Fly and Light Tackle Adventures: Topsail, Bald Head, Carolina Beach, and Southport

    Yesterday I had Matthew Waddell and his father on board for a mixed species "slam" trip. Matthew manages  one of the finest tackle shops in Eastern NC (EZ Bait and Tackle of Goldsboro), is an accomplished Bluewater angler( he's mated and Captained for some of NC's most noted billfish boats, put anglers on Marlin in multiple countries and made more than a few trips to the scales at the famed Blue Rock ) and is a rabid supporter of CCANC. With light and variable winds that had the Cape Fear looking like a farm pond rather than it's usual state of powerful contrasting currents and confused chop, we hit the backwaters with  hopes high as mountains. It soon became quite apparent that hope has no place on a mountain top and is indeed more at home  as it soars earthward, reaching terminal velocity seconds before crashing into the valley below! I'll set the scene; first cast of the morning - citation class Speckled Trout expertly brought to the boat by client - said Trout then quite non-expertly dinged by guide, thus sending aforementioned fish back to the depths to haunt both guide and client for remainder of trip, and quite possibly an indeterminate portion of the near future. Okay, no biggee, we'll just go over to this spot and heal that wound by quickly putting some nice Flounder in the boat. Flounders come to boat, but all are apparently the minor children of the parents that I had found the day previous. No problem, we'll just go over to this one spot over by this other spot that has been covered up with Redfish and all will be forgiven. Second or third cast and victory is close at hand, as a 26" Redfish takes Matthew well into the grass and is behaving rudely and refusing to come out where he can be properly angled. After a quick photo we return to what is certainly going to be a Redfish massacre (preface: only 1 fish was actually wounded in the massacre) and we spend the next hour searching for a second bite. Alright it's been a little tough, but there is still the falling tide and a beautiful little Trout hole that's just waiting to rain Trout like Manna from the sky. 10 - 15 blow ups on topwater as well as a few short strikes later. it appears the Trout hole is not the promised land as we make our exodus back to the boat ramp.

                                                                                                   Later that night while agonizing over lost or missed fish, and what should of been, I was reminded of what first sparked my passion for chasing fish during a conversation with New River Smallmouth guide Matt Miles about the details of his fly fishing trip with me the next day. Matt was bursting with raw energy as he related in vivid detail the sequence of events during his latest feat, when he hooked up with his first Tailing Redfish deep in the grass from his kayak the day before. My earlier despair over a day that didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, quickly morphed into the excitement of sharing a new day in the backwaters wrought with potential. Bottom line, I relaxed and found myself back in the mindset that so often makes for productive memorable days. I hit the water at daybreak with Matt and his father Glen today and had a ball back in the grass with a few very happy tailing Reds. Matt made spot on weakside and frontside casts repeatedly laying the fly down right under their noses. However, we couldn't get so much as a look from these fish, so we retreated to a big open water flat that I was certain would be holding fish on the hard falling tide. Within minutes of hopping up on the poling platform, Glen hooked up with a single from the thick grassbank on spinning gear. I poled upcurrent about 20 yards after releasing Glen's redfish to find the school I was hoping was still hanging around in 2 feet of crystal clear water over a huge sandflat. Within seconds of spotting the school of 100 plus redfish, Matt was zeroed in on the outside edge and made yet another superb cast resulting in an immediate take from a healthy 25" fish that doubled the Sage 8 weight rod obscenely. With 10 other fish following Matt' s fish, Glenn cast with the small jerk bait and came tight to a strong fish cruising within inches of the red Matt was fighting. A double! Two generations, both spinning tackle and fly simultaneously hooked up and doing the duck and dance as rods were passed seemlessly over one another as fish wildly made several runs around the boat in opposite directions and I was back in my happy place! Minutes later, we were back on the school and both anglers found themselves again fighting fish side by side. This was repeated two more times before the final fish of the day, a  20" inch Flounder hooked by Glenn while his son was releasing another Redfish, was brought boatside. As the tide slacked, I turned the boat West and  left the school to rest . Headed back to the dock, I was blessed with a renewed spirit and the gift of having witnessed father, son, and nature at their very best.