Ask anybody who’s discussed fishing with me over the last month and they will most likely tell you about my obsession for this spring’s Atlantic Bonita season. Last year’s first outing for Atlantic Bonita with Phil Pastino and Captain Chris Medlin aboard the Reel Dream was probably my favorite day of fishing all of last year and I’ve been chomping at the bit for a repeat. I’ve been anxiously watching the water temps, waiting for the conditions to get right, and scared to death that I’d miss the opportunity to hear screaming drags due to all this nasty weather we’ve been having for weeks on end. For those that don’t know, Atlantic Bonita are a highly migratory species and are generally only off the Topsail Island coast for about 10 to 14 days each year.

Well my patience must of paid and the first day that the weather got right this week, Thursday, I headed off to Diver’s Rock through New River Inlet at dawn with my buddy Tanner Gray and his bride Lori. It was little foggy going through the inlet and near shore, but as we approached Diver’s Rock it got THICK. It was looking like it might shape up into another “Foggy Fishing Report”. Tanner had been out the night before with Phil and they had caught 6 by my traditional run and gun method; watching for diving birds feeding on the leftover baitfish that the surface busting Bonita had left as scraps; running over to the school and casting jigs to them. However in the fog it obviously going to be difficult to find any busting fish or diving birds.

During several hours of searching and blind casting we did manage plenty of non-targeted species including Ring Tails, Big Pinfish, Black Sea Bass by the dozens, Bluefish, and even a short Gag Grouper by Tanner!

Eventually we did get lucky and Tanner and I each hooked up with very nice Bonita after we eventually found some small schools of busting fish on the surface. We were jigging diamond jigs, orange and silver.

We had only planned on being out on the water until about 9 or 10 o’clock and it was approaching 11 so we decided that Tanner and I needed to get to work and Lori had plans for the day before going to work that evening. Needless say, as we came through the inlet the fog started to lift.

Well we got to work and I just was not feeling satisfied. The forecast was calling for it to begin to blow again starting Friday afternoon and it was not looking good for the whole next week. I was really scared that I would miss the epic bite action that we had had the year before as the fish might move on before the weather cleared again. We decided that 4:00 sounded like good time to try again…life rocks at the beach!

Phil wanted to get his boat wet and he was going to be leaving work and the boat ramp about the same time we were and we met him at the ramp…but he was NOT happy when we arrived. As he was backing his boat down the ramp, the hub on his trailer failed and a tire fell off his trailer completely. He had just had that specific hub serviced…he was rightfully fuming. The only good thing we can say about the situation was that at least it happened at the ramp and not while going down the road at high speed. The boat was not damaged and he had a call into the mechanic who was on the way to take care of the situation. We left Phil with a cold one while he waited as patiently as any of us could have in his situation.

As Tanner and I approached Diver’s Rock we came up on a super thick fog bank…again. It was kind of eerie because it was a beautiful sunny day except for this very dense and dramatic fog bank. We felt like we were approaching Skull Island to take on King Kong. Luckily the fog bank was only between Diver's Rock, and us it about ¼ mile wide.

When we popped through the fog we went to searching for busting fish and diving birds and it wasn’t long until we found them. We gunned over the edge of the action, heaved some lead, and our first two casts resulted in hook ups!

The action then slowed down for about an hour; but we weren’t to be disappointed that evening. The action got hot with huge schools of busting fish all around us. It was about that time that we saw Phil heading out in his boat! They had managed to get Phil’s boat launched while the mechanic took the trailer to work on it.

For about the next 75 minutes the action was that of a blockbuster fishing tale, just as I remembered. Tanner and I were hooked up with doubles numerous times. It was simply a matter of getting a jig in the water. Phil found the action too and came over to fish about 100 feet from us. Every time that Tanner and I had a double on we would yell over to Phil to get hooked up for our “buddy boat triple” action…and he would. We landed a bunch of fish, we lost a bunch of fish, the boat looked like a massacre, and we nearly went deaf from the sounds of screaming drags. Pound for pound, I don’t know of anything more fun to catch.

The bite finally slowed down as the sun was setting and we needed to head in so Tanner could help guide Phil and his boat into the Village of Stump Sound to tie up his boat behind Colin’s house while Phil’s trailer is being worked on. Tanner is the foremost expect on navigating the backwaters of the Village of Stump Sound and the famous burnt bridge.

Even though it’s looking like I might only get one day of Atlantic Bonita fishing in this year; it did not disappoint me. We leave for Bimini in the Bahamas in less than week; it’s time to refocus on the next Epic Adventure. I hope you get a chance to get out there.

Go Catch Some,
Captain Scott Erickson
Fishing Reports