The Missing Fish

[FishermanBryant]

The Missing Fish

Having spent all of last week on the Outer Banks, searching desperately for fish to catch, we completely struck out. Although the first few days were pleasant with temperatures in the high sixties, Northeast winds kept the water cool and muddy. I knew before we left that the conditions would not be great, but my wife and daughter had spring break during the same week, which rarely happens, and everyone wanted to go to the beach.

I did not see anyone catch anything but dogfish, and did not talk to anyone who had caught anything. There were very few people even out on the beach fishing, and those that were looked bored and tired. One of the local tackle shops had a report of one Puppy Drum caught at the point and a small Bluefish blitz at ramp 30. I did see a fairly large school of Bluefish offshore working around the point at Cape Hatteras, but they did not come in close enough to shore to cast to.

Since the fishing was obviously a bust, and the local tackle shop had told us that scallops were in the sound and plentiful, we decided to go scalloping. We spent several hours in frigid water wading through the sound gathering scallops. We were able to gather a 5 gallon bucket of scallops in the shell and 5 pounds of sand and mud in each shoe. Then it was back to the house to start cleaning scallops for dinner.

If you have never cleaned a scallop, it is a tedious and messy task. The only edible part of the scallop is the muscle that attaches to the shell and opens and closes the shell. Unfortunately, that delectable muscle is surrounded by a black mucus of entrails that must be removed. That can become a lot of work for a little bit of meat. We did end up with about 2 pounds of sweet tender bay scallops for dinner. The next day, my wife came home from the grocery store, and advised us that the store had fresh scallops for $4.99 per pound. Isn’t that a kick in the head, but at least we caught one meal of fresh seafood.

FishermanBryant

[andreww]

Aside from right around town(richmond, VA) I don't fish from jan threw march it is not worth it to drive any far way to catch nothing and spend half a grand. I don't buy all the tackle shop reports, get a report straight from the fisherman. And the outer banks are hit and miss the reason they have such a great rep is drum drum drum and it wont be drum time for a wile ringo.
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