Jetski Fishing Offshore of the Atlantic-in a Storm!

Went offshore on a jetski fishing trip hitting artificial reefs AR330, AR320, and AR315. The weather was forecasted with 80% chance of rain and I took off after a band of showers had passed through. AR330 is around 7 miles out and the only boat at the reef was a large dive boat. Weather began to go south quickly and I headed in towards AR320 which is located about 1.5 miles off shore. The choppy seas limited my speed to around 10-12 mph and the storm caught up with me. I was prepared for a storm and had safety equipment with me as well as a mapped out plan I left with my family in case of trouble.

Safety equipment included a Uniden VHF marine radio with GPS, WX, and one button distress signal, flare gun with 6 flares, installed bilge pump in hull of the jetski, Humminbird fish finder with GPS tracking, and my cell phone with offline mapping for GPS (GPS works even if cell coverage does not).

Just Do It.

The season is upon us. Just a few weeks and the hunting will begin. As I complete my final stages of scouting and setting up stands I have to look back at what has transpired so far this year. I always like a good adventure and doing some things I have never done before. And I cannot lie; this year has had its share of ups already.

I competed in my first local, statewide, and national archery tournaments finishing second at the Dixie Deer Classic. This was only 12 hours removed from receiving the 2012 North Carolina Bowhunter of the Year Award the night before.

I floated 22 miles down the Neuse River on a paddleboard fishing trip. Then a few weeks ago I completed another adventure taking a jetski fishing offshore.

I can look back over the last few years and each one held its own firsts for me. Memorable trips such as taking a bison as my first big game animal with a bow up in North Dakota, chasing mountain lion by horseback in the high desert of Arizona, and mixing it up with alligators in the humid swamps of Georgia.

I am asked occasionally about how I find the time to do things such as this and still include family time. It is much more than just family time though. I not only handle my weekly outdoors activities and write the column weekly, but I have a full time job during the week also. I freelance for several magazines and have been working on a couple of books in the little spare time I have to kick it up another notch.

But the real challenge is how to include my kids in my activities. While I did not feel it was safe to take one of my kids with me offshore on the jetski, I did have them ride with me on the ski while testing the rebuild and construction of the fishing rig in freshwater such as Kerr Scott Reservoir while camping.

Even when I put the paddleboard in the water for the first time in order to check the stability and make sure it would be a safe platform in which to try the float trip, my youngest son was brave enough to climb on board for a few minutes and stayed long enough for a couple of pictures.

They have often helped me when practicing in the back yard or a local football field by pulling arrows or helping me mark yardage. This was especially helpful on long distance shots of 60 and 70 yards as I would adjust sights as they retrieved the arrows and convey to me where the arrows were in regards to the bullseye.

I did not take them on the alligator hunting trip two years ago, but they helped me in planning what to pack and next year my oldest son, my daughter and I will have acquired enough priority points through the lottery draw in Georgia to do a hunt together.

So while some of the top adventures did not include them in the actual trip, they were there in spirit and preparation. And through this preparation, they will have acquired some of the skills and appreciation needed as we set out on trips this season and next year. They will understand the work and patience needed in order to make an adventure successful and safe. And they will understand that life is not just working, sleeping and eating, but enjoying the things that life has to offer. You just have to do it.

 

 

 

Jetski Fishing off the Atlantic Coast

I like trying normal things a little differently. For instance, several years ago I bowhunted for mountain lion from horseback in the high desert of Arizona. Obviously, this is not the normal means of hunting a lion. I will routinely camp out in a tent beside a field I intend to hunt deer to prevent alerting any that may be in the field by driving onto the property. Earlier this year I took to the Neuse River fishing a twenty-two mile stretch by paddleboard over one weekend. I have also bowfished for flounder rather than using a rod and reel or a gig, and in the process took the North Carolina state bowfishing record.

After interviewing Brian Lockwood, otherwise known as Jetski Brian, a couple of months ago, I knew I had to try jetski fishing off the coast. Since that time I have been working on a ski and fishing setup so I could experience it. I wanted a setup that would not turn the jetski into a pure fishing machine. I have three kids and I knew if I altered the ski that much then they would not have a chance to just have fun on it.

The challenge was conquered by mounting rod holders and building a camera mount onto a 120 quart cooler. Instead of using a built on cooler rack, I installed feet on the cooler to lift it up off the back of the jetski and then rigged it so it could be attached to the ski using the eyelets already on the ski.

After a few fresh water lake test runs, I knew the setup was close to what I envisioned.

I made one inshore test run off of Emerald Isle. Running about 40 miles in one day and catching a few croakers and spots, I realized a few changes I needed to make if I was going to take it out in the ocean. Over the next week, I was able to make the changes and prepare for possibly my last coastal trip of this year.

I targeted an artificial reef off of Wrightsville Beach. The fishing was reported to be good and the weekend weather report showed expected favorable conditions.

I checked all the extra safety precautions I added to the ski; a newly installed bilge pump, a fish finder with gps tracking capability, two extra batteries for my cell phone and an offline map application to use with the phone’s gps even if cell service was not available, a vhf marine radio with one button distress signal that would send gps coordinates in the mayday call, and second battery for the jetski itself, just in case the main battery failed.

My wife was beyond nervous about my trip and I printed up a map of the reef I would be fishing to help ease her mind.

 

As for me, this was going to be a challenge, but not something I feared. I have always been comfortable with water. I learned to scuba when I was fifteen and have been known to swim several hundred yards out in the ocean to chase dolphins. The main challenge was going to be finding the reef. Satellite imagery works great for hunting, as you can spot different areas fairly easy. Satellite imagery of the ocean only shows you ocean. This trip would rely heavily on using gps equipment by instruments only. It kind of reminds me of a pilot having to rely on his gauges during night flights.

Second, I was going to target some species I have never fished before.

All so I could experience something that most will never attempt to try.

 

* * * * *

 

The morning started early. 3:30am early in fact. The coast is a long ride from the house but the promise was too great to not get there early. Reports on the area showed Spanish mackerel fishing was going well in the morning and late afternoon hours.

The track I intended on taking would be through the Masonboro Inlet and then head to the bouy AR-370, known as the Meares-Harriss Reef. Once putting in at the wildlife boat ramp just over the bridge at Wrightsville Beach I was able to park quickly and head out. The Intracoastal Waterway was nearly like glass and very few boats were out. In fact, there were many more people paddleboarding in the area during the early hours than there were boats heading out. Wrightsville Beach has become somewhat of a paddleboarder’s Mecca and hosts one of the largest paddleboard races in the world bringing in competitors from as far away as Australia and Hawaii.

After exiting the no wake zones I throttled on up to 30 mph. And then the unexpected happened. The jetski chugged and shut down. I restarted it and it fired up quickly. Again, as I throttled it up it shut down. Cursing to myself I realized a three mile plus trip out into the ocean was not the best thing to do with a jetski acting up. I turned to head back to the ramp.

Then I decided to check one last thing just as I turned back on the ICW from the inlet. Sure enough, I was able to turn the fuel switch further than the marks indicating the tank was on. The switch was loose, so even the marks were aligned, the switch had twisted meaning I only had the fuel on partially.

After a few checks, I once again gained confidence in my vessel and took toward the inlet once more. The jetties guarding the inlet presented much rougher water but nothing that presented concern. I stopped briefly to put a leader with a Gotcha plug attached to a planer on the rod. I casted out just a few yards and allowed the setup to sink and restarted the ski. As I left the inlet I drove within a couple dozen yards of the jetty wall. The water was around 50 feet deep and 78 degrees. I tried to monitor the setup as I exited the inlet but didn’t notice much. I continued out from the inlet a few hundred yards and stopped again to reel in my trolling rig. Something did not feel quite right.

That was because I hooked my first Spanish mackerel, an eight inch specimen. Not big enough to keep, but my first none the less.

Anxious to try my hand at both finding the reef and experiencing the near shore fishing, I decided to go ahead and head out to sea.

My preparation proved efficient and I was able to locate the reef rather easily. There were a few other boats fishing nearby also, and I knew I was getting some strange looks. I set up my rods for some reef fishing and dropped the baits.

The next several hours consisted of bringing in fish constantly and consistently. Ten seconds on the bottom seemed like a break as the fish attacked the bait as quickly as I could put it in.

In the course of the day, I witnessed a sailboat race that painted the ocean’s surface and toward the end waves with eight foot swells. The jetski performed flawlessly after the fuel switch correction and acted as an enlarged bobber through the rougher seas.

 

And in the end, it proved a viable alternative for some excellent fishing.

 

 

Trail Cams

Opening day of deer season is less than two months away for bowhunters, and three months away for gun hunters. That sounds like plenty of time; however it is very easy to get a late start on scouting. For a chance at a successful opening weekend of deer hunting, one must find the deer and pattern the deer.

One hunter’s advice I listened to a few years ago when asked about his secret to success was obvious and clear. Hunt where the deer are. That kind of says it all. Scouting is the process in which we find out that very thing.

This year one of the places I have to hunt is planted with soybeans. That makes it an ideal area to bring in deer. Sure enough, after checking the edges of the field I found plenty of tracks. After back tracking the trails I located points of entry from the woods to the field.

The next step is to determine when the deer are coming to the field and to catalog what deer are available. The easiest way to obtain this information is through the use of trail cameras. Trail cameras come in several varieties. Just a few years ago cameras were separated into two types; film and digital. Now nearly all trail cameras are digital for two reasons. The first is film became expensive because it was a one-time use because of processing and if there was an abundance of game and movement, a roll of film would disappear on the first night. Second, film is pretty much obsolete now as digital cameras and cell phone cameras have taken over the market, much the same way compact disc destroyed the market for cassette tapes and records.

Trail cameras are now separated into flash and infrared styles. Flash cameras tend to burn through batteries quicker and are more invasive. They also invite theft as the flash can be seen clearly in the dark. Infrared cameras are less alarming to both animals and humans. They also can burn through batteries depending on the settings due to the number of photos it can take. The fact is, without the flash, the deer tend to stay in the area longer.

Where the camera is set up also determines the types of pictures you can get. Since I have just started using the camera this season my goal is to see what I have and when they come through. For this, I have set the camera near their entrance point to the field and baited the site with corn. This will show me when the deer are coming out to feed and how long they are staying in the area. It also accomplishes the other goal of cataloging what deer are in the area.

If you are a trophy hunter, the advice changes slightly. Instead of hunting where the deer are, you need to hunt where the big bucks are. That is where the cataloging comes in. I am not hunting just for trophy bucks, but I would like to take one in velvet. That only leaves the opening weekend or two as viable opportunities before the bucks start removing the velvet from their antlers. Seeing what deer are in the area also gives me an idea of the buck/doe ratios and the number of fawns born during the spring.

Over the next few weeks, the camera will be moved to different locations in order to find the best area to set up a stand to hunt deer during legal shooting times. If done properly, scouting with the use of the trail camera can show you both where to hunt as well as where not to.