Spanish Mackerel surf fishing the OBX

[GonnaFlyNow]

I came down to the OBX on Monday. I fished Tuesday and caught a little toothy critter about a foot long and about a half inch think. Not sure what it was. Caught one in Florida earlier this year. Got skunked for the next two days. Yesterday, I cast into what looked like a school of ribbonfish. They were jumping out of the water and were long and silver looking. Anyway, whatever they were, they cut my line. I went to re-rig and they were gone. I saw a Spanish jumping but couldn't catch them either.

So going into today, I am looking at a skunked week except for my one fish. The weather forecast was borderline sketchy. The hourly forecast was thunder storms and/ or scattered showers. I went out early and had to come back in due to lightning. Around 10 AM it was only heavy showers. Somehow I viewed this as a window of opportunity. I went back out in the poring rain. It was only me and the birds. I liked the setup. The birds were going wild. Dive bombing at the water. I followed the birds. Next I saw the fish jumping. Big ones. I started casting to the fish and landing a really nice Spanish. Within a half hour I landed another Spanish that was an absolute beast. It was much larger than the first. I also caught a small pinfish.

I just love surf fishing. Every year, it is something different. Each year seems to get bring a new adventure. The Spanish this year really blow my mind. They were there all week. It just took time to figure it out.

Cheers,

 

[wbranch]

I think the long and thin fish might of been a needlefish.

 

[GonnaFlyNow]

wbranch,

That looks right. Googled some pics and that's what mine looked like. These can be really cool to catch with size. I've been running into them over the years trying to catch other stuff.


Best,

 

[gulfgreyhound]

How did you like the way the Spanish fought? GG

 

[tomgamber]

i'm down here now. Spanish are supposedly still about. Going to try this evening since its raining today and there might be less swimmers today. I brought my 8wt and my big surf spin rod. depends how lazy I am at the time. still have to get to TWs for my license.

 

[GonnaFlyNow]

tomgamber,

Hope I didn't catch you too late. I caught mine within 40 ft of the beach on my surf rod. Sorry conditions were rough and I couldn't use the fly rod this time. The distance was good for a fly rod. I used a glass minnow with a yellow and green stripe. Green and pink are also hot. Use a fast to very fast strip/retrieve. If using a clouser, a long pull will do the trick. Spanish want speed. If it is not too windy fly gear will work well. I have never seen Spanish right up on the surf like this.

All the best,

 

[GonnaFlyNow]

gulf,

I loved everything about these fish. Their not shy about letting you know they are there. If the birds weren't diving for them, then they were pretty easy to pick up just watching them jump. I am not sure why I haven't seen them before. Maybe I did on previous trips and didn't realize it. Or maybe, this is something new for me.

Anyway, these fish are real fighters. Particularly the second fish. They fight like hell and continue to fight while you unhook them. Everything is sharp on these fish. There sharp teeth and fins will cut you quick. I was amazed how violently they thrashed around. Looked painful. I can't wait to find these fish again. I am hoping this will be a reoccurring event like finding a school of blues on the beach.

Best,

 

[GonnaFlyNow]

tomgamber,

Correction!

The lure I used was a pencil jig. Colors are the same.

Cheers,

 

[tomgamber]

It got nice, beach got crowded quick. didn't get out but all good info. I'm gonna get up early and see what it looks like. The water is really flat right now and there's bait everywhere but I'm literally 50 yards from the dunes so I can walk down and if it looks like i picked the wrong rod i can remedy that in 5 minutes. i'll let you know how it went.

 

[krott243]

Use a small chunk (8-12 inches) of 25lb flouro as a bite guard to your fly, it will help with bite offs from Spanish macks as well as many other salt water fish.

 

[tomgamber]

Still a ton of bait in the water. Temps up considerably since yesterday. Managed one small blue dragging a silver spoon through the bait. Had a bigger "something" on but it popped on in the breakers about 3 ft from me. Wouldn't come up off the bottom so I never saw it.

Some other old guy did what I did. Put on a bottom rig walked down to the water, saw the commotion and walked back to his box and put on a metal exo-jig. I tried one but got nothing. Got some regular hits on the spoon. Should have taken the fly but there was too much action on the beach and knew i only had about an hour before the onslaught. Think I might head under the bridge with the fly rod late this afternoon since its someone else's turn to cook tonight.