *after
about 10 casts from the north point. i figured it was going to be a
drumless day... *then...

i caught one about 20 inches. *skinny. *i debated making him a meal, but
decided against it and released him. *on the next cast, i hooked the
biggest puppy drum of my brief drum fishing career. she was well-hooked
and very strong. *it zinged the drag on my 20 pound braid, and did
several parallel runs on the top of the water about 20 yards out. i got
a good look. at one point it ran toward me and i got a look at it with
the pec fins extended. *based only on past experience, my guess is it
was easily 35"... *and, it was accompanied by 15-20 others of its size.
* they were running with and opposite my fish the whole time in a sort
of frenzy...like you see with feeding fish. *and then...on one of the
near surface parallel runs, one of the other fish going in the opposite
direction hit the line and my fish turned, and my braid broke at the
lure...i didn't tie a palomar, and i've never had a problem with my
improved, improved clinch...so, i think the force of the two fish popped
the weakest link. *for about a minute though, it was sporting.

tide was about an hour into dropping from high. i fished the island for
another 30 *minutes without success, then took off on a parallel course
with the inner banks about an 1/8th mile from its shore, exploring.
found some new likely spots, and saw one of the "old drum" (not a
puppy), break the surface within 20 feet of the boat. *she was one of
those 40-50 inchers. *never seen one as big inside the banks, but i
don't know why they wouldn't be there.

anyway, a fun day, with few fish, but a great fish story and memory.
this has been an odd summer, and i haven't fished as hard for the drum
as i usually do. work and other stuff have kept me at home. *i don't
know how the extremely hot summer we have had will impact the fishing,
but the place remains worthy of the effort. *i think the kayak will come
in very handy getting me into new shallows where my boat won't go. joe
and i have talked about a september test run, and that should give me a
better sampling and idea about the drum this fall. *as always, water
temps, tides and winds will decide the question...but yesterday sure
felt good as an omen of big fish.

jeff

Nice TR
Thanks
Its easy to visualize myself there

I hope that your bout of Montana giardia is over and done

Fred

On Aug 9, 3:23*pm, DaveS wrote:
On Aug 9, 5:06*am, jeff wrote:



Dave ask---is fishing for drum with a flyrod possible ?
Joe the elder offers - Yes-----deep southern coastal areas offer lots
of guides---google flyfishing for reds

I fish for drum from my kayak in marshes along N.C. coast-----because
casting a fly is tough from kayak I usually use spinning gear but
carry a flyrod and if I spot a pod of reds usually get out of my
kayak and use the flyrod.
[ water 2 or 3 foot deep } Can sometimes get two or three before
they spook-- hard part of catching a big one {30 inches ] is trying
to to take a picture before releasing the damm thing !
Joe--no picture included

On 8/9/2010 3:23 PM, DaveS wrote:

This may well be a stupid question but . . . is fishing for drum with
a flyrod a practical possibility?
Dave

not a stupid question.

lots of folks along coastal nc chase drum with a flyrod. ...especially
the normal puppy drum we catch between 12-26". there are areas the fish
can be found tailing...they are usually the smaller ones that can get
back in the marsh grasses and shallows.

willi visited one year. he was very successful with his 6 weight using
an epoxy crab imitation he tied, while wading in knee to waist deep
waters.

a big puppy drum like the one i hooked yesterday would require a stout
fly rod, and isn't found tailing. they run in schools of like size.
find one, and there are usually 10 more around. but they are on the
move, sort of grazing, then moving to a new spot.

plenty of guys around cape lookout use their false albacore flyfishing
tackle (10-12 weight) to sight fish the old big drum when they are found
running in the surf line near the beach or around the lookout shoals.
over in the deeper holes of the pamlico sound, they catch the really big
drum (50+ inchers) using conventional sal****er tackle and cut bait on
circle hook rigs fished on the bottom.

i don't like flyrodding in the sal****er...too much work and not as
efficient as a spinning rod, imo. and a big fish on light spinning gear
is fun. however, i'm not any good as a flycaster, especially of the
heavy sal****er flies with big rods. i do marvel at some of those guys
shooting line with their double hauls though. i haven't seen the spey
rods here yet, but i've heard of a few people using them. for me, the
spinning gear is quicker, easier, ...and safer. g

On 08/09/2010 05:06 AM, jeff wrote:
as some of you know, i'm about a 2 hour drive inland from the coastal
area i usually go for puppy drum fishing. my bay boat has been in the
shop since early july with minor issues i couldn't resolve. OK, there
really is no issue with the boat that i can resolve, so they all require
a visit to the boat and motor doctor. anyway, just got it back and
needed to test some stuff and run gas out of the tank...so off to the
sal****ers at 4 am to catch the high tide at 8 am and first hours of
falling tide. didn't visit joe's island, as i wanted to check out some
marshe islands i had fished with wally and mark on different occasions.
caught one large flounder there, saw one drum swirl on a big oyster
head...but no drum otherwise...so, after about 2 hours, i headed to the
marsh islands i usually walk. nothing on the first one... i went to
another. it has a shell point on the east side and a mucky shallow cove,
then a small point on its north end with a great weedy and mucky bottom
about 20 yards out. the drum like spots that the small crabs prefer. the
mucky, weedy bottoms and the marsh island banks always seem to be my
best producers for me. but, it's been a tough summer...very hot, and i
haven't seen or caught the usual numbers. yesterday looked like it was
gonna be just the one flounder. i made about 100 casts in all the usual
spots as i worked toward the north point. nothing. after about 10 casts
from the north point. i figured it was going to be a drumless day...
then...

i caught one about 20 inches. skinny. i debated making him a meal, but
decided against it and released him. on the next cast, i hooked the
biggest puppy drum of my brief drum fishing career. she was well-hooked
and very strong. it zinged the drag on my 20 pound braid, and did
several parallel runs on the top of the water about 20 yards out. i got
a good look. at one point it ran toward me and i got a look at it with
the pec fins extended. based only on past experience, my guess is it was
easily 35"... and, it was accompanied by 15-20 others of its size. they
were running with and opposite my fish the whole time in a sort of
frenzy...like you see with feeding fish. and then...on one of the near
surface parallel runs, one of the other fish going in the opposite
direction hit the line and my fish turned, and my braid broke at the
lure...i didn't tie a palomar, and i've never had a problem with my
improved, improved clinch...so, i think the force of the two fish popped
the weakest link. for about a minute though, it was sporting.

tide was about an hour into dropping from high. i fished the island for
another 30 minutes without success, then took off on a parallel course
with the inner banks about an 1/8th mile from its shore, exploring.
found some new likely spots, and saw one of the "old drum" (not a
puppy), break the surface within 20 feet of the boat. she was one of
those 40-50 inchers. never seen one as big inside the banks, but i don't
know why they wouldn't be there.

anyway, a fun day, with few fish, but a great fish story and memory.
this has been an odd summer, and i haven't fished as hard for the drum
as i usually do. work and other stuff have kept me at home. i don't know
how the extremely hot summer we have had will impact the fishing, but
the place remains worthy of the effort. i think the kayak will come in
very handy getting me into new shallows where my boat won't go. joe and
i have talked about a september test run, and that should give me a
better sampling and idea about the drum this fall. as always, water
temps, tides and winds will decide the question...but yesterday sure
felt good as an omen of big fish.

jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thank you for sharing! Great story. Sounds like you had a
blast. :-)

Just out of curiosity, what kind of bait/lure do you use
for Drum? And, what kind of action do you give it?

-T

Thanx Joe
Dave

Thanx Joe and Jeff. All new to me.
Dave

On 8/9/2010 11:24 PM, Todd wrote: jeff

Hi Jeff,

Thank you for sharing! Great story. Sounds like you had a
blast. :-)

Just out of curiosity, what kind of bait/lure do you use
for Drum? And, what kind of action do you give it?

-T

on spinning tackle, i typically use a plastic lure on a head of some
type, or a "redfish magic" (commercially sold - small gold spinner with
a plastic lure). have also used a johnson gold weedless spoon. gulp
works too...that's as close to bait as i get (so far). friends are very
successful with mud minnows, shrimp, and cut bait. clousers, deceivers,
baitfish ties, epoxy gold spoons, shrimp and crab imitations work on the
fly rod. finding the drum is the real secret though...they strike a
wide variety of lures, and for my taste, are among the best sportfish to
be found in any water.

vary the action, but most of the lures wiggle like a fish or give the
impression of small baitfish behavior. in my experience, puppy drum hit
hard and fast...don't study the lure like a trout.

jeff