As I was pouring the hot coffee into my Styrofoam cup, I could only imagine an abundance of fish being caught with my father. The beginning of the school year had begun to consume my time, and I knew that I wouldn’t have many more free days for a while. I helped pack the cooler with snacks and various drinks. With a high temperature of 93 and a low of 79 the partly cloudy and calm day was perfect for fishing the Pamlico River and surrounding creeks. I grabbed 5 fishing poles and headed to the truck. We woke up too early and piddled around for too long and were now running a few minutes late. We loaded up the dock cart and both were eager to see what the day had in store for us.

As I put the boat in reverse and backed out of the slip, I could see the sun rising in the direction we were headed. The run from Broad Creek to Hobucken is about 35 minutes, if it is calm. That day the water was glassy and once the boat hit a plane, it was a smooth enough ride to enjoy my coffee and biscuit. There were very few boats on the water, maybe a handful of crabbers and some weekenders. We passed Indian island and could see some anglers tossing jigs to the marsh. I knew that conditions were ideal and we had a high chance of catching some fish.

The night before we went fishing, I made sure to do my tackle prep. I tied a 3/16th ounce brown jig head on to the 5’6” ultralight. I tied two quarter ounce jig heads onto the medium rods. I went ahead and hooked a gotcha curly tail soft plastic on to one. We planned to put gulp soft plastics on the other jig heads right before we were ready to start fishing. On my seven foot rod, I tied on a popping cork with a DOA shrimp at the end of the leader. Finally, on my heavy casting rod, I used a Carolina rig in case we got some cut bait. I also made sure to organize all of my tackle the previous night to make sure finding lures the next day was a breeze.

My Dad and I first stopped at the section of a bulkhead which butted up to a small rock jetty. Unfortunately, the wind began to pick up a little bit, making it harder to keep in the boat in the sweet spot. After a few minutes of casting and only felt a few bites, I finally hooked into something big! Sadly, it was a 20 pound ray which got within five feet of the boat before I broke it off completely. Only a few casts later I boated a striper. Because the season is out for rock, I released him back into his brackish abode. We decided to change locations to hopefully increase our fish count. Right across from the seawall was the mouth of a creek. After fishing the marsh edges for a few minutes, my Dad was hooked up. He had a small drum on his line and with his ultralight, it took a little time to get him to the boat. I helped land the fish for him, and soon realized this fish was a little unusual. Instead of having 2 spots, it had 8 spots. I had never seen a fish one with that many spots.

Soon after the red one, I hooked up with yet another striper. These fish are very aggressive making them very entertaining to catch. As we worked our way towards Jones Bay, the bites were pretty sporadic, but we boated two more drum. However, since they were slightly under the slot they were released. We soon had to fill up the boat with gas and retie some new lures onto our rods. While filling up Dad suggested, “If we went to the old fish house we could catch a rock or two, then head to Wade’s point to see if the flounder are biting”. The temperature now had increased into the low 90s and the wind was still picking up. The old fish house was very consistent for the striper, and this late August day, it didn’t fail us. Second cast under the dock, I hooked a chunk of a striper. However after the one fish, it was clear we needed to make a move for the flounder. Making the move was well worth it. Within 30 minutes we caught three flounder, though all were short of the 15 inch mark. As we worked in and out of docks and piers, I had the gut feeling we were going to catch one. I felt a vibration on my Abu Garcia Vendetta, and knew it was a fish. It hit like a drum, so I reared back for my hook set. The hook set felt solid but couldn’t yet tell what it was. The fish was stripping some drag and putting a bend in my rod. “Get the net”, I told my Dad. The fish was scooped into the net, and as soon there was no tension on the line, my lure flew right out of his mouth. If I had known that it was a flounder I would have waited before setting the hook. I was very excited that we got a fish that was a keeper with a lot of meat on his bones. After my Dad and I exchanged a high-five, I put our catch of the day in the cooler and we turned towards Broad Creek.

On the ride back home, all I could think about was how great a day it had been. Even though we didn’t catch many keepers, spending a day on the water with my best friend could not be beaten. When we returned to the dock, I could feel the effects of the 5 a.m. wake up call beginning to kick in. After washing off the rods and cleaning the boat, I headed straight to my bed. As I was falling asleep, thoughts of inshore fishing being caught on light tackle put me right to sleep.