This Roller was at least 7 foot tall.... It sounds like thunder out there some days.
Where we live is called the Grave Yard of the Atlantic, because of all the Shipwrecks that have occurred on our shores. There are thousands and thousands of wrecks right off our coast. Some were sunk by German U-Boats in WWII, others ventured to close to Diamond Shoals, where their boats were grind-ed into tooth picks and sent to the bottom.
Danger and Fun go hand in hand, if it don't scare ya, ya ain't havin no fun..
Some would ask why would you paddle a glorified Clorox Bottle into the Shoals, I would answer them that I ain’t right, never have been never will be. I love Adrenaline… Pure and Simple I am an Adrenaline Junkie, it gets me off. So when I got the call from the General about going to get some Points for Kayak Wars, I was ready in 1/2 hour.
I spend 80 percent of my time in the Pamlico Sound now, after 4 years of paddling around on Diamond Shoals in my First Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120. I have made hundreds of trips out there, and they usually end with the same story, Lost gear, Damaged Gear, Destroyed Gear. Some times after getting my Lunch Feed to me by the Shoals, I was just glad to make it back alive. This would be the First trip out there on the new Yak, so I stripped her down of all the fancy things that I have put on her, no need for GPS and the Slide Trax Holder where I was going today..
Capt Jerry Teel of Got Em Charters stoped by with his party to say hi and swap some fishing intel.. Great guy and a hell of a Captain..
In my first couple of years of exploring the Grave Yard of the Atlantic, I have been treated to many an Adventure, like the 16 foot Tiger Shark coming to check me out, bout messed the Kayak on that one. Or the 12 Foot Hammer Head breaching the water with a 4 foot stingray in his mouth, when he bit down on that sucka the Ocean just turned red. Or my First King Mackerel on the Yak, Zing Pow was with me on that trip and helped me Boat the King. Or my First Citation Drum from the Yak, that was another good one. But most of the time I would paddle back in having lost or destroyed something… You have to pay the piper if ya want to dance,,, Not yesterday… No admission charge for me, came back in with all I went out with.. And Did not Destroy any equipment.
We hit it about 9:30 a.m. wind was fairly calm and out of the west seas were small and there was only a little bit of current running you off shore and out to sea. First we went looking for Blue Fish and we paddled around trolling Glass Minnow Lures right through a gap in the shoals, with no takers
I always enjoy a Light House View.. Set up for Sharkin....South Side of the Shoals.
I set up off to the south of the Shoals in about 14 feet of water, I anchored up and it was now time to Shark Fish. That’s right Shark Fish from the Kayak, see I told ya before I ain’t right , but a 40 inch Shark is worth 30 Points in Kayak Wars. And we needed the Points..
After Deploying my anchor I rigged up my Bait Rod with a nice Fresh Piece of Mullet (cut bait) launched it out there and waited for any takers.
No Points here too small, Cape Point in the Background.
It did not take long for my first customer a small 24 inch Spiny Dog Shark, the problem with Spiney Dog Sharks is the Spines on their Tail and Dorsal Fin, they will try and stick you with them every chance they get, so handling them is a real pain in the ass on the beach let alone on a Kayak. Well he was not worth any Points too small.
Had to calm this sucka down a bit he was not to happy to be aboard but he's worth 30 points
So I re-rigged my Bait rod and fired another one off, did not take long and bang rod bows up real good, this is a size-able one I am thinking to myself as I bring the Shark closer to the Kayak, I grabbed ahold of the Shock Leader flipped him over on his back (it calms them abit) got a good hold of him, removed hook, and brought him aboard. 41 inches chalk me up for 30 points, it ain’t easy taking a self photo of a 41 inch shark on a Kayak but as you can see it can be done.
Diamond Shoals in the Background and a 40 inch Doggie in the Forground another 30 Points for Militia Fleet One
Caught and released about 15 more of them all in the 32 to 38 inch range only to see one more that I could register in the tourney, a nice 40 inch Horn Dog for another 30 Points.
It was about that time that I heard the General hootin and a hollerin for me, I pulled anchor, stowed my gear and made the Paddle into the Belly of the Beast. Rob had been hammerin Blues, nice ones the smallest one he caught was 15 and 3/4 inches biggest was over 20 inches. (their worth 15 points each) Got in on a few Blues by falling in line getting close to inside the shoals, firing the lure into the shoals, hookup, reel in, boat fish, and get the hell out of the Impact Zone, before being crushed by a JACK -UP WAVE. We ended the day around 5 p.m with 240 points between us and a bunch of blues for our Boy Scottie, he loves them.
Militia Fleet One in the House
No admission charge today, No Lost Gear, No Damaged Gear, No Destroyed Gear… But we did get to see JAWS out there, could not tell what kind, but the Dorsal stuck out of the water at least 2 foot high and it was pretty wide as well. He was just seeing what we were doing and did not pay us much attention….. Kinda followed us for a little bit but no real aggressiveness towards us.. But it was a stellar way to end the day…
Until Next Time JAM out
