North Carolina River Fishing and Canoeing with Mack: Bull Reds From the Surf

Bull Reds from the Surf!!!

Catching Big Drum from a Yak was Great ( see last post )but I wanted to get one from the Surf plus I had no one else to go with me on this day as you never ever want to Yak in the Ocean w/o another Yaker for safety reasons.

So, I had decided after catching 5 big ones on a yak Friday that on Tuesday(Oct 25, 2016) I would head back down there and try to get one out of the surf.

I Left the big city at 11 and was on the beach at 2:30.
My plan was to to throw 2 rods out with mullet(frozen) and try to catch some fresh bait. Except for a big blue crab I had no hits until I caught a bluefish at aprox 445 . I then proceeded to cut it into chunks. The head went on my 7000 blue yonder on a 12 Pinnacle rod and the next section went on a Shimano 6500 baitrunner on a 12' Powerstick plus.
Both of these outfits can throw 9 oz of lead easy. I had 6 oz on the spinning outfit and 9 oz on the Blue yonder. I cast both of these out right to where some pelicans had just dived . Almost Immediately the spinning outfits tip started heading down and then the baitrunner was giving line. I picked it up and started reeling which takes the baitrunner off and goes to drag. I could tell it was a big un and the battle began. 5 mins into the fight the Blue Yonder starts going

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Oh NO! 2 on at a time. Great but a big problem.

I had to back up to the Blue Yonder to engage the reel and then pick it up with one hand setting the hook. I then put it back down in the holder and loosened the drag. I fought the first one for at least 5 more minutes , lipped it, had someone take a few quick photos and then I had to hold it in the water for at least another 5 before I felt confident it could swim off. Swim off it did. All the while I was keeping an eye on the blue yonder as I didn't want to lose that fish and surely didn't want to lose a 500 dollar outfit. When I picked it up it may have had 30 yards of line left before it hit the bottom of the spool. Another 10 minute battle and the second was beached , photoed and released. An awesome day.
2 Big reds on at the same time and both landed. Today was my lucky day. The first went 45 inches and the second I didn't measure but it was only an inch or 2 shorter. See below for pictures.

Note- The other day they had no problem Hitting frozen bait but today w/o that fresh Bluefish I would have been skunked. So always try to have fresh and frozen.

Pete my dog was my companion today and he truly loves to fish. I think he enjoyed the trip today more than I did.

Pete on the Ride down

Pete relaxin on the Beach

Outfits-
6500 Shimano Baitrunner(80's model) spooled with 15 lb Big Game with 40 lb shock leader(Red Cajun) The rod was a 12' Power Stik. I have had this outfit since the mid to late 80's and it works just as well as the new outfits.

Abu Garcia 7000 Blue Yonder spooled with 16 lb Momoi Line with a 40 lb shock leader. The rod on this outfit is a 12' Pinnacle .

The Rig consisted of a Pyramid sinker(6- 9 oz) attached to a sinker slide, swivel , leader, and then either a J or circle 9/0 Gamakatsu Hooks.