Big Bonito Bash

Wrightsville Beach is an early-season hotspot for fishermen to tangle with the inshore members of the tuna family.

Capt. Rick Bennett had the outboard on his boat warmed up and purring quietly as his fishermen ambled down the dock just before dawn. As soon as their gear was stowed, he cast off and headed toward Masonboro Inlet and an impending sunrise over the Atlantic. The boat rose and settled easily over the almost nonexistent swells as it left the protection of the Masonboro Inlet jetties and headed east toward the Liberty Ship (AR 370). The short trip had been in the growing pre-dawn light, but now the sun was peeking over the horizon and lighting up the nearly cloudless sky.

“I know it’s hard to see straight ahead into that rising sun, but if you will help me look around for birds over the water or breaking fish or any other sign that could indicate feeding fish, I would appreciate it,” said Bennett, who was expecting to see evidence that hungry Atlantic bonito were in the area. “I’ll keep a sharp lookout myself, but the more eyes we have looking around, the more likely we are to spot them. I’ve found them between the inlet and (the Liberty Ship) a couple of times recently, and it would be especially nice today. As pretty as this weather is, there will be a crowd out there before long.”

A little past halfway to the Liberty Ship, Bennett, who operates Rod Man Charters out of Wrightsville Beach, spotted some activity. No one else had paid much attention to a pair of terns hovering over a little piece of slightly disturbed ocean, but as soon as he spotted it, Bennett swung the boat lightly to the south and headed over to them.

Easing back the throttle as he approached, Bennett said he thought they may be holding over some feeding fish. Once the boat had slowed, he Bennett passed out outfits rigged with small jigs to cast to the fish.

“I’ll ease the rest of the way in to them at idle,” Bennett said, excitement creeping into his voice. “Once we are close enough, you can cast a little beyond them, fire away and reel your lures back through them. Someone should reel pretty quick and someone a little slower. If that doesn’t get you slammed, try reeling and jigging on your next cast. Sometimes, they want the lure to be moving fast or slow and straight, and sometimes they prefer it to be moving erratically. Once we figure that out for today, we’ll be able to catch more of them.”

Bennett was going to offer more detailed instructions, but the cry, “I got one!” rang out from the bow. Looking up quickly, he saw one of the light spinning rod he custom builds bent over and heard the little spinning reel squeal as it reluctantly gave up line.

“Alright!” Bennett said. “You don’t need to try to horse him, just keep steady pressure on him and reel in line whenever he will let you.”

Then, turning to the other fishermen, he said, “Reel your lure in as quick as you can and cast it just a little to your side and beyond where he hooked up. These fish rarely travel alone. They are usually in small schools, so there should be some more close by. The sooner you get your lure over where they are, the sooner you’ll have one on too.”

About that time, Bennett got a glimpse of the first fish — not a bonito, but a Spanish mackerel. He told his fishermen they had caught the first Spanish of the year and he doubted it was alone. Bonito and mackerel on the same trip is a bonus.

After catching a few more Spanish, the bite slowed. Bennett headed towards the Liberty Ship, where a couple of boats were already visible on the horizon.

“Did y’all understand why we stopped back there?” Bennett asked. “Those couple of birds were hovering close enough to the water to be feeding, and when I looked closely, there appeared to be something working in the water. It doesn’t take a flock of birds to show where some feeding fish might be; sometimes we’ll find fish under just a couple of birds like that. I’ll be looking all the time, but even if you just see a couple of birds like that, let me know.”

Arriving at the Liberty Ship and finding out from a friend on one of the other boats that the action was non-existent, Bennett decided to troll a while and try to find some fish feeding deeper while keeping a lookout for indications of fish at the surface.

Bennett set out a series of rods rigged with small, Yo-Zuri diving plugs and began to troll. The plugs come from the manufacturer with treble hooks, but in the interest of safety and being able to easily unhook fish — and sometimes release them — Bennett had changed them out to No. 1 VMC Pin Hooks attached to the lures with split rings and small, ball-bearing swivels, which allow the lures to swim more easily and helps keep fish from pulling free.

After only a few minutes, a couple of bluefish bashed the lures and were caught, and Bennett pushed a little farther offshore to leave the bluefish and look for something else.

Roughly halfway between the Liberty Ship and another artificial reef, AR 372, Bennett spotted a small group of birds wheeling and diving on the water. This time, there were telltale tails as the fish slashed and rolled, which identified the fish as bonito. Turning toward the feeding birds and fish, Bennett was passing out rods and reels as soon as the boat had slowed.

“As soon as you can cast to them, fire away,” Bennett said. “I saw a couple of these, and they are bonito. One of you reel quickly and one slower, and let’s see what they want today.”

The fish didn’t hit the first cast, but immediately after the second cast splashed down, one of the small reels was buzzing, and a rod was bent. A few minutes, later a tired bonito emerged from the depths beside the boat.

The school of fish moved a hundred yards or so and popped up again. This time, one fishermen hit pay-dirt with his first cast. Bennett instructed the other to speed up his retrieve, and he quickly found himself holding a bucking rod and squealing reel.

For an hour or two, the fish would repeatedly pop up and allow the fishermen to get in a few casts before they dove again. Several other boats moved in, and their fishermen also scored on the speedy little footballs. After a while, it took the bonito longer to reappear, and finally, they didn’t come back up. With the sun well up into the morning sky, the bonito returned to the depths.

Still scanning the water, “just in case,” Bennett asked the fishermen if they wanted to go look for more fish or if they had had enough. Sunburned smiles and nodding heads indicated they had enjoyed the action, but were ready to call it a morning.