Had my annual trip to Keaton Beach with my good friend Bil from NC, 5/01-5/05. Fishing was good, but not as good as in some past years. Water temps started from 72-77, then dropped into the mid 60's after it cooled down and blew mid-week. We weren't seeing a lot of bait on the surface, so that may have a lot to do with the bite. We had our most consistent bite on rising tides, and particularly in the big blow on Wednesday morning. Lures that worked; Zara Super Spook RH, Zara spook Jr. in golden shiner and silver mullet, Zara Puppy in Black shiner/glitter; Several b donk a donks in Silver flash chartruse back, cotton candy and gold black back orange belly; MirrOlure Lipped Crankbaits L29MR in 18, 24, 808, and EC; and bite a baits in blue back, orange belly, gold scaled sides. And of course pin fish worked great when we wanted to sling popping corks. Didn't have much luck with gulps or soft plastics. We focussed on 3.5-4.5', so that's where we caught most of our fish. Tried shallower and a little deeper, but 3.5' is where we caught most of our fish. Picked up fish in clear water, stained, and dirty.
We caught some very nice fish, several trout in the 23-24" range. We fished Monday with Captain Pat of one more cast, trying to hone our plug fishing skills. Bil picked up a nice 25" trout, we also caught several nice reds, 2 at 26, 1 at 27, and a released 30. Pat also got to get into the fun with a very large (5 1/4#) spanish. As usual, Pat was very entertaining and educational. If only I could remember 1/2 of what he tells me
Bil was playing around with a teaser system of his. Can't say much about it as it produced, he even picked up two trout on one cast.
As usual, Bil caught the biggest fish, I guess that makes me a good host. The folks at the marina were great as usual, as was the food. To another good year at 'the beach'.
