Yesterday I left my house in Poquoson Va. at 0330hrs and headed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I met up with three friends at the Manteo boat ramp, PWC's are not allowed to drop in the ramp by the fishing center at Oregon inlet. I could see piles of debris all down the roadside from hurricane Irene. Originally a group of us had a rental house with a dock at Hatteras Village this week but the storm washed out the road and our plans to fish from there. I really feel for the residents of Hatteras Island. The only way to get off of the island is by boat or ferry.
We figured lets still go down and fish one of the Towers and see what we could find. There were four of us on our rigged up jet skis, Todd and AB of Gloucester, Tom of Williamsburg and me from Poquoson Va. We left around 0730, went down the sound and out of Oregon Inlet making a track for C Tower which is about 28 miles offshore. The conditions were flat and glassy all day and we were able to cruise comfortably at 35-40 mph. I have fished the A tower before but this was my first time to the C. We all jigged for Amberjack losing several to the structure, the fish were staying tight to the tower. Tom caught an Alby, Triggerfish and a lot of Sea Bass. Bottom fishing right at the legs produced a Sea Bass on every drop down to about 100 feet using squid for bait. Some of them were pretty big, Todd caught the largest. We were going to run to another tower but why leave when your non stop catching. On the way back we saw a bunch of spotted dolphins so I took a bunch of pictures of then hanging around our skis.
Todd's ski started acting up about ten miles out so we played it safe and towed his back the rest of the way in. I covered almost 85 miles and burned about 17 gallons. We all carried extra fuel and came back with plenty. It was a great day with perfect conditions and company.
We were back at the ramp by 1730 and was home by 2030. I slept very soundly last night and went back out on my jet ski this morning with my wife. Here are some pictures of my trip.
We figured lets still go down and fish one of the Towers and see what we could find. There were four of us on our rigged up jet skis, Todd and AB of Gloucester, Tom of Williamsburg and me from Poquoson Va. We left around 0730, went down the sound and out of Oregon Inlet making a track for C Tower which is about 28 miles offshore. The conditions were flat and glassy all day and we were able to cruise comfortably at 35-40 mph. I have fished the A tower before but this was my first time to the C. We all jigged for Amberjack losing several to the structure, the fish were staying tight to the tower. Tom caught an Alby, Triggerfish and a lot of Sea Bass. Bottom fishing right at the legs produced a Sea Bass on every drop down to about 100 feet using squid for bait. Some of them were pretty big, Todd caught the largest. We were going to run to another tower but why leave when your non stop catching. On the way back we saw a bunch of spotted dolphins so I took a bunch of pictures of then hanging around our skis.
Todd's ski started acting up about ten miles out so we played it safe and towed his back the rest of the way in. I covered almost 85 miles and burned about 17 gallons. We all carried extra fuel and came back with plenty. It was a great day with perfect conditions and company.
We were back at the ramp by 1730 and was home by 2030. I slept very soundly last night and went back out on my jet ski this morning with my wife. Here are some pictures of my trip.