Ice Cream Man

Glad someone eating Grouper, we can't keep any for a few months ...... ICM

No Gulp, did try Deep Creek Mullet ( smells like garlic ) & Bass Assassins ....... ICM

Went out with Capt. John & Phil today for a little sight casting for Reds. First time seeing them tail, it looked like kelp, they were stacked up that thick ........ "Combat" fishing at it's finest & the bite was HOT!! ......... I caught 4 or 5 & Phil caught 3 or 4 ........ Capt. John quit counting his fish at 15 & I'm pretty sure he ended up with around 25 or 30..... What was the HOT bait?...... Mirrolure 17MR's in three of the new colors. Pink Head/White body, White Back/Pink Belly, & all White. All lures have the broken glass sides as well. I started out with the Bass Assassin Sea Shads & should have switched over when the Reds would just pick up the baits, then drop it ....... When Capt. John switched over to the Mirrolures, it was ON!! ........ Smashed down barbs & all released ........ ICM

Capt. Rick ....... Where do you run it & what else is in that spread ? Thanks ..... ICM

Use The Canoeman Knot on all lures without a split ring .... Gives topwaters, jigs, spoons a little more action ....... Hope this helps ........ ICM

Good topic ...... Let's talk trolling spreads for Mahi ........ What is your goto spread ? Do you have a search spread ? Dead Cigar Minnows ( CM ) or plugs / lure combinations ? Anyone use Drone Spoons & big lip Deep Diving Plugs ( Mann's 30 & 25 )? Kings it's one down, 3 up using CM & Pirate Plugs ....... Thanks ...... ICM

Yes, we use them all the time ........ What I like about them is they are very easy to rig & they always tract true without spinning ......... ICM

Went back with Ed & John this morning ....... Both hooked up with lower slot Reds on their first cast ( only 2 they caught - both released ) ...... Then John " The Drum Slinger " hooked up with 10 Blues on 11 cast, he lost a few but landed most - the biggest was about 8 lbs.- he's a natural talent ..... Let's just say Ed was not as fortunate today ........ Had to force Drum Slinger John to leave the bite when the tide started taking back the our little piece of heaven ..... ICM

Got your attention now, didn't I ???? Went fishing with Ed " Aftergolf " & his son John today - both first class guys ....... And we shared a lot of first today .......... First light, up & ready to fish ....... First time surf fishing for either ....... First cast an over slot Red for Ed ........ First cast a 4# Blue for John ...... First time using cut bait this year ...... First time the Blacktip Sharks didn't show up ......... First time we were the only people fishing ....... First time John caught 3 over slot Reds ........ First time I didn't get to fish, too busy helping ...... First time I didn't mind not fishing . We, no they caught & released 5 over slot Reds & 1 Blue - 6 fish with only 4 baits ........ That's a first for me ............ ICM

If that's you Rusty Hooks - you already know all the hot spots ......... ..... ICM

The Plan - was to catch over-slot Reds using only topwater plugs ....... The Place - a little piece of sand surrounded by water ........ The Players - Capt. John, Capt. Junior & the Boy Scout - me, because I was prepared with the only pair of pliers - ( Why do we call it a pair if it's only one ???? ) ...... Now everyone has heard the myth " Fish bite better in the rain... " But this was an all day rain, more like torrential downpours with a little lightning in the distance for effect. If this was a baseball game it would have been called, but these two came to play. I on the other hand, am having second thoughts - or maybe it's my wife's voice, questioning my sanity ? ( " 4 pm & your going fishing in the rain ! Why ??? " ) We leave the dock with the rain pounding us & we are three men determined to complete our quest. I am feeling the pressure of putting two highly qualified guides on topwater Reds. After anchoring, we start our long walk thru the rain, discussing tactics, hearing tips & sharing insults, we arrive at base camp. Our base camp consist of a 5 gal bucket for tackle, 3 bottles of water & 2 extra rods - all on high dry ground. So we thought ........ The rain is starting to slow down & optimism is looking up. We have to still cross the flats with the current running out, next to a deep channel to get to The Spot. The channel that had produced over slot Reds on topwater, on every cast, earlier in the week. Shows no love, no bait & no fish, so we head to The Spot ........ When we finally arrive at The Spot, It's little more then 2 sand bars surrounded by water, loaded with fish in less then 2 feet of water - Combat Fishing at it's best ! We decide to split up on the inner bar - Capt. John goes right, Capt. Junior goes left & I stay in the middle ( because I have the pliers ) ....... Look over to see Capt. John jump about 3 feet straight up & turn white, when he spots a 5 foot Blacktip swimming near him ...... Did I forget to mention the 3 resident Sharks that have been cruising the same water we will be knee deep in to Capt. John ???? Capt. John is the first to hook up, rod bent, reel screaming & he fighting a 4# Blue - that's acting like a Tarpon, leaping & head shaking all the way in ........ Meanwhile Capt. Junior moves out to the second bar & is fighting a mystery fish on topwater, that turns out to be about a 32" Red - that is lost at his feet ........... Both Captains are catching Blues on every cast & losing a few topwater plugs to bites off, until the switch to a wire trace & heavier leaders. The Boy Scout finally hooks ups - after being smoked by these two ......... The rain is slowing down, while the bite is heating up - Then the start of an explosive Bluefish blitz, a rod's length away - busting bait, hungry Blues & crazed Blacktips running thru the blitz ........ We are catching 3 & 4 # Blues on every cast. Fighting to keep them away from the Sharks. And then it happens, Capt. Junior lobs out his favorite topwater Zara Spook & a Blacktip crushes it ........ He's got about a 75# Blacktip screaming PowerPro off his small reel, pushing explosive wakes with frenzied tail slaps, while zigzagging parallel to us . Now, Capt. Junior is doing a great job staying with this Shark, until we tail whips the line - game over.......... We could have stayed out there & waited for the Reds to start biting ......... But a little miscalculation with the effects a rising tide would have on our base camp - forced us to leave them biting & run to prevent any more lost of tackle ........ When we gather up what's was left & made our way back to the boat, that seemed like it was anchored in another zip code - The rain had stopped & we were feeling rewarded for going the distance .......... Many thanks to Capt. John & Capt. Junior for going combat fishing in the rain .......... ICM

Good news for Capt. Mike & others ..... Somebody is going down. Left a young man trying to explain to the detective how well over $20K worth of gear happened to be in his garage. The other gentleman who had most taken had two Penn International 50's and four 30's. All 50th Anniversary IGFA Editions on custom sticks he got from his Dad. He is a very happy camper right know. At least the guy had the Riley's hanging on the wall. Edited by NoExcuses - Yesterday at 8:02pm

Good news for Capt. Mike & others ..... Somebody is going down. Left a young man trying to explain to the detective how well over $20K worth of gear happened to be in his garage. The other gentleman who had most taken had two Penn International 50's and four 30's. All 50th Anniversary IGFA Editions on custom sticks he got from his Dad. He is a very happy camper right know. At least the guy had the Riley's hanging on the wall. Edited by NoExcuses - Yesterday at 8:02pm

Posting this for a buddy ........ ICM Creekside Yacht Club, Bradley's Creek. Looks like about a dozen boats got hit last night. Only fishing gear seems to have been taken and only good stuff at that. I had 4 full tackle bags and 6 Inshore Loki/Riley Rods (lime green, sparkle red, micro guides very noticeable stuff) with Daiwa Fuego 2000's and 2500's lifted and one boat had a full line of Penn Internationals and all their Offshore stuff gone. Lots of other gear from the other boats It's all on video so we'll see but doesn't help much with cancelled trips.

Posting this for a buddy ........ ICM Creekside Yacht Club, Bradley's Creek. Looks like about a dozen boats got hit last night. Only fishing gear seems to have been taken and only good stuff at that. I had 4 full tackle bags and 6 Inshore Loki/Riley Rods (lime green, sparkle red, micro guides very noticeable stuff) with Daiwa Fuego 2000's and 2500's lifted and one boat had a full line of Penn Internationals and all their Offshore stuff gone. Lots of other gear from the other boats It's all on video so we'll see but doesn't help much with cancelled trips.

If you want to learn about Sail Fishing Techniques & Ballyhoo Circle Hook Rigging ........ Capt. Lee Parsons will be our Guest Speaker on Tues., July 21 at 6: 00 PM Masonboro Yacht Club & Boatyard We will be serving food $5. per meal. And there will be a Jigging Rod Raffle as well as a 50/50 Raffle. All are welcomed ..... PM me if your interested in attending or have questions ...... Thanks ...... ICM The Eddie Haneman Tournament entry forms & info will be available ........ Ed looking forward to Fri - got some really good intel last night about a new area for Reds ....ICM

Ed have you considered Sail fishing ??? On Tues 7/21 we are having a meeting with a guest speaker Capt. Lee Parsons on Sailfishing with Ballyhoo & Circle hook rigging at Masonboro Yacht Club - give me a call if you want to go ....... Capt Eddie Haneman Tournament will be the following weekend - I am going to fish it ....... Last year I think 27 Sails were caught & released in 2 days, less then 20 miles off the hill..... Found a new spot not far from where we fished ......... I am ready & rigged to get on them ........ Put some friends from Saltwater Marine ( Mark & JR ) on some Reds Sat. & they out fished me with Gulp on a 1/4 oz. jig head - 15 to none ......... And I refused to stoop that low, stayed with a Nemire Ripper, gold spoon & SkitterWalker top water - did manage 1 monster Pinfish on the top water ...... ICM

Fishing with your children had to be more fun then dealing with your ungrateful so called friend ....... I got a fishing buddy my wife refers to as my "fishing wife", he calls & we are gone for hours ........ He never ask me to take out the garbage or rearrange the living room furniture either - And if we are not fishing we are checking out tackle shops ....... Besides he's a first rate chef, a damn good mechanic & a great angler ...... Jamisjockey, you need to get a " fishing wife " - I think he has a brother ???? ............ .......... ICM

Ed ......New spot - when back on Wed without a hook - up......... My buddy Ray when back after dropping me off & had a great time catching chopper Blues on top water .......... Getting some good intel on some other spots to try ......... Ed when are you coming back to the beach ???? .......... ICM

When to a secret spot that is right on the ICW, only played with 3 Reds, all on Topwater, all released ........ The biggest was over slot while the other 2 might have won a tournament ......... Could have caught more, but didn't want to beat up this school or let on that we were catching Reds to the passing boats ........... Besides the big wakes left my passing boats were becoming unbearable .... Almost forgot to mention, David C out fished me today 2 to my 1 - again !..... Nice talking to Jay " Bird " - sunning himself on the beach like a tourist when there are fish to be caught ! .......... ICM

What are you trolling for ? How experienced is your crew ? Mann's Stretch can ruin your day - they have a tendency to mate with everything in your spread ...... Because to get them to the proper depth they have to be run back 100 or more feet ...... Here's why - Mann's float to the top went you stop trolling while weighted rigs sink - instant tangle ...... What about running some lines from your t-top or from the legs of the t-top ?????...... It's always a good idea to continue trolling when you hook up - hoping for multiple hook ups ...... Hope this helps ......... ICM

jamisjockey....... be careful about running your spread to close to each other or you will be sending all your time untangling lines ....... Been there done that ....... Just curious why yo didn't consider out-rods or angled out t-top rod holders ???? ......... ICM

Yes they do hang around buoys, as well as live bottom or AR's will be holding CM....... By all means always bring frozen baits with you just in case ........... ICM

Don't ask the SC Governor for hiking directions - he is easily distracted ........ ...... ICM Greg ........ cool picture of your son ....... Did Joe gotten cup holders for his boat ??????

Glad you made it back safely ............ I am no expert , but do have friends that are & what I have learned from them is to keep your drag on the lite side, to prevent from putting large hook holes in your catches mouths allowing them to throw the hook....... Another good tip for Dolphins or any fish is NEVER take their head out of the water before gaffing ........ Hope this helps ......... ICM