Offshore bottomfishing can be enjoyed one of two ways, and each provides a cure for winter cabin fever.
Fishing offshore during the winter is different.
It’s a lot of fun, but it requires more preparation than other times of the year. Certainly all equipment needs to be in prime working order, but anglers also need to be in good condition.
Weather may vary from extreme cold to comfortable, so it’s imperative for anglers to be dressed appropriately. While being cold certainly isn’t fun and can lead to severe discomfort or even physical ills, getting wet can quickly escalate an uncomfortable situation to a life-threatening one. It’s also wise to leave a travel plan with someone, so they can direct a search in the right direction if needed.
But even with winter’s changeable offshore weather, excellent fishing exists off the southern N.C. coast this time of year. Much like work schedules, wind and weather may decrease available fishing days. But when schedules and weather permit, a mid-winter fishing trip can become a well-needed and surprisingly therapeutic respite from the mundane winter world of leaving for work before daylight and returning home after dark.
Open ocean sunshine truly allows one to see the brighter side of life. And fresh fish fillets aren’t bad either.
Any fish-lover appreciates fresh fish and when it comes at unexpected times, it’s a genuine treat. Grilled fresh grouper is a meal of choice at any time of the year, but when it comes just before the ACC basketball game of the week, it’s a delicacy beyond compare. That an angler caught his own dinner a few hours earlier is icing on the cake.
Don’t stop reading at this point and mutter, “I wish.” Those wishes can come true. Even if you’ve already put away boat and tackle, numerous opportunities exist to fish offshore at the southern N.C. coast during winter, and several allow anglers to avoid preparations and clean-up duties.
Anglers will have to clean their catch, or at least arrange for it to be cleaned, but that’s a small price to pay to cure land sickness. A cooler of grouper, snapper, grunt and sea bass works every time.
Head boats
Several approaches will allow anglers to head out for a day of offshore bottom fishing. The easiest way is to choose a large headboat and pay for fun.
After verifying a headboat’s schedule and making a reservation, just show up the morning of the trip. Moreover, walk-up anglers often can find openings on headboats. Larger boats can accommodate as many as 100 anglers. Still, the safe bet to assure a trip is to make a reservation.
Most of N.C.’s largest coastal towns have headboats. Oregon Inlet has one, Hatteras has a couple, Morehead City and Atlantic Beach have several, Swansboro has one, Sneads Ferry has one, Topsail has one, Carolina Beach has several, Southport/Oak Island has two and Calabash has several.
They run a variety of schedules but usually have trips that will meet any angler’s needs.
Half- and all-day offshore Gulf Stream excursions are the most popular headboat trips. During the summer, half-day trips are an option, but during the winter they barely get to where the black sea bass are holding and that limits the variety of the catch.
All-day Gulf Stream trips can be productive during the winter, with anglers landing many varieties of snappers (bee-liners or vermilion, hog, red, pink or red porgy, silver), porgies, triggerfish, grunts, groupers, rudderfish and black sea bass. Other possibilities include amberjack, cobia, king mackerel and occasionally dolphin.
Capt. Larry Horowitz operates the Voyager Fishing Fleet (www.supervoyagerdeepseafishing.com or 910-575-0111) at Calabash. The Voyager Fleet includes two sportfishermen in the 40-foot range and the Super Voyager II, a 90-foot-long aluminum-hull headboat.
While shorter trips are available as long as the weather remains warm (during fall and as soon as it warms each spring), winter fishing aboard Super Voyager II includes all-day Gulf Stream trips, Wednesdays and Saturdays. For the adventurous, Horowitz schedules one overnight Saturday trip each month.
In addition to catching several species, such as bee-liners, which bite better after dark, overnight trips allow working farther offshore to find fish rarely sought by anglers.
Because over-nighters usually result in more fish, anglers are allowed to keep two daily limits. Many people prefer this excellent benefit and regularly book such trips.
Horowitz has repeat customers for all his trips, but those who regularly book overnight trips are hard-core anglers who enjoy going toe to toe with hefty grouper and other offshore bottom-dwellers.
Capt. Bob Nagy usually runs the Super Voyager II. Once he locates structure he plans to fish, he uses two anchors to precisely position the headboat.
“By using two anchors, we can get the boat set up over the fish, just like we want,” he said. “It’s a more stable way to anchor and keeps us from swinging off the fish. Then, by adjusting one anchor line in and the other out, we can move up and down the ledge or wreck to stay with the fish or explore other parts of it.”
Bottom rigs
Brandon Tharpe, the Super Voyager II’s mate, said he doesn’t know exactly where the name originated but refers to the standard bottom-fishing rig as a “chicken rig”. This versatile rig catches most species of bottomfish and sometimes is pressed into surface action when a school of dolphin appears.
The Super Voyager II chicken rig consists of 100- or 125- pound-test monofilament and a pair of 10-inch dropper loops and Eagle Claw 85 Series hooks in size 5/0. The sinker is tied to a surgeon’s loop to allow easily changes or removals. A barrel swivel attaches the rig to the line from the reel.
“For bait we supply squid and cuttlefish (similar to squid) caught by local shrimpers,” Tharpe said. “That way we know it’s fresh. We pick it up and freeze it ourselves.
“Some fishermen like to use cigar minnows and sardines and we have them for sale in the galley. They believe they catch more grouper with minnows, but many days nice grouper are caught with squid. The sea bass, grunts, bee-liners and such don’t seem to have a preference, but some days the minnows really do catch more a few more grouper.”
Tharpe said once the Super Voyager II is anchored and lines go over the side, the catch varies greatly because the boat is almost 100 feet in length. Anglers near the stern fish a totally different part of a rock or wreck than those at the bow. From front to back, anglers may catch grouper, snappers, grunt, sea bass and other species at the same time.
Small charters
If the Super Voyager II is the big side of winter offshore bottom fishing, Yeah Right is the smaller side. A 28-foot-long Mako cuddy cabin vessel, the boat is less than a third of the length of Super Voyager II and accommodates six anglers and two crew.
Capt. Butch Foster operates Yeah Right Sportfishing Charters (910-845-2004 www.yeahrightcharters.com) at Southport and sometimes heads out to enjoy winter fishing when he doesn’t have a charter. He said offshore bottom fishing is about as close to “catching” as fishing ever gets.
“Black sea bass are the closest fish (to shore) we’ll usually find during the winter,” Foster said. “Leaving from Southport, I begin looking for late-winter sea bass as close as Lighthouse Rock, which begins just a few miles offshore of the Cape Fear sea buoy. I have found them at the WOFES and most artificial reefs in the area, but you might have to work through a bunch of shorts (sea bass) to fill a limit.”
Foster said many anglers overlook sea bass because they usually are easy to find and willing to bite. If there’s a negative to sea bass, it’s the effort needed to clean a limit (15) of them.
He suggested running farther offshore to find larger black sea bass and to add other fish to a day’s catch.
“We usually run into grunts around the Horseshoe and add bee-liners, pinkies, hog snappers and groupers as we get out around the (Frying Pan) tower,” he said. “We also occasionally catch cobia, spiny lobsters, African pompano, amberjack, king mackerel, dolphin and have caught a couple of sailfish over the years. Grouper are our primary target in this area, but hog snappers are always a pleasant surprise.”
Foster said anchoring so the boat was positioned correctly was one of the most important skills for successful bottom fishing. If a boat isn’t above fish, the baits won’t get down to them and anglers don’t catch anything. Because of Yeah Right’s smaller size, Foster positions it using only one anchor.
His philosophy to bottom fish rigging is to keep it simple. He doesn’t use leaders or swivels for sea bass rigs but ties the rig to the 50-pound-test monofilament line coming off the reel.
At the terminus, Foster ties a 3-inch-long loop, using a double surgeon’s knot, to allow easily changing the sinker. Approximately 6 inches above the sinker is a 3-inch loop tied using a double surgeon’s knot. A second hook is added 12 to 18 inches above the first hook, using a similar loop and knot. Foster prefers Eagle Claw Circle Sea hooks in the L-197 Series (size 4/0) for sea bass (see diagram).
Foster’s grouper rig resembles an overgrown Carolina rig, with an egg sinker on the line from the reel just above a 250- or 300-pound Berkley barrel swivel. The egg sinker weight varies from 8 to 16 ounces (or more), depending upon water depth and current strength.
The business end of his grouper setup uses a 3-foot piece of 150-pound-test monofilament from the bottom of the barrel swivel, with a Penn 9/0 circle hook at the other end (see diagram).
Much like the crew of the Super Voyager II, Foster said squid catches most offshore bottomfish. He also uses pieces of fresh cut bait from trash fishes or bait thieves he catches.
“I like to use a live pinfish or cigar minnow for grouper,” he said. “I hook them in the bottom of their body, just behind the anal fin. This allows them to swim better and be more active, which captures the attention of larger fish and draws strikes.”
Foster said circle hooks help many clients hook more fish. He tells his anglers to leave rods in rod-holders and crank the reel about three times to get the weight barely off the bottom in order to see a fish strike.
When using circle hooks, the fish sets the hooks as it turns to swim off, so there’s no need to jerk the rod. In fact jerking a rod often pulls a hook out of the fish’s mouth and causes missed strikes.
Once a line becomes taught and a rod bends, the hook will be set. Then it’s just a matter of moving the fish off the bottom before it finds a hiding place in hard structure and hangs up.
Regulations
Strict regulations govern offshore bottom fishing and quickly may change by proclamation of the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ director. These rules involve creel numbers and size requirements of landed fish. However, many species may be caught and most may be kept. Before going bottomfishing, anglers would be wise to check regulations at the DMF’s recreational fishing pages (www.ncdmf.net).
Bottom fishing is a great way to spend a pretty winter day off the southern N.C. coast. Anglers have several ways to set up such trips.
Charters, such as Yeah Right, are the smaller end and headboats, such as Super Voyager II, are the bigger end. Differences are cost, creature comforts and crowded fishing conditions — but that’s the angler’s choice.
While offshore at warmer waters such as the Gulf Stream, anglers often can experience an extra benefit, removing jackets and still work up a light sweat.
The fish usually bite well and everyone can use the exercise. Most people find offshore bottomfishing relaxing in spite of the workout and depart boats while wearing broad smiles.
Even better is bringing home tasty fillets of fresh fish.
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